Latest / Caught on the Mike... / "Enjoying the Journey" with UFC's Drew Dober

Transcript

"Enjoying the Journey" with UFC's Drew Dober · Caught on the Mike...

• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: A lightweight fighter with 23 wins, 11 classes, and 100 contests.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Drew Dover is joining me on the show today.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I tell you what, this guy looks like he could get fast in the next Marvel movie.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: So fight fans, let's go! Ladies and gentlemen, this is caught on the mic.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: Drew Dover Omaha's own byway of Denver, Colorado, Elevation Fight Team UFC Lightweight 155.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Brother, I don't care about any of that stuff.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just glad to be talking with you.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm glad to talk to somebody that's uh from Oahu, Nebraska, man.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I I carry Omaha, you know, in my heart and on my shoulders when I fight.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: So it's always great to talk to uh local people.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: So are you kind of sharing dual citizenship between Denver and Omaha, or are you just strictly in Denver now?
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like future's in Colorado, my past is in Nebraska, my mind's in Colorado, my heart's in Nebraska.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, and then it's it's one of the same, to be honest.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk a little bit about your origin story, how you got into MMA, how you got into martial arts in general.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: Well, my easy answer is I can't run, jump, or catch a ball.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: So my options are limited.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: Uh like man, when I was uh single-digit age, uh like five, six, seven, I loved the Jean-Claude Van Damme movies, and that just evolved into like me enjoying like Dragon Ball Z or Japanese anime.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so like I just had a love for like fighting or martial arts and and that kind of stuff.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: So I was at the age of uh 13 years old, and I decided uh to you know check out some martial arts, and so I was lucky enough to find a uh a school that taught uh mixed martial arts.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: So I joined martial arts when I was 13 years old and I just fell in love and didn't quit.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: One thing led to another, and I started learning more, and uh I decided like I wanted to give it a shot.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: So looking at your bio, you started off with Muay Thai, right?
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: I mean technically I started off with like Taekwondo, like striking, and then you know, went from traditional martial arts to actual functional martial arts, which is Muay Thai.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: And uh yeah, so man, I love uh I love the whole striking.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: You said you're a Jean-Claude Van Damme fan.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: So I have to assume that if you're ever playing UFC 4, it's strictly in kumite mode, right?
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: My son, my son and I are the same way, man.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: We won't play that game in anything other than kumite mode, and he's into taekwondo right now himself.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: So if you feel comfortable saying, where did you go to school for uh martial arts in Omaha?
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: So originally, so Taekwondo, and where I started off was a Miller Black Belt Academy.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: And uh no longer uh around.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: And so then when I decided to strictly focus on mixed martial arts, I moved to uh it's a Mid-America martial arts, it's up on uh 144th and Giles.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, I'm familiar with that area.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: I used to live right off that area.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: So did you ever spend any time out at Chalco Hills or that lake area over there?
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, there's uh there's a hill up there that was like when I was preparing for a fight, this hill in particular was a thing that got me ready for it.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: I was like sprinting up it and it was painful.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: So uh I don't have positive memories, all I have is just exhausted negative memories in that place.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, absolutely, dude.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like when I lived in Omaha, that used to be my favorite place.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: That was my sanctuary, that was my place to go for a run.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think the whole trail around the lake is 7.62 miles, so I would just throw in the headphones and go for a jog until I killed myself, you know.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: Well, see, that sounds pleasant.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: I found a throw up or pass out.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so speaking of inclines, being that you're in Colorado now, do you spend a lot of time, you know, no pun intended, but doing some elevation type training in Colorado?
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: I think just being up at elevation um is kind of just you know good enough for me.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: And uh what I tell everyone else is like I'm from Nebraska and we don't walk up hills.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: So I find the escalator.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: But um, yeah, so I don't really do a whole lot of like like the hiking or the you know, speaking of the incline.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I just training out here in Colorado or Denver, um, just you know, just being at in elevation is is good enough.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Every time we go out to the springs and we go to Manitou Springs uh pretty regularly, and I I always say on every trip, I'm like, man, I'm gonna do that Manitou incline, and usually at about the 11th hour I kind of puss out and don't do it.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's gonna talk you into it.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: Uh my teammates are like, oh, let's just do it on this weekend.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, Oh, we just casually walk up some stairs.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's not casual at all.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: And they started running.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: I was like taking breaks with all the elderly people, like it took me 45 minutes to get up there.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, stairs are just not my uh my not my thing.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: I've heard rumors that uh Bud Crawford, another Omaha, occasionally uh runs it on Sundays.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yep, yep, yeah.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I've always kind of had it in my mind, I was like, man, it'd be great if like him and I just like you know uh got together and ran it ourselves, but man, the idea of running up those stairs, man, I'll just let him do that.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: So getting back to the mixed martial arts aspect of it, when did you first sign with the UFC?
