Latest / The MM-EH Show / Jamey-Lyn Horth Breaks Silence on UFC Winnipeg Controversy | MM-EH Show Episode 15

Transcript

Jamey-Lyn Horth Breaks Silence on UFC Winnipeg Controversy | MM-EH Show Episode 15 · The MM-EH Show

• 0:16
  Hey there fight friends. Welcome to the
• 0:17
  MMA show. The show that talks about
• 0:19
  Canadian mixed martial arts and only
• 0:21
  Canadian mixed martial arts. If it's
• 0:23
  happening in a different promotion
• 0:24
  somewhere else in the world or if a
• 0:25
  Canadian fighter is not fighting, I
• 0:27
  don't know about it and I don't want to
• 0:28
  talk about it.
• 0:29
  I'm going to start off this week's
• 0:31
  episode having a bit of a sigh of
• 0:32
  relief. It's been an extremely busy
• 0:34
  month. In the past uh month, I've been
• 0:37
  all across this great country of ours,
• 0:38
  Canada. I started off I I I was in Nova
• 0:41
  Scotia all the way across to British
• 0:43
  Columbia. Now, it's uh it's time for me
• 0:45
  to just relax a little bit. You've got a
• 0:48
  great episode ahead of you. I have some
• 0:49
  wonderful guests. But before we get to
• 0:50
  those, I'm just going to take a moment
• 0:52
  and share the huge news that you if you
• 0:54
  follow me on Instagram, you've seen
• 0:55
  already. And that mma.ca CA or I guess
• 0:59
  MMA Andy on Instagram hit over 1 million
• 1:02
  views for the past month, for the past
• 1:04
  30 days. And to say that I'm ecstatic is
• 1:08
  would be an understatement. I'm
• 1:09
  absolutely thrilled. If you if you look
• 1:12
  at analytics, channel analytics, you'll
• 1:14
  know that a million for some channels is
• 1:16
  small potatoes. Like something like MMA
• 1:18
  Junkie or ESPN, whatever, I mill that's
• 1:22
  a drop in the bucket for them. But for a
• 1:24
  niche market like Canadian mixed martial
• 1:25
  arts, which if you didn't know, and I
• 1:27
  hate to break the news to you, not a lot
• 1:29
  of people pay attention to, a million
• 1:31
  views is absolutely overwhelming. And I
• 1:33
  I almost can't believe it. It's I've
• 1:35
  been going fullcourt press for a few
• 1:37
  years now, putting in content, constant
• 1:39
  content, and this is uh my first time
• 1:42
  over a million. I've been to 800,000 a
• 1:44
  few times before, but this is something
• 1:46
  else, man. So, I just want to take a
• 1:48
  moment and thank each and every one of
• 1:49
  you for your continued support, for
• 1:51
  liking my Instagram post, for following
• 1:53
  me on Facebook, for for commenting on my
• 1:56
  Twitter, for checking out my videos on
• 1:58
  YouTube, all my social medias. Oh, and
• 2:00
  Tik Tok, too. I almost forgot. I need to
• 2:02
  I need to do more on Tik Tok.
• 2:04
  Regardless, I'm I'm very happy. So, so
• 2:07
  thank you very much. Anyway, so the past
• 2:09
  month, like I mentioned, I've been a tad
• 2:11
  busy. I started off on April 18th. I was
• 2:13
  in Winnipeg for the UFC and that was an
• 2:16
  incredible experience. The fights were
• 2:18
  wonderful. A couple not so great fights
• 2:21
  unfortunately, but uh overall the the
• 2:24
  event was great and
• 2:26
  potentially the the thing I enjoy more
• 2:28
  than actually watching the fights in
• 2:30
  this this sort of hobby of mine is that
• 2:32
  I get to meet so many wonderful and
• 2:34
  great people. And definitely in
• 2:35
  Winnipeg, I got to meet some uh
• 2:37
  wonderful people who I'd met, you know,
• 2:39
  talked to online for a long time, but I
• 2:40
  met in person for the first time. Uh,
• 2:43
  and I also met a lot of old friends I've
• 2:44
  known for for 10, 15, 20 years in the
• 2:46
  MMA game in Canada. So, it was
• 2:48
  absolutely terrific. I just loved it.
• 2:49
  Every time I can go to UFC in Canada, I
• 2:52
  do. I wish I could go to them all. After
• 2:54
  that, I was in Picto, Nova Scotia for
• 2:56
  Fight League Atlantic 23. That was my
• 2:58
  first time going to an FLA. I've been
• 3:00
  promising them for a long time that I
• 3:01
  would be there. And the the the the
• 3:04
  excitement was not it was not a let
• 3:06
  down. They're really well-run
• 3:07
  organization. Fantastic fights. Dererick
• 3:09
  and John have a terrific fight card.
• 3:10
  They've got something really special
• 3:11
  going on out there and I wish them
• 3:13
  continued success. After that, it was
• 3:15
  another first- timer for me. On the
• 3:17
  second to me, I was in Calgary for
• 3:18
  Absolute MMA. Uh, wonderful. It was
• 3:21
  also, you know, really neat. It was
• 3:23
  really cool. Was in the Deerfoot in
• 3:24
  Casino. Really beautiful venue. It felt
• 3:27
  really intimate. A lot of great fights,
• 3:29
  like one killer of a fight that I
• 3:31
  probably won't forget for a long time.
• 3:33
  Uh, and I hope to go back to that one as
• 3:34
  well. After Absolute, I was in Vancouver
• 3:37
  on the 7th of May and I got to spend a
• 3:38
  little bit of time with some family in
• 3:39
  Vancouver. So that was kind of nice. BFL
• 3:42
  was absolutely amazing. Main event, Don
• 3:44
  Kaish beat Jordan Mian for it wasn't for
• 3:46
  a title. Sorry. But uh that was just a
• 3:49
  that was one of those dream Canadian
• 3:51
  matchups I you know I'd been hoping to
• 3:52
  see for a long time. Um it could have
• 3:55
  gone either way. Both Jordan and Dion
• 3:57
  are absolute studs and Don just he
• 4:01
  pulled it out man. Jordan looks super
• 4:03
  good in there. He's a killer and Dion
• 4:06
  put him away. So congrats to Dan Kaish
• 4:08
  for that. Afterwards, I got to see him
• 4:09
  and he he gave me the biggest hug and he
• 4:12
  just smiled at me. He said, "I can't
• 4:13
  believe it. I'm so happy." And, you
• 4:15
  know, it was just so genuine and
• 4:17
  heartfelt. I'm just so happy for him.
• 4:19
  Uh, but as with anything, you know,
• 4:21
  you've got a winner and a loser and I
• 4:22
  feel for for for Jordan as well. Uh,
• 4:24
  he's called the young gun. He's been
• 4:26
  doing this for a long time since he was
• 4:28
  16 years old. That's actually when I
• 4:30
  first met him and uh he still has a lot
• 4:32
  to contribute to this fight game. So,
• 4:33
  I'm excited to see where he goes next
• 4:35
  and I hope he's okay. Following that, I
• 4:38
  was going to be uh that was a Thursday
• 4:40
  night. I was going to be in Toronto the
• 4:41
  next night on the Friday to attend uh
• 4:44
  Unified uh 69. However, that event was
• 4:46
  canceled or postbone, sorry. That'll be
• 4:48
  happening in June now. I think it's June
• 4:50
  12th. And then finally, my last event
• 4:52
  was Prospect 23 in Niger Lake, Ontario.
• 4:55
  So, that was just about 20-minute drive
• 4:56
  from my house. It was really nice. I got
• 4:58
  to sleep in my own bed. Uh absolutely
• 5:00
  incredible. Uh Aiden Appel, you saw my
• 5:03
  interview with him a few weeks ago.
• 5:04
  Don't forget that name and I'll say it
• 5:06
  again. Aiden Appel. If that's the first
• 5:08
  time you're hearing that name from me
• 5:10
  right now, just remember that in a few
• 5:11
  years when he's a UFC champion. I have
• 5:13
  absolutely no doubt that he's going to
• 5:15
  be there someday. So that's why it's
• 5:17
  important you follow amateur sports,
• 5:18
  right? You never know where these young
• 5:20
  athletes are going to be. You never
• 5:21
  know. Like I saw I saw Conor McDavid
• 5:24
  play in St. Catherine's like what was it
• 5:26
  five, six years ago when he was playing
• 5:28
  for whatever a junior team was. I don't
• 5:29
  know. I'm not really a hockey kind of
• 5:31
  guy, but everyone was ranting about this
• 5:32
  guy named Conor McDavid. Now look where
• 5:34
  he is. He's he's he's one of the top
• 5:36
  players in the league, one of the top
• 5:37
  players in the world. So that's why you
• 5:39
  should support local MMA. Don't forget
• 5:41
  that.
• 5:42
  Anyway, this week's episode is going to
• 5:44
  be a great one. We're going to start off
• 5:45
  speaking with UC fighter Jamie Lyn Horth
• 5:47
  and what I believe is her first
• 5:48
  interview since her controversial
• 5:51
  decision lost to JJ Aldrich at UC
• 5:53
  Winnipeg Fight Night. Uh myself and
• 5:56
  pretty much everybody else in the world
• 5:57
  thought that Jaime won that fight and it
• 6:00
  was almost a surprise on on J.J.
• 6:02
  Alders's face when she found out that
• 6:04
  she was the winner. Um, yeah, Jaime's
• 6:07
  got some very strong things to say about
• 6:08
  that. You probably saw my my short clip
• 6:10
  on Instagram. She talks much more in
• 6:12
  depth about the about the loss in the
• 6:14
  full video interview, so make sure you
• 6:16
  watch that. After Jamie, we're going to
• 6:18
  be speaking with a new BFL interim
• 6:20
  middleweight champion, Jaden Martin.
• 6:22
  This young man is something special. Let
• 6:25
  me tell you, most of you watching this
• 6:27
  have trained for some period of time,
• 6:29
  either a short time or for your whole
• 6:31
  life. So, you know that every once in a
• 6:33
  while there's that one athlete, that one
• 6:34
  fighter who just has something special.
• 6:37
  We all know how to punch. We all know
• 6:38
  how to throw a jab. We know throw how to
• 6:40
  throw a cross. But sometimes there's a
• 6:43
  person who just has that extra little
• 6:44
  bit of sauce in their hands and nobody
• 6:46
  can really explain what it is, but they
• 6:48
  have dynamite in their hands and they
• 6:49
  just have that knockout power. And Jaden
• 6:51
  Martin is one of those. Uh he was a the
• 6:54
  deliverer of one of the most brutal
• 6:55
  knockouts I've seen in a few years. And
• 6:57
  that was in BFL 82 83 somewhere around
• 7:00
  there a few years ago. It was if you get
• 7:02
  a chance to watch that you should watch
• 7:03
  it. It's pretty spectacular. Uh this
• 7:06
  past week in Vancouver he beat Mauricio
• 7:08
  Barbosa really well well earned knockout
• 7:11
  win at two and a half minutes minutes
• 7:12
  minutes in the first round. I was really
• 7:14
  surprised talking to Jaden. He was just
• 7:16
  uh he's got so much depth to him. It's
• 7:18
  not that I didn't expect depth from him
• 7:19
  in particular, but uh you know some
• 7:21
  people you can just tell they have a lot
• 7:23
  to say and a lot on their mind and Jaden
• 7:24
  is a very interesting young man. So,
• 7:26
  make sure you listen to that. After
• 7:27
  Jaden, we're going to be talking to a
• 7:29
  promising professional mixed martial
• 7:30
  artist from Ontario, Michael Oifo. He
• 7:33
  has got an exciting weekend ahead of
• 7:34
  him. He is in the Caribbean, actually,
• 7:36
  in Trinidad and Tobago, and he'll be
• 7:38
  fighting at CUF, which is Caribbean
• 7:40
  Ultimate Fist fighting. Michael's a
• 7:42
  super great young man. I've seen him
• 7:43
  fight a handful of times as well. So,
• 7:45
  make sure you check out what he has to
• 7:46
  say. Our final fighter of the show is uh
• 7:49
  last year's World amateur MMA champion,
• 7:52
  Scott Heathcoat, out of Thick Boy Fight
• 7:53
  Club in Missaga. He's currently down in
• 7:57
  I almost said Cuba, but no, it's
• 7:59
  Colombia. He's there with his coach Buen
• 8:00
  from Thick Boy, and he is getting ready
• 8:02
  for either his first or his second.
