Latest / The MM-EH Show / Cam Nelson UFC Debut Shanghai | Radley Da Silva, Nic Ouellet & Christopher Balodis | MM-EH Show 19

Transcript

Cam Nelson UFC Debut Shanghai | Radley Da Silva, Nic Ouellet & Christopher Balodis | MM-EH Show 19 · The MM-EH Show

• 0:11
  [music]
• 0:16
  Cameron Nelson from Prince Edwood
• 0:18
  Island. Congratulations on uh making it
• 0:20
  to the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
• 0:24
  >> Awesome, Andy. Appreciate it. Thanks for
• 0:26
  having me on. Um yeah, very excited.
• 0:28
  Been a busy few weeks. Uh up in uh
• 0:32
  Niagara now just for one last push and
• 0:34
  uh flying out um this uh Saturday later
• 0:37
  in the evening out of Pearson and uh
• 0:39
  going from Pearson to Hong Kong and then
• 0:41
  Hong Kong to Shanghai. So long way from
• 0:45
  uh PEI for sure.
• 0:48
  The
• 0:49
  >> your situation, your story is somewhat
• 0:51
  different in a couple different ways
• 0:53
  compared to a lot of fighters who make
• 0:55
  it into the UFC. And to be quite honest,
• 0:56
  your signing caught me by complete
• 0:59
  surprise. Like, typically, I have uh,
• 1:01
  you know, friends I talk with at
• 1:02
  different fight cams around Canada, so I
• 1:04
  know who's set up for a contender
• 1:06
  series. I know who's being looked at,
• 1:08
  uh, who's being looked at for maybe a
• 1:09
  Ultimate Fighter or something like that.
• 1:11
  But when your signing came out, I woke
• 1:13
  up one morning, opened up my social
• 1:15
  media, and boom, I saw a post from UC
• 1:16
  Canada that you had made it to the UC,
• 1:18
  and I was completely surprised. Tell me,
• 1:21
  how in the world did this come about,
• 1:22
  and how did you keep it a secret?
• 1:26
  Yeah, good question. Um, I found out not
• 1:31
  uh too much long before everything kind
• 1:33
  of got out when I first was told um my
• 1:36
  manager had actually got a hold of me,
• 1:37
  Brian Butler, um from Sucker Punch down
• 1:39
  in Vegas. He had facetimed me um it was
• 1:42
  a couple weeks ago now August 6th or
• 1:43
  something like that, 6th or 7th. And uh
• 1:46
  essentially just told me, yeah, like uh
• 1:48
  hey, I don't usually FaceTime someone
• 1:50
  unless they're in the UFC. And congrats,
• 1:52
  man. you're a UFC fighter and you're
• 1:54
  making your debut in in 3 weeks in
• 1:56
  Shanghai. So, obviously, you know,
• 1:58
  you're a little taken aback uh
• 2:00
  initially, but then I was uh I was just
• 2:02
  like, "Well, let's go, man. Let's have
• 2:03
  it." Uh I'm always training. I'm always
• 2:06
  fit and ready and uh within a a makeable
• 2:08
  weight. So, pretty well first uh
• 2:11
  reaction was just let's go and where do
• 2:13
  I sign and let's get the ball rolling.
• 2:17
  >> Now, was this signing a complete
• 2:18
  surprise to you or did you know there
• 2:20
  was something in the works? Were you
• 2:21
  told that, you know, uh, Brian was
• 2:23
  talking to the UFC or your name was even
• 2:25
  known to them?
• 2:28
  >> I mean, I know Brian's been, you know,
• 2:29
  pushing my name into the right circles
• 2:31
  after, you know, the last couple fights.
• 2:33
  Now I'm seven and one as a professional.
• 2:35
  I'm on a fiveight win streak. I finished
• 2:37
  my last three opponents in a row. Um,
• 2:40
  obviously thought, you know, the more
• 2:42
  conventional route was going to be the
• 2:43
  contender series, like you had
• 2:45
  mentioned. Um, I was hoping for maybe a
• 2:47
  shot on that this fall. um I thought was
• 2:50
  a realistic um opportunity, but uh when
• 2:53
  I got the call and he told me no, like a
• 2:55
  straight shot right into the UFC on
• 2:57
  short notice in Shanghai, um obviously
• 3:00
  didn't have that on the on the bingo
• 3:01
  card, but um just, you know, took it in
• 3:04
  stride and like I said, I'm always
• 3:06
  training. I'm always staying ready. So,
• 3:08
  um, didn't hesitate to say yes and jump
• 3:10
  at the opportunity and, uh, just very
• 3:12
  blessed and thankful that I, I was, uh,
• 3:15
  chosen to, you know, um, have a a
• 3:17
  straight, uh, shot right into the show
• 3:18
  and, uh, be able to put my skills on
• 3:20
  display on August 29th. So, very
• 3:22
  excited.
• 3:23
  >> That's amazing. Now, often times when
• 3:26
  fighters make it to the UFC, it's it's
• 3:28
  the ultimate test, right? Like, you're
• 3:30
  on a regional circuit, you're doing
• 3:31
  really well, like you said, record of
• 3:32
  7-1, you've been forming excellently,
• 3:34
  and you've been winning some great
• 3:36
  fights. Uh, but you just never know
• 3:38
  until you face like higher level of
• 3:40
  competition where you're going to be.
• 3:41
  >> So, as an entry level fighter into the
• 3:43
  UFC, I'm wondering, do you do you look
• 3:45
  at the landscape there, the other
• 3:46
  fighters in your weight class, and and
• 3:48
  look at them and think, "Oh, I could
• 3:49
  beat that guy." Or do you think that,
• 3:51
  you know, this is something like you're,
• 3:52
  you know, you're an entry- level guy and
• 3:54
  you're going to have to work your way to
• 3:55
  taking it up the ranks?
• 3:57
  >> Yeah. I mean, the last couple years of
• 3:59
  my career, I've al obviously been, you
• 4:01
  know, preparing for an opportunity like
• 4:03
  this in the foreseeable future. And uh I
• 4:05
  mean luckily I I come up to a great gym
• 4:07
  here in Niagara. I get to you know train
• 4:09
  with the likes of Mike Malot and Aaron
• 4:11
  Jeffrey. And then you have people like
• 4:13
  Jasmine and Cody and uh a ton of
• 4:15
  upandcomers. Clayton Pie, Bobby Poulter
• 4:17
  coming in here, guys that are in my
• 4:19
  weight class that are very, you know,
• 4:20
  high level prospects in in uh in the
• 4:23
  country. So you know, you surround
• 4:25
  yourself with uh the highest caliber of
• 4:27
  of training partners and athletes. And I
• 4:29
  think it gives you a pretty good gauge
• 4:30
  of where you're at. And uh I've
• 4:32
  definitely noticed a massive difference
• 4:34
  from coming up here and doing a big
• 4:36
  portion of my camps up here the last
• 4:37
  couple years. And then also I have a
• 4:40
  great gym back home in PEI as well,
• 4:41
  Henzo Greasy PEI. Um for being a small
• 4:44
  province, we have a super deep um pool
• 4:47
  of athletes there who are very dedicated
• 4:48
  in their training uh with coaches uh to
• 4:51
  go along with it as well. So, I've just
• 4:54
  been very uh very blessed and very
• 4:57
  grateful to have two um very strong gyms
• 4:59
  in my corner and be able to kind of, you
• 5:01
  know, bounce back and forth between the
• 5:02
  two. So, um yeah, obviously it's the
• 5:05
  UFC. There's no easy fights. Everyone is
• 5:07
  there for a reason. But, uh the last
• 5:10
  couple fights I I really believe truly
• 5:11
  in to myself that, you know, I was ready
• 5:13
  for that next step and uh I just uh
• 5:16
  stayed true to my training and the
• 5:18
  process that got me here and uh believe
• 5:20
  that, you know, one day it was going to
• 5:21
  come. So obviously sometimes it comes a
• 5:23
  little quicker or uh you know a little
• 5:25
  more grandiose than you would expect,
• 5:27
  right? Flying to Shanghai in 3 weeks
• 5:29
  notice. But hey, that's uh this is what
• 5:31
  you're after, right? You want the the
• 5:32
  big shots at the show like this. So I'm
• 5:34
  just super stoked and super grateful for
• 5:36
  the opportunity and I'm ready to go.
• 5:40
  >> Now, we're going to step aside from the
• 5:42
  the sexy talk about fighting for a
• 5:44
  second and we're going to talk about
• 5:45
  real life and reality. A lot of fighters
• 5:47
  who are watching this right now are in
• 5:49
  the situation that you found yourself
• 5:50
  just a few weeks ago where you're you
• 5:52
  have you have uh aspirations to be a pro
• 5:54
  fighter uh a high level pro fighter.
• 5:56
  You're working toward that. You're doing
• 5:57
  what you can. You're training uh but you
• 6:00
  have a real life outside of fighting,
• 6:01
  right? You in particular, you work for
• 6:03
  the government. You've got a job there.
• 6:04
  So to just to be able to to accept this
• 6:06
  opportunity uh and be able to to to to
• 6:10
  take some time off and go do this. I
• 6:12
  mean, you had to say yes to do it. But
• 6:13
  how does it look like for your real
• 6:14
  life? Does your employer are they
• 6:16
  supportive? Do they mind you doing this
• 6:18
  or is there any friction that gets
• 6:20
  caused?
• 6:22
  >> So, I've been very um fortunate that
• 6:25
  yeah, like you'd mentioned, I do work
• 6:26
  for the uh the federal government of
• 6:28
  Canada, but I'm able to um work within
• 6:31
  the country at least. So, the move up to
• 6:33
  Niagara to, you know, have this little
• 6:35
  little last push um up here for a couple
• 6:37
  weeks was uh not an issue. I've done it
• 6:39
  in the past before working from up here
• 6:41
  and I've actually been working pretty
• 6:43
  well straight through the last couple
• 6:45
  weeks as well. Honestly, I can uh mold
• 6:47
  my work around the the two a day
• 6:49
  training sessions up here. So, I just
• 6:51
  told myself so long as it's not an
• 6:53
  obstacle or it's not um impeding my
• 6:56
  training to the level that I would want
• 6:58
  it to be, um I'll just continue on
• 7:00
  business as usual. And that's what I've
• 7:01
  done. And uh I've been training very
• 7:03
  very hard up here and uh you know, two a
• 7:05
  day long uh grueling sessions like that.
• 7:08
  And I've still been able to, you know,
• 7:10
  work around the uh the work schedule as
• 7:12
  well. Mind you, you know what I mean?
• 7:14
  I'm not, you know, digging ditches all
• 7:15
  day or roofing all day than going to the
• 7:17
  gym, right? I have like a more of a
• 7:19
  white collar job. So, I'm able to, you
• 7:21
  know, double my recovery as a bit of
• 7:23
  work in between as well. And it's almost
• 7:25
  nice. I was having this conversation
• 7:26
  with one of the coaches. Like it's nice
• 7:28
  to be able to, you know, after a
• 7:29
  training session, okay, recover, get my
• 7:32
  food into me, what have you, and then
• 7:34
  just sit down and turn the brain off and
• 7:36
  just focus on some work for a bit and
• 7:37
  then head back to the gym and kind of
• 7:39
  dial back into the fight camp mode. So,
• 7:41
  it's been, you know, it's a balance.
• 7:43
  It's a work life balance. You need to be
• 7:44
  able to handle both. But, like I said,
• 7:46
  I've been doing it for quite some time
• 7:47
  now, so I'm pretty comfortable with uh
• 7:49
  with balancing both. And I think it just
• 7:51
  goes kind of handinhand with the mindset
• 7:53
  that I've adopted heading into this
• 7:54
  fight. It's like, you know, it's just
• 7:56
  the next fight, whether it's an FLA
• 7:58
  fight in front of 2,000 people or a UFC
• 8:00
  debut in Shanghai in front of 30,000.
• 8:03
  Um, my mindset going into it, it's the
• 8:05
  very same. Um, I'm not going to train
• 8:08
  any harder than I did previously because
• 8:10
  I was already training as hard as I
• 8:12
  possibly could. Um, like I said, I've
• 8:14
  already had the mindset of, you know, I
• 8:15
  want to be a UFC fighter. So, I've been
• 8:17
  acting like that for the, you know, the
• 8:19
  majority of the past little bit here
• 8:21
  throughout my career. So, I mean, a lot
• 8:23
  of it's just business as usual. Go in
• 8:25
  and uh kind of do what got you to the
• 8:26
  dance. Honestly,
• 8:28
  [clears throat]
• 8:29
  >> I find that's a common attitude from a
• 8:31
  lot of fighters when they say that every
• 8:33
  fight it, you know, we're always in all
• 8:35
  the promotional things for different
• 8:37
  organizations, we see the biggest fight
• 8:39
  and the best fight and whatever, but
• 8:40
  reality, your next fight is just your
• 8:42
  next fight. So, it doesn't matter. It
• 8:43
  almost doesn't matter who it is because
• 8:44
  you still have to step in that cage and
• 8:46
  you've got to perform. So, you know,
• 8:48
  whether he's the best fighter in the
• 8:49
  world or, you know, number 20 in the
• 8:51
  world or a new fighter, he's still the
• 8:53
  guy you have to fight. So, I mean, your
• 8:55
  attitude's got to be, "Yeah, let's just
• 8:56
  do it."