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: I signed, uh officially signed with the UFC at the age of like 25.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: But I had a small stint on the reality show, The Ultimate Fighter, when I was like 23.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, I signed with the UFC at 25.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: One of my favorite quotes that I've heard from you in the last year was I stopped trying, now I'm just doing.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: Can you explain the mindset behind that?
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think that encompasses the entire career that you've had with mixed martial arts.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think uh, you know, when you when you make your hobby into a job, it eventually starts turning into a job, right?
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so there was a lot of like pressure and expectation, and uh a lot of it I was putting on myself with my my perfectionism, like I need to do, I had to, you know, it's like you forced yourself, and it got really like nitty and gritty, and like when people like hustle and grind, and like it all sounds so painful and it felt painful, and then I just uh talked to a uh mental coach and we're kind of just talking like how do I view a champion and uh when did I display those attributes as a champion?
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: And that's when I came up with a quote uh the mind of a champion is the mind of a child.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: I was doing it as a teenager, and the reason I was doing it as a teenager, because this was just my hobby, I was just having fun, I didn't care about outcomes, and then when it became a job, it felt like a job.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: So I was like, you know what?
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: I'm done, like trying, no more hack-stos or sho uh, you know, I I have to this or this and that.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: And so I was like, I'm just going back to just getting paid to do my hobby again, and then that's what I meant.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I just stopped trying and I'm just having fun at it again.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I feel personally that when people from the Midwest, um, there's societal expectation that we go to school, we have a career, we get married, or we jump into a blue-collar type career or trade.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: Not that there's anything wrong with that, but pursuing our dreams like music, acting, fighting, it isn't normal for people from the Midwest or normal per their own mindset.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: You know, how how do you feel about that?
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: Did it take getting out of Omaha to kind of push you to that next level?
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_01: No, I I I disagree.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: Uh like I understand what you just said.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I was I was catching a lot of heat when I was telling people, like, oh, I want to be a professional fighter, I want to pursue this.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: And they're like, you know, what's your plan B?
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like, is this not safe and this and that?
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: I always abbreviate things into like little quotes that I can carry.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: And one is um uh success doesn't equal happiness, happiness equals success.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: And so you gotta like chase your heart, you know, and like fighting, like it was I was just gonna make it work or at least enjoy the process.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: Growing up in the Midwest has taught me is that grit, is that perfectionism, and is that high expectation?
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I feel like on the coast, you know, guys like if it wasn't happening, you know, they had their plan B like that, but Nebraska taught me how to like, you know, that grit.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: The you know, I get up, I run, I work, I push hard, and like if I want to turn this hobby into a career, the Midwest taught me how to make it a career, you know?
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm glad you answered like that because that was kind of a trap question, if you want to know honestly that truth.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: So, when was the moment in life that you knew that you wanted to flip that switch and this was no longer gonna be a hobby that this was your dream, this was your passion, this was your goal?
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: I think the moment when I caught the nation's attention and I like I uh I earned the uh the week, it was like a week training at Extreme Couture in Las Vegas.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I was like, oh, that's that's awesome.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: Like I got like the attention of like not only like a magazine, but a world-renowned gym, and I gotta go out there and train with you know these guys the best in the world.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I went out there and I trained and I didn't do half bad when I was 20 years old.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know what?
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: Like I'm here, I got the attention.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm I'm actually moving with these guys, you know, UFC fighters and stuff like that.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: So like I I think I'm capable of this, and if I'm capable of it, all I gotta do is just harness that, you know, and and just use it.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: A little known fact that uh not everybody knows about you is you went to culinary school for a while too, didn't you?