• 8:04
  Scott, forgive me. It's either his pro
• 8:05
  debut or or second pro fight. Uh
• 8:07
  terrific amateur career. He's he's he's
• 8:09
  an absolute killer at 125 pounds. So,
• 8:13
  once again, make sure you watch uh the
• 8:16
  young guys because you never know where
• 8:17
  they're going to go. And we're going to
• 8:19
  cap off this week's episode with an
• 8:20
  exciting interview with Alena Beman. is
• 8:23
  the co-founder of Mayhem Fight
• 8:24
  Productions. They are a uh Barry,
• 8:28
  Ontario-based amateur MMA organization.
• 8:30
  They have one event under their belt so
• 8:32
  far. Their second event is happening in
• 8:33
  Orangeville, Ontario on the 30th of May,
• 8:35
  and they have three more planned for the
• 8:37
  remainder of the year. Atlanta's got
• 8:39
  some interesting concepts she's going to
• 8:41
  share with us. And she wants to make MMA
• 8:43
  more of a a a complete atmospheric
• 8:46
  package for fans. So, get to go watch
• 8:48
  the fights, but there's also going to be
• 8:50
  bands, there's going to be DJs, all
• 8:51
  sorts of stuff. hear it from her lips
• 8:52
  herself uh when she talks about how she
• 8:55
  plans on making an MMA fight night an
• 8:57
  exciting night for everyone.
• 8:59
  That's it. So, I'm going to stop
• 9:02
  recording this video. I'm going to
• 9:04
  download it. I'm going to shove it in
• 9:06
  the middle of everything else I have and
• 9:08
  then I'm going to go take a nap. So,
• 9:10
  while I do that, you take a minute uh
• 9:12
  and watch my interview with Jaime Lyn
• 9:13
  Horth and I will I guess see you next
• 9:16
  week. And uh I after that, I'll see you
• 9:18
  at the fights.
• 9:21
  Hey there, fight friends. I know you
• 9:22
  recognize the lady beside me, Jamie Lyn
• 9:24
  Horth, UFC fighter from Canada. From BC,
• 9:26
  I think from Squamish proper, correct?
• 9:28
  >> I'm born and raised in Squamish, BC. So,
• 9:30
  45 minutes north from here.
• 9:31
  >> Yeah.
• 9:32
  >> Before uh like it's only been the past
• 9:34
  year that I was aware that Squamish was
• 9:35
  so close. For some reason, in my head, I
• 9:36
  thought Squamish was way north.
• 9:38
  >> So, it's kind of cool cuz I see you uh
• 9:39
  cross trainining. You come down to
• 9:40
  Vancouver a lot and uh you're keeping
• 9:42
  quite active and the whole area seems
• 9:43
  really active. Yeah, I mean the Lower
• 9:46
  Mainland, you know, Vancouver and so
• 9:47
  forth is um you know, there's lots of
• 9:49
  little little hub gyms, but uh you know,
• 9:51
  each gym kind of has token females, so
• 9:53
  we kind of cross train and I go to three
• 9:56
  or four different gyms and all of us
• 9:57
  girls follow each other and just get
• 9:59
  different looks at different gyms and
• 10:00
  that's kind of just the way it is down
• 10:01
  here.
• 10:02
  >> Yeah, for sure. So, uh fight fans, we're
• 10:03
  at the weigh-ins for BFL87 that's
• 10:05
  happening in in Vancouver tomorrow
• 10:06
  night. Uh we're at the weigh-ins. Jamie
• 10:08
  was gracious enough to give me a couple
• 10:09
  minutes, so I'm not going to waste your
• 10:10
  time cuz our fighters need to eat food
• 10:12
  and they need to get out of here. So
• 10:13
  Jamie, we're going to get right to it.
• 10:14
  Uh UFC fight night in Winnipeg, I was
• 10:16
  there for that. And I don't use the word
• 10:18
  robbery often, but your fight against JJ
• 10:20
  Aldrich, I had you winning that fight
• 10:22
  from start to finish. And afterward,
• 10:24
  after the fight was over when she she
• 10:26
  was given that the nod, it seems like
• 10:28
  everybody came out of the woodworks
• 10:29
  agreeing that you were the winner of
• 10:30
  that fight. So I'm just wondering
• 10:31
  overall, what was your experience? And
• 10:33
  what's that's got to be tough on you.
• 10:36
  >> Yeah, definitely tough. I mean, there's
• 10:38
  lots of working parts in it. Um, you
• 10:40
  know, fortunately for me, um, I have a
• 10:42
  wicked team around me, um, and support
• 10:43
  system. So, I kind of just took a
• 10:45
  backseat and I use the analogy like I
• 10:46
  have two pit bulls on a leash cuz, uh,
• 10:48
  my coaches in my agency have been
• 10:50
  nothing but supportive. Um, and they're,
• 10:51
  you know, working behind the scenes to
• 10:52
  get sort of things dealt with, see if we
• 10:54
  can make some adjustments. Um, but for
• 10:56
  me, it's, you know, life goes on and
• 10:58
  unfortunately, you know, more fights are
• 11:00
  to come and I just need to get my head
• 11:01
  clear from that and move on to the next
• 11:03
  goal. And, um, you know, not to say that
• 11:06
  that feeling doesn't feel shitty and
• 11:07
  that I'm not upset about it. um you
• 11:09
  know, I just carry myself differently
• 11:10
  and and if I sat in that shitty feeling
• 11:12
  and you know, I just it would overcome
• 11:14
  me. So, um it's time to push forward and
• 11:16
  and look for the next fight and and grow
• 11:18
  from that.
• 11:19
  >> Yeah, that's a great attitude. And I was
• 11:21
  actually in the candle life center when
• 11:22
  your fighting uh when your fight
• 11:23
  happened and I was watching the big
• 11:25
  screen and I was watching your faces,
• 11:26
  you and JJ, and when they announced that
• 11:28
  she was the winner, just I wasn't
• 11:30
  looking at you at all. I was looking at
• 11:31
  her because her her reaction was almost
• 11:33
  incredulous, like she couldn't believe
• 11:35
  she won either. I'm wondering at that
• 11:36
  exact moment when her name was called,
• 11:38
  what was going through your heart and
• 11:40
  your mind?
• 11:40
  >> Well, when they said the first Jay, we
• 11:42
  thought it was me and then the second
• 11:43
  Jay came out. So, um, you know,
• 11:45
  instantly you can see it on my face. I
• 11:47
  look like a muppet from the Muppets. So,
• 11:48
  I' definitely, you know, been in a
• 11:51
  decision, um, situation, you know, um,
• 11:53
  while making it to the UFC. And, you
• 11:55
  know, sometimes I think it's better off
• 11:57
  to not leave it to the judge's hands,
• 11:59
  obviously, um, because you never know
• 12:01
  what you're going to get out of it.
• 12:02
  example a um but um yeah I was visibly
• 12:06
  uh shook you know I was like hey what
• 12:08
  the hell is going on here so yeah very
• 12:10
  frustrated and and um you know shitty
• 12:12
  outcome for for what we thought was a
• 12:14
  really great performance and you know
• 12:15
  our game plan we played it from the
• 12:18
  minute the fight started um and we
• 12:20
  thought we were successful we know we
• 12:21
  were successful I shouldn't say thought
• 12:23
  um there's lots of supporting evidence
• 12:25
  to that and like you said you know just
• 12:26
  the way things were scored and and um
• 12:29
  you know commentators and and so forth
• 12:31
  than just the buzz that it created
• 12:32
  online. Um I think a lot of people felt
• 12:34
  the same way.
• 12:35
  >> Yeah, I think in during that fight you
• 12:37
  were you showed you had a lot of
• 12:38
  aggression. You were moving forward
• 12:39
  most. You were pushing the action. You
• 12:41
  had most of the cage control. You looked
• 12:42
  solid. You had solid fundamentals, good
• 12:44
  jabs, good kicks. Everything looked
• 12:46
  really good. And so that's why I was
• 12:47
  flabbergasted.
• 12:49
  >> Yeah. I mean, you know, it sucks to have
• 12:51
  your um your art uh on display and then
• 12:55
  have it sort of like ripped underneath
• 12:56
  your feet, you know, like a lot of
• 12:57
  things came out of that. You know, that
• 12:59
  was the top 15 placing for me. um you
• 13:01
  know, half my pay um and a lot of other
• 13:04
  things. And you know, when you talk
• 13:05
  about the criteria and the cage control,
• 13:07
  like holding the center of the cage,
• 13:08
  landing more of the significant strikes,
• 13:10
  creating more damage, you know, you
• 13:12
  think those are the things that judges
• 13:13
  are looking for, but sometimes you just
• 13:14
  don't know. And, you know, there's been
• 13:16
  lots of things that have come to light,
• 13:18
  you know, over this. I don't pretend to
• 13:19
  understand betting cuz I just don't
• 13:20
  care. I'm not a gambler. Um but I've
• 13:23
  learned a lot. Um and I just think that
• 13:26
  maybe things weren't handled in the
• 13:28
  right criteria that they should have
• 13:29
  been. Um, but again, I have a team
• 13:32
  behind me that's handling all that and
• 13:33
  and I get to sort of take that stress
• 13:35
  and put it on them and and continue to
• 13:36
  do my job and and look for another
• 13:38
  fight.
• 13:38
  >> It's funny you mentioned that because I
• 13:40
  don't pay attention to any of that
• 13:41
  betting nonsense whatsoever either, so I
• 13:43
  don't really know. But what you just
• 13:44
  said, is it something we can talk about
• 13:45
  more now? Is there something nefarious
• 13:47
  that was going on that you know of?
• 13:49
  >> Uh, nothing that I know of like
• 13:51
  personally. I mean, there's a lot of
• 13:52
  politics and stuff in sport. Um, you
• 13:54
  know, with betting and stuff, you hear
• 13:55
  all these like weird betting sway odds
• 13:57
  and things just happening. And, you
• 13:59
  know, honestly, the best analogy I heard
• 14:01
  was that if you put $100 on her to win
• 14:03
  by decision, right, when the fight ended
• 14:04
  to have her hand raised, you would have
• 14:05
  won $30,000. Um, so, you know, when you
• 14:08
  start looking at numbers like that, like
• 14:10
  I said, I don't pretend to understand,
• 14:11
  but that's a pretty big difference.
• 14:13
  >> Yeah. I think you were like minus 3500
• 14:15
  going into the third round or at the end
• 14:16
  of the third round.
• 14:17
  >> Yeah. And you know, my coaches have
• 14:19
  always been truthful and honest. And um
• 14:21
  you know, we they'll tell me I'm down
• 14:23
  rounds or I'm up rounds or whatever it
• 14:24
  is. Like they're not hiding anything and
• 14:26
  and I appreciate the no [ __ ]
• 14:27
  attitude. And um going into that third
• 14:29
  round, you know, they just said, "Be
• 14:30
  smart and let's finish this round." So,
• 14:32
  you know, um yeah, it's kind of it's
• 14:35
  hard, you know, but again, like I said,
• 14:37
  like I haven't shed any tears over it
• 14:38
  because I still feel like I won. I know
• 14:39
  I won. So, uh keep my chin high and push
• 14:42
  forward
• 14:42
  >> for sure.
• 14:43
  >> Okay. I know you want to get out of
• 14:44
  here, get some food. Last question. I'm
• 14:46
  going to give you a chance to plug your
• 14:47
  fighter who who you here with tonight
• 14:48
  who's fighting at BFL87.
• 14:50
  >> We got the first fight of the night and
• 14:51
  the second fight of the night. So, I got
• 14:52
  we got Will Hlock and Nile Sinnis from
• 14:54
  Squamish BC representing the sound
• 14:56
  martial arts. Um super stoked for these
• 14:58
  guys. One's a kickboxing fight, one's an
• 15:00
  MMA fight. Um these guys are in the gym
• 15:01
  grinding with me all the time. Um
• 15:03
  whether they're amateurs or pros, we we
• 15:05
  all treat them the same and we all go
• 15:06
  through the same process. So, I'm really
• 15:07
  excited for them to get their time in
• 15:08
  the cage and showcase all the things
• 15:10
  they've been working on.
• 15:11
  >> Fantastic. Okay. Well, Jamie, thanks so
• 15:13
  much for your time. I appreciate it.
