Latest / The MM-EH Show / The MM-EH Show With New LFA 177 Flyweight Champ Shannon Clark, and UFC Bantamweight Aiemann Zahabi

Transcript

The MM-EH Show With New LFA 177 Flyweight Champ Shannon Clark, and UFC Bantamweight Aiemann Zahabi · The MM-EH Show

0:03
hello there fight friends MMA Andy
0:05
curell here and welcome to the MMA show
0:07
for the 26th of February
0:09
2024 this was a great past weekend for
0:12
me I was uh fortunate enough to attend
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LFA 177 in Niagara Falls New York I'm
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pretty lucky and grateful for the
0:20
opportunities I get covering the sport
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I've been to so many Great Canadian ma
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promotions across the country met so
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many terrific people this was my first
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time attending lfa's media I attended
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one or two before as a fan had a good
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time there and I just have to say I was
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treated like a uh like a like a like a
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family member when I got there I met uh
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Ryan bevans who was the communications
0:40
manager took me under his wing and just
0:42
introduced me to so many people uh Ed
0:44
sorz who you might know was Anderson Sil
0:46
Silva's former manager he's the COO of
0:49
uh of of uh LFA and I got to meet Leo
0:52
Macha and Sven Bean the president whole
0:54
bunch of terrific people just had a
0:55
great great overall time so thank you
0:57
Ryan if you're watching this probably
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not but thank you you anyway it was uh
1:00
I'm looking forward to the next one all
1:02
right let's start talking about that
1:04
event LFA if you'd like to go to the MMA
1:07
uh upcoming fight section with me and
1:09
you can follow along with me let's go on
1:11
over here to m.ca click upcoming fights
1:15
and you'll take a look up here uh I kept
1:17
them here just for you to look at right
1:18
now there were three Canadians that
1:20
fought uh the first fight of the night
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was Luke Roberts from Niagara top team
1:24
versus farman HOV this was absolute war
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of a fight uh if you don't know either
1:31
of these Fighters you just need to know
1:32
that for this fight they were two
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clearly wherever they come from or
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wherever their situation is they're
1:38
probably used to being top dogs and
1:39
they're probably used to beating people
1:41
up and they went at each other and tried
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to implement their game plans and it
1:44
just didn't work out both of them went
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forward like Bulls both of them neither
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of them receded like matadors and they
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just went at each other for three full
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rounds it was fantastic to watch two
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super tough guys slugging it out a lot
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of skill though too lot of uh everything
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right there wasn't much sorry not not
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much groundwork but uh they were on the
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feet a lot some clinch and uh it was
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just fantastic I think I'm probably
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saying the same thing over and over such
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a good fight if you ever get a chance to
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watch it I'm not sure how we're going to
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get a chance maybe it'll be released on
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YouTube or something it was on the
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undercard unfortunately for Luke he he
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lost a decision to that uh it was
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unanimous decision decision which I I
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disagree with somewhat um I thought Luke
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clearly won the Third round so at least
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one and and possibly the second but uh
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you know sometimes that's what what
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happens Luke actually went up a weight
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class and took this fight short notice
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so Warrior and stud for for Luke good
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job man um you know Wicked fight all
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right let's go on to Sierra Lee dinwoody
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from House of Champions in Stony Creek
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Ontario she fought hope Chase now this
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is really interesting this is kind of
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funny actually when I first saw the
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matchup announced for for for this I
3:00
registered the name hope Chase and I
3:02
just sort of put it in my memory banks
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and didn't think too much of it as I got
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closer when I got to the event I saw
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more of the promotion material and I
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spent more time looking up hope Chase
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actually in the days leading up to it
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and I knew she looked familiar something
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seemed familiar and I looked at her
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fight record and I hadn't seen any of
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her fights as far as I knew and when I
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saw her uh uh when I got there and I saw
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like promotion material and stuff and
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saw her face I knew there was something
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up so I did a more of a thorough Deep
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dive on her and she she she reminded me
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of somebody that I'd seen in the past
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and I know exactly who she reminded me
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of she reminded me of uh the girl that
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Jasmine Jaz deicious fought in her Pro
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debut in I'm gonna say Pittsburgh or
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Philadelphia no it was Pittsburgh this
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is like three or four years ago my wife
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at the time and I went down and and
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joined Niger top team and watched
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Jasmine fight live to that and her
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opponent uh Jasmine's opponent at the
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time was a really interesting character
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she had these kind of interesting
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mannerisms and you know you were kind of
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questioning like does she she I don't
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know I don't want to say too much but
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she was unusual anyway this girl hope
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Chase reminded me of her so I took a
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look and sure enough they're sisters so
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Jasmine's first pro fight and uh
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Sierra's opponent the other night there
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were sisters and it was once that I
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registered that it was so obvious man
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they were so close hope Chase when she
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came out she did this thing uh staring
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across the cage from from Siera where