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: I did.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh man, uh I just fell in love with like cooking and and preparing meals, and you know, obviously I had to do it for myself, and then it was led to like after fights.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: I wanted to cook that delicious stuff too.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I was already going to a community college taking my uh basics, and so I was like, you know, uh Metro had a really good culinary program, so I was like, why not give that a shot?
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: So I enrolled in some classes and uh I had a lot of fun doing it, but uh it turns out that uh if you want to be a chef, you can't do anything else, like it's so like it consumes your entire life.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: So I backed off a bit and I just continued my studying at Barnes and Obles.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: So is cooking still a passion of yours?
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love it.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: Anytime I get a chance, you know, I'm uh I'm cooking for myself.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: Actually, I just made some brisket a couple days ago.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: So I mean, I absolutely love cooking.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: And so when I'm like in training and I have a nutritionist in uh the couple weeks that I'm preparing, and she makes some incredible meals.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: So like I write them down and I'm like, I'm totally gonna make this when I'm done.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: And so then when I'm done fighting, I go down that list and I start making these meals.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: Do you find that it's harder to stay focused on a meal plan when you're not in fight camp because of your passion for food?
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think uh being focused on a fight, and uh when I was doing it myself, all I was doing was scrambling eggs and grilling chicken, and it's just bland and painful.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: And at the end of the day, you don't feel like cooking because you're already tired.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: So, like doing the nutritional thing for myself kind of just like killed that that excitement for it.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, man, I can't wait till after this fight and I can just do it myself.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but now that I have this nutritionist and she like makes me incredible meals during my camp, it has actually added to my excitement to like afterwards, you know, I'm I'm cooking like most of my dinners in in my off season.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: For sure.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: Because, you know, guys, as we get a little bit older, you know, we struggle with our metabolisms and making sure we're making the right culinary choices and what have you.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: And as they say, abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym, correct?
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_01: It's kind of painful to admit because when I feel the worst, I look the best.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: But we flipped that.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome, man.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: So, what do you do for fun in your free time?
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: If you're not prepping for a fight, you're not working out in the gym, what do you do?
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: If I'm able to, I travel as much as possible.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so after this last night, I mean, uh, I was going to like Las Vegas, California.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, before the pandemic, I was trying to go to like Europe and and uh you know South America.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so I love traveling, experiencing other cultures.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: And if we want to boil it down, it's music, wine, dancing, uh, video games, books, movies.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: Fighting consumes my life a ton.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: And like, I don't think I ever walk away from fighting ever.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: Like, even in my offseason, I'm still training, you know, I just got done, you know, doing some workouts today.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so like my my love for the the the sport is still there.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: Outside of that, I just love experiencing new things.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: So what do you do for fun when you come back to Omaha?
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_01: Oh man, do I have time to have fun there?
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: Uh like I have friends, I have family, I have uh all the spots that you know, your goji spots, you know, with the downtown, the zoo, uh, you know, village point.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: Like there's there's so many things I want to like reminisce and like so you don't really experience new things, but there's so many people and so much love in Nebraska that it's like I'm just consumed with just like hanging out and talking to people.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's actually quite exhausting when I'm in Omaha.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, because it it really is about the people.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: I read an interesting fact not too long ago that because Con Agra was rooted in Omaha up until recently, that Omaha had more bars and restaurants per capita than any other city in the United States.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: And when you add the social element to it, the fact that everybody is so communal, it makes sense.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I I'm carrying that Midwest feeling, like here in Colorado.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like anytime I'm at the gym or I'm out and about, or even on the on the coast, I'm having conversations with everyone, and then they sometimes people look at me like, you gotta talk to everyone, like, oh yeah, I forgot.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_01: I'm from Nebraska and we just like talking.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: Right, man.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's like you're driving down the road, like you're driving down Colfax and you're doing the farmer's wave to everybody, and you don't even realize you're doing it, right?
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: Or you say every eye contact you make, you know, just like, oh hey, and then they try to avoid you real quick.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: Man, that's awesome.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: Every fighter has a great origin story that kind of fuels their why.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: What fuels your why?
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: What is the ultimate thing or the ultimate chain of events that have happened in your life that has driven you to be as successful as you have been with your fighting career?