• 8:58
  >> 100%. You know what I mean? And that's
• 8:59
  why I've always just adopted the mindset
• 9:01
  of, you know, just train as hard as you
• 9:03
  possibly can. If you're legit about this
• 9:04
  sport, you want to be a professional
• 9:06
  fighter, then it's uh, you know, you're
• 9:08
  not half in, half out. You're you're all
• 9:09
  in and you're fully committed to that.
• 9:11
  And that's been my lifestyle for, you
• 9:13
  know, the last four or five years, ever
• 9:15
  since I was an amateur turning pro. Um,
• 9:17
  that's just how I've kind of quietly
• 9:19
  gone about my training regimen. And, uh,
• 9:21
  so when I got the call, like I said, not
• 9:23
  a whole lot changes. I mean, the stage
• 9:25
  is bigger. You have more eyes on you.
• 9:27
  But, uh, you know, that's all part and
• 9:29
  parcel with, you know, making the UFC.
• 9:31
  But for me, like I said, it's just, uh,
• 9:33
  keep the same attitude, keep the same
• 9:36
  hunger. Um, this isn't the end goal.
• 9:38
  that was the the goal, but now the work
• 9:40
  really begins and uh you just keep doing
• 9:42
  what you're doing. So,
• 9:45
  >> let's move on now to your opponent for
• 9:46
  UFC Shanghai. His name is He's a Chinese
• 9:48
  fighter named Ding Ming. Uh did you know
• 9:50
  who he was when you were offered him?
• 9:54
  >> No, I wasn't familiar with him. Um
• 9:56
  obviously, I've gotten to know him over
• 9:58
  the last couple weeks just preparing. Um
• 10:00
  I know he fought in Contender Series. He
• 10:02
  had a close fight on there and then um
• 10:05
  he went back in the regional scene, had
• 10:07
  a uh a pretty quick finish and then got
• 10:09
  called back to the UFC and fought in
• 10:12
  Macau at the end of May. So me and him
• 10:13
  would have fought essentially the same
• 10:15
  week when I fought in June in Halifax.
• 10:18
  And uh yeah, so I watched some tape, got
• 10:20
  to know him a little bit. Um he has a
• 10:21
  ton of experience. Um he's a finisher,
• 10:24
  very good striker. Um seems pretty
• 10:27
  wellrounded, has a like I said, a ton of
• 10:29
  experience. But, uh, I like, uh, I like
• 10:31
  the matchup and like I said, I was, uh,
• 10:33
  you know, I was waiting for this call.
• 10:34
  So, when the UFC calls, it's not a, you
• 10:36
  know, if or what, it's just when and
• 10:38
  where do I sign and, uh, start getting
• 10:40
  ready. So,
• 10:43
  China is an absolutely huge market, a,
• 10:45
  huge potential market. It's uh, risen
• 10:48
  pretty rapidly over the past couple
• 10:50
  years from no MMA whatsoever to just
• 10:52
  like anything, it it seems like it's
• 10:54
  it's accepted now and they just go for
• 10:56
  it, right? So, I think this is almost
• 10:58
  like kind of a win-win situation for
• 11:00
  you. On the one hand, you're going in to
• 11:02
  enmy territory. You're fighting you're
• 11:04
  you're a non-Chinese person fighting a
• 11:06
  Chinese person in China. So, clearly
• 11:09
  there the the crowd is going to be
• 11:11
  against you at a certain point. That
• 11:13
  being said, I do know that Canadians in
• 11:15
  general are pretty well respected in
• 11:17
  China and and were liked in general. So,
• 11:20
  if you go in there and you put on a a
• 11:22
  good performance and you've got a great
• 11:23
  win, uh I I think still they're going to
• 11:26
  be appreciative of you and they're
• 11:27
  they're going to like you. So, you know,
• 11:28
  I think it's it's a really good
• 11:30
  opportunity for you other as opposed to
• 11:32
  maybe just going on a you know, a fight
• 11:34
  card in Canada.
• 11:36
  >> 100%. I think it's and like how, you
• 11:39
  know, how much cooler of a UFC debut
• 11:41
  could you draw up right on a, you know,
• 11:43
  a short notice fight in Shanghai across
• 11:45
  the world. I mean, this is just, you
• 11:47
  know, when I got the call, I was just
• 11:48
  over the moon. And I was like, "What an
• 11:50
  opportunity. What a UFC debut." Like,
• 11:53
  this is, you know, welcome to the UFC
• 11:54
  moment times 10, right? Cuz, you know,
• 11:57
  getting flown across the country to
• 11:58
  fight. Um, so just super super blessed
• 12:01
  for the opportunity. Super thankful um
• 12:03
  to my management team, to the UFC, Sean,
• 12:05
  Shelby, Dana White, all of them, right,
• 12:07
  for giving me this opportunity. And uh
• 12:08
  yeah, just looking to go out there and
• 12:10
  uh make the most of it, man. Like it's
• 12:12
  uh like I said, these opportunities do
• 12:15
  not come around uh very often. So when
• 12:17
  you get the call, you uh you make sure
• 12:19
  you say yes and you make the most of it.
• 12:20
  And like I said, I'm very thankful to
• 12:22
  have two um really great gyms that help
• 12:24
  me prepare for this moment. And uh
• 12:26
  that's where, you know, my confidence
• 12:28
  stems from is from, you know, being part
• 12:29
  of two really um super accomplished,
• 12:32
  well established gyms with great
• 12:34
  coaching and great training partners and
• 12:35
  people who are in my corner and looking
• 12:37
  out for me. And even being up here, like
• 12:39
  I said, I have, you know, Mikey and Jazz
• 12:42
  and Cody and people who have been there
• 12:43
  before in the UFC circle. So, you know,
• 12:45
  they've been prepping me a little bit.
• 12:46
  Okay, this is what fight week looks
• 12:48
  like. This is, you know, how um fight
• 12:50
  week plays out. This is how the
• 12:51
  weigh-ins look, things like that. So,
• 12:53
  just to get a little insight from them
• 12:54
  heading into this has been huge, right?
• 12:56
  And same with all the coaches, Chris and
• 12:58
  um Demar and Matthew Jelly up here, you
• 13:00
  know, they've cornered numerous UFC
• 13:02
  fights, right? So, to have them in my
• 13:04
  corner heading into fight week, you
• 13:05
  know, it's going to be familiar for
• 13:07
  them. so they can kind of, you know,
• 13:08
  walk me through some things that are
• 13:10
  obviously going to be different than a
• 13:11
  local FLA show. But, uh, just, uh, yeah,
• 13:15
  the feeling very thankful and blessed
• 13:17
  for the opportunity and, uh, feeling
• 13:18
  ready to go, uh, to go do some work.
• 13:23
  >> It's a pretty special situation you have
• 13:25
  where you, like you said, you've got a
• 13:26
  great gym back home, hands over CPEI. Uh
• 13:29
  but when you were looking at finding
• 13:31
  maybe you know quote unquote a bigger
• 13:33
  gym uh to to train at to put some
• 13:36
  polishing touches on your on your fight
• 13:38
  game out of all the gyms in Canada all
• 13:40
  the gyms in the world how did you pick
• 13:41
  Niagara Top Team?
• 13:44
  >> I mean I always followed NT like
• 13:46
  obviously I was a big fan of Mikey's I
• 13:48
  was a big fan of Aaron and Jazz and uh
• 13:51
  and then obviously I I knew they had a a
• 13:53
  very solid deep pipeline of talent
• 13:55
  that's up and coming here as well. Like
• 13:57
  I said, there's there's Clayton, there's
• 13:58
  Bobby, there's Aiden, there's lots of
• 14:00
  people you've had in this podcast
• 14:02
  before. Um Atlanta that I stay with,
• 14:04
  Atlanta Cook, she's fighting fighting in
• 14:06
  Octagon in September shortly thereafter
• 14:08
  me.
• 14:09
  >> And the list goes on. There's Hannah
• 14:11
  Taylor, like you know what I mean? I I
• 14:12
  could, you know,
• 14:13
  >> list them off till I'm blew in the face.
• 14:15
  But, uh, when it came to choosing NT,
• 14:19
  uh, it's actually my manager, Josh Hill,
• 14:21
  who had just fought there last weekend.
• 14:23
  Shout out to Josh. Congrats on the W. he
• 14:25
  is like uh transitioning into a bit of a
• 14:27
  managerial role with Sucker Punch. And
• 14:30
  when I signed with them prior to ever
• 14:33
  coming up here, he was like, "Hey, I
• 14:35
  train a lot at Niagara Top Team. If
• 14:37
  you'd ever want to come out, I can get
• 14:38
  you a spot to stay type thing." And then
• 14:40
  uh obviously I obliged and came up. And
• 14:43
  then from the first day I was up here, I
• 14:45
  was like, "What a what a place to be."
• 14:47
  You know, just great people and just
• 14:48
  elite level coaching and athletes around
• 14:50
  me. So it was a no-brainer, right? And
• 14:52
  obviously it's close to me as well.
• 14:54
  Well, it's, you know, it's pretty short
• 14:55
  plane ride up from Pete Yaida to
• 14:56
  Toronto. So, um, like I said, I think
• 14:59
  I've been up here 10 or 11 times now in
• 15:01
  the last couple years um, between my own
• 15:03
  fight camps or coming up to help out
• 15:04
  with other people's fight camps as well.
• 15:07
  And, uh, like I said, overall just, you
• 15:09
  know, obviously the gym speaks for
• 15:11
  itself, but the the people within it is
• 15:14
  what really sold me on it. Just the
• 15:15
  coaches and the athletes. They're just
• 15:17
  >> top-notch people, top-notch um, training
• 15:21
  partners, top-notch athletes. and then
• 15:23
  they just welcome me in. They were so
• 15:25
  welcoming when I first came in from day
• 15:27
  one. So, it was really, like I said, a
• 15:28
  no-brainer to uh to make the jump and
• 15:30
  come up here. [snorts]
• 15:33
  >> I think one of the mantras, the Niger
• 15:34
  top team mantras that they use, I I'll
• 15:37
  say it out loud in just a moment, but it
• 15:39
  really reflects upon upon the attitude
• 15:41
  of of what they have. You have all these
• 15:43
  highle fighters like you mentioned,
• 15:45
  actual UFC fighters, PFL fighters, uh
• 15:48
  who are at the top of their game and
• 15:50
  still the mantra is hard work. that's
• 15:52
  what they put in every single day is
• 15:54
  hard work. And if you're not a hard
• 15:56
  worker, you're not going to fit into
• 15:57
  that team. So just the fact that you're
• 15:59
  there repeatedly and they accept you
• 16:01
  means to me that you are a hard worker.
• 16:02
  So I think that's half of half of the
• 16:06
  victory because once you go through the
• 16:08
  hard work, that means you're facing
• 16:09
  adversity and you're getting beat down.
• 16:11
  You know, you've heard the saying,
• 16:12
  sometimes you're the hammer, sometimes
• 16:14
  you're the nail. I'm willing to bet that
• 16:16
  you're the nail a lot more at NT than
• 16:19
  you are back home in Henzo Gracie PEI.
• 16:21
  So, I think that's just really good for
• 16:23
  your for your development overall and
• 16:26
  and just your grit and your toughness
• 16:28
  preparing you for higher level fights.
• 16:32
  >> Certainly. Obviously, and that's why,
• 16:34
  you know, I I'm I'm up here so often
• 16:36
  making these fight trips and making
• 16:37
  these uh camps to come up here and
• 16:39
  prepare. Um yeah, like I said, I'm
• 16:42
  rubbing shoulders, you know, with Mikey
• 16:44
  Mad and AJ and everyone I've named so
• 16:46
  far. It's like, you know, there's no
• 16:47
  easy rounds in this gym. all the way
• 16:49
  from the amateur fighters right up into,
• 16:51
  you know, the UFC headliners, right? So,
• 16:54
  um, yeah, that's why I come up here. And
• 16:56
  then, uh, doubling down again on the
• 16:58
  coaching, man, like Chris and Matt Demar
• 17:00
  Antonio and Matthew Jelly, like just top
• 17:03
  top-of-the-line coaching. And, um, you
• 17:05
  know, you get things up here that you
• 17:07
  might not get in like a a Kill Cliff or
• 17:09
  an AT or something like that where
• 17:10
  there's, you know, 30 UFC fighters on
• 17:13
  the mat, right? Like I get access to
• 17:14
  one-on-one coaching from these guys. um
• 17:17
  and they can, you know, come over and
• 17:18
  watch specific rounds and coach me
• 17:20
  through specific situations. So to have
• 17:22
  them really, you know, paying attention
• 17:24
  to me and giving me, you know, certain
• 17:27
  feedback and what, like I said, watching
• 17:29
  rounds and coaching me through rounds,
• 17:30
  it's it's really just, you know, it's
• 17:32
  priceless work and uh I couldn't ask for
• 17:34
  a better team. So it's just a it's a
• 17:36
  great opportunity. Like you said, I fly
• 17:38
  up here and sometimes you're driving to
• 17:40
  practice, you're sore, it's second
• 17:41
  session of the day. I mean, I'm going to
• 17:43
  train with AJ after this. I can tell you
• 17:45
  right now, it's not gonna be [laughter]
• 17:46
  fun. I'm gonna enjoy it, but he's you
• 17:48
  know what I mean? Like it's Aaron
• 17:50
  Jeffrey. So
• 17:50
  >> I know
• 17:51
  >> it speaks for itself, right? So it's but
• 17:53
  that's why I'm up here, right? To get
• 17:54
  the hard rounds in, the hard work to
• 17:56
  beat the nail. Um Yeah. So loving every
• 17:59
  minute of it.