• 15:14
  I've been trying to get a hold of you
• 15:15
  for a long time. Finally happened. There
• 15:18
  we go. Andy and Jamie here at PFL87.
• 15:20
  It'll happen again. Congrats on
• 15:21
  everything on your success and
• 15:22
  everything. Super happy for you and
• 15:24
  enjoy the fights tomorrow night.
• 15:24
  >> Thank you so much. Thank you so much for
• 15:26
  having me.
• 15:26
  >> You're welcome. There you go. Fight
• 15:27
  friends. Jam Lyn Hor, UFC fighter
• 15:29
  attending BFL87 tomorrow night in
• 15:31
  Vancouver.
• 15:33
  >> Jaden Martin, welcome to the MMA show.
• 15:35
  Or instead of Jaden Martin, I suppose I
• 15:37
  should really call you by your actual
• 15:38
  name, the Battlefield Fight League
• 15:40
  interim middleweight champion.
• 15:42
  >> Yes, sir. Thanks for having me. It's uh
• 15:44
  it's good to finally, you know, meet
• 15:45
  each other at the event and and uh talk
• 15:47
  face to face.
• 15:48
  >> Yeah, I've got a whole list of
• 15:49
  questions, but you just said when we met
• 15:51
  at the event, it was only briefly for
• 15:53
  like 30 seconds or so because I saw you,
• 15:55
  it was after the fight in the sort of
• 15:56
  back area, and I wanted to just go up
• 15:58
  and have say a quick hi and just show my
• 16:00
  face to you so you could see me. And you
• 16:03
  were swarm, man. Like, I had a hard time
• 16:05
  getting 30 seconds in. So, that's why
• 16:07
  when I saw you, I just said, I'm I'm in
• 16:08
  and out. I don't want to keep you cuz
• 16:09
  you had I don't know hundreds of people
• 16:11
  trying to get to you.
• 16:13
  >> Yeah. You know, uh I guess the the curse
• 16:15
  of being half Filipino is I got a huge
• 16:17
  family, right? You're very supportive.
• 16:19
  Everybody comes out. I even hid upstairs
• 16:21
  for a little bit because I knew it was
• 16:22
  going to be crazy and couldn't make it
• 16:24
  past them. I got downstairs and there
• 16:25
  was still uh I'm glad they all came, but
• 16:27
  little overwhelming.
• 16:29
  >> I'm sure it is. All right, Jaden, before
• 16:31
  we get too far in the interview, I know
• 16:33
  that you're really well known in the
• 16:34
  Lower Mainland and British Columbia.
• 16:36
  Would you mind just taking a second and
• 16:38
  for the rest of the viewers who are
• 16:39
  watching for the rest of Canada,
• 16:40
  introduce yourself, just say who you
• 16:42
  are, how you got involved in combat
• 16:44
  sports and anything you want to say?
• 16:47
  >> Uh my name is uh Jaden Liquid Steel
• 16:49
  Martin. Um the current, you know,
• 16:51
  interm, but it's debatable right now.
• 16:54
  The the Battlefield 185 champion. Uh
• 16:56
  I've been training for this will be my
• 16:58
  22nd year of doing martial arts. Uh I
• 17:01
  started when I was a kid and um really
• 17:04
  had no intentions of being a fighter or
• 17:06
  a coach or anything really martial arts.
• 17:08
  I was really focused on baseball but uh
• 17:11
  I had epilepsy when I was younger
• 17:12
  actually. So I had seizures, I was on
• 17:14
  medication and I was really kind of like
• 17:17
  an angsty kid. So with the added weight
• 17:20
  from the medication, you know, uh
• 17:22
  willing to fight anybody anytime for any
• 17:24
  inconvenience as a kid, my dad decided
• 17:26
  to bring me to a gym, sign me up to lose
• 17:29
  weight and just kind of get more focused
• 17:30
  and and deal with uh all that internal
• 17:32
  anger. And uh couple years went by,
• 17:35
  years turn into decades, and this is
• 17:37
  what I do for a living now. I I teach
• 17:39
  full-time. Uh I fight as often as I can,
• 17:41
  you know, with all the injuries that I
• 17:42
  have and and the health concerns, but uh
• 17:45
  as as often as I'm able and hopefully,
• 17:48
  fingers crossed, you know, I have good
• 17:49
  momentum right now. I can stay active.
• 17:51
  I'm looking to get on the next card or
• 17:53
  as soon as I can just to I guess unify
• 17:55
  the belt and uh go from there.
• 17:58
  >> Now, I was going to ask you about that,
• 17:59
  but you just kind of brought it up uh
• 18:00
  about fighting whenever you whenever
• 18:02
  you're able. So, you actually had your
• 18:03
  first fight, an amateur fight in 2012.
• 18:05
  That was 14 years ago. And as a and as
• 18:08
  an amateur, you went 4-0. And that
• 18:10
  culminated culminated in you winning the
• 18:12
  BFL amateur welterweight title against
• 18:14
  Keenan Killer. So it's 170 pounds. And
• 18:17
  then as a professional, you're 4-1. Your
• 18:19
  first fight ever was a loss. And that
• 18:20
  was due to injury. And then now you're
• 18:22
  undefeated in four. And you've looked
• 18:23
  very impressive doing it. But that's a
• 18:25
  really long time span, man. Was that all
• 18:27
  injuries?
• 18:29
  >> Uh, a lot of it was injuries. And at the
• 18:30
  time, my previous gym, I was there for
• 18:32
  for, you know, about two decades. Um, I
• 18:36
  was an owner there. I I taught class
• 18:38
  full-time. So, I was kind of torn
• 18:41
  between being a competitor and also
• 18:43
  running and building the gym. So, a lot
• 18:46
  of the times I had opportunities to to
• 18:48
  fight and compete and travel, but
• 18:49
  because I was so um I guess focused on
• 18:52
  on coaching and the business. I I missed
• 18:55
  a few opportunities. Now, I wouldn't
• 18:56
  trade it for the world, but you know,
• 18:58
  I'd have a couple fights and then have
• 19:00
  to cancel a fight or not take a fight.
• 19:03
  Uh, one of my old teammates, for
• 19:04
  example, Kaio Machado, he made it to the
• 19:06
  UFC, had a couple fights, former BFL
• 19:08
  champ.
• 19:09
  >> Uh, in the course of him coming to our
• 19:11
  studio and training his first class to
• 19:14
  me having my fight after, um, my first
• 19:18
  professional fight, he had already had
• 19:19
  like 10 fights and gone to UFC. So, um,
• 19:22
  you know, everybody's journey is
• 19:23
  different, but there's it's been a mix
• 19:25
  of injuries, health concerns, and then
• 19:27
  just, you know, uh, prioritizing other
• 19:29
  things rather than my own career. Sure,
• 19:31
  that makes total sense. Now, I've had
• 19:34
  the pleasure of watching you fight in
• 19:35
  person twice now, and you won both those
• 19:37
  fights. You look so good. Um, oh, you're
• 19:39
  welcome. But for people who haven't seen
• 19:41
  you fight, could uh take a second and
• 19:43
  just describe your fight style. What can
• 19:44
  they expect when they see Jaden inside
• 19:46
  the cage?
• 19:47
  >> Uh, well, all my pro fights have been by
• 19:51
  knockout in the first or early in the
• 19:53
  second. My amateur fights the same. Um,
• 19:56
  I had one submission victory, the rest
• 19:59
  knockouts, one decision. And the
• 20:01
  decision was my mistake. The guy was
• 20:03
  tough as nails. He had never been
• 20:04
  knocked out. And my whole thing in my
• 20:06
  head was I'm going to be the first.
• 20:07
  Could have fought a lot smarter, but,
• 20:09
  you know, made it to to the the decision
• 20:11
  win. But, you know, it is what it is.
• 20:13
  So, usually fireworks, someone's getting
• 20:15
  put to sleep.
• 20:16
  >> Yeah, that's okay. You know, it's it's
• 20:18
  good to take chances sometimes as long
• 20:19
  as it's like a It's funny. People don't
• 20:21
  understand there's a safe way of taking
• 20:22
  chances and a dangerous way of taking
• 20:24
  chances. And I think trying to get a
• 20:26
  knockout, depending on the opponent,
• 20:27
  that could be a safe way to do it.
• 20:29
  >> Yeah, I think uh getting hit is
• 20:31
  overrated and if I can hit you before
• 20:32
  you hit me, might as well. Plus, as an
• 20:34
  MMA fighter, you don't get paid by the
• 20:36
  hour. So, if I can go get that check in
• 20:37
  two and a half minutes, why not?
• 20:39
  >> Sure. Now, speaking about getting hit,
• 20:42
  uh BFL87 just a week ago, you fought
• 20:44
  Mauricio Barbosa. And coming into the
• 20:46
  fight, there's a lot of hype that this
• 20:47
  was going to be a fantastic fight, and
• 20:49
  it sure was. I I kind of wish it had
• 20:50
  have gone three rounds. I I'm sure your
• 20:52
  body appreciates that it didn't, but uh
• 20:54
  you both look super good in there. There
• 20:56
  was a little bit of a a kurfuffle at the
• 20:58
  weigh-ins because you made weight and he
• 20:59
  didn't make weight. So that means you
• 21:01
  were eligible for the title and he was
• 21:03
  not. But just take a second, talk us
• 21:06
  through that fight. What did you expect
• 21:07
  from him as an opponent going in and
• 21:09
  after the fight was over? Uh any updated
• 21:11
  thoughts on that? Um, you know, I've
• 21:14
  known about Mauricio in the local
• 21:15
  circuit for a while and I don't think
• 21:17
  his professional record reflects his
• 21:19
  actual skill because it was only his
• 21:20
  second pro fight. He had um previously
• 21:23
  quite a few fights back in Brazil
• 21:25
  kickboxing a Muay Thai. He was the
• 21:27
  amateur champion um in BFL as well. And
• 21:30
  he's he's he's quite good. He's
• 21:31
  dangerous. Um for striking, I really
• 21:34
  like the idea because I get to strike
• 21:36
  with a guy who one I've seen put people
• 21:39
  to sleep. It excited me. His style is
• 21:42
  something that I know I would do quite
• 21:43
  well with. And for example, he's a
• 21:45
  really good counter puncher. He's got
• 21:46
  good timing and he's long. He was
• 21:49
  >> three inches taller than me. And I
• 21:51
  remember when I stood beside him, he
• 21:52
  like in the most respectful way, he's
• 21:54
  like an orangutang. His arms came down
• 21:55
  to his ankles. He's got the really long
• 21:57
  arms. So the the idea was to kind of
• 22:00
  feel him out, see the timing, set some
• 22:02
  traps, faints and fakes. And then in the
• 22:04
  first exchange, I hit him. And I
• 22:06
  realized I could hit him whenever I
• 22:08
  wanted. And you know, we the game plan
• 22:10
  shifted a little bit to a little more
• 22:11
  pressure
• 22:12
  >> and I was able to put him away in like
• 22:13
  two minutes and 40 seconds in the first
• 22:15
  round.
• 22:16
  >> Yeah, it was faster. Like you said, it
• 22:18
  was halfway through the first round, but
• 22:19
  to me it kind of felt like it was a
• 22:20
  little bit longer for the reason I'll
• 22:22
  explain coming into the fight in just
• 22:25
  the few hours leading up to it. I was,
• 22:26
  you know, out amongst the crowd talking
• 22:28
  to people and trying to get their
• 22:30
  opinions on different fights and things.
• 22:31
  And the common theme that I heard from
• 22:33
  people when they were talking about your
• 22:35
  fight was that you're going to start
• 22:36
  this guy. you're going to go in, you're
• 22:37
  going to blitz him, within 30 seconds,
• 22:39
  you'd knock him out. It wasn't quite
• 22:41
  that. I mean, they can't blame them for
• 22:42
  thinking that based on your past
• 22:43
  history, right? You've had a 31 second
• 22:45
  knockout before. And it was a beautiful
• 22:47
  thing. It was a devastating thing to
• 22:48
  see, but still, we know you can do it.
• 22:50
  So, that's what they kind of expected.
• 22:52
  And I'm sure you let them down by taking
• 22:54
  an extra two minutes. I'm just joking.
• 22:56
  You didn't let anybody down. But there
• 22:58
  were moments in there when he looked
• 22:59
  like he was actually in the fight. Like,
• 23:00
  he was giving you some. And uh he didn't
• 23:02
  look too bad in my eyes.