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she was shaking her leg like it was
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almost like it was twitching she just
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stood there side on to Sierra and like
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gazing at her like a like a like a
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predator stares at their pre and her leg
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was twitching almost I think it was on
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purpose it must have been on purpose but
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I I don't really know I'd like to get a
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video and show you but it was really
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unusual once again there's that word
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unusual anyway this was a terrific fight
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and the thing about uh Fighters and you
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hear me say this all the time is that
4:50
sometimes it takes a handful of fights
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or or sometimes a lot of fights in order
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to get your your your questions about
4:57
Fighters answered right so what I mean
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by that is is if you've got a good
5:00
Striker uh who strikes and and wins by
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striking all the time if you never see
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them grapple well the question is can
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they grapple what happens if they get
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somebody who's really good takes them to
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the ground uh so these were the
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questions I had about Sierra I I was
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really fortunate to see Sierra's first
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two pro fights at Prospect Fighting
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Championship she won both of those she
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looked really good um and so but the
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question was could she survive on the
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ground and afterward after this fight
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the uh the LFA people said we didn't
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know she could grapple and uh I guess
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she clearly can this was a this was a
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terrific fight once again between the
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two ladies uh a lot of time on the feet
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a lot of time on the ground and sier
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look good in both right off the bat so
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Sierra if you don't know her she's tall
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she's lanky she's rangy she's probably
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going to have a reach advantage over
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like 99.9% of all her opponents she's
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ever going to face and of course that
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when you're you have that Advantage you
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want to implement it and she tried at
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the start uh you know using her her legs
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and kicks to to keep hope chase away but
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hope was just like underneath and
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straight in and and and advanced on her
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really really quickly Sierra did a good
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job uh counteracting that on the feet
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there's some good scrapping and they
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spent a lot of time on the ground where
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SI looked really good she didn't look
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out of place she had some submission
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attempts she had like an arm triangle
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choke attempt she had I think I think
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she had an armar uh and definitely a Rea
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choke attempt uh she wasn't able to sub
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secure the submissions but that's one of
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those things if you train you know
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sometimes it's it's it's a matter of of
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like micrometers like very small
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adjustments you can be really close to
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getting a submission but you're off on
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an angle just a tiny little bit a degree
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or or a small bit of distance and it
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just takes those small little finesse uh
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micro movements to to put yourself in
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the right position to get the submission
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and I think that Sierra is really close
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man like she she was probably not too
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far away from getting some of those
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submissions it didn't help that chase or
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hope Chase was was really tough and
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really uh she had a lot of grit she You
6:56
Can Tell She's she's a fighter for sure
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so Sierra looked really good she got the
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got the decision Victory got her hand
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raised and I know LFA was really excited
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by her they were surprised they said
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they didn't know uh she would be able to
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do that on the ground and I'm sure
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they'll bring her back so awesome job
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sier uh next up we had in the co-main
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event we had Shannon oh by the way
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Sierra was brought up to the main event
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after the main card after uh one of the
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other Fighters was injured so she got a
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lot of ey she was on UFC Fight Pass and
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that'll probably do her well and you you
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probably got to see her fight next up in
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the co-main event we had Shannon Clark
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from Lethbridge she fought tyan Lopez uh
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for the flyweight title uh for somebody
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who who's got the nickname the MMA
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Barbie and she's
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she's uh you know got a look she's
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blonde hair blueeyed and her voice is
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very light and she's very friendly great
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smile people who don't know her might
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look at her and make assumptions
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thinking that she's just a like a not a
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serious fighter let me tell you she is a
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very serious fighter she looks so good
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she ended up uh uh choking out tyan with
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a bulldog choke partway through earlyish
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into the second round and if you don't
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know what a bulldog choke it's basically
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just like a school year what you did in