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: We're getting deep on like my whys.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I grew up uh, you know, being raised by a single mother and uh not the most prestigious part of Millard.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh she currently lives on 38th and Ames.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: So she's right over by uh Bud's gym.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um so I I feel like I carry the typical like the athlete story of, you know, I I want to make it not only for me, but I want to make it for my family and make it for like my friends.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um and it just that's that's what drives me.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: That's the reason I don't quit.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's the reason that I per, you know, I persevere in that third round, you know, just because like coming from home in Nebraska, being raised by a single mother, like I've never seen quit, and it was never inside of me.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: And so like my mind doesn't even know how to.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like I just continue walking forward and keep on pushing through like difficult times, and blessed to my mother, like she's the one that taught me that.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: So, what was high school like for you?
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it was a confusing time.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I I I grew up with uh uh what I call like the delinquents, um, the ones that so I went to Miller North and uh you know again, props to my mother who was able to uh put me in that school district and and you know I was being surrounded.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: But it was it was a confusing time because the kids I grew up with didn't really have a whole bunch, and a lot of them got like addicted to uh substances at uh at an early age.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_01: So I grew up with them and then I went to high school at Miller North, which it's a it's a pretty prestigious school, and so it was just a confusing time of like who do I hang out with or who do I like, uh who do I represent, what groups do I represent?
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, I think uh being around those uh those uh those kids kind of taught me how to be a caretaker.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um it also uh you know taught me maturity and responsibility at an early age because I mean if I would have grabbed onto that, we all would have fallen, type of thing.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: But then yeah, uh, I think the turning point in my career was at 16 years old, I joined uh high school wrestling.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: And then that's when I saw the the guys with the discipline and the work ethic, and you know, these guys, they they didn't like drink or smoke or you know, do uh a party every weekend.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, oh, that's new to me.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: And then after after I got my ass kicked in one wrestling tournament, uh then I was like, I need to make a change.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: And then I I went home and they were having a house party at my house, and I wasn't even there.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: And uh that's kind of when I was like, you know what?
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: I need to start surrounding myself with like-minded, you know, friends.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: So that's when I made the adjustment and I started introducing myself to like the guys on the wrestling team, and that's when I met the friends that I still carry today.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, I think that was the the turning point, junior year high school, when I decided that uh my extracurricular activities need to reflect my goals.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's also a Midwest thing, too, not to circle back on an earlier part of the conversation, but I I do think that that work ethic is definitely something that signifies who we are as Nebraskans and how who we are as Midwesterners.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I agree.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, uh Omaha alone has produced so many great fighters, and I think it's just that uh that grit, that work ethic, and that, you know, the I mean they may not be they may not be the most talented, but they won't quit and they keep on you know pushing through.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, I always that's what I I I love telling everyone I'm from Nebraska because I think it it represents who I am, yeah.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: For sure, man, for sure.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: Man, I love this.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: I love getting to talk to you and and and waxing like philosophical about this type of stuff.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: This is awesome.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: Recently, Joe Rogan said that Drew Dober is the most underrated fighter in the UFC.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: What did you how did that comment make you feel?
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: I think Joe Rogan is a huge Drew Dober fan.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I just that's just my but um I think it's just uh the quality of my fights.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I I feel like I'm charismatic in my interviews.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: I I I put on a show every single time I'm in that octagon, and you know, the the styles in which I win, it's what the UFC likes to see.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_01: Now I see you're gonna be more consistent, but uh yeah, no, I I still feel like I'm the dark horse in the division.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: So speaking of your division, who's your pinnacle or goal opponent?
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: Who who do you have rankings or nothing mattered?
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: Who do you want to take on ultimately?
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: Connor McGregor.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, who doesn't, right?
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: I want that you need red panty night as well, then I take it.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: Man, like I would love that fight.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: And plus the the amount of eyes on like a matchup like that.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: Uh before my last fight, you know, they had the Connor McGregor, Dustin Poirier just weeks after.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, man, like I would love to be a backup.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: I would love the opportunity to fight either Dustin or McGregor.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_01: Just because I mean the the fight's gonna be fun, but really it's the amount of eyes on that fight is what excites me the most.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: You've fought in two different divisions, haven't you?
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yep, yep.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: On my uh my lazy times I had to fight at 170.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_01: Do you feel more comfortable fighting at 170?