• 18:00
  >> Yeah.
• 18:01
  Going back to something you said a
• 18:03
  couple minutes ago. You mentioned about
• 18:04
  how you have UFC fighters there who who
• 18:07
  give you advice. Aaron Jeffrey gives you
• 18:08
  advice, tells you about what to expect
• 18:10
  through UFC fight camps and actually
• 18:12
  fighting in the UFC. And I'll never
• 18:14
  forget when I spoke with Jasmine after
• 18:16
  her first ever UFC appearance and I
• 18:19
  asked her, I don't remember the exact
• 18:20
  words I used, but I asked her about, you
• 18:22
  know, what was the the thing she maybe
• 18:25
  not what she regrets, but something she
• 18:26
  would have done differently. And she
• 18:28
  paused for a minute and then she looked
• 18:29
  at me and she said she told me that
• 18:33
  she didn't take enough time to just
• 18:35
  absorb what was happening as it was
• 18:37
  happening. It was such a whirlwind. The
• 18:39
  first time, first UFC fight, it was such
• 18:41
  a whirlwind. so much going on. You know,
• 18:43
  your eyes are big and wide. You're
• 18:44
  staring at the bright lights. You're
• 18:46
  seeing the whole UFC mechanism around
• 18:48
  you and it's just aweinducing. And she
• 18:51
  just realized afterward that she forgot
• 18:53
  a lot about it. She didn't remember or
• 18:55
  retain a lot about it. So, she wish she
• 18:57
  would have just slowed down and just,
• 18:59
  you know, looked around a little bit
• 19:00
  more and just absorbed it and and
• 19:02
  memorized stuff so she could reflect on
• 19:04
  it later. And I'm wondering if that's
• 19:06
  something you've considered.
• 19:09
  >> Yeah, for sure. I think it goes back to
• 19:11
  what I was saying about, you know, the
• 19:12
  coaches and uh the athletes who have
• 19:14
  been, you know, through that uh song and
• 19:16
  dance have been, you know, kind of
• 19:17
  prepping me for that. And uh that's kind
• 19:19
  of been a mantra of mine since uh I got
• 19:22
  the call a few weeks ago and a mindset
• 19:24
  of mine. It's just, you know, like treat
• 19:26
  it like any other fight. Go about it
• 19:28
  just like you would. Obviously, there's
• 19:29
  going to be, you know, more obligations,
• 19:31
  more um eyes on it, more just, you know,
• 19:34
  it's the UFC. It's the biggest
• 19:35
  organization in the world. So, there's
• 19:37
  going to be a lot of moving parts, but
• 19:39
  um my biggest thing is to yeah, take it
• 19:42
  in, savor it, um enjoy the moment, and
• 19:45
  uh you know, act like you've been there
• 19:46
  before almost right in a way. Um
• 19:49
  because, you know, at the end of the
• 19:50
  day, like we said, it's a it's a
• 19:51
  15-minute cage fight that I've, you
• 19:53
  know, been doing for the last six, seven
• 19:55
  years of my life. And, um I'm just going
• 19:58
  in with that same attitude. Um,
• 20:00
  obviously you want to perform the best
• 20:02
  of your abilities, but I don't also want
• 20:04
  to put it on too much of a pedestal
• 20:05
  either, right? Because you don't want to
• 20:07
  get too caught up in the moment and uh,
• 20:09
  you know, make it bigger than it really
• 20:11
  is in a way. Um, cuz at the end of the
• 20:13
  day, it's just the next fight like we
• 20:15
  were just mentioning about. So, yeah, I
• 20:16
  fully intend on uh, you know, taking the
• 20:18
  moment in. Obviously, I'm getting flown
• 20:20
  across the country to fight in the UFC.
• 20:21
  Man, like what an opportunity. What a
• 20:23
  what a privilege to have that pressure.
• 20:25
  So, I'm going to be sure to yeah, soak
• 20:28
  in all of Fight Week. Um, like I said,
• 20:29
  we land in Shanghai. I believe it's uh
• 20:32
  11:00 a.m. on Monday. So, I'll have
• 20:33
  Monday through Friday to kind of get my
• 20:35
  bearings about me and get the weight in
• 20:37
  check. And, uh, you know, fight week
• 20:39
  there's a lot of, uh, sitting around as
• 20:41
  well, you know what I mean? Cuz you're
• 20:42
  training, you know, once maybe twice a
• 20:45
  day trying to get the weight down, but a
• 20:46
  lot of it, you know, the work's done
• 20:47
  essentially. So, you're just trying to
• 20:48
  make weight and the rest of the day
• 20:50
  you're probably just walking around and
• 20:51
  and taking in the sights, right? And
• 20:53
  obviously, I'm going to be in Shanghai,
• 20:54
  China. So, there'll be lots to take in.
• 20:56
  So, I fully intend on uh yeah, just
• 20:59
  taking uh moments throughout the week to
• 21:01
  just kind of step back and and soak it
• 21:03
  all in. So, I'm really looking forward
• 21:04
  to it.
• 21:06
  >> Awesome.
• 21:07
  Everybody, whether it's you or me or
• 21:09
  anybody else watching this interview, we
• 21:11
  all have goals. We have goals for the
• 21:13
  things we're doing in life. Obviously,
• 21:14
  your goal going into this is to win the
• 21:16
  fight, to have a victory. Uh but there's
• 21:18
  also smaller micro goals that you you
• 21:21
  need to accomplish in order to find
• 21:22
  long-term success. I'm wondering if you
• 21:24
  have any any other goals that you hope
• 21:26
  to achieve when you're in the UFC this
• 21:27
  or in a couple weekends time.
• 21:32
  >> Yeah, obviously like you'd mentioned
• 21:33
  winning the debut, right? It's uh that's
• 21:36
  at the top of the list of the uh of the
• 21:39
  priorities, but kind of going back to
• 21:41
  what we keep saying, right? Like it's
• 21:43
  the next fight. I've gone into every
• 21:44
  fight with the intention to win, to put
• 21:45
  on a good performance, to be exciting
• 21:47
  for the fans. Um but ultimately, you
• 21:49
  know, I'm going to do what I have to do
• 21:50
  to get my hand raised in there. Um, so
• 21:53
  you know, it's also not the contender
• 21:55
  series. There might be a little less
• 21:56
  pressure that you need that big flashy
• 21:58
  knockout to get the contract. Um, so in
• 22:01
  a way I I believe that's almost
• 22:03
  advantageous for me because I've always
• 22:05
  believed that, you know, if you just go
• 22:07
  in hunting for the finish or hunting for
• 22:09
  the knockout, sometimes it won't
• 22:10
  materialize, right? Um, you kind of have
• 22:13
  to take what's given to you. So, um, in
• 22:16
  this one, yeah, I'm just looking to go
• 22:17
  in, put on, uh, another, uh, great
• 22:19
  performance and, uh, you know, live up
• 22:22
  to, uh, my capabilities and put my
• 22:24
  skills on display for the world to see.
• 22:26
  But, uh, yeah, the goal is always to,
• 22:28
  uh, to win the next fight. And, yeah,
• 22:29
  I'm I'm not here to, you know, just, you
• 22:31
  know, make the UFC and, you know, have
• 22:33
  my flowers and say, "Oh, I made it." No,
• 22:35
  like like I said, this is where the work
• 22:36
  begins. and I I fully intend on on
• 22:39
  carving out a long UFC career like uh
• 22:41
  the people who have uh kind of paved the
• 22:44
  way before me, right? So, I'm following
• 22:45
  in their footsteps the the previous
• 22:47
  Canadian greats and Mikey and Jazz have
• 22:49
  kind of set the bar very high. So uh I
• 22:52
  uh I really plan and and on uh working
• 22:54
  to uh trying to achieve that to my
• 22:56
  fullest capabilities and uh just put my
• 22:58
  best foot forward and uh you know
• 23:00
  obviously taking care of business on
• 23:01
  August 29th and then shifting gears and
• 23:04
  focusing on the next one regardless of
• 23:06
  the result. A wise man once told me uh
• 23:09
  you uh you either win or you learn. So
• 23:11
  that's a Matt McGrath quote for you
• 23:13
  right there. So, I've always kind of
• 23:15
  kept that very near and dear to my heart
• 23:16
  and uh that's uh that's the mantra going
• 23:19
  into this weekend, next weekend.
• 23:23
  >> Um
• 23:25
  I've only got one last question that I'm
• 23:27
  going to ask you and that's the same
• 23:28
  question I I end with all my interview
• 23:30
  with everybody. But before we get to
• 23:31
  that, I'm just going to give you a
• 23:34
  little bit of interesting knowledge. Um
• 23:36
  so, MMA.ca, we don't have any awards.
• 23:38
  Although maybe that's something we
• 23:39
  should do at some point. But I just want
• 23:41
  to share with you the news that I don't
• 23:43
  know how it happened. I don't know why.
• 23:45
  Maybe you could explain to me why. But
• 23:47
  your my my post about you I'm making it
• 23:50
  the UFC. That is my number one ranked
• 23:53
  post I've ever made on this channel in a
• 23:55
  decade or whatever it is. It used to be
• 23:57
  Simon Marcus when he was I did an
• 23:59
  interview with him before he fought
• 24:00
  Bobby Palter. And now yours just kept on
• 24:02
  going, man. It kept growing. It's it's
• 24:04
  at tens. It's over 70,000 views and it's
• 24:07
  still grow growing every day. I'm just
• 24:09
  wondering like I know you're popular
• 24:10
  man, but is there any explanation why
• 24:12
  that just took off like that?
• 24:18
  >> Sorry, you cut me on the spot. I don't
• 24:20
  know.
• 24:21
  >> You're just Yeah, I mean, hey, it's uh I
• 24:23
  think I have a ton of East Coast support
• 24:25
  and obviously um you know, I'm signed to
• 24:27
  the UFC, so people are, you know, taking
• 24:29
  a little more notice and I'm just very
• 24:31
  thankful for the the uh huge amount of
• 24:33
  support I get. Obviously, it's
• 24:34
  predominantly I feel like from the east
• 24:36
  coast, but going back to me describing
• 24:38
  Henz Gracie PEI, like the East Coast,
• 24:40
  it's small but mighty, man. We have a
• 24:42
  thriving uh martial arts community out
• 24:44
  there that's built on uh you know,
• 24:46
  strong bonds and relationships. And uh
• 24:48
  I've been blessed from my first amateur
• 24:51
  fight right up until now with a a super
• 24:53
  strong support system from everyone up
• 24:55
  there. And then obviously, you know,
• 24:57
  mixing my time up uh in Niagara now. You
• 24:59
  know, I've gotten a little bit more of a
• 25:02
  a fan base up here now just from, you
• 25:04
  know, rubbing shoulders with the right
• 25:05
  people up here and being up here all the
• 25:06
  time. But uh yeah, that's super cool. I
• 25:08
  mean, you love uh you love people being
• 25:10
  in your corner and the support. So, I
• 25:12
  think it's just uh it speaks to, like I
• 25:14
  said, a lot of it is from uh probably
• 25:16
  the East Coast. And uh it's an untapped
• 25:19
  uh there's a lot of untapped potential
• 25:21
  out there and it's just a growing
• 25:22
  martial arts community. And uh like I
• 25:24
  said, for being a small uh island or you
• 25:26
  know, combination of islands throughout
• 25:28
  the Maritimes, it's a it's a very
• 25:30
  passionate martial arts community and uh
• 25:32
  to be able to be heading into this
• 25:34
  opportunity, you know, repping the
• 25:35
  island, repping the Maritimes. Um it's
• 25:37
  something that I take a lot of pride in
• 25:38
  and I'm just super proud to be from
• 25:40
  Prince Island, to be Canadian, uh to
• 25:42
  have this opportunity in the UFC to, you
• 25:45
  know, to rep uh our small island. So,
• 25:47
  just super thankful and yeah, I think
• 25:49
  that's super cool, man. I love hearing
• 25:50
  that.
• 25:52
  Okay, last question. Is there anything
• 25:54
  that I didn't ask you that you think we
• 25:56
  should have talked about?