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like grade two or something you know you
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go to your friend and you put your arm
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around their neck well um well you can't
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see me doing that but anyway Shannon uh
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got the Bulldog choke on and just
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leveraged her body back and leaned it
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back and you can see Ty's face go from
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normal skin color to to to to Pink to
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darker pink to purple and she was she
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was choked right out and it was a
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fantastic win for Shannon kind of cute
8:28
uh uh post fight interview in the cage
8:30
afterwards uh I'm not going to tell you
8:32
about it now because we are going to
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talk with Shannon uh I spoke with her
8:35
right after the fight so let's see what
8:36
she had to say hello there fight friends
8:39
MMA Andy codell here at the Sena Casino
8:41
in Niagara Falls New York at LFA 177
8:44
where Le Bridges Shannon Clark just
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became the LFA women's flyweight
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Champion or flyweight yeah
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congratulations Shannon thank you so
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much so uh you must feel terrific I know
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the answer already but you must feel so
8:56
terrific yeah I'm very surprised and I'm
8:59
very happy yeah what uh are you the kind
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of fighter where you build yourself up
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to to the event and now that it's over
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all your emotions just let
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go yeah uh it's a little bit of a relief
9:10
now and um honestly I'm really excited
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to get back and keep training I don't
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think I took really any injuries so back
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to the drawing board yeah that was a it
9:20
was almost like a very fast fight it was
9:22
in the second round you you beat her
9:23
with a bulldog choke you actually choked
9:25
her unconscious uh you said after the
9:27
fight it was something actually funny in
9:28
the post fight interview they said hey
9:30
Shannon and you choked her out with that
9:31
we didn't think you'd beat her by a
9:33
choke and you said something like I
9:34
didn't know I could do that yeah no I
9:37
I've done it in training with the boys
9:39
but I didn't know I could pull it out in
9:41
real life in a fight so that's awesome
9:44
I'm very grateful for that tell me tell
9:46
us your thoughts on how you saw the
9:48
fight or how you remember the fight or
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you or do you like you said you maybe
9:51
blacked out and you don't really
9:52
remember and you have to rewatch yeah
9:54
I'll definitely have to rewatch um I
9:55
remember parts of the fight but I don't
9:57
remember everything um
10:01
I one thing I know I didn't do as good
10:03
is my coach was yelling at me to get up
10:06
but I didn't feel like she was very
10:08
strong on the ground um not her weight
10:10
was nothing like I was used to um so I
10:12
have to a talk with my coach about that
10:14
one so I don't get in trouble but um I
10:16
wasn't in a hurry to get up which I know
10:18
you're supposed to but I was comfortable
10:20
on my back cuz she wasn't I wasn't I
10:22
didn't feel like I was in any danger of
10:24
a submission at that time I was still
10:26
able to hit and do stuff like that
10:28
probably should learn to get and listen
10:29
to my coach but I just was like well I'm
10:32
fine let me just see if I can get push
10:33
her head down can I flip or can I do
10:35
something like that so that's something
10:37
I should probably look back and rewatch
10:39
and see if I was actually in danger but
10:40
I didn't feel like I was in well it
10:42
worked out for you because that's where
10:43
you got or you were on the ground for
10:44
that choke yes no yeah I was and then um
10:48
yeah I saw it there and just took it and
10:50
that's one of the chokes at at work or
10:52
at um the station that when I get on the
10:54
boys they can't get out of so I was like
10:56
well if they can't she can't so squisher
10:59
as much as I can and hoped it worked it
11:02
was kind of weird or not weird
11:03
interesting though you're a Canadian
11:05
we're in the United States your opponent
11:06
was a Brazilian but the fans really seem
11:08
to take to you like I had a row of
11:09
people right behind me when you were
11:11
walking out and a lot of people were
11:12
cheering for you yeah um I don't really
11:15
hear a whole lot when I'm walking out so
11:16
I actually didn't know if I had anyone
11:17
cheering for me or not I don't know if I
11:19
just get tunnel vision um the only
11:21
people I really hear are my coaches
11:23
actually and the odd time I'll hear her
11:24
coach obviously didn't understand what
11:26
she what they were saying but that's all
11:28
I hear I actually don't hear anyone in
11:29
the stands really yeah no nothing um one
11:33
thing I really noticed about you
11:34
afterwards we met in the back in the
11:36
elevator service elev and we we came up
11:38
just now when you walk through the crowd
11:40
it's like everybody really seems to take
11:42
to you and they they're they're
11:43
affectionate toward you as a as fans are
11:45
to to Star athletes is that something
11:47
that you and you you receive it very
11:51
well like you're very very friendly
11:54
you're very outgoing you're very kind to
11:56
all of them you even gave time like a
11:57
couple young men approached you and you
11:58
gave them time I mean uh I think that's
12:00
a smart way to go you know make sure the
12:02
fans come back and make sure they want
12:03
to support you in the future oh
12:05
absolutely um to me if the fans don't
12:08
really like you people won't really care
12:09
to watch you and maybe promotions don't
12:12
want you back then so to
12:15
me you got to give back to the fans you
12:17
got to be there for everyone who wants
12:19
to take the time to watch you it's the
12:21
least you can do yeah well LFA has no
12:23
choice but to bring you back now I mean
12:24
I know two fights with them two wins now
12:26
you're the champion yeah that's unre
12:29
maybe I can play my cards and get
12:30
somewhere cool to fight next time so how
12:32
much preparation did you do uh looking
12:35
into the LFA current roster and seeing
12:36
other opponents out their potential
12:38
opponents for you hav never done that so
12:41
I usually leave that to my coach to do
12:42
that I just get told who I fight one
12:46
thing I like about LFA is that it
12:47
travels from City to City so you know
12:49
you fought in Colorado before you fought
12:51
in New York now could be Minnesota
12:53
somewhere probably like Minnesota next
12:54
time could be anywhere yeah could be
12:56
anywhere hopefully somewhere warm oh
12:58
well warm warm weather's coming anyway
13:00
exactly so summer warm would be great
13:02
all right Shannon I'm going to let you
13:03
get to your uh your your icing your
13:05
treat and your so you can get a sore
13:07
tummy from gorging on it uh before we go
13:09
is there anything you'd like to say uh I
13:11
would just like to thank everyone that
13:13
has supported me uh my friends and
13:15
family I would love to thank my training
13:17
Partners they go unnoticed um they're
13:19
not actual MMA fighters so no one really
13:22
takes and acknowledges how much work
13:24
they put in I would not be here if it
13:25
wasn't for them and definitely my coach
13:27
he puts hours and hours
13:29
and hours into me and all I can do is
13:32
win for him so what's your coach's name
13:34
Joel odori so yay well Shannon from uh
13:38
the people watching at m.ca and all your
13:40
Canadian fans and all your American fans
13:42
too your new American fans
13:43
congratulations champ and we will see
13:45
you fight next time thank you so much
13:47
and thank you
13:48
everyone fantastic win for Shannon I
13:50
think she's at that point now where she
13:53
I think it probably serve her well to
13:54
get a couple more fights in LFA
13:56
something like that if you don't know
13:57
LFA is is well known as being one of the
13:59
Premier feeder organizations to the UFC
14:02
a lot of Fighters go to the UFC from
14:04
from LFA and others like cffc and now
14:08
increasingly more in Canada we have uh
14:10
bfl and bfl unified and Samurai MMA roll
14:14
on UFC Fight Pass so we're going to
14:16
start to see more of them get their
14:17
Fighters into the UFC I'm sure uh so
14:19
Shannon could probably be served by
14:21
those but I think she's probably at the
14:23
point now where I wouldn't be surprised
14:25
if she if she got called up for a
14:26
contender series she's at that level
14:29
uh and she looked she looked really good
14:30
so uh congratulations Shannon on that um
14:33
LFA travels around the country they have
14:35
events in in Minnesota and Colorado and
14:38
other places so I'm not sure when
14:40
they'll be back to um niaga Falls and
14:43
when they are all be there for sure okay
