Latest / King Dems Podcast | Growth Mindset, Leadership, AI and Business Insights / Ep. 11 with Olusegun "Machine gun Shegz" Ogunnoiki

Transcript

Ep. 11 with Olusegun "Machine gun Shegz" Ogunnoiki · King Dems Podcast | Growth Mindset, Leadership, AI and Business Insights

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  Exactly, yes. OK.
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  We are live, ladies and gentlemen.
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  This is the moment you all have them waiting.
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  For. Life on the Kingdoms podcast
• 2:23
  introduces of mixed martial artist fighting out of Abuja,
• 2:28
  Nigeria. Olusegun machine gun shags all
• 2:33
  girl. Nikki.
• 2:36
  Welcome my brother. How are you?
• 2:40
  How are you doing today? OK.
• 2:43
  OK. So congratulations, you know, on
• 2:46
  your achievements and the board of expansion lots, you know your
• 2:49
  national champion and you're also a runner up in the African
• 2:53
  knockout competition, right. So how how do you feel about
• 2:57
  your your achievements in combat sports generally?
• 3:04
  To be honest, in my view, I haven't achieved so much just
• 3:07
  yet. I am just still scratching the
• 3:10
  surface. I feel like there's so much more
• 3:13
  yet to be achieved. And you know, I have my, my
• 3:16
  boots on, I have my preparation intact, I have my team intact
• 3:24
  and we're just, you know, preparing everyday and making
• 3:28
  sure we are ready for the magic moments when they come and we
• 3:32
  will take it both hands. Interesting magic woman.
• 3:37
  That reminds me of some some kind of vodka.
• 3:39
  You know I've have you ever seen that that that drink much logic
• 3:44
  woman right so. You are a national champion,
• 3:48
  right? But is that kickboxing?
• 3:50
  Something boxing. OK, Keep boxing the Nigerian
• 3:55
  National Festival, right. OK, OK, OK, that's interesting.
• 4:00
  So how would you describe yourself as a person in
• 4:03
  nutshell? Umm, that's a very broad
• 4:06
  question. As a person, I'm a very
• 4:11
  ambitious individual. I'm very disciplined.
• 4:15
  I'm very focused when I need to be, and I'm one of such people
• 4:20
  who feel like life has to be lived.
• 4:25
  So I put in as much effort as possible into anything that I
• 4:29
  decide to do, because anything we're doing is we're doing well.
• 4:33
  So I'd rather not do it than not do it well.
• 4:36
  So when I put in so when I tend to do something, I put in as
• 4:39
  much effort as possible to get the best result possible.
• 4:44
  Philosophy. That's that's basically a broad
• 4:47
  description of myself, OK? Fantastic One.
• 4:50
  So can you talk to us briefly about your childhood and how
• 4:55
  growing up was like for you? I am the first of all.
• 5:03
  I grew up with a single mother. I have two brothers and one
• 5:06
  sister. I always had pressure on on me
• 5:11
  being the first kid to 1st off be there for my siblings as well
• 5:16
  as lead by example. My mother was a pretty tough
• 5:21
  lady. God rest her.
• 5:22
  So she's late now. But it was pretty tough and I to
• 5:28
  a very large extent. I see she had to play the role
• 5:30
  of a mother and a father and she did an awesome job.
• 5:34
  I mean, I I turned out OK and you know, we're still aiming for
• 5:39
  the moon and hoping we drop on the stars or how does it go?
• 5:45
  Point is, I'm just, you know, still doing my best as well as
• 5:48
  my my siblings are doing their best as well and we're trying to
• 5:52
  push for the best possible outcome, you know, on an
• 5:57
  international scale. I hope and look forward to
• 6:04
  leaving some kind of a legacy or mark as a representative of my
• 6:10
  nation, Nigeria, where I come from.
• 6:12
  And you know that's that's pretty much it.
• 6:16
  I think we'd be happy, you know, out of the ordinary.
• 6:20
  I I grew up regular. I was a stubborn kid.
• 6:23
  No one died by the I studied law.
• 6:27
  I got called to buy practise law for a few years.
• 6:30
  Didn't work for me, or at least I choose this over practising
• 6:36
  law. Follow your passion.
• 6:40
  Right, all of you. I'm not one to sit down behind
• 6:42
  the desk for hours. I'd rather stand and fight for
• 6:45
  hours. Interested.
• 6:47
  Interested. But then.
• 6:48
  Who would you? Say were your early life and
• 6:50
  influences and like what philosophies do you think were
• 6:55
  in grading you from childhood and have actually led to your
• 6:58
  success in life right now? I've been influenced by I didn't
• 7:04
  say everyone both positively and negatively.
• 7:06
  However, I at a young age I was able to identify the fact that
• 7:12
  these influences play little rules in in one's life and I
• 7:18
  made a very conscious effort to discard any influence that was
• 7:22
  negative and try to keep the ones that were positive.
• 7:25
  You know, the things I said earlier, First off about
• 7:28
  anything worth doing is worth doing well.
• 7:30
  I I think that statement from a teacher I used to have back in
• 7:36
  high school who would always see you know anything worth doing is
• 7:40
  worth doing well. If you don't want to go to
• 7:42
  school, don't go to school, stay at home.
• 7:45
  But if you come to school, you have to put you in your best
• 7:48
  effort and you know blah blah blah.
• 7:49
  And you know back then it always sounded like a lot of noise.
• 7:52
  But you know, when you get to being an adult, you see how much
• 7:56
  sense it makes as far as the fight scene?
• 8:00
  Umm have been largely influenced by people like Georges Saint
• 8:04
  Pierre John Jones. ESP.
• 8:09
  Creative advances. You know, he's great and and and
• 8:13
  consistency really gives me a reason to, you know, strive for
• 8:19
  more. Israel also is a very big
• 8:22
  influence, his style. The Last Airbender.
• 8:28
  That influences virtually every young Nigerian fighter, Ohh or
• 8:33
  athletes, I would say. I think off the top of my head
• 8:39
  like those. Those are the ones I could just
• 8:41
  hit on the head right now. OK, interesting.
• 8:44
  So how how did your love for martial arts come about?