• 23:05
  >> Yeah. Again, a dangerous guy. I think um
• 23:08
  the one thing that people don't realize
• 23:10
  until they're in there with me is I'm
• 23:12
  really fast for a 185. Um I think that's
• 23:15
  to a lot of my years of training. I
• 23:17
  didn't have a lot of big guys in at the
• 23:19
  the club that I was at. So, I'd be
• 23:21
  training with a lot of uh 45s, 55ers,
• 23:24
  and lighter. And I could sit there and
• 23:26
  use my size and my my um my power, but
• 23:28
  that's not going to, you know, doesn't
• 23:31
  do anybody any good. They get hurt, I'm
• 23:33
  just a weight bully. So, I'd always try
• 23:35
  to beat people at their own game. If
• 23:37
  you're faster, I want to be faster than
• 23:38
  you. If you're a better wrestler, I want
• 23:40
  to out wrestle you, out boxing, whatever
• 23:42
  it is. That's kind of where my head
• 23:43
  space is at. And I think with the speed,
• 23:46
  I'm used to again sparring with guys 145
• 23:48
  pounds and being faster than them. So,
• 23:50
  when these guys at 185, 170 come in, I
• 23:52
  have a significant advantage. And when I
• 23:55
  hit him the first couple times and I
• 23:57
  it's almost like the Matrix like slow
• 23:59
  motion when he was striking and again no
• 24:00
  disrespect to him but I saw everything
• 24:02
  coming and he didn't see when I was
• 24:04
  going to throw and when I did throw it
• 24:06
  landed most of the time.
• 24:09
  >> That's amazing. So you kind of described
• 24:11
  the Matrix sort of vibe. Has that
• 24:13
  happened to you before? I know it's
• 24:14
  happened to me in some things. Not
• 24:15
  fighting or anything like that but I
• 24:17
  don't know driving like I'll see I had
• 24:18
  an accident or something and I can feel
• 24:20
  it's almost like slow motion where I'm
• 24:21
  taking the steps to avoid whatever. But
• 24:23
  uh is that something that happens to you
• 24:25
  often or is it something you cultivate?
• 24:28
  >> Um I think a little bit of both like
• 24:30
  again with my record being so inactive
• 24:32
  or myself being so inactive. Um I've
• 24:35
  never really left the gym. I never had
• 24:37
  another job. I didn't work construction.
• 24:38
  I wasn't working as a bartender. Like
• 24:40
  I've been in the gym my whole life since
• 24:42
  I was 10 years old. Uh whether it was
• 24:44
  volunteering, coaching, and then running
• 24:46
  a gym. So whether I'm not actively
• 24:48
  fighting, I'm involved in demonstrating,
• 24:51
  learning, and like having to explain and
• 24:53
  break things down. So I just feel that
• 24:55
  um my
• 24:57
  focus is just on the fighting, the
• 25:00
  combat aspect of things and it's things
• 25:04
  are a little bit slower, things are a
• 25:05
  little bit clearer. Like I'm not good at
• 25:06
  a lot of things, but when it comes to
• 25:08
  this, it it comes quite natural. So
• 25:10
  >> Wow, that's good. That's a good thing.
• 25:11
  It's your job then if you're good at it.
• 25:13
  So
• 25:14
  >> uh we can see the sign behind you. Lines
• 25:15
  MMA. take a moment and just describe
• 25:17
  your gym, the environment there, the
• 25:19
  training, coaches, teammates. Why is it
• 25:22
  such a a good fit for you?
• 25:23
  >> Uh, we have probably the most active
• 25:25
  fight team in uh in our in our city.
• 25:28
  Like on this card alone, I think we had
• 25:32
  seven people supposed to fight. A few
• 25:34
  fell through, but uh there was Carson,
• 25:37
  Bernie, myself, uh Ali Wasuk was
• 25:39
  supposed to fight, but his opponent
• 25:41
  pulled out. Um we have another affiliate
• 25:44
  Austin Botra who won as well. So just
• 25:46
  having such an active fight team. Uh
• 25:48
  Mikey Dash Chavez as well who again took
• 25:50
  the fight on two weeks notice. Hadn't
• 25:52
  fought in years. Like Mikey is one of
• 25:54
  those guys. I'm so proud to fly the same
• 25:56
  banner as him. Two weeks notice,
• 25:57
  injuries coming into it, did not make
• 26:00
  any excuses, went out on a shield. Just
• 26:02
  having that type of environment and
• 26:03
  these guys to to feed off of in training
• 26:06
  is very good. Uh they say iron sharpens
• 26:08
  iron. And when you're in a room with
• 26:10
  guys that are either competing
• 26:11
  jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, Mu Thai, like we
• 26:13
  have a few uh people that are going to
• 26:16
  the worlds for Mu Thai, uh they're going
• 26:18
  to Thailand, and then uh you know, last
• 26:20
  year was I believe in Italy. So just
• 26:22
  having that competitive environment is
• 26:24
  is very good for myself that wants to
• 26:27
  compete.
• 26:28
  >> Who are the coaches there?
• 26:30
  >> Uh air and coach Paulie are the head
• 26:32
  coaches. Um, they're the ones that were
• 26:34
  in my corner along with, you know, Hugh
• 26:36
  was there, uh, who was, uh, another
• 26:39
  active fighter in BFL taking he's given
• 26:42
  me a run for my money as far as
• 26:43
  activity, but, you know, he's fought um,
• 26:46
  he was actually supposed to fight, uh,
• 26:48
  Ian Garry and Paul Hughes back in the
• 26:50
  day in um, in Ireland. So, he he's good
• 26:53
  as well. There's we have a pretty strong
• 26:55
  coaching staff here and a lot of them
• 26:56
  are still actively competing, but uh,
• 26:58
  the head coaches are Amir and Paulie.
• 27:02
  I've met coach Paulie before. What's
• 27:03
  airir's last name?
• 27:05
  >> I don't want to butcher it. He's in the
• 27:06
  office. He's in ears reach. If I say it,
• 27:08
  he may come out and roundhouse kick me
• 27:09
  in the head.
• 27:10
  >> That's okay. I'll make sure I put it in
• 27:11
  the show notes so people can read it and
• 27:13
  they can butcher it for themselves.
• 27:14
  >> Absolutely. He's a beast. He's an
• 27:16
  absolute beast. He's one of my favorite
• 27:17
  people to spar with.
• 27:18
  >> That's good to know.
• 27:19
  >> He's that. I love you, Amir.
• 27:22
  >> All right. So, now you've uh you've it's
• 27:24
  been a week or so. Uh you've had a I
• 27:26
  guess as time to rest as much as you
• 27:28
  want to. You're back in the gym already
• 27:30
  teaching classes and you said you want
• 27:32
  to stay active. So presuming you stay
• 27:34
  healthy. What's next for you next BFL
• 27:36
  card? Something else?
• 27:38
  >> Uh I believe Mr. Golshani and and Coach
• 27:40
  Paulie had a meeting this weekend. Jay
• 27:43
  Goshani is the promoter and owner of
• 27:44
  BFL. Um so they are discussing things I
• 27:48
  think giving options and they're going
• 27:49
  to talk to me shortly. Uh right now in
• 27:51
  in Vancouver we're going to be hosting
• 27:53
  the World Cup for FIFA. So I don't know
• 27:55
  if the card's going to be right away.
• 27:57
  They may have to push it back a bit.
• 27:59
  >> Yeah.
• 27:59
  >> Uh but that's fine. As far as me and my
• 28:01
  body, injuries, everything feels great.
• 28:02
  I could I only got the mandatory 14-day
• 28:05
  suspension, so I could fight whenever.
• 28:08
  Uh I just don't know when it will line
• 28:09
  up just with all the stuff going on in
• 28:11
  the city right now, but the sooner the
• 28:12
  better. I don't want to have to wait
• 28:14
  another two years to fight.
• 28:16
  >> I hope not either. I like I like
• 28:18
  watching you fight. So Jane, the the
• 28:20
  last thing I'm going to say is what I
• 28:21
  always say to people is that is there
• 28:23
  anything we should have talked about
• 28:24
  that I didn't ask you?
• 28:26
  No, this has been great. Straight to the
• 28:28
  point. You're you're very uh easy to
• 28:30
  talk to. You know, you should think
• 28:32
  about doing this as a career, you know.
• 28:34
  >> Well, thank you very much. This actually
• 28:35
  isn't my career. This is just kind of a
• 28:36
  side gig. I've got a career, but uh I
• 28:39
  love doing it.
• 28:40
  >> You're awesome at it.
• 28:41
  >> All right. Well, thank you very much.
• 28:42
  You're awesome. What you do, too.
• 28:43
  >> Thank you, sir.
• 28:44
  >> All right, Jaden. Thanks for your time.
• 28:45
  I really appreciate it. And there you
• 28:46
  go, Fight Friends. Jaden Martin, the new
• 28:48
  BFL interim middleweight champion.
• 28:51
  >> Michael Seafood. It's good to see you,
• 28:52
  man. I always enjoy speaking with you.
• 28:56
  Thanks. Good to be
• 28:57
  >> So, the reason why we're talking right
• 28:58
  now, this moment, is because you're
• 28:59
  fighting this weekend in Trinidad and
• 29:01
  Tobago. Tell me, how in the world did
• 29:03
  you get that set up?
• 29:06
  >> Um, well, uh, I've always, um, kind of
• 29:09
  seen cup from the outside looking in,
• 29:11
  um, the promoter, um, talked to me a
• 29:14
  couple times. We, um, over the couple
• 29:17
  over like, let's say the last five or so
• 29:19
  years, we've talked for a while. Um, and
• 29:22
  I've always wanted to kind of fight down
• 29:23
  there. Um, a couple of my teammates have
• 29:25
  done it before in the past. Um, but
• 29:27
  given like the knee and then um, just
• 29:30
  like other commitments, it wasn't able
• 29:32
  to kind of get across the line until
• 29:34
  now. Um, so uh, yeah, very excited um,
• 29:38
  to go down there. I've never really
• 29:40
  fought internationally. Well, I fought
• 29:41
  in the States before, never fought
• 29:43
  internationally, so it's a good time.
• 29:45
  >> We'll talk more about the knee injury
• 29:46
  later because that was pretty brutal.
• 29:48
  Why don't you take a quick moment and
• 29:49
  just introduce yourself to the to the
• 29:51
  audience? just say who you are, uh where
• 29:53
  you're from, where you train, and how
• 29:54
  you got involved in combat sports.
• 29:56
  >> Yeah.
• 29:58
  >> Yeah. You know what? Um I should
• 29:59
  probably started with that. Yeah. I'm
• 30:01
  Michael Seipo. Um I uh yeah, I I'm a
• 30:05
  professional MMA fighter. Um first I
• 30:08
  trained I well I got my start in MMA
• 30:11
  because um well I was going to school
• 30:15
  for radio and to become a sports
• 30:17
  journalist. I want to to be like Tim and
• 30:20
  Tim Tim McAl my growing up and then I
• 30:24
  landed in North Bay doing a music radio
• 30:27
  gig and over there there was a small
• 30:29
  Muay Thai gym called Action MMA. So I
• 30:32
  went down there u Corey Jackson if
• 30:34
  you're listening to this interview
• 30:36
  you're the man. Love you. Um and yeah I
• 30:40
  went from Muay Thai uh to MMA. Um I was
• 30:43
  also doing a little bit of Brazilian
• 30:44
  jiu-jitsu when I was in university. Um,
• 30:46
  and that's how I kind of like
• 30:48
  transitioned over to the lab MMA. Um,
• 30:50
  because a gentleman named Stephano
• 30:53
  Hosasco was the instructor over at the
• 30:56
  martial arts club at York University for
• 30:58
  Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I did like a little
• 31:01
  bit of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but then
• 31:02
  kind of transitioned to doing a lot of
• 31:04
  Brazilian jiu-jitsu and I realized how
• 31:05
  important it is. Um, so yeah.
• 31:08
  >> Amazing. So, you're a professional MMA
• 31:10
  fighter. You had an amateur career as
• 31:11
  well. Uh, I'm just going to say
• 31:13
  something about you. I hope it doesn't
• 31:14
  offend you, but you've got a record of
• 31:16
  one and three, but I've seen you fight
• 31:19
  in person two or three times, and I
• 31:21
  you're one of those guys who I don't
• 31:23
  feel like your record reflects your
• 31:24
  skill level. I think you're you're much
• 31:26
  better than your record reflects. And
• 31:28
  I'm wondering if that sounds like I'm
• 31:30
  hitting the nail on the head because
• 31:31
  I've seen you, man. You're super skilled
• 31:33
  and sometimes, you know, you get bad
• 31:34
  matchups and I don't know, what have
• 31:35
  you, but uh I I think, you know, I think
• 31:38
  you should be doing okay now.