14:46
let's go on now to we had two other
14:47
fights uh Canadians fighting this past
14:49
weekend uh we had Bruce ran and Phil
14:52
loon fought in North Dakota at Throne
14:54
MMA 3 uh I just looked after the event
14:59
and there was another Canadian that got
15:00
put on after I I made my list so uh I I
15:03
didn't have any information on him it
15:04
was really difficult to get information
15:06
on the results of this fight however I
15:07
was able to find that Bruce ran won by
15:10
rear naked choke over Isaiah Spitzer I
15:12
think Isaiah Spitzer had a rear naked
15:14
choke on him earlier in the fight and uh
15:16
and Bruce was able to to escape and then
15:18
put one on himself and he won the fight
15:19
so good job man and Phil loan
15:21
unfortunately lost his fight uh but I
15:23
don't think it was a blow I think it was
15:25
uh was close as far as I know if uh this
15:28
brings up a point I don't know
15:30
everything clearly and I can only know
15:32
what I can find scouring the internet
15:33
and when I talk with people they give me
15:35
they give me sort of a little bit of
15:36
intelligence or the military they call
15:38
it Tipp or information uh so if you have
15:40
any tip or information you know anyone
15:41
fighting or you have any Canadian MMA
15:43
events or any Canadians fighting
15:46
somewhere that I don't have on my on my
15:48
upcoming fight section on MMA please
15:50
reach out let me know and I'll make sure
15:51
it's included and find out
15:53
more okay so this weekend we have one
15:57
fight in Canada one event happening and
15:59
that is Fight Quest 54 in canak Quebec
16:03
this is an amateur MMA event and uh I'm
16:06
opening up now at the kns of Columbus
16:08
Hall and Main Event is sha Irving versus
16:12
Isaac hiar for the bantamweight
16:13
Championship bunch of other amateur
16:15
fights so those are always exciting if
16:18
you if you've never been to an amateur
16:21
MMA event uh if you're in a part of the
16:23
country that has them or even just a
16:24
local M MMA event I highly encourage you
16:27
to do it right like everyone you see
16:29
fight in the UFC they didn't have their
16:30
first fight in the UFC they started
16:32
somewhere else or or Bellator or pfl
16:34
right they have to get there somehow so
16:36
for me one of the things I love is
16:38
seeing a fighter who starts off being 0
16:40
and0 and becomes one and0 and two and0
16:42
and three and 0 and pretty soon they're
16:44
fighting for championship belts and
16:45
their local promotion and then they're
16:47
in the UFC or fighting somewhere in the
16:49
world for for for a lot of recognition
16:52
uh give it a shot try it there's lots
16:54
once again go to uh the upcoming fight
16:57
section on M.C and you'll see down here
16:59
I have a list of all the MMA events in
17:01
Canada up for the rest of the year so as
17:03
far as I know I'm I think I have think I
17:05
have all them well I do have all them
17:06
for what I know uh you know you don't
17:09
know what you don't know but uh uh if
17:11
you want to find something near you go
17:12
there and check it out okay what else do
17:15
we have all right so uh we have some
17:17
exciting news for TriStar West Island
17:19
coowner Xavier alawi known as the bread
17:22
man he's had a lot of success in the
17:24
past several years fighting at UAE
17:25
warriors uh and uh he has been assigned
17:28
to the pfl so the pfl just had their uh
17:32
pfl Champion versus Bellator Champion
17:35
first event over the past weekend and so
17:37
they are getting closer if they're not
17:39
there already to becoming a fully one
17:41
organization from the two combining uh
17:43
so I don't know when zavier will be
17:45
fighting but I expect it to be sometime
17:47
in 2024 he is joining his TriStar
17:50
teammate uh Tariq Ismael in the pfl that
17:52
makes 10 Canadian Fighters fighting in
17:54
the pfl and if you want to go up here to
17:56
the Canadian Fighters section you you'll
17:58
see that I've got the list of all the
17:59
Canadian UFC fighters uh and down here
18:01
the Canadian pfl Fighters so Xavier laoi
18:04
I still have to make a page for him
18:05
Tariq ismel one thing I don't know if
18:08
Xavier will follow Tariq in that Tariq
18:11
was signed to pfl mina I'm not sure if
18:14
it's pronounced Mina or Mena but it's me
18:17
and it stands for Middle East North
18:19
Africa so that is a really smart move by
18:21
pfl whereas the
18:23
UFC as great as it is it's mostly United
18:27
States Centric right like they do have
18:28
events in other countries they do some
18:30
traveling around but for the most part
18:32
they're based out the United States most
18:33
of their main main cards are United
18:35
States everything's United States pfl if
18:37
they can Implement like a more of a
18:40
worldwide fan base I mean this is going
18:41
to look really good for them and and and
18:43
help them grow quite substantially I
18:46
think okay you'll see that we've got uh
18:48
10 fighters on here for the pfl I will
18:50
mention that now Aaron Jeffrey so Aaron
18:53
Jeffrey uh from Niagara top team he uh
18:57
is scheduled to fight Fabian Edwards at
18:59
Bellator 302 in Belfast Ireland on March
19:02
22nd it was announced that the winner of
19:04
this fight will be the number one
19:06
Contender for the pfl middleweight title
19:09
well this past weekend in the pfl
19:10
Champions versus Bellator Champions
19:13
Bellator Champion Johnny middleweight
19:15
champion Johnny eblin beat uh pfl light
19:19
heavyweight champion uh impa kangan who
19:21
went down to middleweight for this fight
19:23
so Johnny beat impa now that means
19:25
Johnny is the pfl middleweight champion
19:28
so if he doesn't have a fight between uh
19:31
he probably well he won't it's too close
19:33
so if Aaron wins his fight against
19:36
Fabian it should be Aaron taking on
19:39
Johnny for the pfl middleweight champion
19:42
whoa what an opportunity this is huge so
19:45
uh still too early to know anything yet
19:46
I mean Aaron still has to have his fight
19:48
and win his fight so good luck Aon I'm
19:50
sure you've got a whole country behind
19:51
you cheering on for you and actually
19:52
probably not just the whole country not
19:54
just Canada Aon spends about half his
19:56
time training at Kil Cliff MMA down in
19:58
in Florida and he's got a a lot of
20:00
support there I'm sure so I'm sure
20:02
they'll be rooting for Aaron as well we
20:03
have Team Canada uh wherever that fight
20:06
happens okay let's go on now
20:08
to okay back to the events we're going
20:11
to take a look at Fight League Atlantic
20:13
number 14 it's funny how the more I do
20:16
uh these shows the more I'm learning
20:20
things and one the things I'm learning
20:23
especially coming from where I was
20:25
posting on Instagram before and I had a
20:26
time limit I was trying to go so fast
20:29
one of the most difficult things for me
20:31
is to to slow down and just you know
20:33
take my time I can slow down take a
20:35
breath this is on YouTube man I can talk
20:36
for as long as I want almost right so
20:39
just uh let me slow down for
20:41
you all right back to MMA events let's
20:44
go to FL 14 you will see that that is in
20:49
elmsall Nova Scotia on April 13th and
20:52
they have announ well they haven't
20:53
announced but I found out that Christian
20:55
saoa tiger will be fighting
20:59
uh at welterweight against TBA the
21:02
dreaded TBA you know TBA is all over the
21:04
place to be announced um Christian Sawa
21:07
it's a it's a shame that such a
21:10
dedicated athlete who puts in so much
21:13
time and effort and it's not just
21:14
Christian it's it's other Fighters too
21:16
puts time and effort into these fights
21:18
and for whatever reason doesn't actually
21:20
get to fight due to circumstances
21:22
outside their control if you remember at
21:24
F 13 uh Christian was scheduled to fight
21:27
in the main event a welterweight and his
21:29
opponent showed up uh made well didn't
21:32
make weight he was he was a little bit
21:34
over but still he was at the weigh-ins
21:37
and it looked like the fight was on and
21:38
then that night the opponent had to go
21:40
to the hospital with kidney failure and
21:41
Christian didn't get to
21:43
fight so it as non-fighters we just have
21:46
to look at that and empathize with with
21:48
everyone involved right like to some
21:51
degree we empathize with a with a guy
21:52
who went to the hospital because he
21:53
wanted to fight but on the other hand
21:55
you know they should have been more
21:56
prepared uh uh but you definitely have
21:58
to empathize with Christian right he's a
22:00
professional he showed up he was ready
22:02
to fight and it didn't get to happen so
22:05
let's knock on wood I said that when I
22:07
interviewed Christian last time for f 13
22:09
we kind of laughed about it because it
22:11
was looking like the fight was going to
22:12
happen and so we were like laughing
22:14
joking saying knock on wood this fight
22:16
happens didn't happen so knock on wood
22:19
let's hope Christian Savo actually gets
22:21
to fight uh just announced today Rob
22:23
Logan versus Matt McDonald at
22:24
middleweight and this fight between Jake
22:27
Kelly and Gino uh gadz was supposed to
22:29
be at 13 I think and I don't remember
22:31
why but that didn't happen so we got
22:33
moved up now okay let's go up now and
22:35
take a look at BTC we have two BTC
22:37
fights that we're aware of right now and
22:39
some things to talk about BTC 23 at 16th
22:43
of March and Kingston uh well right now
22:46
this is what the fight card looks like
22:47
with the proposed main event is going to
22:49
be Xavier Nash versus Tyler Grimsley I
22:52
say propose because this may not be the
22:54
main event I know that BTC is actively