• 8:50
  So I was bullied a lot as a kid. And umm, like I said earlier,
• 8:58
  you know, there was a lot of burden on me to perform as the
• 9:01
  first kid. So I as well as being bullied, I
• 9:05
  also had the need to be there for my siblings, you know, So if
• 9:10
  they were bullied, I had to step in and try to help or try to,
• 9:14
  you know, be there for them and. Be brother.
• 9:17
  Yeah, exactly. I was always the Big Brother.
• 9:19
  Always. And first I took up just staying
• 9:24
  fit. I would play football and lift
• 9:26
  some weights, you know, and over the years I I modelled for a few
• 9:32
  years. That made me take up working out
• 9:34
  a little more because you know, I had to look good and you know
• 9:39
  try to stay fit so you because most of the time, you know,
• 9:42
  there's. I never really experienced this
• 9:45
  personally, but amongst the people who had to deal with it,
• 9:49
  I could see the disappointment in their faces when say a group
• 9:53
  of guys go for an audition and they had to pick a few of them
• 9:57
  to like represent the brand or something.
• 9:59
  And then, you know, they pick a few and then they kick out the
• 10:03
  rest and the disappointment on their faces.
• 10:06
  I could feel it. Most of the time I good for me
• 10:10
  wasn't amongst the ones they kicked out, but I could feel
• 10:12
  their pain. And the point is I just always
• 10:16
  felt the need to like push myself that little extra.
• 10:19
  So I make the cops. I'm not big on being the one on
• 10:23
  top, but I must make the cuts. I I will not be the bottom, I
• 10:28
  will always be. So sorry to interrupt you, sorry
• 10:31
  to interrupt you there, but you know what I was telling uh
• 10:34
  British friend of mine here? I was like Nathan Harry last
• 10:38
  night, chatted Kayla. Like we might not be the first
• 10:41
  right, but would never be the light.
• 10:45
  You know, you know what that's saying?
• 10:47
  Ohh, where did you come from? I like to do.
• 10:50
  South South of Nigeria from Delta and ironically leave from
• 10:54
  Delta. Your photo.
• 10:57
  Wow. Yeah.
• 10:58
  Yes. I'm I'm my father was from Ogun
• 11:00
  State and my mother is from Delta and a lot of my childhood
• 11:05
  was also spent in Delta. So I have a little bit of that
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  influence. And so that scene was very
• 11:11
  common back then and that's what, you know, the Kailas, it
• 11:14
  was a big thing. Everybody says it.
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  And the idea that you're supposed to be sharp and, you
• 11:19
  know, stay on your toes to, you know, always come out on top.
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  I can see that also influenced you.
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  And he did very, very much. You know.
• 11:30
  OK, yeah, he he kind of had like a similar.
• 11:33
  Story to his son here as well, right?
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  So he said he was bullied that you know, as a child and then
• 11:38
  they kind of influenced him into going into a martial arts,
• 11:41
  right. So like each of the martial arts
• 11:44
  CU gets into first at, you know, how did you not evolve?
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  The first martial arts I was involved in was Taekwondo.
• 11:55
  I had a friend. Background.
• 11:57
  Yes, yes, I I come from a striking background.
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  All the grappling and all that came much later, in fact.
• 12:04
  So here's the progression. I started with TKD and you know,
• 12:09
  for those who know what Taekwondo is all about, you know
• 12:13
  the baseline of it is kicking. You know, Taekwondo athletes are
• 12:16
  really known for being able to kick very well.
• 12:18
  And one time I had this little sparring session with a boxer
• 12:26
  and I hadn't been hit in the face that many times before and
• 12:31
  it was a wake up call and I felt like, you know what, I need to
• 12:35
  get, you know, some skill in this department and brush up my
• 12:39
  boxing. And then I started training
• 12:41
  boxing and I trained with a few coaches over the years and I
• 12:44
  realised how important it was and I couldn't wait to take out
• 12:48
  my new found skills from my fellow guys who really felt like
• 12:52
  being able to kick alone was enough.
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  And very quickly it was obvious that man, we need to like brush
• 12:59
  up on this part of things as well.
• 13:01
  And then subsequently I met a dude.
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  Then he used to work with one of the expat communities here and
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  he was very well grounded in jujitsu and again I had my ass
• 13:15
  handed to me. Ohh my I was horrible.
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  And in his case, he was a really small guy, no taller than 5 foot
• 13:20
  six maybe. And then back then he was in his
• 13:25
  30s, maybe late 30s, early 40s. And you know, I also got another
• 13:30
  wake up call and I'm like. Yeah, yeah, this is size doesn't
• 13:35
  matter. It it matters much less, size
• 13:38
  always matters. Please, they need to adjust that
• 13:41
  statement size always depending on the circumstance.
• 13:46
  It matters less anyways. I think right Gracie Rose Grace
• 13:49
  is going to the security. You know he yeah he won, UFC won
• 13:54
  and you know it was an open with tournament.
• 13:57
  The difference is that the reason I see that size matters
• 14:01
  is if you had two people with equal level of skill and one is
• 14:06
  bigger, the bigger guy is bound to win.
• 14:08
  Exactly, exactly, exactly. So I look at it as every
• 14:12
  opponent I approach. I approach him with the mindset
• 14:15
  of he's just a skill, as I have, and you need to come in with as
• 14:20
  much preparation as possible so the whole size doesn't matter.
• 14:25
  Applies to novices, so see and meet some big bouncer looking
• 14:30
  guy who hasn't fought seeing his life.
• 14:31
  I'll kick his ass all day, however, if I met somebody of
• 14:35
  that team with with half as much skill as I have.
• 14:39
  It would be a problem with trouble.
• 14:41
  Exact trouble. It it goes up and down like
• 14:44
  that. Interested.
• 14:49
  So we we're talking about the the, the evolution, right.
• 14:53
  So you're talking you talked about Hue not adding jujitsu
• 14:56
  into your arsenal. But before before you you
• 14:59
  continue your evolution, right? Let's talk about a mixed martial
• 15:04
  arts and the required skills for success.
• 15:07
  So I was talking with in episode 2 of this podcast, I was talking
• 15:10
  with the former Bellator interim battery champion of the world
• 15:16
  that's that is referenced torts, right.