• 31:41
  >> Yeah.
• 31:42
  Yeah, you know, um and and for the
• 31:44
  record, you're not offending me. I I'm
• 31:46
  very self-aware that like one and three
• 31:48
  is my record and it is what it is. Um
• 31:51
  now, I think what happens is is that
• 31:53
  like a lot of people see like two
• 31:55
  fighters, they fight and that's that.
• 31:57
  But they don't realize um like a lot of
• 32:00
  things that go on with the fighter
• 32:02
  mental. And I'm not here to make
• 32:05
  excuses. Guys beat me fair and square.
• 32:07
  You know what I'm saying? So be it like
• 32:08
  hey um bad matchup here or there uh be
• 32:12
  it that your mental is not there. Um in
• 32:15
  the past I've struggled with stage
• 32:16
  sprite um that's been like a really like
• 32:19
  really big thing for me. Um so like a
• 32:22
  couple of my performances um where I did
• 32:25
  do well like one was the COVID um fight
• 32:28
  where I fought Olivia Rienne. That was
• 32:30
  probably in my opinion my best amateur
• 32:33
  fight. Um
• 32:35
  >> no crowd right. So, it was just, hey, me
• 32:37
  and Olivier, we get to fight, right? Um,
• 32:40
  versus crowds that were large, like,
• 32:43
  yeah, I like kind of struggle with that
• 32:44
  a little bit. So, like getting past
• 32:46
  that, um, has always been kind of the
• 32:49
  thing for me. So, now that like I'm I
• 32:52
  think I'm doing better. You know, it's
• 32:53
  never it's a never journey, but I think
• 32:55
  I'm doing better with that. I think that
• 32:58
  like my skills are that are in the
• 33:01
  training room are starting to reflect
• 33:03
  what my skill sorry my skills that are
• 33:05
  out in the open are starting to reflect
• 33:06
  what my skills are in the training room.
• 33:08
  Um and so I think that's the reason for
• 33:10
  that. Um but yeah I think yeah you hit
• 33:13
  the nail on the head. I think a lot of
• 33:14
  it has to do with just the mental aspect
• 33:17
  and the matchup aspect. But you know
• 33:19
  it's it's a fight. You fight who you
• 33:20
  fight right? And you go go through it.
• 33:22
  >> Well first off let me say thank you.
• 33:24
  Thank you for sharing that. I know I
• 33:25
  don't know if it was easy thing to say
• 33:26
  or if it's it's out in the open or not,
• 33:28
  but I know that mental health struggles
• 33:29
  and that is like a a mental health
• 33:31
  issue. Not not some people hear the word
• 33:33
  mental health and they think it's all
• 33:34
  bad stuff, but like stage fight before a
• 33:36
  fight, sure it's technically mental
• 33:37
  health. Um, but still it's it's a thing.
• 33:41
  It affects you, right? So, I think that
• 33:43
  in the past couple years, the the the
• 33:45
  talking about mental health and and just
• 33:48
  mental strength training has come to the
• 33:51
  forefront. I mean, George Shierre was
• 33:52
  famous for going to see a a mental
• 33:54
  strength coach to uh for the Matt Sarah
• 33:57
  rematch, and a lot of fighters do it
• 33:59
  now. And I I know that Tito Ortiz,
• 34:01
  former UC champion, was famously he was
• 34:03
  throwing up in the locker room before
• 34:05
  every single fight he ever had. So, I
• 34:07
  think it's probably more normal than we
• 34:08
  might realize. And but I think you're
• 34:10
  the first person who's or fighter who's
• 34:12
  ever said it out loud to me. So, thank
• 34:15
  you.
• 34:16
  >> Oh, you're welcome.
• 34:17
  >> Oh, you're welcome. And and yeah, like
• 34:19
  it I mean this is the thing like I
• 34:22
  always said it was weird because I never
• 34:23
  had a fear of losing. I never had a fear
• 34:26
  of getting beat up, right? But for
• 34:28
  whatever reason I just like was so
• 34:30
  scared of being in front of a crowd.
• 34:32
  >> Um doing like and it used to happen and
• 34:35
  I couldn't figure it out because I used
• 34:37
  to play athletics too. I used to play
• 34:38
  basketball. I used to play um soccer and
• 34:40
  you'd get the yips and you're like
• 34:42
  trying to figure out what's happening?
• 34:43
  Why am I getting the yips playing
• 34:45
  football or basketball? And you know, it
• 34:47
  came down to like that fear of being
• 34:50
  watched, I guess. Um, so hey, it you
• 34:53
  know, you figure it out and you kind of
• 34:55
  work.
• 34:55
  >> So, is there been anything any steps
• 34:57
  you've taken to sort of overcome that
• 34:59
  adversity? Like, are you seeing somebody
• 35:00
  to help you out with that or is it just
• 35:01
  something you're trying to be more
• 35:03
  cognizant of?
• 35:06
  >> Yeah. You know what? So, um, I did see
• 35:08
  people for a little bit on that. But
• 35:10
  like what I'm doing now um just because
• 35:13
  like um you know you want to kind of
• 35:15
  develop on your own. You don't want to
• 35:17
  always rely on people. At least that's
• 35:18
  the way I kind of figure it out. I never
• 35:20
  wanted to like always rely on like hey I
• 35:22
  got to be at this appointment um Tuesday
• 35:24
  at 7 o'clock or whatever. But what I'm
• 35:26
  doing now is like um I think what
• 35:28
  happens is is that there's something
• 35:30
  different from like your everyday life
• 35:32
  when you're in front of a crowd. And
• 35:34
  when I was like working in radio, it's
• 35:35
  different because you can kind of turn
• 35:36
  the crowd off versus when you're like in
• 35:39
  front of like an auditorium, it's a
• 35:40
  different feeling. So, one thing I kind
• 35:44
  of worked on is having a routine,
• 35:46
  sticking to that routine because if it's
• 35:49
  an everyday thing, if it's the same,
• 35:52
  then going in there just feels like
• 35:54
  sparring. You're going in there and it's
• 35:56
  the same. The only difference is you're
• 35:57
  now instead of throwing 25 to 50%,
• 36:00
  you're throwing 75 to 100. That's the
• 36:03
  only difference, right? So, just keeping
• 36:05
  things very similar. Um, and your
• 36:07
  routine being the same and is is for me
• 36:11
  what helps, right? Like I don't I don't
• 36:14
  try to make anything different. I don't
• 36:15
  try to warm up different. I try to like
• 36:18
  keep things still.
• 36:20
  >> Yeah, that makes sense to me, man.
• 36:22
  >> So, you had a rough couple years as
• 36:23
  well. You mentioned your knee injury
• 36:24
  earlier on. I I saw you doing some of
• 36:26
  your recovery and it seems to me like it
• 36:28
  was a a really long process. So just
• 36:31
  share with everybody what happened to
• 36:33
  your leg and then and what you did to to
• 36:35
  get past it.
• 36:36
  >> Yeah.
• 36:38
  >> Yeah. Um I mean it's a long story. Um so
• 36:40
  basically what took place was I um I had
• 36:44
  a fight. Okay. So
• 36:46
  um I before even the fight where the
• 36:50
  knee like um before I hurt my knee
• 36:52
  during camp. But what happened was I
• 36:55
  tore my MCL. Um, and so I had to pull
• 36:58
  off one fight, but they kind of told me,
• 37:00
  "Hey, give it eight weeks. It should be
• 37:02
  back." Um, I took a fight uh for like
• 37:07
  that would be scheduled, I think, two
• 37:08
  months after I tore my MCL. Um,
• 37:12
  in that unified card, the one that Dana
• 37:14
  White was going to be at, uh, in 2023.
• 37:17
  >> So, I took that fight because it was a
• 37:18
  great opportunity. You're facing a very
• 37:20
  good uh, opponent. you're in front of
• 37:22
  Dana White, maybe you could turn the
• 37:24
  ship around. At that point, I was 0
• 37:26
  and2. Um, and you know, I was really
• 37:30
  motivated and committed. I was training
• 37:32
  a lot. And then what happened was is
• 37:35
  that to kind of make I had this thing
• 37:37
  where like to stay on weight, I would
• 37:39
  like do like things for a while that
• 37:41
  were a lot more cardio but fun. So like
• 37:43
  at the time I was playing pickup
• 37:44
  basketball. I was playing a lot of um uh
• 37:47
  basketball uh like men's league
• 37:49
  basketball. Um, and I'm very good at it
• 37:52
  too. Very, very good at M basketball.
• 37:55
  But, um, I was playing a lot of
• 37:56
  basketball and I go for a rebound and
• 38:00
  yeah, like part of it was also, yeah,
• 38:02
  the MCL probably wasn't fully healed.
• 38:04
  Yeah, they say 8 weeks, but maybe it's
• 38:05
  like 10 to 12. I go for a rebound, I
• 38:08
  come down and all of a sudden I don't
• 38:09
  have my leg.
• 38:11
  >> And yeah, and so here's the thing. I I
• 38:15
  didn't know how bad it was. I kept
• 38:18
  trying to train through it um until I
• 38:23
  talked to my physiotherapist who's my
• 38:24
  physio therapist now and they go hey you
• 38:27
  should go and get an actual MRI don't
• 38:30
  like don't like test it out don't get an
• 38:32
  actual MRI I got an actual MRI toward an
• 38:35
  MCL to an ACL toward medial and lateral
• 38:38
  meniscus um so that was the issue now I
• 38:42
  had a choice I could either rehab it or
• 38:45
  do surgery I actually elected first to
• 38:48
  rehab and I fought on it twice. But then
• 38:53
  >> um and to make a short a long story
• 38:55
  short, but then there was a doctor I was
• 38:57
  talking to um who happened to be very
• 38:59
  experienced. He did surgery for a couple
• 39:01
  of the Toronto Raptors uh players and he
• 39:05
  talked to me and said, "Hey, I can do
• 39:07
  the surgery at this time at this state."
• 39:08
  So, I actually decided to put my like I
• 39:11
  guess put my career on pause and get the
• 39:14
  surgery. um you know to see if I can
• 39:18
  rehab it again. So that's where we're
• 39:19
  at.
• 39:19
  >> Okay.
• 39:20
  >> When it comes to the knee and 100% like
• 39:23
  um I haven't there was at no point in
• 39:26
  time did I worry about the knee to fight
• 39:28
  but I'm definitely not worried about it
• 39:30
  now. It's it's probably even better than
• 39:32
  it was like before I got the surgery
• 39:34
  just because I have more knowledge of
• 39:36
  how like
• 39:36
  >> Yeah, that's pretty pardon me. Uh I'm
• 39:39
  pretty ignorant about the whole knee
• 39:41
  joint and how it all interacts and
• 39:43
  stuff. I had no idea that it could
• 39:45
  recover on its own. I assume you needed
• 39:47
  surgery every single time. But if you
• 39:48
  can say that 8 weeks, you know, your MCL
• 39:50
  might recover, that's to me that sounds
• 39:52
  pretty incredible.
• 39:55
  >> So this is the thing. If it's a complete
• 39:57
  tear, you need the surgery.
• 40:00
  >> If you get So at the time I had a what
• 40:02
  we call a grade two MCL injury. I
• 40:04
  actually injured it in training. Um, and
• 40:08
  so they were like, "Hey, if you give it
• 40:09
  8 weeks, um, and you're like, you know,
• 40:13
  rehabing good and whatever, you can come
• 40:15
  back." Um, but I probably shouldn't have
• 40:19
  been going and playing basketball
• 40:22
  on on a tor. So, you know, and and I
• 40:25
  think it's it's maturity and and um just
• 40:29
  being smart. I I wasn't necessarily
• 40:31
  smart and I' I've apologized profusely
• 40:33
  to unified MMA for that because it
• 40:35
  wasn't smart to necessarily play on that
• 40:38
  bad knee.
• 40:39
  >> Sure.
• 40:40
  >> Um and do something that like is not
• 40:42
  necessarily correlated to your training.