22:56
trying to get I I can't say names
23:00
um at least one half of the name if it
23:03
happens you'll be very familiar with uh
23:05
I think it's the opponent they're
23:06
they're working on and and they've asked
23:07
me not to say anything until they get
23:08
this this signed so if it ends up being
23:11
Xavier versus Tyler uh that should be a
23:13
really good fight I don't know Tyler all
23:15
that well but I know Xavier is is an
23:16
exciting fighter to watch he's really
23:18
skilled uh and he's he's he's really
23:21
good fighter so um that would be good
23:22
regardless but if they get this other
23:24
fight with I will tell you that it's a
23:26
this other fighter uh at least one half
23:28
has fought in the UFC before so it's
23:31
exciting uh I'm not gonna say weight
23:33
class either twoo early to tell once
23:36
like I say once once I know once I find
23:37
out you'll find out if you take a look
23:39
down here this is what I put in when I
23:41
initially got the the news a couple
23:43
months ago the BTC is having a
23:44
heavyweight tournament those were the
23:46
fighters at the time and you'll notice I
23:48
said BT or the heavyweight Tournament
23:49
being pushed onto the gun cart so let's
23:52
take a look at the June card now and
23:54
that is BTC 24 in Burlington on June une
23:58
8th and the only thing we know is is
24:01
seven heavyweight contenders so we need
24:04
one more to have a full full three
24:06
rounds uh wouldn't it be cool though if
24:08
you had like a one night tournament like
24:09
they used to have back in the day so
24:11
Fighters have to win three fights to win
24:12
the whole thing I mean man I I wouldn't
24:16
want to do it but uh as a fan it'd be
24:18
fun to watch so these are who we have
24:20
are we aw are aware of fighting we have
24:22
Mike me Lorenzo celis Bogan kodok Tim
24:25
Kon Lester Calderon Javad m and
24:29
say I I hope I set that said that even a
24:32
little bit close so say I apologize if I
24:34
got it wrong so that should be fun um
24:36
heavyweight tournament people like
24:37
watching the big men fight it's it's
24:39
tough with with heavyweights because the
24:43
uninitiated fan look at heavy weights
24:46
and they think of boxing like they think
24:47
of the heavyweight boxers of great and
24:48
they they expect that heavyweight fights
24:50
are going to be the most
24:52
exciting we've learned over time my
24:54
personal opinion anyway and the UC
24:56
learned this when even when they did
24:57
didn't have the lower weight classes
24:58
years ago that lighter weight Fighters
25:01
are often much more exciting to watch
25:04
because they don't have all that Mass to
25:06
move around they they can be fast
25:08
they're Speedy they have really amazing
25:11
uh cardio often sometimes you don't see
25:14
that in heavyweight fights but I know
25:16
that a couple of these guys well more
25:17
than a couple they are they are very
25:19
skilled and they and they have a lot of
25:21
uh expertise in their field like some of
25:23
these guys are are wrestler heavy like
25:25
world- class wrestlers for sure and
25:27
there something about the heavyweight
25:28
fights when they just have those you
25:30
know meat mittens get swung around with
25:32
a with a huge amount of force and knock
25:34
their opponent off their feet I mean
25:36
there's nothing that beats out when you
25:37
see like a huge heavyweight knockout so
25:40
uh this will be fun and and once we know
25:41
more I I'll let you know of
25:43
course okay let's go on now to bfl 80
25:48
and that is in Vancouver on May 9th we
25:50
had very successful bfl 79 a few weeks
25:52
ago and they only have a few of their
25:55
undercards fights named and I'll get
25:57
back back to one of these in the second
25:59
uh but they did announce yesterday that
26:01
their featherweight Champion Radley D
26:03
Silva who just beat uh Maxim Susi at bfl
26:05
79 he will be facing Caleb montazuma for
26:09
the featherweight Championship to defend
26:10
his featherweight Championship F
26:12
absolutely fantastic fight so Radley D
26:15
Silva um if you just look on the
26:17
internet you'll see that he is a capera
26:20
fighter air quotes Capa Fighter um he
26:23
comes from a long line uh of cap
26:25
Fighters trained out of X cap in
26:28
Vancouver world-renowned x capera with
26:30
uh with some amazing mentors and his his
26:33
family um but if you ask Radley uh he
26:36
will tell you that he's more of a
26:37
well-rounded fighter he's been training
26:39
his whole life even though if you look
26:40
at his record he he fights pretty
26:42
sporadically and and not all that often
26:44
it looks like with this he's getting on
26:45
like a more of a a rapid rapid track to
26:48
fight and he's really skilled across
26:50
everything right like you saw that with
26:51
Maxim he he had some really good
26:53
wrestling was able to close the distance
26:55
and negate any of Maxim striking
26:58
um so Radley's excellent and Caleb mzuma
27:01
man I think we're at at the point now
27:03
where it's been a few years where a lot
27:05
of fight promotions are bringing in a
27:07
lot of Mexican
27:08
Fighters and it's really easy to get
27:11
jaded and think that Mexican Fighters
27:13
are being brought into to lose uh
27:16
because it I you know I haven't done the
27:18
percentages but I get the impression
27:20
that a lot of the Mexican Fighters lose
27:21
when they come up here Caleb is one of
27:23
the two uh along with sylvestra Sanchez
27:26
that they are they're not losing anybody
27:29
man I mean sure they're going to lose
27:30
fights uh Sylvester lost to Luke Roberts
27:33
a while back but that was a really close
27:35
fight Caleb is a fantastic fighter I
27:38
first saw him in person when he beat
27:39
Michael imp at Prospect uh last year the
27:42
year before uh if you don't know Michael
27:44
and parado Michael just got signed well
27:47
I don't know if he's actually signed
27:48
anything but after his last unified
27:50
showing he got uh the eye of the UFC so
27:53
he should be in the contender series
27:54
somewhat soonish whenever that may be
27:56
and Michael PR is is a tough tough
28:01
skilled fighter who is just like a buz
28:04
saww when he's in there so the fact that
28:05
Caleb beat him got a win over him that's
28:07
that's huge even right there so if Caleb
28:10
wins this is not a given for the
28:12
Canadian right like Radley's gonna have
28:13
to win this fight if he wants to win the
28:15
fight if you know what I mean uh so I'm
28:17
excited we'll see how that goes we've
28:19
also got MC Larsson um versus once again
28:22
TBA rears his ugly head M Larson was
28:25
supposed to fight who was it I think
28:27
that was at the last unified oh was
28:29
supposed to fight uh Zack pow I think
28:31
and then Zack Powell ended up finding
28:33
somebody else to fight after Mac pulled
28:36
out for whatever
28:37
reason okay uh that's it for news I
28:42
think uh however if you take a look up
28:44
here this weekend we do have TriStar
28:48
gyms aan zahabi fighting Javid basharat
28:51
at UFC Fight Night in Vegas I had a
28:53
chance to speak with Iman about this
28:55
fight and uh he's uh he's
28:58
if you don't know him too well he's very
29:00
similar to his brother farz who's the
29:03
owner and head coach at TriStar MMA um
29:07
you know sometimes I hesitate bringing
29:09
up because I don't bring up the fact
29:10
they're Brothers I mean you know but you
29:13
know I want aan to be able to uh rest on
29:16
his own Laurels not his brothers so but
29:17
I bring it up
29:18
because they're very similar in that
29:21
when you speak with them they're both
29:23
very thoughtful and introspective and
29:27
one I've said for years even not just
29:28
with mixed martial
29:30
arts have you ever noticed sometimes
29:32
when you're speaking with somebody that
29:35
you get the feeling they're just kind of
29:37
waiting for you to stop speaking so they
29:38
can start speaking and it's like you're
29:39
not you don't even have to be there
29:41
they're they're almost having the
29:42
conversation with them themselves right
29:43
like whatever like if you and I were
29:45
having a conversation hopefully when you
29:49
say something I'm G to consider what you
29:51
said and that'll influence my
29:54
response often times these days I find
29:57
that doesn't happen like you can almost
29:58
see somebody watching your lips and
30:00
waiting for you to stop speaking so they
30:02
can start talking right like you don't
30:04
even have to be there with uh the zahabi
30:08
brothers they are very clearly paying
30:11
attention to you as a person and
30:14
thinking about what you say and for me
30:16
as a as a as a human not even just as an
30:18
MMA journalist it's really nice to speak
30:21
to somebody like that because
30:24
um yeah it just makes you feel like you
30:26
are uh being listened to makes you feel
30:29
like you're important
30:31
and
30:33
additionally they have interesting
30:35
thoughts so uh Ian we talked about a lot
30:38
of things it's funny we actually had a
30:40
we had a conversation before the
30:42
interview that was probably longer than
30:43
the interview itself just a really
30:44
interesting guy uh really good fighter
30:47
36 years old and I think Javid is like
30:50
28 and I don't really pay attention too
30:52
much to to to odds because odds I think
30:56
a lot of people get odds on fighting
30:58
wrong so at least one odds maker I saw
31:01
aan is like a like a minus or plus 500 I
31:06
don't know whatever the one is where
31:07
you're the underdog so aan is is listed
31:09
as a huge Underdog in this fight well
31:12
what some people don't get about bets is
31:14
that the betting organizations they they
31:16
make these odds so that you will bet on
31:19