• 26:00
  >> I think we covered a lot of it, Andy. I
• 26:01
  mean, we just spoke not too long ago
• 26:03
  after my my last win in in June there,
• 26:05
  so we had a great chat. But, uh, like I
• 26:07
  said, uh, just super thankful for the
• 26:10
  opportunity. Want to shout out both
• 26:11
  gyms. Like I said, Niagara Top Team, I I
• 26:13
  do a ton of work up here. Like I said,
• 26:15
  I'm staying in Chris's basement right
• 26:16
  now. The coach, he welcomed me in. when
• 26:18
  I called him and told him about the
• 26:19
  opportunity, he said, "No questions
• 26:21
  asked. Whatever you need, come stay with
• 26:22
  me." Like, so to be able to have people
• 26:24
  like that in your corner who just, you
• 26:26
  know, stop everything they're doing to
• 26:28
  help you. Like, it goes to show just the
• 26:30
  character and and how much they care
• 26:32
  about, you know, their athletes and and
• 26:34
  the people around them. So, just super
• 26:36
  super thankful to have them. And like I
• 26:37
  said as well, my my home gym, Henzo
• 26:39
  Gracie PEI. Shout out to everyone there
• 26:41
  back home for uh always, you know,
• 26:43
  looking out for me and helping me out
• 26:45
  and give me those rounds and always
• 26:47
  being there to, you know, put, you know,
• 26:49
  my career um ahead of theirs sometimes
• 26:51
  for a lot of people. So, just super
• 26:53
  thankful for everyone that goes out of
• 26:54
  my way. And then lastly, just a special
• 26:56
  mention to uh my late coach, Matt
• 26:58
  McGrath. I wouldn't be here I wouldn't
• 27:00
  be here without him. he uh he was in my
• 27:02
  corner for essentially my entire career
• 27:04
  up until his passing uh in late January
• 27:07
  of this year. So, you know, I have the
• 27:09
  best guardian angel heading into August
• 27:12
  29th and uh I I can really always feel
• 27:14
  them. Me and him have lots of chats and
• 27:16
  uh really looking forward to getting
• 27:18
  this uh this done for him.
• 27:22
  >> Well, Cam, you've made us proud by your
• 27:24
  accomplishments and and your future is
• 27:25
  looking bright and I'm sure Matt is up
• 27:27
  there smiling down proud at you as well.
• 27:29
  Congratulations on everything, my man.
• 27:33
  >> Love that. Appreciate it, Andy. Thanks
• 27:34
  for having me on.
• 27:36
  >> All right, Cam. Great to talk with you,
• 27:37
  man. Cameron Nelson fighting his USA
• 27:39
  debut. UC Shanghai, 29th of August from
• 27:42
  Shanghai, China,
• 27:46
  >> Bradley. It's great to see you, my man.
• 27:47
  It's been a while since we chatted. How
• 27:48
  have things been?
• 27:50
  >> Yeah, it's good to talk again. Um,
• 27:52
  they've been good. They've been good. I
• 27:54
  can't remember the last time we chatted
• 27:55
  if it was before my last one or before
• 27:58
  the Contenders one, but yeah, it's been
• 27:59
  a minute.
• 28:00
  >> It's been I think I've seen you in
• 28:02
  person since then. I attended a BFL I'm
• 28:04
  going to say in March or April. Was it
• 28:07
  the last one anyway? So, I got to see
• 28:09
  you there.
• 28:10
  >> Okay. If it was if it was in uh if it
• 28:13
  was in May.
• 28:14
  >> May that's what it was.
• 28:16
  >> If it was in May, then you would have
• 28:17
  saw me cuz I fought in that one. But if
• 28:19
  it was
• 28:21
  >> It was actually May 7th. It was May 7th.
• 28:24
  Okay. Yeah, that was the one I fought
• 28:25
  in. Yeah, the last one.
• 28:27
  >> I always find it kind of interesting.
• 28:28
  Why does BFL have their shows on
• 28:29
  Thursday nights?
• 28:31
  >> I think it has to do with the fight pass
• 28:33
  scheduling, right?
• 28:36
  >> Something like that. So,
• 28:38
  >> yeah. Anyway, that makes sense. Anyway,
• 28:39
  it works out for a lot of people and it
• 28:41
  works out for uh for me. So, anyway,
• 28:43
  let's talk about you. So, it's been a
• 28:45
  while. You're still busy. You are still,
• 28:47
  you know, I'm not trying to shine you up
• 28:49
  too much, but you're still one of
• 28:50
  Canada's hottest prospects. uh you're
• 28:52
  widely regarded as a very skilled,
• 28:54
  talented young upandcomer who has a lot
• 28:57
  of potential and you are still grinding
• 28:59
  in the in the regional scene right now
• 29:01
  putting on good fights, winning good
• 29:02
  fights, trying to get noticed by the UFC
• 29:04
  and get brought back into that
• 29:05
  organization again. Uh so I'm just
• 29:08
  wondering on a on a personal level,
• 29:10
  what's it like just having that inside
• 29:12
  you knowing that it's it's achievable,
• 29:15
  it's close, but you just have to keep on
• 29:16
  grinding, you have to keep on working.
• 29:18
  Is there ever a point where you get like
• 29:19
  demoralized or think, man, I don't want
• 29:21
  to keep going at this, or is it just
• 29:22
  something you're so confident that you
• 29:24
  know it's going to happen, you just need
• 29:25
  to put in the time?
• 29:28
  >> Um, it's kind of one of those things
• 29:29
  where for me personally, it's like I I
• 29:32
  don't do it because the UFC exists, you
• 29:34
  know? I would be fighting regardless
• 29:36
  because martial arts is what I've done
• 29:38
  my whole life. So, I mean, for me, it's
• 29:40
  Yeah, it's easy. I I'm on as as they say
• 29:43
  house money because I I started fighting
• 29:45
  again when I was 27,
• 29:47
  >> you know, after a whole lifetime of
• 29:49
  martial arts. And for me, I'm just doing
• 29:51
  it because I I I couldn't live with
• 29:53
  myself if I didn't at least try to, you
• 29:55
  know, get a fight career going with all
• 29:57
  the experience I have in martial arts.
• 29:58
  So, for me, yeah, I'm just every fight
• 30:01
  is just, you know, a blessing, a chance
• 30:02
  to get to go in there and perform and
• 30:04
  use what I um learned my whole life, all
• 30:07
  the skills that I learned. It'd be like,
• 30:09
  you know, going to school for 20 years
• 30:11
  and then not getting a job in the field
• 30:13
  you're in, you studied in. So,
• 30:15
  >> yeah, for me it's it's more about, you
• 30:17
  know, my personal journey as a martial
• 30:18
  artist than anything about UFC. That's
• 30:21
  just kind of where people always say,
• 30:23
  "Oh, man, you should be fighting in the
• 30:24
  UFC. You know, you're you're so good,
• 30:26
  whatever." But for me, it's that's
• 30:28
  great. It's more about putting on
• 30:30
  performances and improving as a martial
• 30:31
  artist. And I I think eventually the big
• 30:34
  promotions will, you know, call me in.
• 30:36
  That's kind of without a doubt type
• 30:38
  thing. But that's not what I stress on
• 30:39
  each time. So, I just want to make sure
• 30:41
  I'm the best version of myself I can be
• 30:43
  when I do get into those places, not
• 30:45
  just go in there and, you know, cuz a
• 30:47
  lot of guys get into the UFC and they
• 30:49
  have like couple fights and they're out.
• 30:51
  I'd rather be in there and like make a
• 30:52
  run for the title or, you know, top
• 30:54
  rankings instead of uh filter out. So, I
• 30:56
  just want to make sure I'm prepared more
• 30:57
  than anything. [clears throat]
• 31:00
  >> Now, the UFC is well known for wanting
• 31:02
  certain things in the fighters they
• 31:03
  bring in. And one of them, one of the
• 31:05
  things they really want to see is
• 31:06
  exciting finishes. because they want to
• 31:07
  see a great submission, a great
• 31:09
  knockout, like your incredible knockout
• 31:11
  of the year, your spinning wheel kick,
• 31:12
  head kick a couple years ago, absolutely
• 31:15
  one of the most incredible knockouts
• 31:17
  I've ever seen in my life. How much
• 31:19
  pressure is on a fighter or you in this
• 31:21
  case to to to put on uh an outstanding
• 31:25
  performance and not just win a fight
• 31:26
  because as we know, winning a fight
• 31:28
  sometimes is not enough.
• 31:31
  >> Come here.
• 31:31
  >> Um for me, it's not it's not pressure
• 31:33
  about putting on performances for other
• 31:35
  people. I feel like if you were to live
• 31:37
  that kind of life, it would just be
• 31:39
  pointless stress. Like, you know what I
• 31:40
  mean? Like, imagine, you know, going to
• 31:42
  your job and only thinking about what
• 31:44
  other people want from you. It's it's
• 31:45
  just going to make your performance a
• 31:47
  little less. Like, for me personally,
• 31:48
  it's about asking for what I know I can
• 31:51
  do. You know, a lot of the times in my
• 31:53
  earlier fights, it was like I I just
• 31:54
  want to get the win. You know, I want to
• 31:56
  prove that I can beat this guy. But now
• 31:58
  that I've I've proven to myself that I
• 32:00
  am world [clears throat] class, I also
• 32:02
  just want to, you know, prove that the
• 32:04
  things that I'm working on in the gym
• 32:05
  are actually working and like asking
• 32:07
  more of myself in those fights. So like,
• 32:09
  you know, the last few fights after the
• 32:12
  contenders, I'm thinking to myself, you
• 32:14
  know, I want to do good in these areas
• 32:16
  in a fight and, you know, just being
• 32:17
  able to implement that in the fight
• 32:19
  >> usually leads to a finish. But at the
• 32:21
  end of the day, um, as a martial artist,
• 32:23
  you know, the most important thing is to
• 32:25
  go in there, get the win, and leave with
• 32:27
  your faculties intact. You know, you
• 32:28
  don't want to be, you know, critically
• 32:30
  maimed and all that. Um, but [laughter]
• 32:34
  but at that same time, you know, as a as
• 32:36
  a as someone who's a perfectionist and
• 32:39
  someone who's, you know, a competitor, I
• 32:41
  want to improve and get better. And that
• 32:43
  is that includes asking more of myself,
• 32:45
  which means asking for finishes and
• 32:47
  knowing that I do enough in the gym to
• 32:49
  be able to ask for those kind of
• 32:50
  results.
• 32:51
  >> Mhm. Fantastic. [clears throat]
• 32:53
  Uh now uh being aware that we're a
• 32:55
  little bit short on time for this
• 32:56
  conversation, let's move straight on to
• 32:58
  the fight uh at BFL8. You're fighting an
• 33:02
  Argentina named Lucas Corbage. When you
• 33:04
  were offered him as Napoleon, do you
• 33:05
  know who he was?
• 33:07
  Uh I knew he was uh Jeremy Kennedy and
• 33:10
  him had the main event for that
• 33:11
  Battlefield fight originally. What
• 33:13
  >> and I was looking for an opponent since
• 33:16
  like June. Um so I I was just getting
• 33:19
  ready for a date roughly around uh late
• 33:22
  July a early August and uh I wasn't able
• 33:26
  to find anyone you know looking all over
• 33:28
  the world relieve people in Europe in
• 33:31
  Brazil USA like everywhere looking for
• 33:34
  an opponent and I wasn't able to get one
• 33:35
  and um I was still training for the day
• 33:37
  and then I got noticed that Jeremy
• 33:39
  Kennedy is uh he has a different fight
• 33:42
  lined up for a different promotion so he
• 33:44
  had to pull out of his fight and uh yeah
• 33:46
  I was more than ready to step in. You
• 33:48
  know, 155 I can make the way easily on
• 33:50
  that short notice. It's it's a short
• 33:52
  notice opponent, but it's not a short
• 33:54
  notice camp for me cuz I've been
• 33:55
  training since
• 33:56
  >> for the date.
• 33:58
  >> Now that you've had a chance to analyze
• 34:00
  your opponent and just take a look at
• 34:01
  his skill set, uh what are your thoughts
• 34:03
  on him? How's uh how's Radley Dilva's
• 34:05
  path to victory in this fight?
• 34:08
  >> Yeah, he's freaking really good dude,
• 34:11
  man. He's a heavy puncher and good good
• 34:14
  jiu-jitsu. So, he's one of those like
• 34:16
  archetypes as as like, you know, an
• 34:19
  opponent that you get in MMA. You know,
• 34:21
  everyone has their kind of thing. It's
• 34:22
  like boxer, wrestler, you know, like
• 34:25
  >> kickboxer, jiu-jitsu, or whatever, but
• 34:26
  his is like very strictly, you know,
• 34:29
  heavy-handed jiu-jitsu fighter, kind of
• 34:31
  like a Diego Lopez kind of style. And uh
• 34:34
  yeah, he's got lots of finishes and, you
• 34:37
  know, definitely one of the toughest
• 34:38
  opponents uh that I'll be having on my
• 34:40
  record. He's got a great record and uh
• 34:43
  lots of experience. So, it's it's the
• 34:45
  perfect type of fight uh where I am at
• 34:47
  in my career right now.
• 34:49
  >> When you mention that you're spending
• 34:51
  all your time looking for fights and
• 34:52
  trying to find opponents, I picture you
• 34:54
  sitting in a basement over a keyboard
• 34:56
  like type type looking for names and
• 34:57
  stuff, but you must surely must have a
• 34:59
  management team that help you out. And I
• 35:01
  know that BFL is very supportive of you
• 35:03
  and they they like propping you up. Uh
• 35:05
  they like giving you opportunities. So,
• 35:07
  when you're looking for a for a fight,
• 35:08
  what does that mean? Is that just you or
• 35:10
  is that a whole team or how does that
• 35:11
  work?
