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Tyler Berger- MMA fighter, Collegiate Wrestler · Caught on the Mike...

• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I decided to stamp act a bunch of great episodes.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: For our final entry of the week, I get the pleasure of speaking with Tyler Berger.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: He's a former Corn Huster wrestler.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: So far, he has an undefeated record in MMA, and he is looking to make a name for himself.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I think this event will definitely put him on the map.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Ladies and gentlemen, this is Caught on the Mic.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Caught on the Mike.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: It is Dynasty Combat Sports Week ahead of the May 3rd event, Spring Brawl, Pinnacle Bank Arena.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: This fight got added a little bit late, and it was well worth the wait.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: He's a three-time NCAA All-American 2019 NCAA finalist, four-time state wrestling champion in the state of Oregon, a UNL alum.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Tyler Berger, how the hell are you?
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: Doing good, Mike.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me on.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Dude, thanks for doing it, especially on such short notice.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: We kind of wrangled this thing up in under a week, didn't we?
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we did.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, all uh all PR is good PR.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: I think Gene Simmons from KISS said that there's no such thing as bad press.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: All press is good press.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Nice, man.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: So your training, you were just telling me before we pressed record that uh you tried something a little different today.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: So uh you're you're kind of training all over the place right now, aren't you?
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well yeah, especially for uh this fight, like you said, it a little bit of a short notice.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so just trying to get together as many bodies as possible.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: We have a really good fight scene out here in the Philly area, and um a lot of good gyms, a lot of pro fighters.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so yeah, we've just been bouncing around, using some guys and and getting some good looks, basically just changing the looks and a lot of good bodies and guys just giving uh little tips here and there, and so it's been really good.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: So going from the West Coast to the Midwest to the East Coast, that's gotta be some sort of transition for you, right?
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the East Coast is unlike anything I've ever because I I lived in Oregon growing up, Nebraska, and then I was actually in California for a year um to train at their RTC when I was wrestling still.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: And uh so I never lived on the East Coast.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: Coming out to Philly was culture shock for sure.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: But it's great, man.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_01: These uh definitely my kind of people.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's uh it's been a lot of fun.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: My stepdaughter is going to Philly in June for UCA, like for cheer uh camp.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: She's gonna be a cheer camp counselor, and then she's gonna be going to Iowa Western uh this fall.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: And uh man, I was like, might have to tag along for that.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: I want to run the steps, I want to go see the Rocky statue, I want to do all the cliche filly shit there is to do.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, oh yeah, yeah.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's a great city, it's a beautiful city.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think you can get a bad rap sometimes.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's a little crazy.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: You gotta keep your head on your shoulders for sure, but uh great food, great culture.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it's it's fun.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: So, without any further ado, let's kind of talk a little bit about your origin story.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, you had a great career at Nebraska, uh, being a part of the wrestling team here, but of course, your roots being in Oregon.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: So let's kind of let's unpack this a little bit and let's talk about how you got into the sport of wrestling and then in turn turn that into a future in MMA.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so I've been wrestling, I don't have a memory of not wrestling.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like I've been on the mat.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: My dad had me on the mat when I was three years, three years old, they is what he tells me.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: So I had, I mean, obviously not wrestling at that point, you're just kind of falling around and doing whatever.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, so I don't have a memory in my life where I wasn't wrestling.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: And growing up, it was important as I got into high school, like I wanted to be a part of a program where I could have the people around me that had had success, that it had been done before, and I wanted to compete with the best, and that was in the room, and week to week as far as competition goes, so my eyes were always set on being in the Big Ten.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: And obviously at Nebraska at the time was Snyder as an assistant coach to wrestle with Jordan Burroughs, James Green.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it was just a huge pull for me.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: So it was just an easy transition to go into Nebraska and be competitive right away.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: And um, that just it just sharpened me.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like it was a humbling experience as far as going from I didn't know anything about Nebraska before I went out.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: I I thought it was in the south, I thought everyone was gonna have a southern accent.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: I thought it was just I it was so foreign to me, but really what I was worried about was being successful in wrestling, so I didn't really care about all the other stuff we were gonna figure it out.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, it was humbling to leave home, no friends, you know, just join the team.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: You're getting beat up a lot as a red shirt freshman, especially a part of the Nebraska room, um, and then kind of building a career outside of that.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: And that's just kind of been my story throughout of being able to go into hard, hard changes, making tough decisions to go outside my comfort zone, um, start new, start from the ground up.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: And that that's kind of a similar way I I got into MMA.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: Was I never really I I I've always been interested in it.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I didn't know how to make it work as far as a career went.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like there's just a lot of unknowns, and but it always been in the back of my mind of like, man, this would be it'd be a lot of fun if I could figure out how to do this.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um and then I was getting older and then just having success in wrestling, and I was just like, I don't know if this will ever happen.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, just kind of got to a point where I was like, not not done with wrestling, I still love wrestling, but um there was something about it where I just felt like I needed to, I needed to have a change.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: And whether that was go into code be done wrestling, go into coaching, do something different altogether, or this fight career was always in the back of my mind of like, okay, what what excites me the most, that's also very scary to do.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: And the thing that came up was fighting for me.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like I it's it's a very scary thing to get into, um, but it gave me the most amount of excitement.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like I love the coach, it just it that it didn't excite me very much at this time in my life.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um getting a job does not excite me.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not somebody that's kind of probably ever fit that mold, but fighting excited me and it scared me.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: And to have a big goal um to chase after, it it's uh it's pushed me and and sharpened me more than I've been pushed probably in the last five, six years.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so with that wrestling background, were you always a fan of MMA?