a fighter so that the betting place will
31:23
take your money right so they want you
31:24
to bet on somebody else so if they show
31:26
that Javid is you know a like a has a
31:29
huge Advantage they're G to hope that
31:31
you bet on him so that if he loses they
31:35
can make money I'm sure I'm simplifying
31:37
it and I I don't claim to be a betting
31:39
expert I'm really not so don't come at
31:41
me please but uh aan is not uh you know
31:44
you can call him an underdog if you want
31:45
but he's he's got a history of finishing
31:48
especially in the past four or five
31:49
fights and you take a look at Javid and
31:51
he's gone through after his Contender
31:53
series when he uh he's got decisions so
31:57
you know it's funny how you can make
32:00
almost any data mean what you want it to
32:02
mean right like could the fact that
32:04
Javid has got like three uh decisions in
32:07
a row mean something maybe could it not
32:09
mean something maybe I don't know you've
32:11
got to figure out for yourself but uh
32:13
Iman definitely is uh is is gonna be in
32:17
this fight so let's uh let's uh have
32:19
that uh conversation with him now and
32:21
see what he has to
32:22
say Aman zahab welcome to the MMA show
32:24
how are you sir very good thank you it's
32:27
great to be on I don't know if our
32:30
interview is actually GNA uh meet up the
32:32
expectations I have from our
32:33
pre-interview which was pretty
32:35
awesome yeah it was great it was great
32:37
to get to know you a little bit more a
32:38
little bit deeper yeah for sure um it's
32:41
funny how you know when you know people
32:44
through the internet I I truly believe
32:46
that relationships to the internet when
32:48
I say relationships I don't mean
32:50
romantic or anything that stuff but like
32:51
any type of interaction with somebody
32:53
else that's a relationship right like a
32:55
interpersonal relationship with some
32:56
type
32:57
so I know so many people and so many
33:00
fighters through the internet who I
33:01
might have met only once in my life if
33:03
I've ever met them at all but I still
33:04
feel like there's like a deeper
33:05
connection with a lot of them at some
33:07
point because you know the Internet is
33:10
real the internet is a real method of
33:13
communication well yeah of course I mean
33:14
you're getting to know a version of them
33:16
at least yeah even though you don't know
33:18
them in their completion as a person but
33:20
you you get to see what they put out
33:21
there and from the interviews that you
33:23
you get to do because you get to
33:25
interview a lot of different people mhm
33:27
I like it but it's uh it's kind of
33:29
curious because you don't really truly
33:31
get to know a person in general like not
33:33
even through the internet like we have
33:36
the people that we know and I'll use
33:38
know in quotation marks because what
33:39
does that mean to know somebody right
33:42
like so for example I just got divorced
33:45
about a year and a half ago nobody knew
33:47
I don't post that stuff on social media
33:49
I don't I don't share I don't overshare
33:51
because I don't like it when people do
33:52
that I I get annoyed when people do that
33:54
so when I think I made a post like a
33:56
year after it happened
33:57
um people were surprised like what how
34:00
did this happen and because they they
34:03
might know me but they don't they don't
34:05
know me so like yeah the the way I know
34:08
you or the way you know me that's only
34:11
what you want me to see and what I want
34:14
you to see so there's you put out there
34:17
yeah exactly we've got a whole internal
34:19
monologue we've got a whole internal
34:22
process that sometime depending on the
34:24
person I guess for me personally not a
34:26
lot of people get to know everything I
34:28
don't is that similar for you do you
34:29
keep stuff close to your heart or are
34:31
you a are you a
34:32
sharer yeah well online I I put more
34:36
like things that are like easy to share
34:38
I don't really go super deep in uh all
34:40
my stuff but I am going to start a
34:43
YouTube channel after this fight nice
34:45
I'm G I'm G to throw that out there
34:47
aesome that uh you know basically I'm
34:49
going to spend more time I guess on
34:51
camera like you're saying so people can
34:52
get to know me more in a different light
34:54
too and basically my idea is to just
34:57
start off with like you know ordering
34:59
the the UFC pay-per-views and do like an
35:01
alternative alternative commentary and
35:04
like chat with the people online as the
35:06
fights are happening too and I'm going
35:07
to have guests you know like other UFC
35:09
fighters I'm gonna have my wife on I'll
35:11
have different friends on and whatever
35:13
and then maybe like people will get to
35:14
know me more from like a different
35:16
angle like I I might be a casual
35:18
watching the show you know you might get
35:20
to see me from from from something
35:22
different because you know when I do
35:23
these interviews a lot of the times very
35:25
similar questions all the time right so
35:26
they
35:30
everybody's the 360 view of who I am as
35:32
a right so that's what's interesting and
35:34
like now as I'm getting more popular I'm
35:36
getting interviewed by different people
35:38
and different people have different
35:39
styles so I get like different types of
35:41
questions so that's kind of like
35:42
rounding out my image for people too
35:45
online which is nice too right for sure
35:49
what was the Catalyst for the YouTube
35:51
channel I just feel like you know like
35:53
to to get popular you're gonna have to
35:55
put out more more uh content like we're
35:58
in we're in the era of content and it
36:01
seems that like it's interesting how
36:03
like people on YouTube who are like
36:04
these influencers they're just
36:06
influencers because they put out the
36:08
content yeah not necessarily because
36:10
they achieved anything really special in
36:13
a way other than views you know like
36:15
they do funny wacky stuff like you see
36:17
now like do you know these these like um
36:21
like they're obviously fake prank videos
36:23
but you know like they have these like
36:24
husband and wife videos where they they
36:26
PR each other they shoot each other with
36:28
these guns or they have like confetti
36:29
come out but it's like man you know
36:31
these are setups and you know they're
36:33
fake but they get millions upon millions
36:34
of views and these people are famous for
36:36
like nothing special and like I feel
36:39
like I worked so hard on my craft that
36:41
maybe if I produce consistent content
36:43
maybe I'll become popular too and then
36:45
maybe that'll help me with like getting
36:46
more sponsors and getting a better pay
36:49
in the UFC and stuff like that like it
36:52
could be a catalyst to like get me more
36:55
one step closer to Financial Freedom
36:57
eventually yeah I think that's smart
36:59
because uh as great as UFC is in a lot
37:01
of things they do tend to promote
37:04
Fighters that they think can be a draw
37:06
right like if you're a big name as
37:07
opposed to a small or a noname I mean
37:09
the big name is going to get more more
37:11
action and more people and more eyeballs
37:13
and that all leads to money it always
37:14
boils down to money so that's probably a
37:16
smart thing you're doing yeah take a
37:19
chance you know like even like let's say
37:20
for example shaali you know he does
37:22
those prank videos too and those like
37:25
videos where he goes and ask questions
37:27
to people on the street he's done all
37:28
kinds of all kinds of videos to produce
37:30
like to get views views views views and
37:32
then what they do is after doing all the
37:35
the those videos to get the numbers up
37:37
then they turn it into a podcast yeah
37:40
because once you become popular you
37:42
don't have to make those prank videos
37:43
anymore now people want to know your
37:44
opinion so it's like I I'm finding like
37:47
that's the arc that people are going
37:48
through you know so i' be like okay I'll
37:50
just I don't want to like I don't
37:52
necessarily want to do prank videos
37:53
because it's not like my style but I
37:55
think I could do like the commentary
37:57
stuff for the fighting cuz I also did
37:58
like the commentary for United MMA the
38:00
other time I enjoyed it yep so I was
38:03
like you know what that's something easy
38:04
I can do and like I know fight been in
38:05
you know in training for like 20 years
38:07
so I I have a lot of info inside me man
38:10
and I can I can read fights I can give
38:11
Fighters advice you know maybe people
38:13
can rewatch it and get advice out of the
38:15
out of how I would perceive it as a
38:18
coach watching these guys fight you know
38:20
there could be some gems in there for
38:21
people too in general so I might be able
38:24
to clip that up later you know so just
38:26
like I want to build a following on
38:27
YouTube and then maybe eventually I can
38:29
turn it into a podcast or something too
38:31
I think when you look at trying to
38:33
establish yourself in any Endeavor not
38:35
you but just in general yeah you have to
38:37
find and we talked about this about my
38:39
channel MMA how I'm sort of
38:40
distinguishing myself as being Canadian
38:42
only content and
38:45
yeah I'm kind of leaning toward the idea
38:48
that if you want to get people to look
38:49
at you you have to distinguish yourself
38:51
from others because how many MMA
38:53
podcasts are out there how many YouTube
38:55
channels are there talk about shows
38:57
there's a lot right so how do you set
38:58
yourself apart and I think without
39:01
having given it any more thought than
39:02
just our conversation right now I think