• 35:12
  >> Uh it's a team now. I recently signed
• 35:14
  with like Aridium and of course
• 35:16
  Battlefield's always looking themselves
• 35:18
  uh for for guys for me to fight on their
• 35:20
  show. So it's like you know Aridium, we
• 35:22
  got Battlefield and then you actually do
• 35:24
  have me in the dark looking looking
• 35:26
  looking on my phone looking through
• 35:28
  tapology and sending uh sending these
• 35:31
  guys profiles to my manager and the BFL
• 35:34
  team being like, "Hey, can you reach out
• 35:35
  to these guys? Reach out." I've sent
• 35:37
  like over 30 40 people in the last like
• 35:40
  couple months and like you know no one
• 35:42
  said yes and I was getting a little you
• 35:44
  know getting a little dark there. I was
• 35:46
  like man I'm not I'm putting all this
• 35:48
  work in for a camp no fight and uh you
• 35:51
  know things work out the way they're
• 35:52
  supposed to. I really feel it was meant
• 35:53
  to be for me to be headlining this show
• 35:55
  anyway. So yeah I worked out at the end.
• 35:59
  >> Now another way that fighters often get
• 36:00
  fights these days especially is it seems
• 36:03
  as if a call out happens. Now, I know
• 36:05
  this is, you know, I'm not a big fan of
• 36:07
  of trash talk and all that kind of
• 36:08
  stuff, but it does happen. And somebody
• 36:10
  who's been very vocal lately about you
• 36:12
  and and your past fights is Leo Bonan.
• 36:14
  He's talking [ __ ] about you. He, you
• 36:16
  know, he's making comments and stuff,
• 36:18
  and you've retaliated back and forth.
• 36:20
  Just wondering if that's a fight that's
• 36:21
  even worth your while at this point.
• 36:22
  He's doing well, but you know, he he's
• 36:25
  he's got a few less fights than you. Do
• 36:27
  you want to reward that kind of
• 36:28
  behavior, or is that a fight you would
• 36:29
  take, or is that just something you're
• 36:31
  not interested in?
• 36:32
  Sorry.
• 36:33
  >> Um I I don't know if he was like talking
• 36:35
  too much [ __ ] I just saw one specific
• 36:37
  comment saying like, "Oh, he fought this
• 36:39
  guy." And it's like, "Okay, if we want
• 36:41
  to talk stats here, I don't think you
• 36:44
  can even like hold a candle to my
• 36:46
  stats." But anyways, not like not
• 36:48
  necessarily like there's no one on the
• 36:50
  regional scene that I'm like, "Oh yeah,
• 36:52
  I have to fight this guy." Like I'm
• 36:53
  looking at international competition
• 36:55
  right now. I'm looking at, you know,
• 36:57
  saying I I can beat guys from all over
• 36:58
  the world to like really make my case.
• 37:02
  Yeah. No, that makes perfect sense for
• 37:04
  me. Yeah. No, don't. Sorry. Keep going.
• 37:07
  >> No, you go ahead.
• 37:07
  >> Yeah. No, I was just saying like, you
• 37:09
  know, a lot of times guys in Canada,
• 37:11
  they get flack for people saying, "Oh,
• 37:13
  the Canadian regional scene's weak.
• 37:15
  You're only fighting guys from Canada.
• 37:17
  You know, you're not proven." And like
• 37:19
  that. So, I made it a really big point
• 37:21
  for me to be fighting international
• 37:24
  competition as soon as I possibly could.
• 37:26
  So now I actually haven't fought a
• 37:28
  [clears throat] dude in Canada since
• 37:29
  like I think it was Sousy was the last
• 37:32
  dude I fought that was Canadian. So I
• 37:34
  just trying to show people that it's
• 37:35
  like no um my my talent isn't just you
• 37:38
  know nationally you know concentrated. I
• 37:41
  can only beat national dudes in Canada
• 37:44
  that I can beat all the prospects from
• 37:45
  you know other other countries and all
• 37:47
  around the world. But yeah, to answer
• 37:49
  your question, like there's yeah,
• 37:51
  there's nothing that really entices me
• 37:53
  about that matchup like fighting, you
• 37:55
  know, like a a 50-50 record fighter with
• 37:57
  way less fights than me. I've never
• 37:58
  fought someone with less fights than me.
• 38:00
  So there's and you know, there's no
• 38:02
  title. Like there's just nothing
• 38:03
  intriguing. Like I I want to get
• 38:05
  finishes and I want to fight at the the
• 38:06
  highest level. I'm not trying to, you
• 38:08
  know, get into regional beefs that you
• 38:10
  know there's nothing doesn't do anything
• 38:12
  for my wallet or anything or my pride or
• 38:15
  anything like that. So
• 38:16
  >> Okay, fair enough. Thank you for the
• 38:18
  answer. Uh, and Radley, we had a time
• 38:20
  limit for this interview because you
• 38:21
  have plans you've got to get going and
• 38:23
  we've reached our time. So, I just want
• 38:25
  to thank you very much. I know it's uh,
• 38:26
  it's always exciting leading up into
• 38:28
  fight week, but I will ask you one final
• 38:30
  question and that is, is there anything
• 38:32
  you think we should have talked about
• 38:33
  that I didn't ask you?
• 38:37
  >> Um, oh, UFC Edmonton.
• 38:41
  >> Oh, yeah. Yeah.
• 38:42
  >> Yeah, man. And I'm right now I'm like uh
• 38:45
  you know I feel like I'm on that list
• 38:47
  definitely of guys for short notice
• 38:49
  calls. You know I got the right people
• 38:50
  behind me um pushing my name forward and
• 38:53
  you know I' I've had the results on
• 38:56
  all over the place. You know titles,
• 38:59
  wins, finishes and I think a good finish
• 39:02
  here, a good result is definitely going
• 39:04
  to put my name at the top of the list.
• 39:05
  There's maybe like three three or so
• 39:07
  guys that are there with me like you
• 39:09
  know
• 39:10
  >> couple from the east side but I think on
• 39:12
  the west side and considering the the
• 39:14
  show is in Edmonton there's probably
• 39:16
  like two two people that really on the
• 39:18
  list and I think I'm one of those guys.
• 39:20
  So if I get a good performance here I I
• 39:23
  don't see why not. And definitely if
• 39:25
  something someone pulls out I'll be more
• 39:27
  than ready. So I'll keep my weight down
• 39:28
  and I'll be ready. Well, I'm glad I
• 39:31
  asked because just before we chatted,
• 39:33
  we're chatting now. I found out that
• 39:34
  Calgary's Chad and Hilliger has been
• 39:37
  added onto the UC Edmonton card. So,
• 39:38
  that's fantastic. That brings the amount
• 39:40
  of of fights on that card so far to 10
• 39:43
  with all all 10 fights having a Canadian
• 39:45
  in there. That means a fight night, a
• 39:47
  typical fight night will have 12 to 13
• 39:48
  fights bouts. So, we're looking at two
• 39:50
  or three more. I think uh Javad Majub
• 39:53
  heavyweight might be on it, but that's
• 39:54
  not confirmed yet. So, maybe one or two
• 39:57
  spots left. So, uh you're right. If you
• 39:59
  have a good good performance, uh you're
• 40:01
  ready, you're with the idium now, they
• 40:03
  can just make sure the UFC knows you're
• 40:04
  ready. Uh that's a distinct possibility.
• 40:08
  >> Yes, sir. Yeah. And uh yeah, we had like
• 40:11
  I could fight multiple weight classes,
• 40:12
  too. Like I, you know, I'm pretty big
• 40:14
  featherweight. So 155, 145, and like
• 40:18
  even my teammate Tristan Connelly fought
• 40:20
  on short notice. He's a 45. He fought he
• 40:23
  fought at 170. So, you know, I'm the
• 40:25
  same deal, right? I can get big enough
• 40:27
  to even have to cut weight. uh to fight
• 40:29
  170. So, I can cover three weight
• 40:31
  classes. I'm more than confident
• 40:33
  whatever whatever the situation comes.
• 40:35
  And as far as accolades, I think I'll
• 40:37
  have done enough, you know, like I'll
• 40:39
  have seven championship titles in the
• 40:41
  regional scene, 10 fight win streak. If
• 40:44
  I get a finish, it'll be six finishes in
• 40:46
  my last seven fights. Um yeah, there's
• 40:48
  just the list goes on of like, you know,
• 40:50
  reasons why I should be there. And at
• 40:52
  the end of the day, all that matters is
• 40:53
  putting on a good fight, good
• 40:55
  performance, and the rest kind of deals
• 40:56
  with itself.
• 40:57
  >> Yeah. for sure. Okay, Radley, my man,
• 41:00
  thank you once again. I appreciate your
• 41:01
  time and we'll close out the interview
• 41:03
  now. So, uh, fans watching Reddit Silva
• 41:06
  main event BFL 888 in Vancouver next
• 41:09
  weekend. Make sure you watch them on UFC
• 41:10
  Fight Pass.
• 41:13
  >> Nick Wlette, it's great to talk to you.
• 41:14
  How you doing, man?
• 41:15
  >> Doing good. How are you?
• 41:17
  >> I'm wonderful, thanks. I'm happy to be
• 41:19
  speaking with you. You are a fighter who
• 41:21
  I've been really interested in for a
• 41:22
  long time. Uh you and your brother
• 41:24
  Raphael are kind of uh kind of I
• 41:26
  wouldn't know say you're unique, but
• 41:28
  you're very interesting for sure. When I
• 41:30
  talk with different people about you, a
• 41:32
  lot of people sort of think of you guys
• 41:33
  as the Canadian Diaz brothers. I'm
• 41:35
  wondering if that's something you've
• 41:36
  heard of before and if that's something
• 41:37
  that's appropriate or if you like that
• 41:38
  or you disagree.
• 41:41
  >> Uh yeah, me and my brother love the Diaz
• 41:43
  brothers. We grew up watching the Diaz
• 41:44
  brothers, but it's not something we're
• 41:46
  forcing or trying to trying to say we're
• 41:49
  like or anything like that. It's just
• 41:50
  it's just what people have labeled on
• 41:52
  top of us and
• 41:54
  >> it's just monkey see monkey do. You know
• 41:55
  we we watch the best in the world and we
• 41:58
  you know we have our own style. It's
• 42:00
  just it's just who we are. Um we're just
• 42:03
  authentic people. We just throw it put
• 42:05
  it all out there when we fight and you
• 42:07
  see we see it in the cage.
• 42:10
  >> Well, whatever you're doing is working
• 42:12
  because the two of you are extremely
• 42:14
  popular in British Columbia. You've got
• 42:15
  a big names. People love watching you
• 42:17
  fight. That's got to make you feel kind
• 42:18
  of good knowing that something that you
• 42:20
  put so much time and effort into is
• 42:22
  appreciated by the fans.
• 42:24
  >> Oh, for sure. Yeah. I I love the
• 42:26
  support. It's awesome. Um Yeah. Just
• 42:30
  going to just going to keep putting on
• 42:31
  amazing shows for everybody to watch.
• 42:34
  >> Now, as I mentioned, you guys are
• 42:36
  extremely popular in British Columbia.
• 42:38
  You've had your majority of your fights
• 42:39
  in in BFL. You've done some traveling
• 42:41
  out. You fought at Samurai before. Would
• 42:43
  you mind taking a moment just for the
• 42:44
  rest of the fans across the country just
• 42:46
  introduce yourself, say who you are,
• 42:48
  where you're from, where you live, uh,
• 42:49
  and how you got involved in combat
• 42:50
  sports.
• 42:52
  >> Uh, my my name is Nick Blet and I was
• 42:54
  born in Taga, Quebec. Uh, and I moved to
• 42:58
  moved to BC with my family when I was
• 42:59
  young and uh, grew up in British
• 43:01
  Columbia. Um, from Pal River, BC.
• 43:04
  Training there since I was since I was
• 43:07
  uh, a pre-teen. I've been training
• 43:09
  martial arts my whole life since I was
• 43:11
  in diapers and uh here we are.
• 43:14
  >> How would you describe your fighting
• 43:15
  style, Nick?
• 43:17
  >> I'm wellrounded. I grew up striking
• 43:19
  first and then I found jiu-jitsu when I
• 43:21
  was super young. So, I'm I'm very
• 43:23
  comfortable everywhere. Um I'm a very uh
• 43:27
  I'm very, what's the word? Flow, I
• 43:30
  guess. I don't force anything. I just go
• 43:32
  out there, let it all let it all happen.
• 43:34
  I don't go in there with like a little
• 43:36
  specific game plan. And like, yeah, I
• 43:37
  have little things, but I go out there
• 43:40
  and and seal it out.
• 43:42
  >> For sure. Although, if a casual fan was
• 43:44
  just looking at your record on topology
• 43:46
  or something, they would notice that you
• 43:48
  have a lot of submissions, man. And I
• 43:50
  know that the submission game is
• 43:51
  something I figure you must love it
• 43:52
  because you do it so well.
• 43:55
  >> Yeah, it's the money maker for sure.
• 43:57
  It's what gets people out of there. Um,
• 43:59
  yeah, I don't have the most power in the
• 44:01
  world, I guess. Uh, so you know, I
• 44:04
  chipper away at them and then they give
• 44:06
  me their neck.
• 44:08
  >> Maybe you could help paint a picture for
• 44:10
  me and everybody watching. Pal I'm not
• 44:12
  overly familiar with Powell River. I
• 44:13
  think it's it's north of Sunshine Coast.
• 44:15
  Is it?
• 44:17
  >> Pow River is part of the mainland, but
• 44:19
  it's uh it's kind of like it's it's kind
• 44:22
  of its own secluded place and you need
• 44:24
  to get there by ferry. So, it's not part
• 44:26
  of the island. We need to take a ferry
• 44:28
  to the island to get there. Um, it's two
• 44:31
  fairies away from from uh Vancouver,
• 44:35
  so it's a little bit away.