• 15:18
  And then we had a conversation about the top 3 martial arts
• 15:22
  that you know are required for success in MMA, right.
• 15:25
  So for me, for me, I feel like the top 3 martial arts, the top
• 15:30
  three disciplines you need to succeed in MMA are wrestling,
• 15:35
  jujitsu and kickboxing or he he said he would remove kickboxing
• 15:40
  and put in my thigh. So I wanna have your take.
• 15:43
  What's, what's your top three? And and what would be the to
• 15:47
  honourable mentions. So let's have a top five, Yeah,
• 15:51
  from you. OK.
• 15:53
  Top five disciplines. Yeah.
• 15:54
  To have successful. To be well-rounded.
• 15:57
  Yeah, well-rounded is the word. To be well-rounded.
• 15:59
  Mixed martial artist. My top five disciplines will be
• 16:03
  boxing, kickboxing, all Moy Thai.
• 16:07
  It's I I use them interchangeably to wrestling,
• 16:11
  boxing, kickboxing or multi. And of course, jujitsu.
• 16:17
  Yeah, I mean, there's a few others that hang in there, like
• 16:21
  karate or Taekwondo. You know, people like the guys
• 16:30
  from the cold regions have made ohh.
• 16:35
  Combat Sambo Dagestani. Yes.
• 16:38
  Also. Has proven to be pretty
• 16:41
  effective. Yeah.
• 16:43
  So my wrestling to be honest. Yes, they are, but I think they.
• 16:48
  Have. A little bit of fusion with
• 16:52
  things like jujitsu and etcetera, but yes, I think it it
• 16:56
  is based on wrestling. And in in the past few years the
• 17:01
  wrestlers have shown us that wrestling is definitely,
• 17:05
  definitely a strong competitor in the mixed martial arts scene.
• 17:09
  In fact, I think if you had to put it in order of importance
• 17:14
  from 1:00 to 5:00, I think it would go like wrestling first,
• 17:20
  then boxing, then kickboxing or Muay Thai and then you can put
• 17:24
  the other three maybe Sambo or or or jujitsu or karate or
• 17:32
  Taekwondo. And I mean the numbers speak for
• 17:35
  themselves over the years. I think I I came across, yeah, I
• 17:42
  don't know if it was a documentary, just someone
• 17:44
  stating an opinion stating the numbers based on success of
• 17:53
  athletes based on their background.
• 17:56
  So it seemed like at the top of it, they were most mostly
• 18:01
  wrestlers, you know, succeed. I think it's the wrestlers.
• 18:04
  Boxed in and then karate and I don't think there was any Sambo
• 18:09
  in that list, but you know, it had those three in that order.
• 18:15
  That pretty new, right? They're like generation,
• 18:18
  basically, Khabib Islam or like The Pioneers of that generation.
• 18:23
  The new management family. Yeah, it never commanded us.
• 18:29
  They really, really take it over.
• 18:30
  But or quick one, quick one, I'm gonna put you on the.
• 18:33
  Spot, right. So Martin wrestling versus
• 18:35
  Greco-roman wrestling, which one do you think is more effective
• 18:37
  for mixed martial arts? Honestly, I was.
• 18:42
  Mountain. Mountain wrestling does the
• 18:43
  Dagestani does Dagestani wrestling?
• 18:46
  I I would say mountain resting just because of what they've
• 18:48
  been doing recently. I I give it to them all day.
• 18:51
  OK, OK if you say so. So back to your evolution,
• 18:55
  right? So training jujitsu, like how
• 18:57
  did you know? Like get it all together to to
• 19:01
  make a mixed martial arts. Right after, I mean when I came
• 19:08
  in contact with each of these martial arts, I tried to
• 19:11
  maintain consistency as far. I still kept in touch with my
• 19:17
  base. I still did trains like condo.
• 19:20
  And then I got, you know, based on my experience in Taekwondo
• 19:25
  and boxing, it was pretty easy to get into kickboxing.
• 19:28
  I made a few coaches and before long everybody wanted me to
• 19:32
  compete in kickboxing. And I don't know if you know
• 19:35
  what the competition scene is like in Nigeria, but if you're
• 19:39
  any good, they will come find you.
• 19:41
  And you know, I got reached out by some secretaries from the
• 19:48
  Sports Council and you know, we had meetings and accepted to
• 19:54
  compete for kickboxing and you know the the national festivals
• 19:59
  happen every two years and in the last.
• 20:03
  Six years I have been a kickboxing champion in the -86
• 20:09
  category Bus. Yes, yes, yes.
• 20:13
  From the first one it came out good.
• 20:16
  It was nice. I mean for me, I was always
• 20:20
  ready. So I just jumped on it and the
• 20:23
  next time I already knew I was going to compete for that weight
• 20:27
  long before the time because usually there's like trials for
• 20:30
  each weight category as there's usually a few people who want to
• 20:33
  take each sport and you know, so for me, each sport was pretty
• 20:38
  much sealed because I I didn't have too much to deal with that.
• 20:44
  I I was better than most of the guys in my week category.
• 20:46
  So it was pretty easy to get in there.
• 20:51
  And you know, while I did compete in kickboxing, I also
• 20:56
  you know, honed my skills in other martial arts.
• 20:59
  I I did jujitsu, I have. Unfortunately I haven't been
• 21:02
  able to compete in jujitsu just because it wasn't really my
• 21:07
  interest and then there's not. Many Do we really have grappling
• 21:11
  tournaments in Nigeria? Yes they are.
• 21:14
  They are few, but yes they are. Interested in like you would
• 21:21
  like to. I'd like to see your USC fight
• 21:23
  pass because you know, yes, you have taken a lot of initiative
• 21:26
  in Chichibu organising tournaments.
• 21:29
  And yeah, they're they're, they're making, you know, waves
• 21:32
  in terms of bringing attention to the world of grappling.
• 21:36
  And, you know, that's martial arts, right.
• 21:41
  You see, you seem quite passionate about, you know, the
• 21:43
  martial arts. Right.
• 21:44
  So but then let us try to, let's try to talk about martial arts
• 21:48
  in general. Right.
• 21:49
  So like, what are the differences that you see in the
• 21:52
  Asian practises versus the modern practise of martial arts?