39:04
what separates you from a lot many is
39:06
that you're a very just like people talk
39:08
about for us your brother very cerebral
39:10
and very wellth thought out I mean you
39:12
it's not to me your viewpoints are not
39:15
usually spur the moment or a flash bit
39:18
of information it's something that
39:19
you've taken the time to to mul over and
39:22
consider and look at other options and
39:24
other possibilities and stuff so I think
39:26
that's
39:27
a really good thing and something people
39:28
might want to
39:29
watch yeah thank you man I really
39:31
appreciate that and then it's just I
39:33
feel like the the way I've been taught
39:35
for my mentors you know that's how they
39:37
are and I try to em emulate them as much
39:39
as possible and if you want to increase
39:41
Pro your probability to be successful
39:43
you have to take the time to do your
39:45
research and think things through and
39:47
play out the different uh scenarios that
39:50
that could arise you know and uh it's
39:52
important we think always in for the
39:54
future what's next what's the next thing
39:56
like how can you improve how can you be
39:57
ready for five years ahead yeah one of
40:00
the things when I used to uh train
40:02
Junior leaders in the military I would
40:04
say to them something along the lines of
40:07
you have to make a decision say you have
40:08
a a task ahead of you or a question
40:11
ahead of you you need to answer or
40:12
something at some point you need to come
40:14
up with a decision I'll give you a
40:15
timeline and then I want an answer or I
40:16
want a plan for your your course of
40:18
action so when they come to me with a
40:21
plan of action or they execute an action
40:24
they make a
40:25
decision
40:27
I tell them that it might be the wrong
40:29
decision but as long as in the moment
40:31
you make that decision based on all the
40:34
information you have at the time your
40:36
decision is still the correct decision
40:37
even if it's the incorrect decision
40:39
ultimately so some people have a hard
40:41
time W wrapping their heads around that
40:42
because how can I be right and wrong at
40:44
the same time right well you can because
40:47
you know sometimes it it takes
40:49
reflection and and historical analysis
40:52
to be able to determine if something was
40:54
probably the best course of action but
40:56
as as long as you're going into it with
40:57
a with a good heart and a clear mind and
41:01
a plan of action that makes sense with
41:02
your time and and your maybe say your
41:05
your your group that you your your
41:06
sphere of influence you discuss it with
41:08
it's always the right
41:10
decision yeah I totally agree with that
41:12
and that's the same thing with fighting
41:13
that's what's so interesting about MMA
41:16
because when you're the one when you're
41:18
fighting in there both guys are trained
41:21
and ready to fight each other they' both
41:23
strategized they both have their plans
41:25
they both have their tactics and now
41:27
they're going in there and they're
41:29
processing the information that their
41:30
opponent is giving them okay they're
41:33
they're they're processing the range the
41:35
speed of their opponent all the
41:37
different factors and they have to make
41:39
a decision and sometimes you jab when
41:42
you should have shot or you shot when
41:45
you should have kicked and it backfires
41:48
on you but you saw something there and
41:50
it made you react you know cuz you're
41:52
you're you're processing with your
41:53
subconscious right in the moment you
41:54
shouldn't be you shouldn't be thinking
41:56
you shouldn't be conscious cuz
41:57
Consciousness is too slow you need to be
41:58
working with your supercomputer and in
42:00
that moment you could make the right
42:01
decision or the wrong decision and
42:03
looking back it's always 2020 oh yeah
42:05
when I watch the replay how did I not
42:07
notice this how but there's so much
42:10
there's such a large feed of information
42:12
when you're staring across your opponent
42:14
Plus in the back of your mind you have
42:16
an idea of how much time is left in the
42:17
round you have your coaches yelling
42:19
stuff at you you have the crowd you have
42:20
all these different things going on so
42:22
you have all these variables and nobody
42:25
can calculate 100% of the variables in
42:28
all of the in each decision they make so
42:31
you're always working with probability
42:33
man and there's going to be a chance
42:34
where you get it wrong y there is going
42:36
to be a chance and you have to accept it
42:37
same thing with business same thing with
42:39
anything you do in
42:40
life you can only be truly free if
42:44
you can hold that concept of you make
42:47
the best choice you can at the time and
42:49
you live with the consequences that's it
42:50
that's right that's right yeah prime
42:53
example of what you just said uh the
42:55
ability to read your opponent was Alex
42:56
Morgan against Alexander horck at The
42:58
Last Samurai MMA I don't know if you saw
43:00
that but it was early on the fight and
43:03
Alex Morgan saw horik's movements and
43:05
the way he positioned his body and he
43:07
set him up and he and he head kicked him
43:09
and knocked him out and he told me
43:10
afterward and then he did a like a post
43:12
video that showed how we set that up it
43:14
was it was all part of the plan so my
43:16
question to you is yeah how good is your
43:18
ability to decipher An Enemy Inside the
43:21
Cage and action your plan against that
43:25
enemy
43:27
well yeah listen the the you know over
43:30
the years my my Approach has
43:32
changed I feel like very early on in my
43:36
career I used to stick very rigidly to
43:38
the game plan okay and it made a lot of
43:41
sense because the quality of opponents
43:44
weren't the same as they are now and it
43:47
was easier for me to game plan
43:49
specifically for them because they
43:50
wouldn't change much of how they would
43:53
fight me and they weren't thinking about
43:55
changing towards me they were just
43:56
fighting as themselves whereas now I'm
43:59
at a point where everybody's so good in
44:01
the UFC and they everyone has good
44:03
coaches and good teams and you know and
44:06
you know they have a good support system
44:08
that they also plan for me right so what
44:10
I'm doing now is I'm coming in with more
44:12
of a loose game plan have like a general
44:15
strategy that I'm expecting them how to
44:17
fight or how to come at me how expect
44:20
them to come at me and I planned for
44:22
that but I need to keep a flexibility of
44:25
mind
44:26
that they might come at me with a
44:27
different approach because like with
44:29
turos and with Eric keang they both
44:32
approached me differently than we
44:34
expected but because I had that ability
44:37
to just work on the fly as well I
44:40
adapted and I made it work for myself
44:42
you know like I really just came up with
44:44
the openings that I saw in the moment
44:47
and I just went with it and I got the
44:49
results that I did yeah that's that's
44:52
really interesting and it's it's so
44:53
funny how life works out sometimes like
44:55
we talked before the interview about
44:57
like a Consciousness to the universe or
44:59
a religion or whatever you want to call
45:00
it yeah um so I saw something today just
45:04
a meme or a page from a comic book on
45:06
Facebook I think I saw that applies
45:08
directly to this conversation it was a p
45:10
you know the Marvel character black
45:12
panther it was a it was it was a a
45:15
picture from a page from the Black
45:18
Panther comic book and it showed black
45:20
panther who's like this tall standing
45:22
against this enemy was like this tall
45:24
he's like a big monster kind of guy and
45:28
the monster says to like black panther
45:30
says something like I'm going to beat
45:32
you because I've been studying you for
45:34
so long and black panther responds
45:35
saying well then you've already lost
45:37
because well you've been training to
45:38
fight me I've been training to fight
45:41
uncertainty Ah that's genius I just saw
45:43
that today like so great that's amazing
45:46
that's a beautiful one man yeah that's
45:48
really really cool yeah but that's what
45:50
you have to do right
45:51
because what what happens is I might
45:54
show up and be something he didn't
45:55
expect and he might show up and be
45:57
something I didn't expect and that's and
45:59
if if you're too rigid on your game plan
46:02
you might lose your confidence in the
46:04
first few moments of the fight and then
46:05
you're like oh my God I trained for this
46:07
for one specific scenario and then don't
46:09
have any backup plans that can really
46:11
hurt the ego in there and then it might
46:12
break the it might break the guy so now
46:14
I'm trying to come in with more
46:15
flexibility of mind and uh I'm ready to
46:17
adapt for anything you can see that
46:19
often in in in the fight game and fights
46:21
when you watch two two fighters square
46:23
off with each other and one obviously is
46:25
trying their best they're doing their
46:27
move whatever that is or they're doing
46:28
their thing yeah and it's just not
46:30
effective and you can see it in their
46:31
face you can see it they don't know what
46:32
to do like they've they've done what
46:35
they thought was going to work it didn't
46:36
work and now they're lost they're like
46:37
what do I do now that's got to be a
46:40
terrible feeling so it's a very
46:41
important to have a deep game as well
46:44
because you can't do that while having
46:46
layers to your game right so you know
46:49
like when when when GSP used to be in
46:51
Training Camps we'd always watch his
46:53