• 44:37
  >> And what's the training environment?
• 44:38
  Talk about your gym and your your
• 44:40
  teammates and your coaches and
• 44:41
  everything where you prepare for
• 44:42
  fighting.
• 44:43
  >> Gym's great. I have my brother Raph. Uh,
• 44:45
  I have Nelson Spru helping me prepare
• 44:48
  over there. I have a couple other guys
• 44:49
  that I train with uh that are that are
• 44:51
  under the radar that that help me out. I
• 44:53
  have my dad John Mulet who's been my
• 44:55
  coach since I was young. Um, and then I
• 44:58
  I get some traveling in for training as
• 45:01
  well. Um, I go down to Martial Arts
• 45:04
  Unlimited in Victoria, training with
• 45:06
  Greg Lamoth and the guys there. They
• 45:08
  they help me out with my striking. And I
• 45:10
  go get a lot of work in uh with Max
• 45:13
  Tamil and and John Mark the Groot down
• 45:15
  there at Vanal Jiu-Jitsu. Um, also try
• 45:19
  and get some time like me and my brother
• 45:20
  go down to uh Lance Gibson's
• 45:23
  >> and train with them and that that's been
• 45:26
  very very helpful. Julia Bod, Lance
• 45:28
  Gibson been they've been helping me out
• 45:30
  a lot. Um, and it's been giving me
• 45:32
  different looks and it's just what we
• 45:34
  need, right?
• 45:35
  >> Yeah, for sure. Now, you mentioned some
• 45:37
  pretty big names in there. Lance Gibson,
• 45:39
  both of them, father and son, both
• 45:40
  fought in the UFC. Lance Jr. still
• 45:42
  there. Julia Bald, multiple time
• 45:44
  contender, world champion. uh talk about
• 45:47
  the importance of having
• 45:50
  quality highlevel training partners and
• 45:52
  how that elevates your your training.
• 45:56
  >> Uh it's super important just to to get
• 45:59
  different looks, you know, but I think
• 46:01
  what's most important is the is the
• 46:02
  performance itself. You can put in the
• 46:04
  best camp in the world. Like I've had
• 46:05
  camps that are amazing and you just on
• 46:07
  the day you don't feel the greatest. So
• 46:09
  I think the the most important is
• 46:11
  showing up on the day and and [ __ ] do
• 46:14
  the damn thing. Yeah, for sure.
• 46:17
  >> So, let's talk about this upcoming
• 46:19
  weekend. You are fighting uh Jake Go
• 46:21
  from Ottawa for the for the RMF title.
• 46:24
  What is the RMF title?
• 46:27
  >> RMF, it stands for ruthless
• 46:28
  [ __ ] And uh it's basically the
• 46:31
  BFL's version of the BMF.
• 46:34
  >> And uh yeah, people people pad their
• 46:36
  record. People try to hold on and and
• 46:39
  win on points. And that's that's not the
• 46:42
  essence of fighting. I think uh I like
• 46:44
  to go in there and and finish fights. I
• 46:46
  like to be entertaining and make it a
• 46:48
  show and that's what it is, you know.
• 46:50
  So, I think that's that's what the RMF
• 46:52
  is.
• 46:54
  >> Nice. Let's talk about Jake for a
• 46:56
  second. When you first were offering him
• 46:57
  as an opponent, uh he mostly fights in
• 46:59
  Ontario, but he's he has done some
• 47:01
  traveling. Did you know who he was, and
• 47:02
  what was your initial thought about this
• 47:04
  as an opponent for you?
• 47:06
  >> Yeah. Yeah, I've heard of him before and
• 47:08
  he's he's a he's a talented opponent. uh
• 47:11
  top guy, you know, he's on the come up
• 47:13
  and he's fought he just fought a really
• 47:14
  really good guy, too. So, I I find that
• 47:17
  uh respectable. Um he he also fought or
• 47:21
  he's fought I fought a guy that he
• 47:23
  trains with,
• 47:25
  >> right? So, uh I know him because of
• 47:28
  that. Um other than that, yeah, it's
• 47:31
  going to be a fun fight. I'm excited.
• 47:34
  >> So, you've had a chance to take a look
• 47:36
  at his fight style and I'm sure look at
• 47:37
  some of his previous fights. What's the
• 47:40
  perfect fight look like for Nick Wlette
• 47:42
  going in against Jake Ovo?
• 47:45
  >> I'm going go in there and hit him with
• 47:46
  as much as I possibly can until
• 47:49
  eventually I find a mission around
• 47:50
  knockout. That's that's the best uh
• 47:52
  possible scenario. Go in there and break
• 47:54
  them.
• 47:55
  >> I'm going to break the kick.
• 47:57
  >> One thing I've noticed about you in the
• 47:58
  past is it seems like you have got a
• 48:00
  never- ending gas tank. You just keep on
• 48:02
  going. Uh is that something you've
• 48:03
  cultivated over time? like you train
• 48:05
  specifically for uh or is that just
• 48:07
  something that's sort of you've been a
• 48:08
  natural athlete like that?
• 48:11
  >> I think cardio is super important, but I
• 48:13
  think what's more important than that is
• 48:14
  uh knowing when to use it to analyze
• 48:17
  your energy.
• 48:19
  >> Uh so using your energy wisely, I think
• 48:21
  is more important. Everyone's in shape
• 48:22
  when you're in the pros. We're all in
• 48:24
  good shape. We all have good cardio. We
• 48:26
  all hit hard. It's all just uh it's all
• 48:28
  a matter of using that energy wisely,
• 48:30
  you know, especially for five round five
• 48:32
  round fights
• 48:33
  >> for sure.
• 48:35
  What's it like competing for BFL so much
• 48:37
  knowing that you've got a world-class
• 48:38
  organization essentially in your
• 48:40
  backyard? It's on your seat Fight Pass.
• 48:42
  You can be seen by millions of very
• 48:44
  important eyeballs.
• 48:46
  >> Oh, I love BFO. Yeah, they're great. Uh
• 48:49
  I've seen them grow as well since I've
• 48:51
  been in the amateurs, too. So, it's been
• 48:52
  it's been really cool since they've been
• 48:54
  with Fight Pass, like watching them grow
• 48:55
  and stuff. Uh they do a good job
• 48:57
  promoting the fighters and they treat us
• 48:59
  well. So, yeah, they put on good shows.
• 49:03
  >> That's awesome. All right, I guess I'm
• 49:06
  going to finish up the interview and ask
• 49:07
  you the question I like asking to end
• 49:08
  these things. I'll say, Nick, is there
• 49:10
  anything that I didn't ask you that that
• 49:12
  you think we should have talked about?
• 49:16
  >> Uh,
• 49:18
  no, no, I'm good. Whatever you want to
• 49:20
  talk about, man. I'm I'm ready for the
• 49:22
  fight. I'm cutting the weight. Tomorrow,
• 49:24
  I'm going be on weight and uh [ __ ]
• 49:25
  showtime on Thursday. Awesome.
• 49:29
  Well, I won't uh I was hoping to be
• 49:31
  there on Thursday night, but I'm
• 49:32
  actually in Europe right now. I'll be
• 49:33
  driving back in Canada on Thursday, so I
• 49:35
  won't be able to be there in person. But
• 49:37
  uh I'll try my best to watch on Fight
• 49:38
  Pass if I'm not in the air. And I just
• 49:40
  want to wish you the best of luck. I
• 49:42
  hope uh I like saying this to fighters.
• 49:43
  I I hope you are the best Nick Wulette
• 49:46
  you can be that night. And I hope you
• 49:47
  perform your best and I hope you have a
• 49:48
  great fight and I wish you luck.
• 49:50
  >> Hey, I appreciate the support, man.
• 49:51
  Thank you so much. Yeah, I'm looking
• 49:52
  forward to it. Enjoy the show.
• 49:56
  >> All right, there you go, fight friends.
• 49:57
  Nick Wlette fighting for the RMF title
• 49:58
  at BFL8 against Jake Go this Thursday
• 50:01
  evening.
• 50:04
  >> Christopher Belotus, welcome to the MMA
• 50:06
  show. Would you go by Christopher or by
• 50:07
  Chris?
• 50:08
  >> Christopher.
• 50:10
  >> Awesome. Well, Christopher, would you
• 50:12
  mind taking a moment? Uh, this is going
• 50:13
  to be the first time that a lot of my
• 50:14
  viewer ship is probably ever heard of
• 50:16
  you or ever going to see of you. Do me a
• 50:18
  favor, just introduce yourself, say who
• 50:20
  you are, where you're from, and why
• 50:21
  we're talking.
• 50:22
  >> Yeah. So, I'm fighting August 29th um
• 50:25
  for the Mayhem Amateur lightweight
• 50:27
  title. I fight out at Hitter Fight Club
• 50:29
  and Grants MMA in the Matt Factory and
• 50:31
  uh just here to here to take over the
• 50:34
  province, the country and and make a
• 50:35
  statement.
• 50:37
  >> Where are you based out of?
• 50:38
  >> Um so I live in Toronto and I fight out
• 50:40
  at Hitters Fight Club. So, downtown
• 50:42
  Toronto.
• 50:43
  >> Nice. Now, I've been uh familiar with
• 50:45
  you for a few years. You've actually
• 50:47
  been quite active. You've fought more
• 50:48
  than a half dozen times just in a couple
• 50:50
  years. And it seems like every time a
• 50:52
  local fight promotion puts on a fight
• 50:53
  card, I see your name on there. Uh
• 50:55
  you've done really well for yourself for
• 50:56
  yourself. You've had some great wins.
• 50:58
  You've had a couple tough losses that
• 50:59
  you've learned from in both MMA and
• 51:01
  pancreas, but it seems to me, you know,
• 51:03
  I think I've only seen you fight in
• 51:04
  person once, but you seem like you a
• 51:06
  really well-rounded uh skilled young
• 51:08
  man. Talk to me about how you got to
• 51:11
  where you are now, how you got involved
• 51:12
  in combat sports, and uh and what you
• 51:15
  think about the whole thing.
• 51:16
  >> So uh I got involved about five years
• 51:18
  ago. I started training, just walked
• 51:20
  into actually the gym I manage and coach
• 51:22
  out in now. Um, just looking looking for
• 51:25
  an outlet and uh I discovered early on
• 51:27
  that I could be really good at this
• 51:29
  right away. I had like an inclination, a
• 51:31
  feeling. Nobody else was telling me I
• 51:33
  could be good at this. There wasn't any
• 51:35
  external noise saying pursue this. Um,
• 51:38
  but I knew internally that I could do
• 51:40
  something special in the sport. And uh,
• 51:42
  over the years fought in Muay Thai,
• 51:44
  fought in boxing. Then I met my head
• 51:46
  coach Evan um who runs and owns and
• 51:48
  coaches at a hitters fight club. And
• 51:50
  then after that it was just blood,
• 51:52
  sweat, tears, hard work, obsession seven
• 51:55
  days a week. That that man doesn't take
• 51:57
  a day off. And the only time I get a day
• 52:00
  off is if he gives me a day off. So, I
• 52:03
  was lucky and grateful enough to to meet
• 52:05
  him and meet coach Chad Pearson and the
• 52:07
  team at Grant MMA and the Matt factory
• 52:09
  and just put constant hours and hours
• 52:12
  and hours in the gym, you know. Um, just
• 52:14
  building my skills, my career and just
• 52:17
  always trying to take the next step,
• 52:18
  even if it's in the gym. You know, Tom
• 52:20
  Brady talks about winning practice, not
• 52:22
  not winning a drill or beating somebody
• 52:25
  up in practice, but but treat practice
• 52:27
  like a game and going to practice with
• 52:29
  the intensity that that the game demands
• 52:31
  and actually create growth.
• 52:35
  >> How old are you now and how old were you
• 52:36
  when you started training?
• 52:38
  >> I walked in the first gym at 18 years
• 52:40
  old and I'm currently 23, turning 24 in
• 52:43
  November. So, we
• 52:44
  >> prior to that, were you we
• 52:47
  >> Sorry about that. Prior to that, were
• 52:48
  you sporty at all? Were you doing any
• 52:49
  other sports?
• 52:50
  >> No team sport background. Um I didn't
• 52:53
  grow up playing football or hockey or
• 52:55
  rugby or anything. Was always an
• 52:56
  athletic kid, but never really had uh
• 52:59
  the opportunity um to play play team
• 53:02
  sports. And I found mixed martial arts
• 53:04
  at 18. And realized you don't need a
• 53:06
  team. You don't need the funding. You
• 53:07
  just you just need your hands and you
• 53:09
  can throw them well. You get paid in the
• 53:11
  sport eventually.
• 53:13
  >> Yeah.
• 53:15
  Now, you mentioned that you when you
• 53:16
  stepped into the gym, you realize this
• 53:18
  is something you could be good at. It's
• 53:19
  my experience that knowing that you can
• 53:22
  be good at something only takes you so
• 53:24
  far. Yet, if you want to be successful,
• 53:26
  if you want to keep going, you have to
• 53:27
  actually like what you're doing and
• 53:29
  enjoy it. So, tell me, is it something
• 53:31
  that you love doing or is it just
• 53:32
  something that you're doing because you
• 53:34
  think you're good at it?
• 53:35
  >> So, uh the obsession built really early
• 53:38
  on. Um, from the second I walked in the
• 53:40
  gym, all I wanted to do was put all my
• 53:43
  time into the into the gym, into the
• 53:45
  sport. And I found that every other area
• 53:47
  in my life instantly became secondary.