• 21:56
  You know, the the, the idea that you know, persons of my own
• 22:00
  generation, I'm 31 years old for by the week.
• 22:03
  So I, I, I've been millennial, right.
• 22:06
  So we grew up watching the likes of Jackie Chan, Jackie, you
• 22:11
  know, Bruce Lee, right. So like those guys were like the
• 22:16
  transition from the old school, you know, idea of martial arts,
• 22:20
  right, versus Cedo, the new school of martial arts.
• 22:23
  I think children growing up right now, their own idea of
• 22:26
  martial arts would be MMA, boxing, say more of like the
• 22:31
  commercialised, you know, martial arts.
• 22:34
  So like what's your opinion about, you know, the the
• 22:37
  Oriental style, right? Yeah, you had those schools.
• 22:41
  Those are what you call them regimes.
• 22:45
  This is the the schools there's some named Academy in.
• 22:47
  Asia, Joe. The Dojos, OK, yeah, the dojos.
• 22:53
  Red. One Dojo competes with another
• 22:55
  Dojo. You know that traditional style,
• 22:57
  right? Versus what martial arts is
• 23:01
  today on the global stage. So what what, what's, what's?
• 23:04
  What's your opinion about, you know, the general practise of
• 23:07
  martial arts, old school versus new school?
• 23:10
  I personally grew up, like you said, in the old school martial
• 23:15
  arts system, so I'm very much big on respect, hierarchy,
• 23:20
  understanding of basics, you know, I mean, I compete because
• 23:27
  I can, and to be honest, it interests me a lot.
• 23:30
  I like to test myself and of course test myself against
• 23:34
  another person who is just as prepared as I am.
• 23:38
  The the new style kind of has me hesitant a bit because now
• 23:45
  someone just wants to jump in the gym, train for one month and
• 23:50
  you know, he wants to be able to raise his shoulder and say he's
• 23:52
  a tough guy and he's he's able to do this and that.
• 23:56
  And the way I was trained and brought up was there is a
• 24:00
  hierarchy. You will start at white belt
• 24:02
  level and you will do the basic stuff.
• 24:04
  Whether or not you feel like you understand it or not, you keep
• 24:07
  doing it to your master, tells you yes, you're good enough to
• 24:12
  get promoted to the next level, and then you get to the next
• 24:14
  level. And now you start at the floor
• 24:16
  of that next level and you keep building on and on and you know
• 24:19
  it goes all the way like that. So I to be honest.
• 24:25
  So two things. One, I find that the old school
• 24:29
  traditional style is good for knowledge, OK, but for
• 24:39
  practicability and applicability, I definitely
• 24:43
  second the new school style because you'd find, I mean
• 24:48
  there, there's a bunch of videos and proof online, and even in
• 24:52
  your everyday life you can find people who have been training
• 24:55
  martial arts, traditional martial arts, so karate,
• 24:58
  Taekwondo, judo, etcetera. And they've been doing this for
• 25:02
  many, many years, and I dare say there's a lot of them that
• 25:06
  cannot defend themselves against the street dog.
• 25:09
  Now the reason is because you train traditional martial arts
• 25:14
  where you know everything is so controlled and so fixed in such
• 25:20
  a way that some of them have it in their minds that in the real
• 25:25
  world this is how it's going to be, but actually not, you know,
• 25:29
  you. Know it's bad?
• 25:31
  Yeah, who? Who is angry because you caught
• 25:36
  him off at the line or something and next thing he's swinging
• 25:39
  haymakers at you And you know you.
• 25:42
  You do Taekwondo or judo and you've never been taught in all
• 25:47
  your years how to deal with someone throwing punches at you.
• 25:50
  You know it's very different and versus the the the new style of
• 25:57
  training where people almost jump into the deep end very
• 26:00
  quick. Now, as long as it's done
• 26:02
  safely, I feel like you can still develop the necessary
• 26:05
  skills required to defend yourself or your loved ones in a
• 26:09
  bad situation, and I find it more realistic and more
• 26:13
  applicable to deal with, you know, everyday squabbles or you
• 26:20
  know issues that may arise. How do you bring that balance?
• 26:25
  Right between that, you know, transition between the old
• 26:29
  school and the new school, because apparently there are
• 26:31
  positives from the new school. They're positive from the old
• 26:33
  school, for example, discipline. You know, a lot of martial
• 26:37
  artists in our age and time have lost that tradition of
• 26:40
  discipline. Most have.
• 26:43
  You, you kind of air by being, by being disciplined and
• 26:46
  ultimately as well for me, you very importantly respect.
• 26:50
  I am very, very big on respect, you know, that's why I love that
• 26:53
  show of respect. You know, between our martial
• 26:55
  artists, you know when you go to battle and at the end you know
• 26:59
  the ball to each other, you hug it out.
• 27:01
  You know, we say kind words to each other, right?
• 27:03
  Because in the end, it's still a spot, right?
• 27:07
  Like a lot of people have lost all respect and sportsmanship in
• 27:12
  our age and time and it's really sad to see they're talking about
• 27:15
  the powers in in bringing that use that old school into the new
• 27:20
  school. I think somebody that was
• 27:21
  actually very photo is Bruce Lee, right?
• 27:25
  Bruce Lee with, you know, the movies, he brought, you know,
• 27:28
  the martial arts into mainstream, right.
• 27:31
  And then he was open to the idea of mixing it all up.
• 27:37
  Right on. Like, you know the the old idea
• 27:40
  of if you are a karate guy, you must stick to only karate.
• 27:44
  It's like a scene for you to go and try that condo, right.
• 27:49
  But then Bruce the brought everything together and then he
• 27:52
  one of his popular quotes be water.
• 27:54
  Like he should be like water like water takes, you know the
• 27:57
  form of anything that is just putting.
• 27:59
  You put the water in the glass, it becomes the glass, right.
• 28:03
  But then like who are the other guys that you go to point and
• 28:07
  say, OK, these guys were also contributors in bringing the
• 28:11
  sports coupe to transition into the new school assets from Bruce
• 28:15
  Lee, like any, any names on your mind?
• 28:21
  I mean the the ones who jump at me right now with more, they
• 28:26
  were definitely martial artists in their lives, but it strikes
• 28:32
  me like they were more entertainers or?