opponents right we'd study his opponents
46:55
and we would figure out okay what's
46:57
their aame oh that's their a game we're
46:59
not fighting there at all there's
47:01
there's no way JSP is gonna let this
47:03
fight play out in their aame we're going
47:05
to take it to their b game and their C
47:07
game and some of them don't have a a c
47:09
game you know so if you take them out of
47:12
with their A and B they're done they're
47:14
cooked yeah right so that's kind of like
47:17
what we try to figure out you know
47:18
that's how we approach the fights yeah
47:20
for sure well let's talk about your
47:22
fight this weekend I guess next weekend
47:23
against David basharat at the UFC night
47:26
in Las Vegas what do you expect from
47:28
Javid bashat when he comes when he faces
47:30
you across the cage you know I feel like
47:32
you know he's got the really good
47:34
striking and uh he likes to finish the
47:36
rounds he likes to shoot at least once
47:38
or twice in a round and uh I'm expecting
47:42
to do that like he's he's an MMA fighter
47:43
he's well-rounded so I'm expecting him
47:45
to kind of want to do a little bit of
47:46
everything in there and uh I'm excited
47:49
to see uh who's got a deeper game me or
47:52
him you know hopefully I got a few
47:54
surprises for him uh uh this weekend and
47:56
I'm excited to to show the world my
47:58
skill set and uh how deep I can
48:06
go sorry you froze there for a second
48:08
are you still there yeah yeah I'm there
48:10
yeah just I just heard you say and
48:11
you're excited to show your skill set
48:13
but we'll we'll go on from that that's
48:14
fine yeah so uh so then I took a look at
48:18
his record I I wasn't too familiar with
48:20
him uh before being announced to fight
48:22
you so I did some research and it looks
48:24
like he's a well-rounded figh I took a
48:26
look at his opponents he's had in the
48:27
past it seems like his past little while
48:30
in the UFC anyway after the contender
48:31
series he's had a difficulty finishing
48:34
uh you know he's got three decisions in
48:35
a row and that's the opposite from you
48:37
right like you've had decisions in your
48:38
career but you also have a lot of fit
48:41
not only just finishes but really
48:43
hardcore beautiful finishes Knockouts
48:45
and things like that where do you I mean
48:48
can you do MMA math with with you an
48:51
opponent is that something you're able
48:52
to do or is that something that you
48:54
don't even bother trying
48:56
I I don't bother trying because it's so
48:59
everyone's so unique everyone's got
49:01
their own little special things I would
49:02
love to finish Javit but you know it
49:05
seems like he takes punches pretty well
49:06
like uh trevan Jones hit him with some
49:08
big shots uh mendosa hit him a couple
49:10
times with some big shots different guys
49:12
have hit him and he seems to take it on
49:14
the chin pretty well so but you know
49:16
like I knocked out Eric keang and Eric
49:17
keang had never been KO so that's that
49:19
you know obviously my dream is to knock
49:21
him out like I want to be known as a
49:22
knockout guy I want to be known as a
49:24
switch hitter I want to be able to hit
49:25
guys from Southpaw and Orthodox and hurt
49:27
him with both hands both legs you know
49:30
that's something I want to be known for
49:32
uh obviously like I do get some
49:34
Knockouts I've gotten I think uh eight
49:36
eight finishes by by uh or seven
49:39
finishes by knockout I'm not even sure
49:40
how many but it's really coming on
49:42
stringing along but he's a he's he's
49:44
more of a decision guy so far in the UFC
49:46
you know I think I think that this fight
49:49
you know there's a good chance it goes
49:50
all the way because he's very durable
49:52
and I feel like I'm durable too mhm but
49:55
I got I'm bringing the power to this
49:57
fight I feel like he's more like when it
49:58
comes to striking he's more of a volume
50:00
guy and I'm more of a power puncher mhm
50:03
and I think the power is going to be on
50:04
my side the volume is going to be on his
50:06
side we're going to see who can like
50:08
Edge the other run out with their
50:09
specialty yeah for sure as your career
50:13
is evolving and you're becoming a
50:15
different person and a different fighter
50:18
where do you think you are right now
50:19
compared to your your ultimate your
50:21
final form when you have like when you
50:23
stop fighting presumably you're going to
50:25
be your level wherever you're going to
50:26
be at some point how close are you to
50:28
that to that point right
50:30
now I feel like we're getting there but
50:31
I feel like I'm in my Peak I feel great
50:33
I still feel young I don't feel like uh
50:36
I don't feel like I've lost a step in
50:38
terms of like speed performance or
50:40
anything like that and I feel like I'm
50:41
just getting better and uh I still got a
50:44
few couple years to go I feel like I
50:45
feel great I feel amazing I feel like I
50:47
we're ining we're inching ourselves
50:49
closer and closer to that perfect form
50:51
and I think too that you're not
50:53
especially active as compared to some
50:55
some other fighters who fight like three
50:56
or four times a year you've pasted it
50:58
out a lot more and I think that's
50:59
probably a good thing for your body like
51:01
it just allows you to sort of rest a
51:03
little bit and and just let your body
51:06
heal and not have that full stress so
51:08
that's probably a good thing too I'm
51:09
guessing yeah it's good because I I
51:12
haven't taken the damage while getting
51:14
to my perfect form you know what I mean
51:16
like I didn't take a lot of beatings as
51:19
I'm getting better over time and then
51:21
eventually my body falls apart on me
51:22
like I still feel youthful in my age
51:25
like don't feel old and now that I'm
51:27
getting so good it might be easier now
51:29
to string fights together that I'm I'm
51:33
I'm much better fighter now and as
51:35
you're progressing in your career and
51:37
you're getting more fights and and more
51:38
wins that's something I'm sure the UFC
51:41
will try to accommodate and get get you
51:43
more fights especially with success
51:44
because they have so many fighters these
51:47
days some Fighters it seems like they
51:48
take like a long time between fights
51:50
just because the opportunity is not
51:52
there if you could choose in your
51:54
perfect world how how often would you
51:57
fight two two or three times a year it
51:59
would be perfect that would be like now
52:01
with my with my ability with my mindset
52:04
like I've matured so much and I feel
52:05
like I'm finally getting used to having
52:07
the fights come in and I feel much more
52:10
like a veteran and I feel like it's very
52:13
normal now to have the fight you know
52:15
that I would prefer like to have two to
52:16
three fights a year now for sure I saw
52:19
another uh Quick Clip of one of your
52:21
your interviews recently and you you
52:22
talked about reading how much does
52:24
reading like do you actually read
52:26
physical books or do you listen to audio
52:27
books and if so are there any that
52:29
you're focusing on right now I used I
52:32
used to read a lot the actual physical
52:34
book but now with audio books they have
52:36
so many books on their playlist that
52:37
it's much easier to do uh yeah audio
52:40
books yeah uh right now I'm not uh
52:43
reading anything right now for this
52:44
fight but uh recently I had just reread
52:48
the The Alchemist I love that book oh
52:50
yeah yeah beautiful a really nice book
52:52
to reread and uh it's just it's like a
52:55
nice it's a nice story that helps with
52:57
like just life in general and to learn
52:59
that you know you know things good
53:02
things are going to come and bad things
53:03
are going to come and you just got to
53:05
roll with the punches type of things so
53:06
it's like a nice it's a nice story that
53:08
helps you get ready into that mindset
53:09
where you just give it your best and you
53:12
know you deal with with things as they
53:13
come up yeah for
53:15
sure okay Amon uh I don't have any more
53:18
questions for you my man that was an
53:19
excellent chat thank you so much for
53:21
spending your time with us thank you
53:22
very much a pleasure to be here so
53:24
Aman's a hobby fighting Javid basharat
53:26
at UCC Fight Night in Vegas this weekend
53:28
good luck Amon thank you very
53:32
much okay there fight friends that's it
53:35
for this week I hope you enjoyed it um
53:37
yeah once again please if you have any
53:40
ideas to help me grow this channel I'd
53:42
like to encourage you to just message me
53:44
or leave a comment in the link down
53:46
below uh on YouTube or wherever you see
53:48
this and just give me any suggestions
53:49
for people you want to hear me speak
53:51
with or any ideas for the show any
53:53
segments uh I'd like to grow this
53:56
somehow organically and involve you in
53:58
it because uh you know this is two- part
54:00
right like and I mentioned this with
54:02
with aan when we talked you know talking
54:05
about growing my channel and growing my
54:07
channel be nice
54:09
yes but even if the channel doesn't grow
54:13
more than is now I still get out of it
54:15
what I want right like I'm doing this
54:17
for you to some degree but I'm also
54:19
doing this mostly for me I love doing
54:21
this I enjoy doing this and Canadian MMA
54:24
is is very niche right so I know I'm
54:26
never going to be at the point where the
54:27
whole world is watching this Channel
54:28
with with baited breath but uh for the
54:31
people who like can MMA I think it's
54:32
it's a good spot to go to uh and I hope
54:34
you enjoy it and uh I will see you next
54:37
week and enjoy the fights