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I watched it uh all through growing up.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like I think my first time I ever watched it was probably in middle school.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I I clear I remember I think the first time I really fell in love with the sport, I watched Rashad Evans knock out, I think it was Chuck Liddell, and I was like, dude, this guy is crazy.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: Like that was just electric to me.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: Where I'm like, this is wild.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I've always followed it since.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um and yeah, I just as a spectator, you know, I just always like these guys are the toughest dudes.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like as a wrestler, you're like, yeah, we're tough, but you're not getting hit, you're not getting choked, you're not having to protect your arms and all these different things.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, just fighters were always like on a pedestal to me.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I enjoy talking to fighters on a regular basis because of that self-challenge, self-accountability type of mindset that everybody seems to have.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: What was your first experience walking into an MMA gym like?
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: So I it's kind of I mean, going into MMA is like it's like the Wild West.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: There's not it's not like wrestling, um, especially in the United States, where you have this established system.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you started a club, you have these coaches with accolades, it's very structured.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um we've we've seen we've seen success at uh from such a long time ago where we have this system in place where there's a path to be successful.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: MMA is like you got strikers, jujitsu guys, you got guys trying to blend wrestlers, and everybody will tell you some guys are training six days a week, two times a day, and they're like, that's the way to do it.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: Some guys are four days a week, and you need those off days, like take care of your body.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: And so I was just kind of all over the place.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: And so I was just like, All right, I'm gonna go into some gyms, I'm gonna try to figure it out.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: I need it, and that was the other thing, is like you don't have just normally one coach, you you have striking coaches, jujitsu coaches, you got the grappling.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's just like there's a lot of coaches that need to have expertise in a lot of areas, so not all the time are you getting it from one guy.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm going into multiple gyms in the beginning, just trying to get my feet wet, and without saying their name, I went to a pretty big gym around this area and with some high-level fighters.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: And my first week going into MMA, I go to the sparring on Saturday and small glove sparring, and I'm as green as it can possibly get.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't know what's going on.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I got head kicked, I got cracked with a head kick, and I got cut underneath my eye, and I left that day going, dude, I don't I don't know if this is for me.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: This is crazy.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like my head hurt, my eye hurt.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, there's something's going on, like I gotta change what I'm doing.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: So I ended up finding this um randomly a buddy of mine told me that, hey, we have really good striking coaches uh that I know of, um, been around for a long time, and they have a small gym in Philly, directed me towards them, and it was the perfect fit.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like from the first week that I met them, um, I just I understood good training.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: I like that was one thing going from wrestling and being at the highest level, being around Team USA for a for a long time and uh competing at the highest level for them, was I understood good training.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I think a lot of these gyms are just kind of go hard, you know, type people, and that's not me.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: I'm very structured, very fundamentals, um, get a good base underneath me, and I shouldn't be scrapping all the time.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: And this gym was teaching me a jab right out the gate.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: Let's just work on your jabs, let's just work on your one-twos.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: Let's work on your head movement, your footwork.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: And we're not worried about sparring.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: We're not worrying about you getting hit yet.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like, that's down the road.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: And right there, I was like, this is where I need to be.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: Because I don't need to be learning some eight-punch combination my first week of fighting.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like, teach me the fundamental spurs, so I'm not getting my head taken off every time that I spar somebody.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: So that that's kind of been my transition.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: I got, I mean, it's just like truly a blessing how that how that came about.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: And um I it we always joke, my striking one of my coaches, that's two brothers, and one of them is like all he does is e-breathe fighting.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like he is a little like a little off in the head, and which is good in the best way.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: And uh he's fully invested in my career and where we're headed, and um, yeah, it's been it's been a great relationship.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: That's amazing, and that's something that uh, you know, as a spectator, podcaster, guy that, you know, I I will actually be calling your fight uh that night.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but somebody that's involved with the sport myself is like the sense of community around MMA is unlike anything other.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, I remember the early days of the UFC, like I'm old enough to remember UFC one, two, and three, and like what how different of a sport it was back then.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: But that kind of brings me to question you, because it's been my observation.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: Have you noticed like a growth and a legitimization of MMA more so in like the last six or seven years as opposed to former perceptions of it?