• 28:36
  It doesn't matter. Apparently, you see, you say
• 28:42
  who? I said I would say Jackie Chan.
• 28:45
  Yeah, like he was his lifelong martial artist, but then he
• 28:49
  brought it here to life and he even projected it with humour,
• 28:55
  but good sense of humour as well.
• 28:57
  Of Donnie Yen. I think he did a lot for the
• 29:00
  martial arts scene and like trying to make things more, you
• 29:04
  know, new school or realistic or adapt the old traditional style
• 29:08
  to modern day scenarios. What's the name of the guy who
• 29:17
  acted on back? I don't recall his name.
• 29:19
  He was a very big influence in the, you know, the popularity of
• 29:27
  Muay Thai. But the guy from the movie on
• 29:31
  the back, it's, he's very popular back.
• 29:34
  How? How do you how do you spell the
• 29:35
  movie? Ong Space BAK.
• 29:40
  Who? OMG, right?
• 29:42
  Ong space BA K There's like two or three parts to the.
• 29:46
  OK, OK. It's a like a multi movie.
• 29:50
  Yeah, yes, that was the bachelors they tried to showcase
• 29:53
  in that particular movie. OK, And you're talking about
• 29:57
  like the main character Is he Tony Jaa?
• 30:01
  Tony Jaa? Exactly, Exactly.
• 30:04
  Yeah. I'm also a big fan of Tony, Jaa,
• 30:08
  Me, those those boxing counts cause I'm a big Tyson fan I and.
• 30:16
  To, to. And that's, that's the sweet
• 30:18
  science, man. You would like it or not, right?
• 30:22
  I think a lot of people do not. See boxing as a martial art.
• 30:24
  Because yes, I agree that's. Right, early because of its
• 30:27
  early commercialization. True.
• 30:30
  True. Yeah, that's that's that's what
• 30:32
  you think about it. What martial art discipline is
• 30:35
  the most commercialised and the first one to be commercialised?
• 30:39
  These boxes, yeah, But then it is still a martial arts in the
• 30:42
  real sense of it. So our boxing, like who are
• 30:46
  these people you think would get into this category?
• 30:51
  You think Mike Tyson is up? There I would totally get Tyson
• 30:55
  in there. Tyson brought probably
• 31:00
  subconsciously, but he brought very interesting perspective to
• 31:05
  combat sports. You know, like he, he, he.
• 31:10
  Umm. He made it in such a way that
• 31:19
  someone who fights competitively can be seen and feared and
• 31:25
  revered. You know, it wasn't like a
• 31:27
  movie. This is not a movie anymore.
• 31:29
  This is like this, you know, a person who's almost, you know,
• 31:38
  twice his size, You know, it's like the, the, the, I think
• 31:42
  Tyson definitely sent chills down the spines of a few people
• 31:46
  he had to fight. And you know, that whole persona
• 31:50
  that he created was definitely something.
• 31:54
  Yeah, that's it. Like, even people that, you
• 31:57
  know, follow martial arts are told in any way, shape or form.
• 32:00
  When you mentioned that in my taxi, you know they think about
• 32:02
  the baddest man on the planet. Exactly.
• 32:06
  Yeah, so he he really did a lot of work.
• 32:09
  What are the boxing guys would you say have been eventually in
• 32:16
  passing the touchdown from those two to the new school?
• 32:19
  Umm. I'm a big Lennox fan.
• 32:24
  It's hilarious for family, because what?
• 32:28
  He beat Tyson. Ohh.
• 32:32
  I I would have favoured Tyson style to win and he was able to
• 32:37
  keep his cool and like you know, he was able to control you know,
• 32:41
  the pace and control the space and I mean that was that was a
• 32:45
  big one for me. I didn't think he was going to
• 32:47
  win. I watched the fight.
• 32:48
  I didn't think he was going to win.
• 32:51
  I'm a big fan of Holyfield. They find out Holyfield.
• 32:55
  Fights. I would like to fight on the
• 32:57
  inside, he was. I mean, I don't like that style
• 33:01
  of fighting because it required that style of boxing because it
• 33:04
  requires taking pretty much loved a lot of yeah, I'm I'm, I
• 33:10
  like to I like the slick fighter.
• 33:12
  You know I I like to hit and make him miss you know that kind
• 33:16
  of stuff. But Holyfield was very grunge
• 33:18
  and I mean, it worked for him, so, you know, big ups to him.
• 33:23
  Ironically, Mayweather is so much in the.
• 33:26
  News. That is the name.
• 33:27
  That's the name I was watching. He just saw me.
• 33:31
  He just waited. Because when you talk about your
• 33:34
  fan of, you know, being sleek and in my head that that name
• 33:40
  was just. In my head I'm like.
• 33:41
  OK, I'm waiting for this guy to mention this thing.
• 33:43
  He's not to mention. Putting final to me with and his
• 33:49
  ability to commercialise and make so much business and not
• 33:52
  just that but he's also building like a next generation of guys
• 33:57
  and and you know what can I say it's a family of people who are
• 34:01
  who will remain in the combat sports scene for a very, very
• 34:04
  long time And the fact that and you know and you know end up
• 34:11
  with Parkinson's or end up with some messed up disease from
• 34:14
  having to fight for so long is extra impressive.
• 34:18
  I don't even think he gets enough credit for the work he
• 34:20
  has done. Both on the ring and off the
• 34:24
  ring. Yes, yes.
• 34:26
  And Roberto Duran also jumps at me as well because one cause.
• 34:32
  So when I first got into boxing, I tried to look through a few of
• 34:37
  the guys who had like made names for themselves and what they do.
• 34:41
  And you know, back in the day, boxing used to be about 15
• 34:44
  rounds and people like Roberto Duran would fight all 15 rounds.
• 34:51
  And I mean, that is amazing. If you haven't been in a ring
• 34:55
  with someone who's trying to take your head off for three
• 34:57
  minutes, you do not understand or appreciate how tough it is to
• 35:02
  have to, you know, be in that Ring of Fire.