• 53:50
  And like it was it was at the time that
• 53:52
  I I first started training. I would I
• 53:54
  would run. I didn't have a car. So I'd
• 53:55
  run to the gym. That's 3 kilometers with
• 53:57
  my training bag on my back, do the
• 53:59
  afternoon class, walk home, then I would
• 54:02
  be at home, watch film, and then I would
• 54:04
  run to the gym for six o'clock, do the 6
• 54:06
  to9, then I would be lucky enough to get
• 54:08
  a ride or I would close the gym to cover
• 54:11
  my membership and then I would walk back
• 54:13
  home and just repeat repeat. So the
• 54:15
  obsession from the enjoyment um just
• 54:18
  giving my everything to suddenly built
• 54:20
  really on when there was nobody telling
• 54:21
  me to pursue fighting. Nobody telling me
• 54:24
  that this is a career. People actually
• 54:26
  telling me don't fight. We're not going
• 54:28
  to get you a Muay Thai fight. You're not
• 54:30
  good enough yet. You need to train more.
• 54:32
  Said, "Okay, cool. There's there's no
• 54:34
  there's no apparent future that you guys
• 54:36
  see, but I see it. I feel it. And I'm
• 54:38
  going to do everything I can to make it
• 54:40
  happen." And every single day just
• 54:42
  putting in constant reps. Uh, I made
• 54:45
  something for myself.
• 54:48
  >> Is there any part of the fight game that
• 54:49
  you especially love more than others?
• 54:51
  Like, do you love groundwork? Do you
• 54:53
  love the clinch? Do you love striking?
• 54:55
  Anything else?
• 54:56
  >> I think the mixing of uh the martial
• 54:59
  arts is where the enjoyment is, right? I
• 55:02
  hear this all the time. Chris, why don't
• 55:03
  you just box? Why don't you do this? The
• 55:04
  money's in boxing. It's you need the
• 55:07
  full fight. You know, it's it's not a
• 55:09
  fight until you can you can level
• 55:11
  change, until you can take the person
• 55:12
  down, so you can throw a kick behind the
• 55:14
  entry. You want to mix all your weapons
• 55:16
  all the time. And I think that's where
• 55:18
  true greatness is. It's in the ability
• 55:20
  to throw your hands and then faint a
• 55:23
  level change and and come back with
• 55:24
  another weapon and chain your attacks,
• 55:26
  chain your martial arts, and offensively
• 55:28
  and defensively minded um attack from
• 55:31
  position to position and show true
• 55:33
  dominance when it's like one man versus
• 55:35
  another man. There's no there's no rules
• 55:37
  in the Obviously, sadly there's rules,
• 55:40
  but there's there's no limitations to
• 55:42
  the weapons I can throw.
• 55:45
  [clears throat]
• 55:45
  >> Tell me about your fight environment.
• 55:47
  You talked about hitters, you talked
• 55:49
  about some of your coaches. What's the
• 55:50
  is there such a thing as a typical
• 55:52
  training day for you. Do you have main
• 55:54
  training partners? And just talk about
• 55:55
  your training routine.
• 55:57
  >> Yeah, so the the training routine is uh
• 55:59
  it's early mornings, it's late nights.
• 56:02
  Um, I'm lucky enough to have a coach
• 56:03
  that's fully invested in me and he gives
• 56:05
  me every single day whether the gym's
• 56:08
  closed and it's a long weekend, he's in
• 56:09
  the gym in the morning with me or
• 56:11
  holidays, birthday, it doesn't matter.
• 56:13
  He's he's there and and I'm there, too.
• 56:16
  Um, the environment's professional style
• 56:18
  room. It's um very intense and it's
• 56:22
  probably a room that most people don't
• 56:25
  get to come into, right? Um, you got to
• 56:28
  give your everything. You got to be on
• 56:29
  time. You got to be early. you got to
• 56:31
  prepare to perform and you have to
• 56:32
  perform um to be in that room. So, it's
• 56:34
  an honor and a privilege for me to
• 56:36
  represent Hitters Fight Club and to to
• 56:39
  be in that environment. The the
• 56:40
  environment is very demanding. Um we
• 56:42
  have a small MMA team. I'm lucky enough
• 56:44
  to have a couple training partners that
• 56:46
  come in in the early mornings and we get
• 56:48
  a professional style practice in and
• 56:50
  it's um for MMA it's it's a very like
• 56:53
  privatized
• 56:54
  um team environment, right, with a
• 56:57
  professional level coach watching every
• 56:58
  single move like a hawk and you got to
• 57:01
  perform, right? And then uh I do my
• 57:03
  sparring at Aegis MMA. I'm very grateful
• 57:05
  to to do my sparring in that room with
• 57:07
  some of the the best guys in in the
• 57:09
  country. And uh a lot of times I go to
• 57:12
  Pittsburgh as I go to Pennsylvania. I go
• 57:14
  to the Matt Factory, tighten everything
• 57:16
  up out there. I also had the privilege
• 57:18
  of doing uh a lot of training at Grant
• 57:19
  MMA with the one of the best coaches and
• 57:22
  some of the best teammates in the
• 57:24
  country as well. So, I'm very grateful
• 57:25
  to to be in these rooms. We also got
• 57:27
  Coach Chad Pearson at Hitters Fight
• 57:29
  Club. And if you know anything about
• 57:31
  Coach Chad, he's a one of one, you know,
• 57:32
  he's
• 57:33
  >> he's got a mind.
• 57:35
  >> Yeah, he's got a mind for this sport
• 57:37
  like like no other. So, I'm very
• 57:39
  grateful to to have him in my corner.
• 57:41
  And uh yeah, that's a very special man.
• 57:43
  So overall, I'm just I'm I'm I'm
• 57:45
  sometimes shocked and in awe that uh my
• 57:48
  hard work um results in me putting
• 57:50
  myself in in these environments where
• 57:52
  I'm I'm around some of the best people
• 57:53
  in the world.
• 57:56
  >> So what's your plan? Is this something
• 57:57
  that's uh I mean, everyone I talk to, I
• 58:00
  think they think it's going to be their
• 58:01
  long-term goal, but I'm just wondering
• 58:03
  what your thought process is on this. Do
• 58:05
  you have like a sort of strategic plan
• 58:07
  moving forward? Do you have uh
• 58:09
  milestones you want to reach at certain
• 58:10
  times or where are you with that?
• 58:12
  >> Yeah, so um I'm very very determined and
• 58:15
  focused on my goals. I know exactly what
• 58:17
  I need to do um to start getting paid in
• 58:20
  the sport and to make money in the sport
• 58:22
  once I start getting paid. And uh that's
• 58:25
  the number one thing, you know, I need
• 58:26
  to be accommodated for the work. And
• 58:28
  that's up to me and my decision- making,
• 58:30
  right? It's it's my decisions in the
• 58:32
  cage and in the practice room that
• 58:33
  result in in uh inequity in the sport.
• 58:37
  So, uh, ultimately I know the the next
• 58:40
  step is next Saturday, Saturday, August
• 58:42
  29th, putting on a performance and
• 58:44
  executing every single thing that I've
• 58:46
  been working on and working so hard for.
• 58:49
  And then it's really up to the coaches,
• 58:51
  but we we also know that we can make a
• 58:53
  quick turnaround, get active again, and
• 58:56
  close out the amateur career. But just
• 58:58
  one step at a time, it's just decision-
• 59:00
  making, right? Like
• 59:01
  >> turning pro, like sure that that's
• 59:03
  great. That's exactly what's going to
• 59:04
  happen. Look, it's just decision-
• 59:06
  making. Just I make the right decisions
• 59:08
  on Saturday. I make the right decisions
• 59:10
  leading up to it. I make the right
• 59:11
  decisions after. And everything like a
• 59:13
  domino effect just falls right into
• 59:15
  line. And then in three years time, I'll
• 59:17
  look back at this and I'll be
• 59:18
  compensated. You know, I'll be well off.
• 59:21
  [laughter]
• 59:22
  >> So, is that the plan? You know, you come
• 59:24
  out of uh next weekend with a win in
• 59:26
  your in your tally bracket. Is that
• 59:28
  going professional? What's going to
• 59:29
  happen?
• 59:29
  >> Very, very soon. Like I said, there's no
• 59:31
  definitive timeline. Um,
• 59:33
  >> sure.
• 59:34
  >> The responsibility is on my decision-
• 59:36
  making and my execution. That's exactly
• 59:38
  what [clears throat] I'm going to take
• 59:39
  care of. And then my team and I get to
• 59:42
  reflect on the work that's put in and
• 59:44
  see where we're at and maybe we take
• 59:46
  another amateur fight quickly. I'm
• 59:48
  always in shape. I'm in the gym seven
• 59:50
  days a week. Um, or another opportunity
• 59:52
  lines up, right? There's a lot of
• 59:54
  there's a lot of opportunities and and
• 59:56
  I'm putting myself at the forefront of
• 59:58
  the sport in the in the province and in
• 1:00:00
  the country. And I feel like I've
• 1:00:01
  already um built build built somewhat of
• 1:00:04
  a name for myself, right? Every time you
• 1:00:06
  see Christopher Belotus on a card, you
• 1:00:07
  know, it's going to be a [ __ ]
• 1:00:09
  performance. You know, every time you
• 1:00:11
  see me fight, everybody's always
• 1:00:12
  pleased. They're always happy. They know
• 1:00:14
  what I bring and they know who I am. And
• 1:00:16
  soon we're just going to be reaching
• 1:00:17
  higher heights.
• 1:00:21
  listening to you speak and some of the
• 1:00:23
  words and phrases you use, I'm reminded
• 1:00:25
  very much or I I it makes me think that
• 1:00:28
  you have a lot of for lack of a better
• 1:00:30
  word phrase I'll say self-help self-help
• 1:00:33
  background rightly wrongly, but I mean
• 1:00:35
  that in a pure in a very in a good way.
• 1:00:38
  It seems like you're very aware of
• 1:00:40
  mindset. It seems like you're very aware
• 1:00:42
  of you said the word privilege about 10
• 1:00:44
  times. You're very aware of how
• 1:00:46
  gratitude can be beneficial towards just
• 1:00:48
  overall health and mental well-being.
• 1:00:51
  And it seems like you're really aware of
• 1:00:53
  of the thought process and the thinking
• 1:00:55
  part of this fight game. So, is that
• 1:00:56
  something you do consciously? Do you do
• 1:00:59
  you read any books about mental strength
• 1:01:01
  training or is that something your
• 1:01:02
  coaches have implemented or am I just
• 1:01:04
  looking way too much into a couple
• 1:01:05
  words?
• 1:01:06
  >> No, man. like uh you're actually making
• 1:01:08
  me like that. That's the best thing I've
• 1:01:10
  heard in a in an interview ever because
• 1:01:12
  uh I've always been very very focused on
• 1:01:17
  like emotional intelligence awareness
• 1:01:19
  and just awareness of myself um at an
• 1:01:21
  early age. I I realized early on in my
• 1:01:24
  life that um wherever I put my energy, I
• 1:01:27
  can make things happen. Um and I was
• 1:01:30
  always like a believer, but I always
• 1:01:32
  understood the work takes the belief. So
• 1:01:34
  I I never really necessarily did like a
• 1:01:37
  deep study in a psychology or
• 1:01:39
  performance mindset. I am always reading
• 1:01:41
  like yes I am I am always reading. I am
• 1:01:43
  always studying. I'm always looking to
• 1:01:45
  to gain more knowledge. But I do think
• 1:01:47
  uh inherently it is a part of my
• 1:01:49
  character. I'm kind of an emotional
• 1:01:51
  person. And uh fighting is is really
• 1:01:54
  really amazing because I get to put all
• 1:01:56
  of my energy and emotion into one thing
• 1:01:59
  and that thing being the self. I got to
• 1:02:01
  figure out how do I operate under
• 1:02:03
  pressure? How do I operate with this
• 1:02:05
  grand task that I'm volunteering and
• 1:02:07
  taking on? And [clears throat] how can I
• 1:02:09
  be my best through taking this on? And
• 1:02:12
  then obviously there's trial and error.
• 1:02:14
  You're going to [ __ ] up. You're going to
• 1:02:16
  make mistakes. You're going to have bad
• 1:02:18
  days. You're going to have great days.
• 1:02:19
  And you're going to learn about
• 1:02:20
  yourself. So instead of repeating the
• 1:02:23
  same action of feeling great about
• 1:02:25
  myself or feeling down on myself, you
• 1:02:27
  know, I I reflect, I journal, I write it
• 1:02:30
  out, I think about it. Um I've been
• 1:02:32
  doing a lot of visualization um lately
• 1:02:35
  just to fully focus on the performance
• 1:02:37
  I'm going to have. And I'm also um very
• 1:02:40
  lucky to have a coach that understands
• 1:02:42
  the mental game, too. Um and we journal
• 1:02:45
  after every single practice. That's a
• 1:02:47
  part of my practice. after every single
• 1:02:49
  practice. I'm in the gym doing the work
• 1:02:52
  for about 90 90 minutes to two hours,
• 1:02:56
  but I'm in the gym 30 minutes before
• 1:02:58
  doing my warm-up, doing my static
• 1:03:00
  stretching, writing in my journal on the
• 1:03:02
  skills I'm developing. Um, after the
• 1:03:04
  practice, I'm in the I'm in the gym with
• 1:03:06
  my coach for an hour, damn near 90
• 1:03:08
  minutes. Sometimes we're doing a
• 1:03:09
  practice review. I write out my journal
• 1:03:12
  and then we go over it. And we're always
• 1:03:14
  always doing the mental work and the
• 1:03:16
  mental reps because you can only push
• 1:03:18
  your body so far, but the mind's a
• 1:03:20
  muscle that you have to work if you want
• 1:03:23
  to see maximal return.