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: It I mean, it's it in my mind when I look at this new generation of MMA, it's a very high-level technical fighting where before you could be pretty disciplined in in one area and win a lot of fights.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you could be really good at wrestling and not have very good striking and win a lot of fights, not be super provid uh proficient in in DJJ and win a lot of fights.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_01: Where now, I mean, I think as far as like with the sh just the the evolution of it is people see the the money aspect of it, they see the power, the fame, and these guys are growing, and you don't want to stay in jujitsu, people don't want to stay in wrestling, and um, it's just more exciting with fighting, and they have a platform where you can really change your family's life.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: And so these people are starting, you know, when they're eight, ten years old, and there's just this push to MMA is is kind of the path where it's headed.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: So, with that, you have all these guys that maybe were in these other disciplines, and they're all coming into MMA, and everyone's good everywhere.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like everyone's proficient, everyone's proficient in wrestling, everyone's proficient in in BJJ, everyone has good striking, and now you're starting to see this like kind of stack up on uh on top of each other where it's just it's not enough to be good in one area anymore.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: You have to be proficient everywhere.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: Talking with a lot of trainers and a lot of coaches and such as I have, um, it does feel more like uh audience perception is a lot closer to like the NBA, NFL, MLB, and stuff than it was before.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: Like people are taking the sport seriously, and it's it's paid its dues.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's rightfully so, rightfully so.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: So, what do you know about your May 3rd opponent?
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: Have you crossed paths in the past?
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: No, I uh I don't know anything really about him.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, obviously now I do, um just with looking at him and and uh looking him up and doing some work there, but I didn't know Nick Fishback at all as far as wrestling goes.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um I can't even find a wrestling match of him online, to be honest.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't not for lack of trying.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, right.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: I so I don't I don't really know much about him.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um but listen, for for me, he took this fight on short notice, and we're doing this thing at a catch weight, where for me, I'm taking that very seriously.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: Like he's not he's not messing around with he, I think he's 0-1 as a pro right now.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: This guy doesn't want to go 0-2.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: And speaking taking a short notice fight with me, I think is already a big risk, and I think he understands that.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: And for him, to get a win over me is a big, big deal for him, and I think he wants to change the trajectory of his MMA career with a win over me.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: So I understand this.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I'm not I'm not looking past him, I'm not thinking, oh, Crow debut, let's feed him some tomato can right away that I can walk through and put a highlight on, whatever.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I know he's showing up to scrap, so we're ready.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever, wherever this fight goes, we're gonna be ready to go.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: I absolutely love that.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: And again, this kind of causes me to kind of circle back to the whole idea of MMA being such a strong community because you know we're not gonna talk about those 30 seconds that happen once the the match has been decided or once the finish has happened or anything along those lines, but there is a sense of mutual respect um in the fact that he did take it short notice, you took it short notice.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you guys are probably both training your asses off right now.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what is that like for you balancing your training and your other everyday life?
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: I see the shirt, the Will Compton girl dad shirt.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: How is that balance right now, man?