• 35:04
  Like I like to call it to Ring of Fire because it's hot all
• 35:07
  through and you know they he his his ability to control the pace
• 35:13
  and his footwork and you know the cardio and just the hands of
• 35:18
  Stone was amazing. I I definitely tap into his
• 35:23
  mindset and what he did for the boxing game as well.
• 35:27
  I mean I could go on and on. There's so many of them.
• 35:29
  Like when I think of it you know another name jumps at me.
• 35:32
  I'm like, but this guy was pretty good.
• 35:34
  Andre Ward was great. You know I I see he's still like
• 35:38
  in between trying to be like a coach and corner man for a bunch
• 35:41
  of these new guys like Stevenson and Crawford ETC.
• 35:44
  But you know, people like that with monstrous you know, they
• 35:48
  knew the art of defending punches and not just punching.
• 35:51
  You know, they made it such that, um, you learn to defend
• 35:57
  the punches before you learn to punch.
• 35:59
  You know, they say that's why it's called self defence, not
• 36:01
  self attack. Exactly.
• 36:02
  You need to defend first and then, you know, So yeah, I
• 36:06
  admire those, those guys. Yeah, you know.
• 36:09
  And that that that's. One thing with having you know a
• 36:12
  very good fight IQ, because for you to be a good fighter, you
• 36:17
  need to be smart person, right? You fight intelligently.
• 36:22
  Yeah. So you need to fight
• 36:23
  intelligently because. You need to risk assess.
• 36:26
  Right. And part of your risk assessment
• 36:28
  is trying to minimise the damage that you take and you know,
• 36:32
  maximise, you know, the damage that you you inflict.
• 36:37
  Yeah. People that just take take the
• 36:44
  damage. Right.
• 36:45
  And then it's that guarantee tells overtime he does, he does
• 36:50
  tell over over time. He does tell over time because
• 36:53
  you know, like I would like to see Nigeria, but you know,
• 36:55
  before I would. Yeah, he does.
• 36:59
  He does still have a tattoo like.
• 37:01
  Really when it comes to that, I I give kudos, a lot of kudos to
• 37:05
  sound like Mayweather, right. He mastered the art of of you
• 37:09
  know, fighting intelligently and over time and you know looking
• 37:12
  at the the, the old card and the new guard, we can add the the
• 37:17
  the OG is now, you know, providing guidance to the new
• 37:22
  school guys. It's it's it's really fantastic
• 37:25
  and you know it's great to see how people have accepted your
• 37:29
  combat sports more in our old age and time on like our
• 37:32
  previously in the in the previous generation and you know
• 37:36
  we can't wait to see what you know combat sports would be in
• 37:39
  the next 20-30 forty years to come.
• 37:42
  The future, the future. The future is for the taking,
• 37:45
  right? So let's let's take a box, let's
• 37:48
  let's take a back seat from. Combat sports, right?
• 37:51
  Let's talk about academics, right?
• 37:52
  You are a lawyer, right? But then, like a house, like
• 37:56
  academics are for you. Like secondary school, uni.
• 38:00
  You. You.
• 38:01
  You practise law for a while, right?
• 38:04
  But then immediately onto the Nigerian law school.
• 38:06
  Access from law. Did you like get involved in any
• 38:08
  other thing? Academically?
• 38:09
  Just briefly talk about academics.
• 38:13
  Did I always wanted to be a lawyer?
• 38:15
  It was my he he dreamed for and my my mom also wanted me to be a
• 38:22
  lawyer. So all through from secondary
• 38:27
  school level upwards, it was your training to be a lawyer,
• 38:31
  you know, in her mind she says, you know, I want you to be my
• 38:34
  lawyer so if anybody messes with me, I will sue them.
• 38:38
  And you know, it was a very common joke.
• 38:40
  Would joke around about all the time.
• 38:45
  Let's see about that. For me, I accepted and wanted it
• 38:48
  and I put in. If you've met anybody who has
• 38:52
  been trained in law, they'll tell you it's it's tough.
• 38:55
  It's not easy. There's lots of studying
• 38:58
  involved. So much, so much.
• 39:01
  And I I was ready to do it all the way.
• 39:03
  I I really just wanted to achieve that.
• 39:06
  I'm very one track mind. When I zoom into something, I
• 39:10
  just, you know, aim straight for it and keep going.
• 39:13
  And all through I just focused on being a lawyer.
• 39:19
  And as far as academics, that was my number one goal.
• 39:25
  My second goal was to be a psychologist.
• 39:29
  I I've always been interested in how people think, but it's more
• 39:33
  of a long term goal. I think at some point I'll
• 39:35
  pursue that a little more right now.
• 39:37
  Still trying to do a few other things that might make that goal
• 39:42
  a bit more difficult and like I always see anything worth doing
• 39:45
  is worth doing well. And if I'm not able to do it
• 39:48
  well now, I'll put it in the back seat till when I am able to
• 39:52
  and I will take it up. Interesting Speaking of
• 39:55
  psychology, right? Angie, you're interested in
• 39:59
  doing white people How people think.
• 40:02
  I one book actually came to my mind.
• 40:04
  Have you ever read this book titled Why You Act the Way You
• 40:08
  Do? No, I Have to be back by Tim
• 40:11
  Lahaye. See.
• 40:13
  You know how I I'll strongly recommend that book for you.
• 40:16
  Maybe it gives from me to you. I will buy a copy of that book
• 40:19
  for you. Thank you, thank you, thank you,
• 40:22
  thank you. Yeah, you take me up on.
• 40:25
  That I keep to my word, right? And interestingly, I think my
• 40:28
  mom at some point like, wanted. Me to be a lawyer.
• 40:31
  I think he came up with some conversation I recently.
• 40:33
  I think I was helping. One of my, if any one of my
• 40:38
  friends like helping them write what's it called, emails
• 40:43
  regarding some litigation kind of situation that they had right
• 40:48
  and then I was like well you know, really good lawyer but
• 40:51
  after. My father, you know, wanted me
• 40:54
  to be finance professional when I was, you know, in Nigeria.
• 40:57
  When you want to write your job and stuff like that.
• 41:00
  I was always interested in in mass communication, right?