• 40:45
  Um that was that was a bad mistake on my
• 40:47
  part. Um and it did lead to a lot of
• 40:50
  those issues. But yeah, that that's kind
• 40:51
  of how it goes. Like if you can if it's
• 40:54
  grade one, grade two, you're good to
• 40:56
  heal on its own. Complete tear. Wow.
• 40:59
  >> Probably not.
• 41:00
  >> Well, you know what they say, lesson
• 41:01
  learned. Don't do that again.
• 41:04
  >> So, let's move on to this weekend. You
• 41:06
  are I'm just going to switch over to my
• 41:07
  uh my notes tab. You are fighting a man
• 41:09
  named Ren Katisco at Caribbean Ultimate
• 41:12
  Fist Fighting 22, also known as Cuff, on
• 41:15
  the this upcoming weekend. So, what do
• 41:18
  you know about this guy?
• 41:19
  >> Yeah.
• 41:21
  >> Um, we we we taken a look at his fights.
• 41:23
  Um, well-rounded guy. Um, undefeated in
• 41:26
  his M MMA career so far. So, um it's an
• 41:30
  uphill battle for sure. Um
• 41:33
  >> you know what was really interesting um
• 41:35
  about the way he fights is that
• 41:37
  >> I've when you think Sir Namian um or Sir
• 41:40
  Namese, I'm not sure how it goes. I
• 41:43
  don't want to be ignorant of that. But
• 41:45
  >> yeah, but when you're fighting somebody
• 41:46
  from Surinom, you're thinking Kickboxer,
• 41:48
  right? You got Rosenroy, you've got uh
• 41:51
  Tyron Spang, who I believe is from there
• 41:53
  as well. Like you're thinking Kickboxer.
• 41:56
  you when I we took a look at his
• 41:58
  footage. Um he does like to go to his
• 42:02
  grappling a lot. Like he's wellrounded.
• 42:05
  There's not really a tough out for for
• 42:07
  me here, but he likes to go to his
• 42:09
  grappling a lot. Um now I'm not
• 42:13
  necessarily he's more of a top kind of
• 42:15
  top pressure kind of grappler more so
• 42:17
  than we're going to see like intricate
• 42:18
  jiu-jitsu per se. Um at least from the
• 42:21
  footage we've seen. Um, but it's to say
• 42:24
  that like we're we're facing a tough guy
• 42:27
  who's good everywhere. Um, and knows
• 42:29
  kind of more so what he likes tactically
• 42:32
  than he is a guy who necessarily likes
• 42:35
  to stick to one part of uh one of them.
• 42:38
  >> Who are you bringing with you to
• 42:39
  Trinidad?
• 42:41
  Um, so
• 42:42
  >> um, so the lab MMA members, um, my head
• 42:45
  coach Don Magboo, uh, Professor Jesse
• 42:47
  Richardson, um, is also going to be
• 42:50
  making the trip down. Uh, there are two
• 42:53
  other fighters who are on the card.
• 42:54
  There was originally going to be three,
• 42:55
  but unfortunately circumstances meant
• 42:57
  that one of our other teammates could
• 42:59
  not compete. Um, Eric Van Tran and Manny
• 43:02
  Magboo are also going to be competing as
• 43:04
  amateurs on the undercard. Um both of
• 43:07
  them um I have full confidence will take
• 43:09
  their guys out um by whatever they want
• 43:12
  to do. Um Manny Magu um here like if we
• 43:17
  camera on me five years Manny Magoo
• 43:20
  you're going to know remember the name
• 43:21
  that that's gonna be one of the top
• 43:22
  players. Yeah.
• 43:24
  >> And he's the son of the coach isn't he?
• 43:27
  >> Yeah. Son of Don Magu. Um, and I I'm
• 43:31
  telling you now, we we see it in the
• 43:33
  training room. Um, I don't want to put
• 43:35
  pressure on the kid. I just want to be
• 43:36
  clear, but um, we we know like we see
• 43:40
  it. We know who like and I'm telling
• 43:43
  you, give it about five years. Um,
• 43:46
  because he's 18 now. Give it about five
• 43:48
  years. When he's 23,
• 43:51
  um, you're you're gonna you're gonna
• 43:52
  he's going to be in or around the mix of
• 43:54
  maybe getting a call from the UFC. I'm
• 43:56
  I'm not kidding.
• 43:57
  >> Well, yeah. I at least
• 44:00
  >> I would just like to pre Thank you for
• 44:02
  giving me a soundbite clip that I can
• 44:03
  post in in five years when he makes it
• 44:05
  to the UFC. So, that's going to be
• 44:06
  pretty cool.
• 44:08
  >> Yeah.
• 44:09
  >> All right, Michael, that's it. That's
• 44:10
  all I have, man. I'm wondering, is there
• 44:12
  anything you think we should have talked
• 44:13
  about that we didn't?
• 44:16
  >> Um, no. Uh, yeah. Uh, nothing comes to
• 44:20
  mind. Um, I guess, yeah, follow me on
• 44:22
  social media. Um, I do work as a
• 44:24
  strength and conditioning coach and a
• 44:25
  personal trainer as well. So, you know,
• 44:28
  definitely if you want to see what we're
• 44:29
  what I'm coming what is coming up for
• 44:31
  me, uh, follow me at Michael.
• 44:35
  Um, as FFO is my last name. Uh, a lot of
• 44:40
  people including, uh, unfortunately,
• 44:41
  including Cup, I love them, but they did
• 44:43
  misspell my name, but it's okay. Uh, so
• 44:45
  >> that's okay. It's spelled properly at
• 44:47
  mma.ca, so that's all that matters.
• 44:50
  >> Yeah.
• 44:51
  >> All right, Michael. Thank you so much
• 44:52
  for the time, man. I wish you the best
• 44:54
  of luck. I always think you're a very uh
• 44:56
  very polite and and genuine and nice
• 44:58
  young man whenever I talk with you. So,
• 44:59
  I wish you the best. Hope you kick some
• 45:01
  butt and we will chat soon.
• 45:05
  >> Appreciate it. Thank you.
• 45:08
  >> Scott Heathcoat, this is a first for me.
• 45:10
  I don't think I've ever talked to
• 45:11
  anybody who was in Colombia before.
• 45:14
  >> Yeah, it feels good to be getting to do
• 45:16
  an interview with you, Andy. I'm here in
• 45:18
  Colombia getting ready for my fight on
• 45:20
  Saturday.
• 45:22
  That's awesome. It's really exciting to
• 45:24
  see when young fighters like you get
• 45:25
  opportunities to do things like this
• 45:26
  because uh a lot of times a lot of
• 45:28
  fighters don't. They stay in their local
• 45:30
  local amateur show, whatever, like that.
• 45:32
  You're professional now obviously, but
• 45:34
  they they stick around locally. So, the
• 45:35
  fact you're traveling already, I mean, I
• 45:37
  know you went to Serbia for the World
• 45:39
  Championships a few years ago, but this
• 45:40
  is kind of cool. You get to be so well
• 45:42
  traveled already.
• 45:43
  Yeah, honestly it's really awesome
• 45:45
  getting to go to different countries
• 45:47
  like part of the fight game, see the
• 45:48
  world, but also just to experience
• 45:50
  different different styles of fighting
• 45:52
  from each country. Like you said, I went
• 45:54
  to Serbia last year for worlds. I went
• 45:57
  to Brazil for my first pro fight. So
• 45:59
  just traveling all over again fights.
• 46:02
  >> That's pretty.
• 46:04
  >> I bet it is awesome. I wish I would have
• 46:06
  done that when I was what are you 24?
• 46:08
  >> Uh 23.
• 46:09
  >> 23. Okay. Uh do me a favor, Scott. just
• 46:12
  take a minute, introduce yourself to the
• 46:14
  audience, say who you are, uh where you
• 46:16
  train out of, how you got involved in
• 46:17
  combat sports.
• 46:19
  >> Uh so I'm Scott Husco from Canada. Uh
• 46:22
  I'm training with Thick Boy MMA.
• 46:25
  I've won Worlds as an amateur, went 81
• 46:30
  and one as an amateur. I'm one and0 as a
• 46:32
  pro fighter right now and basically I'm
• 46:35
  on that road to the UFC hopefully.
• 46:39
  >> That's amazing. Yeah, you mentioned the
• 46:41
  8-1 and one record. You're you're right
• 46:42
  on like a seven fight win streak and
• 46:44
  that's super impressive for anybody. I
• 46:46
  don't care who you are. So I'm just
• 46:48
  curious when you got started into
• 46:50
  fighting, how did that how did that
• 46:51
  progress? Did you start off straight
• 46:52
  into MMA or did you do like a
• 46:54
  traditional martial art first?
• 46:56
  >> So I used to be a gymnast, a competitive
• 46:58
  gymnast for team Ontario like my whole
• 47:00
  childhood.
• 47:00
  >> Wow.
• 47:01
  >> And I did that from about three to I
• 47:04
  think 15. And then I stopped doing
• 47:06
  gymnastics. And I was kind of always
• 47:08
  getting into like fights when I was
• 47:09
  younger, just schoolyard fights outside,
• 47:12
  whatever. And then once I stopped doing
• 47:14
  competitive gymnastics, I had a lot of
• 47:16
  free time. I was like, let's let's try
• 47:19
  fighting for a little bit. Went to my
• 47:21
  first class and just fell in love with
• 47:23
  it right after that.
• 47:25
  >> That's kind of how my journey began.
• 47:27
  >> Now, everybody knows that gymnasts are
• 47:30
  probably well in the top two or three
• 47:32
  pound-for-pound athletes in the world.
• 47:33
  That's incredible. Have you been able to
• 47:35
  retain a lot of your strength and your
• 47:37
  flexibility and all your core strength
• 47:38
  and stuff like that from your gymnastics
• 47:40
  days?
• 47:41
  >> 100%. Yeah, I do still a lot of
• 47:43
  gymnastic workouts. Like I go to my old
• 47:45
  gymnastics gym, Von Gymnastics, all the
• 47:47
  time to do some workouts there. It's a
• 47:50
  full body arms, legs. You get the
• 47:52
  flexibility, you get the coordination
• 47:54
  from it. It that's what you see in a lot
• 47:56
  of my matches where I'm able to be very
• 47:58
  dynamic doing big kicks, doing flips and
• 48:01
  stuff after the fight. That all comes
• 48:03
  from like that gymnastics background.
• 48:06
  >> That's wicked. And now you're a fighter.
• 48:08
  What is it about fighting? What is it
• 48:10
  about fighting that you like?
• 48:13
  >> Honestly, like I love to test myself.
• 48:16
  That's one of my favorite things. Like
• 48:18
  growing up, I was never too into team
• 48:20
  sports just because it's not just you
• 48:23
  out there. When you're in a fight, it's
• 48:25
  if you win, you take all the glory. If
• 48:28
  you lose, you take all the
• 48:29
  responsibility. So, it's very like
• 48:31
  intimate in that sense that it's only
• 48:34
  you there.
• 48:35
  >> If you trained hard enough, you did the
• 48:36
  work, you're going to win, you're going
• 48:38
  to see. There's no external factors. And
• 48:41
  I think I really just like that idea.
• 48:44
  >> Well, I I agree with you somewhat, but
• 48:46
  from what, you know, I talked to a lot
• 48:48
  of people and I think that sure, it's an
• 48:50
  individual sport. Once you step inside
• 48:52
  that cage, there's no external factors,
• 48:53
  but before that door closes, before it's
• 48:56
  just you, the other guy, and the
• 48:57
  referee, you've got a whole team that
• 48:59
  supports you. Talk about
• 49:00
  >> Oh, 100%.
• 49:02
  >> Talk about Thick Boy MMA and and how
• 49:04
  they fit into your to your life.
• 49:06
  >> Yeah, so I've been with Thick Boy MMA
• 49:08
  for a couple years now. Uh Boy, one of
• 49:10
  the lead coaches at Thick Boy MMA, he
• 49:13
  was actually my first ever coach. The
• 49:15
  first day I walked into my first gym,
• 49:17
  Legends MMA, he was coaching a jiu-jitsu
• 49:19
  class. So, I've known Boyan my whole
• 49:22
  career, about nine years now. And once
• 49:24
  they started up, Thick Boy Fight Club
• 49:26
  started up putting on amateur shows. I
• 49:29
  joined the team and it's just been
• 49:31
  awesome. Coach Tyson's one of the best
• 49:33
  in Canada, I think. And we got a really
• 49:35
  solid group of guys there all around my
• 49:38
  weight, too. So, it's been perfect for
• 49:40
  developing me as a fighter, really.