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: Listen, I there there is no balance.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: There's no balance.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's training, and I come home and I'm a dad.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like that, it's been the coolest transition of my life.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's been so cool.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: She's she was four weeks old on Monday, and it's been beautiful to be around her and get to know her.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, yeah, it comes with its difficulties for sure, but yeah, there's no balance.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: I I'm I'm I'm locked in with training, and we're we're grinding, we're getting ready to go.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: And uh when I come home, I'm with my wife and my kid, and and that's it.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: That's all I do.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: I don't I don't have a job.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: I don't mess around and do, I don't care about hobbies and and all that stuff.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: The the weather getting nice, I'll go outside, but um, I'm locked in with with being a fighter.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_01: This is I'm on a path to change my family's life, and so I'm not worried about anything else.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: Dude, dude, I absolutely love that.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: I was just gonna ask you, but that because it kind of you kind of answered it, but maybe more definitively.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: Being a new father, like how has your why in life and what you are fighting for adjusted?
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: And how have you noticed that shift internally?
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, it's uh I think before it's um building these goals was for myself as far as an athlete of where where I wanted to go, what I thought I was capable of, and training myself into and and competing in a way where I know what I I I want I want to get to this certain level.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_01: And now it's perspective shift of I still have things that I want to do selfishly, and I don't know if selfishly is the is the right word, but I I I still know that I have these capabilities and I know how far I can go, but it's not really just for me to test myself now.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I have a wife to take care of, a kid to take care of, and so just it's a little extra drive when uh my arms are burning, my legs are burning, my lungs feel like they're gonna collapse when I'm training.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: It's uh it's not really about me anymore.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, with fighting, it's consequences are high, and I know that anybody can put get their lights taken out at any moment.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so the the discipline and how sharp I have to be when I train, I'm locked in all the time.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what I mean when I say I don't have I don't have balance.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm thinking about fighting constantly and taking care of my family.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: That's it.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: Love that.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: So let's manifest some destiny a little bit here.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: If you were to take a look in a crystal ball in the future, where do you see yourself in your fighting career six months from now versus two years from now?
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right now uh the focus is just being able to give fights.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'm making my way down to featherweight, so this catch weight at 150 is perfect for me.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um and uh I'm looking to be active.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: I I've taken a six month break.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: Uh not really a break.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: I've been trying to fight.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: Uh just had some issues getting anybody to say yes.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so I I I probably won't have that kind of break again.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: In my mind, if you know, God willing, I don't get hurt or anything like that, but I'm trying to stay active with my fighting.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: I'm trying to fight six every six to eight weeks, every eight to ten weeks, whatever it is.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_01: Uh six months from now, hopefully putting up a a few wins on my pro record.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: Two years from now, I fully expect to be in the UFC.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: We're trying to track this as quick as possible, where uh there's no break after fight.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna be back in the gym, we're gonna be getting ready for the next guy.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: And this is a year, year and a half sprint to to get to the UFC.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: And then we can, you know, kind of refine and and get ready for certain opponents at a higher level.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_01: But right now we're taking we're taking fights.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_01: I'm saying, yes, anybody anywhere.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'll fly to you, you come to me, I'll give you my whole purse.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't matter.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_00: So whenever you're prospecting these fights, and you're obviously working with a manager and and coaches and everything along those lines, are you seeing more activity in a certain portion of the country versus another?
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like I know right now the Midwest seems to be for crazy reasons, like Nebraska, Colorado, uh, Kansas City, and Missouri area and such kind of a hotbed right now for a lot of activity.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm assuming you're probably gonna be making the trip to the Midwest beyond May 3rd uh more frequently.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, I mean, where wherever it wherever it takes me, I'm I'm okay with that's that's the thing, is uh I have connections out in the West Coast and the Midwest and and now coming out to the East Coast, um they they call my name wherever.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: My my manager puts my name in the hat wherever.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: And uh he's searching hard all the time to find an opponent.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: So whether that's out here on the on in Philly or I fly out to California to go get somebody, I'll fly out of the country to go get somebody.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't matter to me.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: You you call my name, they give me an opponent, he says yes, we signed the contract, I'm gonna be there.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: Love it, love it.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about just for a few seconds.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: I want to focus on mentorship a little bit.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: Is there somebody in the industry that you haven't had the opportunity to work with that you would like to work with in the near future, or somebody right now that you're working with that you're real that's really exciting you about your own career?