• 41:03
  I wanted to be a broadcaster. I wanted to be, you know, a TV
• 41:06
  show who's like a radio show host do for back in the days,
• 41:10
  right? It could be that, if you know
• 41:13
  UPS. Goofy yourself he must
• 41:16
  communication. Well, if you know whether it's
• 41:21
  gonna pay the school fees, go on.
• 41:22
  Don't pick something you know, economics a bitch.
• 41:27
  I thought I caught that. So that you can give
• 41:29
  professional and people respect you you know.
• 41:31
  Just African periods, that kind of thing.
• 41:33
  Yeah, Yeah. But.
• 41:35
  Either. Way I did not end up with a
• 41:36
  broadcaster became the podcaster.
• 41:40
  That's good that, Yeah, it's. That close, right?
• 41:43
  But that's just like we. You know, something that is
• 41:47
  still like related to my childhood passion and kind of
• 41:49
  dreams. But then I ended up becoming a
• 41:51
  chartered accountant, becoming a finance professional.
• 41:54
  But there was always that thing in me, you know, driving me to
• 41:57
  utilise my passion to impact people, you know, with that, you
• 42:00
  know, God-given gifts, God-given talent.
• 42:02
  So I I can understand that we hear you know, like when you
• 42:06
  grow up, you when you are growing up and you have, you
• 42:09
  know that desire to be something right, it's you.
• 42:14
  You don't get fulfilled onto you try to achieve that thing and
• 42:18
  when you achieve it that you can now you know try to discover
• 42:22
  yourself. Yeah.
• 42:23
  Right. Yeah.
• 42:24
  So so that that's that's that's interesting so.
• 42:29
  From Laura. To everybody you talked about
• 42:31
  your evolution and and MBA right?
• 42:33
  Then like, can you talk about the highs and lows in your
• 42:38
  journey so far? What have been the highs and
• 42:41
  lows in combat sports and life generally?
• 42:44
  Like, how's it been the better highs and lows?
• 42:47
  What would you say that to be? I would say a major low I've had
• 42:53
  personally was losing my mother because like I said I grew up
• 42:59
  with a single mom and she was very very you know, like she she
• 43:03
  put her back in, you know she really did sacrifice all her
• 43:09
  pleasures or you know we we virtually took up all her time
• 43:14
  and she put in so much effort into making sure the kids turned
• 43:18
  out alright. One very very particular dream I
• 43:22
  personally wanted to fulfil and unfortunately I can't, was to
• 43:27
  find a way to pay her back for all her efforts.
• 43:29
  You know, I always told her like she tries so much and nobody
• 43:33
  appreciates her enough and I always told her wait for me when
• 43:37
  I get there I will take care of you.
• 43:39
  I'm really Papa you're she will laugh about it.
• 43:41
  That, you know, made her feel good sometimes when she felt a
• 43:44
  bit upset. And I would use that to, you
• 43:46
  know, get a bright mood out of her.
• 43:49
  Unfortunately, she isn't alive anymore, so the fact that she
• 43:54
  died was a major, major low point for me.
• 43:58
  Well, when was that? This was in 2016.
• 44:03
  Wow, that's that's so sad, you know?
• 44:05
  Yes, yes, Yes, it was in 2016. I as far as lows, I mean no, no
• 44:15
  particular 1 jumps out at me right now.
• 44:17
  I've had like, you know, some good days but, and I I don't
• 44:22
  consider them so important as to make it like a benchmark point
• 44:29
  in time for lows, right now, for highs, I would say actually
• 44:35
  becoming a lawyer was a major high for me and unfortunately I
• 44:38
  became a lawyer. I got called to BAR one year
• 44:40
  after my mother died, which is in some ways a bittersweet
• 44:45
  moment because she always wanted me to be a lawyer and I would
• 44:49
  have loved it. She saw the actual moment of me
• 44:52
  getting called to bar and at least see me practise and you
• 44:56
  know, because she always wanted that and I would have we really
• 45:02
  like we need. To that you know like growing up
• 45:05
  we always like wanted to as Africans, right.
• 45:07
  You always want to make your parents proud.
• 45:09
  You get it and you know you want your your parents seem to be
• 45:14
  there to experience you know the fruit of thy heart label that
• 45:18
  you've actually taught for. But then apparently I know that
• 45:21
  like she's in a better place and then she she is really proud of
• 45:25
  you. Like I would like to be
• 45:27
  everything. Yeah.
• 45:28
  Everything that you have achieved, even for myself, like
• 45:33
  when it comes to like, the world of finance, right.
• 45:34
  I had to like work really hard to to become a chartered
• 45:37
  accountant. I was quite poor at math, you
• 45:39
  know, when I was, you know, younger, I had to force myself
• 45:42
  to get the method to the madness.
• 45:44
  And I remember like the day I was being inducted as a
• 45:46
  chartered accountant and my father took me something.
• 45:49
  Was he OK? He.
• 45:50
  Yeah. When when I became a chartered
• 45:52
  accountant, my father told me something.
• 45:53
  Say yes, that is my son. And I told him.
• 45:55
  Like. So all these years have not been
• 45:57
  your son? African parents are just so
• 46:04
  funny, right? They know that you are their
• 46:07
  child where you achieve something that you know, I know
• 46:10
  this will take you to achieve. So I really, I really can't
• 46:13
  relate. I really can't relate.
• 46:15
  As well. You know we take, you know
• 46:17
  everything that happens in life. You know as feel for us to like
• 46:20
  get to like greater heights. And by God's grace I know that
• 46:24
  they're they're greater greater things in store for you.
• 46:27
  And you know that was division was with them.
• 46:29
  Yeah. And apparently we're proud of
• 46:31
  you. I am proud of you.
• 46:32
  You know your mother you know is proud of you up in heaven.
• 46:36
  That I'm very, very sure about. You know, just keep pushing, my
• 46:39
  brother. OK.
• 46:42
  Yeah, so, like the NE like made you really proud, right?
• 46:46
  But, and how about in combat sports?
• 46:48
  Like what? What would have been your
• 46:50
  problem movements and what movements would you say you've
• 46:54
  had in combat sports? Well, hi moments.
• 47:00
  I'll see every time you become a champion at anything at all,
• 47:04
  even if it's something less physical like chess, It's a
• 47:08
  proud moment. So I'm very proud of every win
• 47:10
  I've had. Those were very high moments,
• 47:13
  you know, They're very tense moments.