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: Uh no, actually.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I feel comfortable in the fact that I don't have to diet as hard or train as hard and I can still make the weight.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the only issue is I have the same engine powering a larger car now.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: And so I get exhausted at 170.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I think 55 kind of keeps me humble.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure, for sure.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: And 155, man, that's a that's a division that's just chuck full of killers, man.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: And that's why I like cutting the weight.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: Weight cutting is the worst part, but I'll do it because I want to be a part of that killer's row.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're in the middle of a cut, do you ever get really cagey?
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_01: As in like hate life or yeah, pretty much.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: I just get really quiet.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: The smile and like the jolly personality kind of goes away a little bit, and then I'm more so just quiet and focused until that job is over, and then we get to have fun again.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, the two hardest parts of fighting is the weight and the weight.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: W-E-I-G-H-T and W-A-I-T, right?
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: What other things are you into?
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: Are you you like you read, you into music?
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: What other types of hobbies do you have?
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I mean, as a recently, like I I enjoy music and I enjoy dancing, I enjoy socializing, line, but yeah, uh, books, movies, video games.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: I think uh I'm a nerd at heart.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: So like I just love uh you know playing like the super nerdy games or reading like the fantasy novels when I'm taught to get like to get out of the house.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: Man, I just love going uh drinking some wine, talking to people, or like grooving the music.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: What's the last book you've read?
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: Uh The Champion's Mind and the Mind Gym.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I think I read both of those on my last trip.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I I read them all the time.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's just like every season I I finish that book.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I just recently got, and um I feel like I gotta grab it.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's the uh Carry Water, it's a chop wood carry water.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: And then there's a book I recently got, uh Relentless uh Kobe Bryant.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: Oh wow, yeah.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I had to start those books, but yeah, that's my uh inspirational trying to uh train the brain.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: And and I I think we all need things like that.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: I went through a phase where whenever I would go to the gym and work out, I didn't even listen to music.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: I was always listening to books or podcasts, and and it's weird because my background is music.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: I played in bands, that's how I found my way to podcasting.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's funny how life works out that way sometimes, isn't it?
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I do both of those, right?
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: I I feel like uh the the podcasts with the audiobooks teach me what to think, and then the music motivates those thoughts, right?
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes, that is a perfect way of putting it, man.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: Because like when I'm on a treadmill, I'm listening to the podcaster of the books, but when I'm lifting, you know, it's it's it's on, man.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'm listening to some music.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: No, I I agree, man.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: Music is life, it keeps me motivated.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure, man.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: For sure.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: So what's next for Drew Dober?
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: What's on the horizon?
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: Are you able or at liberty to talk about it right now?
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, of course.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_01: Are we talking about a fight career?
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, fight-wise.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: So currently, rehabbing a knee injury, right?
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm I'm taking like a little mandatory time off, but I'm looking at starting to train again in September for a potential fight in December.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: Now, the people are asking me like who do I want next, or a lot of stuff.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_01: And uh at this point, like I don't even care.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like the dude has two eyes, two arms, put him in the cage in front of me.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, my goal is to have quantity instead of quality.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: So come 2022, I'm trying to get four to five fights in that year uh and and make a a strong run for that title.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_01: And uh the best way to do it is just by the numbers.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: Are there any other exploits outside of the UFC and outside of fighting that you're starting to pursue?
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm uh putting in some roots in uh Colorado.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_01: I'm getting married in 12 days, and yeah, and then I close on uh uh my second house uh Wednesday.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: Oh man.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, in like two days, yeah, 48 hours.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, congratulations on the nuptials and congratulations on the second home.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome, bro.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_01: Just just investing in in uh uh a wonderful woman and uh a great house, and you know, hopefully by 2022 we might start a family.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: So, like these are the things I'm working on outside of uh getting punched in the mouth.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: Just make sure she's not the one doing the punching.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, if I don't use the dishes, that's that's awesome, that's awesome.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: So, what is what is her take on all of this?