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_01: So I was uh I was actually just recently got to be in Eddie Alvarez's gym, uh make that connection, and that was great.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_01: Like he definitely the highest level fighter I've been able to be around and just pick his brain with a lot of different things.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I've he's been at he's been at the level that I want to be at, and he continues to to fight.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_01: And so he's not like outside of the sport by any means, and he's fought some of the best guys in the world.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_01: And so yeah, that was great.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_01: He he's been a great resource and and very open and and super nice guy.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, then there's there's some connections for sure this summer and and traveling wise that I want to be able to get down into the American top team community and get in that gym.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I have this connection with with Bo Nickel, who's been a great resource for me.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: And he's been super open.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_01: He's actually one of the biggest reasons I got into MMA and had the connections to start.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um just with the training camp up there with uh with wrestling.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I kind of thought he'd be a little closed, closed off, and and he wasn't that way at all.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: I kind of just mentioned that I was thinking about going into MMA and from the from the start, he was whatever you need.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: If you need contacts, if you need direction as far as gyms or managers, he's been a great resource for me that way.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: So getting up at uh state college and training with him, that'd be awesome too.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome, man.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: Well, my closing question is my favorite one to ask every single guest, and it's kind of a little bit off the wall, but I think it's kind of timely.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: Giving everything that you've experienced through your wrestling career transforming into your MMA career, what's your advice for making the world a better place tomorrow than what it is today?
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: I would say um one of the biggest things for me going into fighting, um, kind of when I talked about what's the scariest thing for me, but also the most exciting, was there's an aspect of my faith that I that's the main driver of how and why I make decisions.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so if I if I didn't believe this is where God wanted me to be, I wouldn't be in MMA.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_01: And so I it's it's funny because people can be I've had we've had the question, and I have to still wrestle with it of does God really love MMA?
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_01: Does he really love a guy beating up on another guy?
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: And to me, I I think my view of the sport is God has had warriors in in his army since the beginning, and we're not I'm not beating up somebody that's helpless or doesn't want to fight.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's two guys that have agreed to fight, and we sign a contract and we both have trained and we agree upon something, and then we put our skills on display in front of a crowd, and I think I can honor God with that.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_01: And um so when I make decisions, that's the that's the number one thing, is if I was doing this selfishly, if I was trying to chase something that I didn't think was honoring God in any way, um, I think I would have had that conviction.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um but it's been only open doors since I I started.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just giving me a sense of peace and excitement for the sport.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what I would tell anybody with with wherever they're going, I think it's okay to take risks.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um taking risks in a way that you believe that is for me as a as a Christian that is honoring to God as well.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um if it's after something that money or power or whatever, I think that runs out quick and it's not very fulfilling.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_01: But where I can bring honor and glory to God as well as doing something that I love to do, I think people see the genuine love for what I do, and they they're attracted to that.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think you make a really good point, and let me prove your theorem in just a second about um um whether or not God or whatever deity somebody follows believes or is a fan of MMA, and I can tell you here's proof.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_00: Two guys walk into a cage, they're mortal enemies.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: That fight ends, those two guys typically become best friends and hug it out the minute the fight ends.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: If there is not something spiritual connected with that, I mean, come on.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, yeah, every single fight.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you're going to war.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: You're going to war.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: And you it's you see it in wrestling on a smaller scale, I think.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um but yeah, fighting is a different level of intensity.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: And the we I know what it takes.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_01: I know how nervous I get, I know the training that it takes to walk into the cage, and I know that guy's feeling that same thing, and the fact that we're both trying to take each other's head off, and uh the bell gets done and and we're it's over.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, all right, I'm happy that we got that over with, and we can we can chill now.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's uh yeah, it's it's different, it's unlike anything I've ever done in my life.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, talking about the first time I walked into the octagon was one of the most intense experiences I've ever had.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_01: It was wild.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: Well, man, I am so looking forward to getting to sit cage side, call your cap, call your fight, and be able to high-five you that night.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm looking forward to seeing you in person.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_00: Tyler Berger, I expect great things from you six months from now, two years from now to be my own cliche.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, thanks for doing the show, man.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_00: The world's a much better place with you and it, my friend.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate it.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me on.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_00: Expect some fireworks May 3rd.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_00: Word.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_00: Once again, I'd like to thank my new friend Tyler Berger for doing the podcast today.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_00: You can give him a follow on Instagram at T-Bird41.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_00: Check out its fight.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: May 3rd, Dynasty Combat Sports, Spring Brawl, Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, Nebraska.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure you're following Dynasty Combat Sports as well.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_00: While you are being generous with followers, make sure you're following Caught on the Mike on all social media platforms.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_00: Give my YouTube channel a subscription.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_00: That is the fastest way we're gonna make this thing grow.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_00: You can also visit me, www.cotonthemic.com, and email me caught on the mic at gmail.com for all folks.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_00: This has been Caught on the Mic with Michael Clark.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Michael Clark.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.