• 49:43
  >> That's fantastic. I've always loved
• 49:45
  Thick Boy Fight Club. I've made no bones
• 49:47
  that you know, the the events
• 49:48
  themselves, I love attending. There's
• 49:50
  nothing like them. They're just the
• 49:51
  best.
• 49:52
  >> Yeah, it's super fun.
• 49:54
  >> So, now you're down in Colia. You're
• 49:56
  getting ready for a fight. Just give me
• 49:57
  a second. I'm going to move my eyeballs
• 49:58
  to to the my notes page. So, you're
• 50:00
  fighting a guy called Allejo Sabocall at
• 50:03
  UGP19 in Medi in Colombia. What do you
• 50:05
  know about this guy?
• 50:07
  >> Uh, honestly, I wasn't able to find too
• 50:09
  much information on him online. I
• 50:11
  couldn't find too many fights of his,
• 50:13
  but from what I can see, he's kind of a
• 50:15
  brawler. He throws some heavy punches.
• 50:17
  He has a decent record. two and one as a
• 50:19
  pro, 12 and four as an amateur, I
• 50:21
  believe. So, he has experience. He's
• 50:23
  quite skilled, but honestly, I feel in
• 50:27
  the wrestling and the grappling
• 50:29
  department, I'm definitely light years
• 50:30
  ahead of him. And then my striking, I
• 50:32
  have lots of kickboxing fights. I feel
• 50:34
  like I won't have a problem there
• 50:36
  either.
• 50:37
  >> Nice. So, you're one and0. Hopefully,
• 50:40
  after this weekend, you'll be 2 and 0.
• 50:42
  You mentioned earlier on the UFC is your
• 50:43
  goal, and that is with pretty much
• 50:45
  everybody I talked to. So, what's your
• 50:47
  general game plan? Are you do you have a
• 50:49
  certain time limit that you're looking
• 50:50
  for? Do you have a goal for when you
• 50:52
  want to make it to the UFC?
• 50:54
  >> Uh, I would like to make it to the UFC
• 50:56
  while I'm 25. So, that gives me about
• 50:58
  two years to get there. My kind of game
• 51:01
  plan is just to take as many fights as I
• 51:03
  can and obviously win them all. And if I
• 51:06
  keep winning fights, naturally, I'm
• 51:08
  going to make it to the UFC someday. So,
• 51:10
  just fight, fight, fight. This year, I
• 51:12
  want to try to get between like three to
• 51:14
  five fights. So, if I get this fight,
• 51:17
  win it here. I'm about on track. I had
• 51:20
  one in April. Now I have one in May. Uh,
• 51:23
  was it May? No, I had one in March. Now
• 51:26
  I have one in May. Try to get one July
• 51:28
  and just keep the ball rolling, really.
• 51:31
  >> So, is that something you're trying to
• 51:32
  do is keep fighting outside of Canada?
• 51:35
  >> Uh, honestly, no. I'm not opposed to
• 51:37
  fighting in Canada. They tried to get me
• 51:39
  on the last unified card. They weren't
• 51:41
  able to find me opponent and then the
• 51:43
  whole card got kind of shut down.
• 51:45
  Anyways,
• 51:46
  >> yeah,
• 51:46
  >> but it's just been a little difficult
• 51:48
  finding me an opponent. And then boy, my
• 51:51
  coach, he's traveled all over the world
• 51:52
  fighting. So, he has connections
• 51:54
  everywhere. He tells me, "We got you a
• 51:56
  fight in Brazil. We got you a fight in
• 51:58
  Colombia, wherever." I just say, "Let's
• 52:00
  go.
• 52:01
  >> Let's go, man." Uh, okay. If you were to
• 52:04
  talk to a stranger and tell them what
• 52:06
  you do, how would you describe your
• 52:08
  fight style inside the cage?
• 52:11
  >> I would, that's a good question. I would
• 52:14
  describe myself as very unorthodox, very
• 52:18
  dynamic where I like to live in like the
• 52:21
  chaos of the fight. I like to go very
• 52:23
  high pace, make scrambles happen,
• 52:27
  >> just make it not a conventional fight
• 52:29
  because I feel like that's where I
• 52:30
  perform the best at. If it's a very
• 52:32
  conventional fight, I still have my
• 52:34
  basics. I'm quite good with that. But if
• 52:36
  I can make it different, make it weird,
• 52:38
  give them looks they haven't really seen
• 52:40
  before, that's where I feel like I
• 52:42
  really I really excel at. So, I try to
• 52:45
  just make the fight as crazy and wild as
• 52:48
  possible, if that makes much sense.
• 52:50
  >> It It totally makes sense. I've always
• 52:52
  said that's an underrated aspect of the
• 52:54
  fight game that not a lot of people put
• 52:56
  too much effort into or or even much
• 52:58
  thought into is that sure, there's the
• 53:00
  different areas of fighting. There's
• 53:01
  ground fighting, there's strike, there's
• 53:02
  stand up fighting, there's the clinch,
• 53:04
  but you have to get to one of those from
• 53:06
  one or the other. So often times it's in
• 53:08
  the transition from ground to striking
• 53:10
  or striking to the ground where some
• 53:12
  people just get lost and they get taken
• 53:13
  advantage of. So if you can thrive in
• 53:15
  that sort of gray space, it's just a big
• 53:18
  benefit for you. Yeah, I've definitely
• 53:20
  felt that's where my benefit has been
• 53:23
  coming in. Where most guys, like you
• 53:25
  said, they're not really used to that
• 53:26
  kind of gray area in between striking
• 53:29
  and grappling where it's kind of a lot
• 53:31
  going on. Some people freeze up and
• 53:33
  that's where I end up finding my moment
• 53:35
  to either get the submission or a good
• 53:37
  punch in.
• 53:39
  >> Well, Scott, this is uh I don't think I
• 53:41
  have got any more questions, but my last
• 53:43
  question I always ask is is I give it
• 53:44
  back to you. Is there anything that you
• 53:46
  wanted to talk about that we didn't talk
• 53:47
  about?
• 53:49
  Uh,
• 53:50
  anything I want to talk about? Not
• 53:52
  particularly, honestly. Want to promote
• 53:55
  my fight saying like you said already,
• 53:57
  I'm fighting here in Colombia on May
• 54:00
  23rd. It's going to be live on YouTube
• 54:03
  and Instagram. So, check me out and
• 54:05
  remember the name Scott Heathcom. I'm
• 54:06
  going be coming to Canada soon to fight
• 54:09
  in my hometown.
• 54:11
  And just you'll see me on the big stage
• 54:13
  one day. Is
• 54:14
  >> Is that a Is that like a a news flash
• 54:16
  you just gave us? You're fighting in
• 54:17
  your hometown. What's that and where's
• 54:18
  that?
• 54:19
  >> Uh, there's nothing official yet, but I
• 54:21
  think I should be fighting in Canada
• 54:22
  hopefully sometime this summer. So, keep
• 54:26
  tuned. Follow me on Instagram. You'll
• 54:27
  get some updates soon.
• 54:29
  >> Let's go, man. I I I'll be making sure I
• 54:31
  share everything that you put out.
• 54:33
  >> Beautiful. Thank you so much. I really
• 54:34
  appreciate it.
• 54:35
  >> Okay. Thanks for your time, Scott. Good
• 54:36
  luck this weekend. Kick some butt.
• 54:38
  >> 100%. Make Canada proud.
• 54:42
  >> Atlanta, thanks for joining us today on
• 54:44
  the MMA show. I'm really excited to talk
• 54:46
  to you about your not a new MMA
• 54:48
  organization but fairly new Mayhem
• 54:50
  Fights. Uh would you mind uh actually
• 54:52
  before we even get into Mayhem Fights,
• 54:54
  just take a second if you don't mind.
• 54:55
  Introduce yourself to my audience. Just
• 54:57
  say who you are and why we're talking.
• 55:01
  >> Um Elena Beman and co-founder with
• 55:03
  Bradley Newan of Mayhem Fight
• 55:05
  Promotions.
• 55:07
  >> Okay, so Mayhem Fights, you've had one
• 55:09
  event already and I know you've already
• 55:10
  got four scheduled for the rest of the
• 55:12
  year. One's just coming up in a week. uh
• 55:14
  Mayhem Fights. Tell me about Mayhem
• 55:16
  Fights, where it where it came from,
• 55:17
  where the idea was the conception of
• 55:19
  Mayhem Fights. There are already MMA
• 55:22
  amateur organizations in Ontario. So why
• 55:24
  did you feel there's a need for you to
• 55:25
  join the fry?
• 55:27
  >> So in an absolutely unexpected way, I
• 55:30
  landed into this industry. So I was
• 55:33
  brought into um another organization to
• 55:37
  sell ticket sales. That's kind of my
• 55:39
  background is online sales. and I very
• 55:42
  very quickly so to be honest when I
• 55:44
  ended up with that company I didn't know
• 55:46
  a lot about this industry. I was very
• 55:48
  ignorant to it um and very uneducated to
• 55:51
  the background of the MMA community. But
• 55:54
  very very quickly I became immersed in
• 55:57
  it and I developed a passion for not
• 56:00
  just the sport but the athletes, the
• 56:02
  coaches and the fans. Um so
• 56:05
  unfortunately the the other endeavor um
• 56:09
  was quickly finished. Um but it really
• 56:12
  lit a new passion in me
• 56:14
  >> for this community. Um just watching the
• 56:18
  athletes show up to that fight and the
• 56:21
  amount of dedication like I was so privy
• 56:23
  like I was not privy to how much
• 56:26
  dedication that they put into their
• 56:28
  sport, how much sacrifice just to even
• 56:30
  show up. and Mayhem, as you know, we do
• 56:33
  amateur fights. So, with that being
• 56:36
  said, a lot of these athletes are doing
• 56:37
  this just out of pure passion. So, that
• 56:39
  alone is so honorable. Um, so while it
• 56:42
  didn't work out with the other company,
• 56:44
  I definitely saw a little bit of a niche
• 56:46
  in the market.
• 56:48
  >> Um, there's a lot of companies and
• 56:49
  they're doing amazing fight nights, but
• 56:52
  the entertainment industry in Ontario is
• 56:54
  lacking a little bit in this area. So, I
• 56:56
  saw a little bit of an opportunity to do
• 56:58
  something very different when I entered
• 57:01
  um very unorthodox and so we've added a
• 57:04
  lot of entertainment background into our
• 57:07
  fight night. So, we're not just a fight
• 57:09
  night, we also are a full event. So,
• 57:12
  with that being said, from the moment
• 57:14
  that somebody gets out of their car to
• 57:16
  the time that they take their Uber home
• 57:17
  at the end of the night, they are
• 57:19
  entertained the whole night through.
• 57:20
  >> I think you're going to have a band at
• 57:22
  the next event, aren't you? We have a
• 57:24
  band that comes with us everywhere. They
• 57:27
  um their name is Unlocked and honestly
• 57:30
  Karen is the lead singer and my god she
• 57:33
  opens her voice like voice of an angel
• 57:36
  opens her voice opens her lips and she
• 57:39
  has the voice of an angel. Like actually
• 57:41
  I have to lift everybody's jaw off the
• 57:43
  floor before even there's a first fight.
• 57:45
  Um she's amazing. She captures she's
• 57:47
  sexy. She's can sing anything from
• 57:50
  Nirvana to Lady Gaga. Like um she keeps
• 57:54
  the crowd pretty entertained. The band
• 57:55
  as a whole is next level. Um we also
• 57:58
  have uh DJ Def Act and he's traveled all
• 58:02
  of North America doing massive
• 58:04
  festivals. He is incredible as well. So
• 58:06
  like I said, like we just have a lineup
• 58:09
  of all different entertainment options
• 58:11
  for the same ticket price as going to,
• 58:14
  you know, another MMA fight, which is
• 58:15
  amazing. people are really getting a
• 58:17
  different option.
• 58:19
  >> I noticed that your all your events,
• 58:21
  your scheduled events so far around the
• 58:23
  same geographic area, too, which is kind
• 58:24
  of smart because people they like
• 58:27
  supporting the the fighters from their
• 58:29
  local community. So, if you can get
• 58:30
  fighters from around your area to start
• 58:32
  it anyway, that's a good sign and it's
• 58:33
  probably really helpful for ticket
• 58:35
  sales.