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_01: Oh man, uh and she just enjoys the ride as much as I do, man.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: She's such an exciting and positive person.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_01: And so when it comes to my fighting, uh, she she helps me in like maintaining that positivity and that that fun, you know.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I tell you, like I stop trying and I'm having fun, and and sometimes some days it still feels like her career.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: And so I come home and uh she just reminds me of why I do it, and like she's like, you know, remember this is your hobby and this is what you enjoy to do, and she goes, I'll try to have fun with it again.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: So like she's very positive and very supportive in um not just my accomplishments but my emotions as well.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: And she experienced her first weight cut last fight, so and it just uh very successful on that too, which is super supportive.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to go down this like really, really deep rabbit hole, but yours and my upbringing is not too different from one another.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I think one of the goals in life is to, you know, you say you're gonna start a family, hopefully in the next year, is to is to give your family the life that a little less challenging life than the one that you had.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_01: I I think about as a parent, it's like, yeah, I definitely want to give you know my family the opportunities that I didn't have, but I also want to give them a little bit of struggle, you know.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_01: You don't want to raise that little spoiled brat.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_01: And so my father's like, I have the ability, but I don't I probably shouldn't do it every time.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right, right, right.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's amazing because I think that's kind of what makes us outliers is you know, we have a different sense of purpose, a different sense of drive, and we have an even deeper sense of gratitude to those that have supported us and those that act as our cheerleaders.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's like I think it builds like uh you know, gratitude.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: Like we're grateful for the things that we have.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, if I'm gonna be honest, that this house that I close on, uh it's gonna be the very first house that I've ever lived in.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I've only lived in like apartments my entire life.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like, man, like so.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'm very grateful for these opportunities, but my children are gonna be growing up in this house, and so they don't they don't know that apartment life.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_01: And so you gotta like, you gotta give them some struggle in some ways.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta send a brother a text whenever you have that housewarming party.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my god, definitely.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I'll let it just pop on by.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: I'll show shoot you my address.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: I don't you don't need a time.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: We can you can grill up the brisket.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'll I'll cook up some ribs, we'll just do it barbecue Midwest style, man.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you just spoke to my soul just there.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: Tell you what, that's that's what every fight night, and we live for these fight nights, but we always grill up some ribs in the pit barrel, cook some cornbread, we eat like heathens.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's the best and the worst every time.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: And that is Nebraska.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's that's the Nebraska right there, man.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: Like, but I tell you what, brother, I I tell you what, I'll I'll pass up I the one thing that doesn't make me Nebraskan is I will uh I will pass up three Husker games to uh to catch one UFC fight.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: I mean I support you in that at heart, like we all like that combat.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: Like we like the conflict, we like the blood and guts, like you know, that's and yeah, so like I get a ton of support from Nebraska, you know, because they're not squeamish, man.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_01: They love the blood, they love the excitement, man.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_01: Like, like I said, Nebraska makes some great fighters.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_01: But uh I'm gonna take it back a little bit.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: That is one thing I'm disappointed about Colorado, is they don't have good barbecue.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_01: And so, God, I you gotta make it yourself here.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_01: But in Nebraska, you're surrounded by good Right.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_00: My best friend from high school, he lives in Denver, and he says there's a place in Colorado Springs that has the best barbecue around.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: I gotta get the name of the place, and if I do, I'll text it to you.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I've still yet to find a decent spot here, but uh Colorado Springs, it does sound like the place, or like maybe like up north, like Greeley, on your way to Nebraska.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like the barbecue should get better.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_00: Drew, man, this has been freaking awesome.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for doing the show.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate you, man.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_00: And uh let's stay in touch.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, absolutely.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: Anytime you want to do this, you know, as long as we don't have technical difficulties, like I'd love to talk about.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: How great is that guy?
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: It is always an amazing thing to get to interview people that you respect as much as I respect Drew Dover.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't hurt the fact that he comes from Omaha, Nebraska, a place that's near and dear to my own heart.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_00: Big props to Bobby from Elevation Fight Team for helping arrange that Elevation Fight Team is based out of Denver, Colorado, and we will be having more of their fighters on our show very soon.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure you give a like, follow, and subscribe to Drew Dover and Elevation Fight Team on all forms of social media.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_00: And while you're there, whether it be Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, or what have you, give a like to Caught on the Mic with Michael Clark.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_00: If you get a few seconds, please go to the Apple Podcast app and give us a five-star review and leave a few kind words.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_00: This has been Caught on the Mic with Michael Clark.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Michael Clark.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.