• 1:03:26
  >> Now, some fighters might listen to you
• 1:03:28
  say all that and think to themselves,
• 1:03:30
  man, that sounds exhausting. I'm not
• 1:03:32
  going to do all that. Like, what's the
• 1:03:34
  what's the return on investment for
• 1:03:35
  doing that kind of work?
• 1:03:37
  >> Yeah. Confidence, supremacy, you know,
• 1:03:39
  it's not just confidence. Any man can be
• 1:03:41
  falsely confident, but supremacy and
• 1:03:44
  supreme confidence comes from knowing
• 1:03:46
  you did the work. It's knowing that you
• 1:03:48
  gave your your everything and you did
• 1:03:50
  your absolute best, right? You can lie
• 1:03:52
  and be falsely confident. False
• 1:03:54
  confidence is still real confidence.
• 1:03:56
  Like I tell people that too. I'm like,
• 1:03:57
  "Yo, fake it till you make it because if
• 1:03:59
  you say it with your chest, no one
• 1:04:00
  believes the difference, right? But when
• 1:04:03
  you truly analyze yourself and analyze
• 1:04:06
  the work and you have a great practice,
• 1:04:09
  you have a great fight, you have a great
• 1:04:11
  sparring day, and then you analyze it
• 1:04:13
  and figure out why was this great or the
• 1:04:15
  inverse, why did today not go so well?
• 1:04:18
  What happened, you have to be truthful.
• 1:04:20
  When you communicate the wise to
• 1:04:22
  somebody else that is looking over
• 1:04:25
  everything, you can't lie them in the
• 1:04:27
  face.
• 1:04:32
  Oh, I lost you, Chris.
• 1:04:34
  >> Yeah, just Yeah, I heard you up until
• 1:04:36
  you said you can't look at them and lie
• 1:04:37
  to their face.
• 1:04:38
  >> Okay. Sorry, Rogers called me. I hung up
• 1:04:41
  on that. We're good to go.
• 1:04:43
  >> Yeah, we're good. Yeah, keep going.
• 1:04:44
  >> Um, yeah, when when you have somebody
• 1:04:46
  overseeing the work and the wise to why
• 1:04:49
  today was a good day or why today wasn't
• 1:04:51
  a great day, they can see through the
• 1:04:53
  [ __ ] right? So at the end of the
• 1:04:55
  day, I'm lucky enough to have this
• 1:04:58
  understanding of self in the mental
• 1:04:59
  game, but I'm also having it being
• 1:05:02
  overseen. So there can't be any
• 1:05:04
  falsification of the truth, right?
• 1:05:07
  People are smart. You know, they know
• 1:05:08
  when you're lying to them. If I just if
• 1:05:10
  I had a [ __ ] day and I'm looking at my
• 1:05:12
  coach and telling them, "Oh, today went
• 1:05:14
  great because of this, this, and this."
• 1:05:15
  It's you both know you're playing
• 1:05:18
  yourself, right? And and the man that
• 1:05:19
  does that is going to walk into that
• 1:05:21
  cage and I'm gonna [ __ ] maul them.
• 1:05:23
  >> Yeah. Right.
• 1:05:25
  >> So, speaking about Mauling, the guy in
• 1:05:27
  the cage across from you. Uh, let's talk
• 1:05:29
  about your upcoming fight at Mayhem.
• 1:05:31
  Mayhem Fight Promotions is a is a newish
• 1:05:33
  organization. This is their fourth
• 1:05:34
  event. So far, they've had really good
• 1:05:36
  uh good shows. I've I've attended one of
• 1:05:38
  them in person. Uh, good production
• 1:05:40
  values. Really, it seems like they're
• 1:05:41
  really on the ball when it comes to
• 1:05:43
  scoping out good quality local talent.
• 1:05:46
  And you were initially supposed to be
• 1:05:47
  fighting uh somebody I knew very well
• 1:05:49
  named Sunjin Lim. I saw first saw him
• 1:05:51
  fight I'm gonna say like 15 years ago in
• 1:05:54
  in New Brunswick and he was an amateur
• 1:05:56
  then a very well-rounded fighter.
• 1:05:58
  However, that fight fell through and now
• 1:06:00
  you're fighting Cody Adair for the
• 1:06:02
  Mayhem lightweight championship. Talk to
• 1:06:04
  me about uh having first of all when did
• 1:06:07
  that opponent switch happen and talk to
• 1:06:09
  me about you know what goes through your
• 1:06:11
  mind when you hear that?
• 1:06:12
  >> So I got the message on Saturday
• 1:06:14
  Saturday morning. Um, right away the
• 1:06:17
  promoter started typing, stopped typing
• 1:06:19
  and I knew I was like, "Oh [ __ ] it's
• 1:06:22
  going to be a bad Saturday." Um, but
• 1:06:24
  right away they had a replacement. So,
• 1:06:27
  um, shout out Mayhem. That's, uh, that's
• 1:06:29
  amazing. As a fighter, when somebody
• 1:06:31
  pulls out, it's like the world drops. My
• 1:06:33
  fight's canceled. Oh my god.
• 1:06:34
  >> Yeah.
• 1:06:35
  >> In the same message of him pulling out,
• 1:06:37
  they had another name. Um, so right away
• 1:06:39
  I was a little disappointed because I do
• 1:06:42
  like when things are done professionally
• 1:06:44
  and I love an agreement to fight. I love
• 1:06:47
  when it's like, okay, Sun and I agreed
• 1:06:49
  for five to six weeks that we're going
• 1:06:51
  to give each other the best approach
• 1:06:52
  because I want the best opponent who's
• 1:06:55
  ready for me, right? Not just ready for
• 1:06:58
  a cage fight, but I like it. Try to pick
• 1:07:00
  me apart and then I'm going to eat, you
• 1:07:03
  know? But it's fighting, man. How many
• 1:07:05
  times does Dana White call somebody on
• 1:07:08
  seven days notice? Hey,
• 1:07:10
  >> take this fight. Yes or no? What are you
• 1:07:12
  going to say?
• 1:07:14
  >> Say yes.
• 1:07:14
  >> You better say yes or you're in the
• 1:07:16
  wrong career. So, when I get the news
• 1:07:18
  that the original opponent pulled out,
• 1:07:20
  yeah, I am upset. Yes, there is emotion.
• 1:07:24
  But really quickly, that emotion's used
• 1:07:26
  to look at the opportunity in front of
• 1:07:28
  me. Okay, we have a new name. Let's
• 1:07:30
  agree. Let's let's figure out who this
• 1:07:33
  guy is cuz a name I need to see a face.
• 1:07:36
  We see a face. We see a body and then we
• 1:07:39
  agree and we move on.
• 1:07:41
  >> What do you see in the face of Cody
• 1:07:43
  Adair that's going to let you uh achieve
• 1:07:45
  victory on the weekend?
• 1:07:46
  >> I see another opponent who agreed to
• 1:07:48
  fight and at the end of the day it's
• 1:07:50
  just another body in the cage and I'm
• 1:07:52
  I'm I'm I'm grateful to get into the
• 1:07:54
  cage and show everything that I've been
• 1:07:56
  working on and I'm very happy that they
• 1:07:58
  had a replacement right away. Um, for me
• 1:08:00
  it's never like anything personal. I'm
• 1:08:02
  not going to sit here and say my
• 1:08:04
  opponent does this, this, and this, so I
• 1:08:06
  know I'm going to do this. Um, but deep
• 1:08:08
  down, I have a a very very um deep
• 1:08:11
  understanding of of my game plan and
• 1:08:13
  what I'm going to execute and the
• 1:08:15
  principles that I operate on. And it
• 1:08:18
  doesn't matter who it is, whether it's
• 1:08:19
  Cody, whether it's Sun, whether Cody
• 1:08:21
  pulls out and it's another guy, I know I
• 1:08:24
  know the position that I need to be in
• 1:08:26
  to execute. And it's exactly what we're
• 1:08:28
  going to do.
• 1:08:30
  If somebody is joining you and I at
• 1:08:32
  Mayhem this upcoming weekend and they
• 1:08:33
  see you fight for the first time, what
• 1:08:36
  are they going to think when they're
• 1:08:37
  watching you in that cage? What kind of
• 1:08:38
  fighter are you?
• 1:08:38
  >> They're going to say that [ __ ]
• 1:08:40
  is on. He's focused. You know, I love
• 1:08:43
  like right now Amateur MMA Ontario is
• 1:08:45
  flourishing, but what I do love about
• 1:08:48
  being on any show, not even amateur,
• 1:08:50
  just any show. I love being on this show
• 1:08:54
  and at the end of the night all I hear
• 1:08:56
  is damn that Christopher Belotus kid was
• 1:08:58
  was different. He was different. They
• 1:09:01
  watched the whole card and they see me
• 1:09:03
  fight and they go the focus was
• 1:09:05
  different. The decision-m was different.
• 1:09:07
  The understanding was different and it
• 1:09:09
  looks like he understands why he's doing
• 1:09:11
  things. I don't get in a bar fight, you
• 1:09:13
  know. I have I have a very very um high
• 1:09:17
  level understanding of the sport and I
• 1:09:19
  love to express that it's it's violent.
• 1:09:22
  It is violence. So maybe maybe I'm
• 1:09:25
  wrong. Maybe people just see a violent
• 1:09:27
  kid and they enjoy it. Maybe my
• 1:09:30
  interpretation of of what they see is
• 1:09:32
  off. But what I know is that we're gonna
• 1:09:35
  execute to a high level and it's going
• 1:09:37
  to be violent. It's going to be tactical
• 1:09:39
  and at the end of the day it's gonna be
• 1:09:40
  beautiful. It's mixed martial arts for a
• 1:09:43
  reason. So, I'm going to go perform. Uh,
• 1:09:46
  and it's it's my highest self, you know?
• 1:09:48
  I can be honest. Like, this is the best
• 1:09:49
  version of me. This is the best I've
• 1:09:50
  ever been. So, I'm I'm excited to go put
• 1:09:54
  on a show for me. Go make my coach
• 1:09:56
  proud. Go make my family proud. And then
• 1:09:59
  the crowd and everybody else, they'll
• 1:10:01
  just see a man that that put in work.
• 1:10:05
  [clears throat]
• 1:10:06
  >> Christopher, [snorts] I've really
• 1:10:07
  enjoyed this conversation. You seem like
• 1:10:08
  a very interesting young man. Seen you
• 1:10:11
  around for a while. This is the first
• 1:10:12
  time we've really got a chance to chat.
• 1:10:13
  So, thank you for this. And I always
• 1:10:15
  like finishing by saying, is there
• 1:10:17
  anything you think we should have talked
• 1:10:18
  about that I didn't ask?
• 1:10:21
  >> Oh, I just wanted to say thank you to
• 1:10:22
  you, man. That's the last thing I got to
• 1:10:23
  say. You're a pioneer in Canadian MMA.
• 1:10:25
  You've been around since I think the
• 1:10:27
  first unsanctioned fight. So, uh, just
• 1:10:31
  thank you for taking the time out of
• 1:10:32
  your day and continuing to be a staple
• 1:10:34
  in the community.
• 1:10:36
  >> Well, that's unexpected, but I'll take
• 1:10:38
  it. Thank you, Christopher. Uh yeah,
• 1:10:40
  once again, I hope uh you know, it's
• 1:10:42
  funny and being very honest now, I don't
• 1:10:46
  often root for one particular fighter
• 1:10:49
  over another. And in this case, in your
• 1:10:50
  fight, I'm really not either. You know,
• 1:10:52
  I've established somewhat of a rapport
• 1:10:53
  with you. You're a super kid. But what
• 1:10:56
  at the end of the day, what I want is I
• 1:10:57
  want to see two fighters go into a cage
• 1:10:59
  fully prepared, fully ready, show their
• 1:11:02
  best selves, fight, and have the best
• 1:11:04
  fighter win. So, uh you know, win or
• 1:11:07
  lose, I know you're going to bring it.
• 1:11:08
  And so I appreciate that about you. I
• 1:11:10
  just want to say best of luck. I hope
• 1:11:11
  you perform to the best of your
• 1:11:12
  abilities. I hope you're the best
• 1:11:14
  fighter you can be that night. And uh I
• 1:11:16
  guess we'll see what happens.
• 1:11:17
  >> Understood.
• 1:11:20
  >> All right. There you go, fight friends.
• 1:11:21
  Christopher Bloss fighting Kodiair in
• 1:11:23
  I'm not sure. Are you the main event?
• 1:11:25
  >> Yes, sir.
• 1:11:26
  >> Yeah. Main event of Mayhem 4 in Alist,
• 1:11:28
  Ontario on the 29th of October. Sorry,
• 1:11:30
  29th of August for the Mayhem
• 1:11:33
  lightweight championship. Make sure you
• 1:11:35
  be there if you can.