• 58:36
  >> Yeah, we've been very very blessed. Um
• 58:39
  we we kind of stick to our own little
• 58:42
  niche areas. So, we're up in the north
• 58:44
  here um for the most part. There's some
• 58:47
  amazing promotion companies that are
• 58:48
  more south. So, um we just we wanted to
• 58:52
  create opportunity also because we also
• 58:54
  have a lot of fighters up in the north
• 58:56
  that are traveling so far and like I
• 58:57
  said in the Ammy um community
• 59:00
  >> they they are traveling like just their
• 59:03
  cost of travel to get to the if they're
• 59:05
  home and you know practicing and um
• 59:08
  training in the north it becomes quite
• 59:10
  overhead for them. So, um, just creating
• 59:13
  new opportunities in a different area
• 59:15
  that's a little bit untapped has been
• 59:17
  kind of where we went with our business.
• 59:19
  >> Yeah. No, it's it's smart. It's a really
• 59:21
  good idea. Um, I'm just cur Elena, do
• 59:23
  you have any martial arts training
• 59:24
  yourself? Have you ever done anything
• 59:25
  like that?
• 59:26
  >> I don't. No, like I said, I I landed in
• 59:29
  this industry completely unorthodox. Um,
• 59:33
  so no, I have never trained MMA. Um, but
• 59:36
  I appreciate what they do, but no, I
• 59:39
  have no background. Maybe it's something
• 59:41
  you'll want to get into now or in a in a
• 59:43
  short while.
• 59:44
  >> Yeah, you never know. It could happen.
• 59:46
  >> Do some Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Learn how
• 59:47
  to put your kids in check and without re
• 59:49
  actually hurting them.
• 59:50
  >> H I can do that without Brazilian
• 59:52
  jiu-jitsu, let me tell you.
• 59:54
  That's not a problem over here.
• 59:56
  >> So, so Mayhem Fights, you said I said
• 59:58
  you you've had one event so far. This
• 1:00:00
  will be your second. I'm just going to
• 1:00:01
  switch over to your take a look at your
• 1:00:03
  May fights page. So, your next event is
• 1:00:04
  on the 30th of May in Orangeville,
• 1:00:06
  Ontario. You have five events for this
• 1:00:08
  year. Uh, this next one is scheduled for
• 1:00:10
  the 30th of May and I believe you're
• 1:00:12
  planning on 11 fights for that that
• 1:00:14
  night, but I see that there are seven
• 1:00:16
  scheduled so far that I can find.
• 1:00:17
  Anyway, I'm just wondering how you
• 1:00:19
  locate your fighters and how do you
• 1:00:20
  decide who's going to fight on your
• 1:00:21
  card?
• 1:00:23
  >> So, we go into the gyms and um we're
• 1:00:27
  right now we're still, you know, shaking
• 1:00:28
  hands, meeting coaches, we're showing up
• 1:00:31
  at the gyms and, you know, we're
• 1:00:33
  actually just, you know, walking in and
• 1:00:35
  introducing ourselves. Um, and we're
• 1:00:37
  finding that to be very successful. We
• 1:00:39
  do have 10 total fights right now. So,
• 1:00:41
  this week you'll see a couple more pop
• 1:00:43
  up um to finish that card. And yeah,
• 1:00:46
  we're doing it kind of the oldfashioned
• 1:00:48
  way. We are literally showing up at the
• 1:00:50
  gyms. We want people to know us. We're
• 1:00:52
  we're not just another company. We have
• 1:00:53
  a face. We have a personality. And we
• 1:00:56
  want people to know that. Um, and that's
• 1:00:59
  been very successful. So, we're going to
• 1:01:01
  keep going with that.
• 1:01:02
  >> Nice. Now, just out of fairness to your
• 1:01:04
  business partner, I think Brendan is his
• 1:01:07
  name.
• 1:01:08
  >> Brand new. Yeah.
• 1:01:09
  >> So, talk about him for a second. How the
• 1:01:10
  two of you meet and how did you decide
• 1:01:12
  that this is something you'd uh go into
• 1:01:13
  together?
• 1:01:15
  >> So, he was actually on um he was in the
• 1:01:18
  other company with me and so he has a
• 1:01:21
  little bit more background in this
• 1:01:23
  industry and both of us just we really
• 1:01:26
  felt like we wanted to bring something a
• 1:01:29
  little bit more organized, a little bit
• 1:01:30
  more professional. um and that
• 1:01:35
  that catered to not just the athletes,
• 1:01:39
  not just the coaches, but also the fans
• 1:01:41
  in a much more organized, professional
• 1:01:43
  way. So, we thought, you know, we should
• 1:01:46
  keep going with this. We both really
• 1:01:48
  enjoy it. Um but we want to do it on a
• 1:01:51
  different scale than what the other
• 1:01:52
  company was doing. So, we decided to
• 1:01:54
  branch off together. That's how we ended
• 1:01:56
  up in business together was through
• 1:01:58
  that. And um and here we are. Mayhem was
• 1:02:01
  born. Here we are.
• 1:02:02
  >> So, five five events scheduled for this
• 1:02:04
  year. That's pretty pretty impressive if
• 1:02:06
  if they happen because not like without
• 1:02:09
  putting a bummer on this conversation,
• 1:02:10
  fight organizations, they come and they
• 1:02:12
  go pretty quickly. I'm just wondering
• 1:02:14
  how you've planned for making sure that
• 1:02:16
  you have success in the future and and
• 1:02:17
  what things you're what steps you're
• 1:02:19
  taking toward making sure that you're
• 1:02:20
  one of the few that survive.
• 1:02:23
  >> Well, first off, Andy, we will
• 1:02:24
  absolutely be here. So, we are
• 1:02:26
  definitely here to stay. Um, so between
• 1:02:29
  my background and Brad's, we're finding
• 1:02:33
  um, to be honest, I think ticket sales
• 1:02:34
  are the hardest thing. Um, if the
• 1:02:37
  fighters are not selling the tickets for
• 1:02:39
  a lot of the companies and we are doing
• 1:02:41
  the opposite, we are selling the tickets
• 1:02:44
  online. We are finding a whole new
• 1:02:46
  demographic who haven't even been to a
• 1:02:48
  fight yet. That's where the
• 1:02:49
  entertainment area brings in such new
• 1:02:52
  fans that didn't are also just like me
• 1:02:55
  when I started, you know, just ignorant
• 1:02:56
  to the industry. They don't know a lot
• 1:02:58
  about it and they might be a little bit
• 1:03:00
  intimidated to go to a full fight night
• 1:03:02
  because there's nothing else going on.
• 1:03:05
  That's for like the true fight fans.
• 1:03:06
  We're doing something a little bit
• 1:03:08
  different. We are getting the true fight
• 1:03:09
  fans, but we're also getting people who
• 1:03:11
  are like, "Would I go? Should I go?"
• 1:03:13
  Because now they have another reason to
• 1:03:15
  go. We've got the entertainment. We've
• 1:03:17
  got a DJ. We've got I mean, everybody's
• 1:03:19
  got the DJ, but we've got the band. It
• 1:03:21
  becomes an event. It becomes a night
• 1:03:23
  out. It's not just to go and watch the
• 1:03:26
  fights. Um, so we're finding a lot of
• 1:03:28
  new people in Ontario are showing up,
• 1:03:30
  coming through our door. They're buying
• 1:03:32
  the tickets online because they're
• 1:03:33
  they're curious. They want to go. Um,
• 1:03:36
  and they wouldn't have known a fighter,
• 1:03:38
  but now they have options because we're
• 1:03:39
  showing up in front of them on a daily
• 1:03:41
  basis online. So, it's very very
• 1:03:43
  different than what the average is doing
• 1:03:45
  in the industry right now.
• 1:03:46
  >> Great. Great. How are your ticket sales
• 1:03:48
  looking now compared to what you
• 1:03:49
  expected them to be? Well, we expected
• 1:03:52
  to sell out um every event and thus far,
• 1:03:54
  knock on wood, we sold out our first
• 1:03:56
  event and we are 75% at the next event.
• 1:04:00
  And you know what, it's really funny
• 1:04:01
  because we're doing full entertainment
• 1:04:03
  and the buzz is kind of going around.
• 1:04:05
  We're getting that a lot that um they're
• 1:04:07
  getting a lot of value for their ticket.
• 1:04:09
  Um we're finding our tables and our VIP
• 1:04:13
  sections are selling out quicker than
• 1:04:14
  general admission, which is absolutely
• 1:04:16
  crazy. So, we only have a few tickets
• 1:04:18
  left in general admission. Um,
• 1:04:20
  everything else is pretty well sold out
• 1:04:22
  except for one first row table. So, I I
• 1:04:24
  don't know. Everything about our company
• 1:04:26
  is absolutely backwards, but we're
• 1:04:28
  loving it. We're having so much fun with
• 1:04:29
  it and we're just going to keep on
• 1:04:31
  going.
• 1:04:31
  >> Awesome. That's pretty great. Um, when
• 1:04:33
  you take a look at uh like online sales
• 1:04:36
  and all that kind of stuff, it's great.
• 1:04:37
  It's wonderful, but it's really
• 1:04:38
  important to have the positive word of
• 1:04:40
  mouth. And I think after you've already
• 1:04:42
  had one successful event, after a second
• 1:04:44
  or maybe a third, that that buzz
• 1:04:46
  throughout the community will only be
• 1:04:48
  expanded once people actually realize
• 1:04:49
  they've gone, they've had a good time,
• 1:04:51
  maybe once, twice, three times, and and
• 1:04:53
  that's when they talk to their friends
• 1:04:54
  and talk to their family, and that sort
• 1:04:56
  of helps grow as well, won't it?
• 1:04:58
  >> Absolutely. The first one obviously
• 1:05:00
  always the hardest. Um, we have to, you
• 1:05:03
  know, really prove ourselves. Um, the
• 1:05:05
  second one has been a little bit easier
• 1:05:07
  and we hope by the third, you know, we
• 1:05:09
  build momentum. that's business. Um, so
• 1:05:11
  just one foot in front of the other. So,
• 1:05:13
  um, so far so good. We're we're in a
• 1:05:16
  good space, that's for sure.
• 1:05:17
  >> Nice. Where do you envision Mayhem
• 1:05:19
  fights going long term?
• 1:05:21
  >> Long term, we will definitely do
• 1:05:23
  pro-Aam. Um, but we're not ready for
• 1:05:25
  that yet. We really want to get um a
• 1:05:28
  little bit more stable in the industry
• 1:05:30
  and, you know, work out the kinks. We're
• 1:05:32
  brand new startups. They do have
• 1:05:34
  hiccups. Um, and we're in that space
• 1:05:36
  right now. So, we want to make sure that
• 1:05:38
  we, you know, really get a solid
• 1:05:40
  foundation so that when we're hosting
• 1:05:43
  bigger, you know, fan lists, we're we're
• 1:05:46
  hosting pros that we are absolutely
• 1:05:49
  fully ready for them. So, eventually we
• 1:05:51
  will do that, but for now, we are
• 1:05:53
  sticking to the amateurs and we Yeah.
• 1:05:58
  >> Well, that's that's awesome. Welcome and
• 1:06:00
  I wish you great success with Mayhem
• 1:06:01
  Fights number two this weekend.
• 1:06:03
  >> Thank you so much, Andy. I appreciate
• 1:06:05
  you. Uh, so before we get going, any
• 1:06:07
  final words? Is there anything that I
• 1:06:09
  should have asked you that I didn't ask
• 1:06:10
  you that you'd like to talk about?
• 1:06:12
  >> No, I think you covered it all. You're
• 1:06:13
  pretty fluent.
• 1:06:15
  >> Well, unfortunately, I won't be I won't
• 1:06:17
  be able to attend this show. I wish I
• 1:06:18
  could, but hopefully I'll get to go to
• 1:06:20
  one this summer.
• 1:06:21
  >> June 27th is the next one after May
• 1:06:23
  30th. Hopefully, we'll see you there.
• 1:06:25
  Put it on the book.
• 1:06:25
  >> I hope so, too. All right, Elena, thanks
• 1:06:27
  again for your time. There you go, fight
• 1:06:29
  friends. Atlanta Beman, co-founder of
• 1:06:31
  Mayhem Fights, having their second event
• 1:06:33
  on May 30th.
• 1:06:35
  Take care.