• 47:16
  And the moment before you go into a fight is, is there's very
• 47:21
  few feelings that can match that amount of, you know, tension and
• 47:27
  however much experience you have, you still feel a bit of
• 47:31
  tension when you have to go and perform in front of thousands of
• 47:34
  people or millions of people. I was gonna ask you that.
• 47:38
  Like, do you feel the nerves? Like how?
• 47:40
  How does it feel? It's always there, but it gets
• 47:42
  easier. And here is here is a reference.
• 47:47
  I'm going to use that kind of equate to it.
• 47:52
  Imagine, think back to when you were a boy, a teenager, and the
• 47:56
  first time you meet a girl. Like, too exciting.
• 48:00
  You know, it's like, am I gonna see what am I gonna do, you
• 48:04
  know? And then overtime, it's just
• 48:08
  it's not a big deal anymore. It's like it might still be a
• 48:12
  bit you, you still have to be cautious, kind of like ohh you
• 48:15
  know, you check if your breath stinks or you know, make sure
• 48:18
  you're nice and fresh and looking good.
• 48:20
  You adjust your shirt or your suit, and that's the way it is
• 48:24
  with the thing you know at this point right now it's still a
• 48:28
  tense moment, but it is not so tense as to inhabit your
• 48:33
  abilities right now. It's like another day at the
• 48:36
  office and depending on your opponents you have to adjust
• 48:40
  accordingly because No2 fights are the same.
• 48:44
  But yeah, that's pretty much it right now.
• 48:47
  It's not so tense anymore, especially when you're very
• 48:52
  prepared. Ohh my.
• 48:53
  It's like, you know what? I can't wait to go in there and
• 48:56
  showcase what I've prepared. That is the way I feel right
• 49:01
  now. Ohh wow.
• 49:03
  Interested. So you you talked about like
• 49:05
  practising? Law briefly, right.
• 49:07
  So like any major achievements from the legal profession, like
• 49:13
  what? What what you could do with
• 49:15
  lower and do you intend to pick it up later on in life?
• 49:20
  Or, of course, definitely. I intend to pick it up later on
• 49:22
  in life. There were no, or at least I
• 49:26
  can't think of any major benchmarks in the law
• 49:32
  profession. I handled a few cases.
• 49:36
  I was part of the planning team of a few cases.
• 49:41
  For me it was just a chance to learn and like, practise my
• 49:46
  profession with the little experience I had.
• 49:49
  And I worked with a law firm and I was one of the very young
• 49:52
  lawyers, obviously. So I usually had to take a
• 49:58
  second seat to most issues. And for the more lighter issues,
• 50:06
  yes, we young lawyer myself like myself was assigned to handle,
• 50:11
  you know, little bail issues or you know, like divorce issues
• 50:18
  contract, you know, those were more, less, they were less
• 50:24
  serious. So, you know, the senior lawyers
• 50:26
  would let the young guys handle stuff like that, but things
• 50:29
  involving politics or like a very big company disputes, they
• 50:40
  handle themselves. And we took back seats,
• 50:42
  positions and just tried to learn and take as much as
• 50:47
  possible from what they did. That really summed up my time.
• 50:53
  Right. Interested.
• 50:54
  You know, when people think about lawyers, right, they just
• 50:56
  think about the barristers. But then I get to tell people
• 51:00
  there are barristers, there are solicitors, right?
• 51:04
  Practise you. Practise both.
• 51:06
  Right. Yes, every lawyer certified to
• 51:11
  be both. However, over the years most
• 51:15
  lawyers do, I say specialise, you know, So if over the years
• 51:20
  you seem to get more of one than the other, then they tend to
• 51:25
  kill to that direction. And they do not exactly,
• 51:29
  exclusively, exclusively, sorry, call themselves either
• 51:33
  barristers or solicitors. Everyone practises both.
• 51:38
  OK, but then what? What side do you 2 stewards?
• 51:42
  Umm. Outside you did more to the
• 51:45
  soliciting side of things. He's, he's.
• 51:48
  But is that your preference? Yes, it is my preference if I'm
• 51:52
  being honest. Please be honest with the
• 51:57
  Kingdoms Podcast. I'll just be honest.
• 52:01
  Honesty is the best policy, my brother.
• 52:05
  OK, let let's briefly talk about your daily.
• 52:08
  Routine, right? And how you keep healthy, you
• 52:11
  know. Your workout routines, diets and
• 52:13
  nutrition, self-care, healthcare practises like what you do, you
• 52:18
  know to keep the machine you know properly serviced, you
• 52:23
  know. So I'll take each one as far as
• 52:29
  staying healthy. I tried to eat three times a
• 52:36
  day. I tried to avoid foods with too
• 52:40
  much oil, but I love my amala, so I'm sorry.
• 52:43
  That is my exception. Following beggary with you,
• 52:49
  Abdullah. Do you know ohh?
• 52:53
  In which he was. He was.
• 52:54
  He was speaking. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 52:57
  Ohh, argue the BBC, How are you? Did I go to and enjoy my life?
• 53:05
  Which each other places? I I know the joints in Abuja
• 53:08
  man. I know the joints each other
• 53:09
  places. You place called Habitat.
• 53:12
  Well it's not so new but not as old as he has been there for
• 53:16
  Very And the the they do a good job.
• 53:19
  They do a good job. Most of my life is tend to phase
• 53:22
  out after a while because I don't know I think they try to
• 53:25
  adjust your cooking for quantity and not quality anymore so it
• 53:29
  doesn't taste as good then. Anyways, so that is my
• 53:33
  exception. I try to avoid oils and fatty
• 53:36
  foods. I try to get my decent protein
• 53:41
  intake. I love my beef.
• 53:46
  I try not to eat late at night past 7-8 PM.
• 53:49
  I don't take heavy foods anymore.
• 53:52
  I could like try some snacks or foods, but I try not to eat late
• 53:56
  at night to keep my 6 pack in shape.
• 54:00
  I get in a workout between 12 to 15 * a week.
• 54:05
  So some days I get in twice a week.
• 54:08
  Monday, Wednesday, Fridays I get in twice a day and on Tuesday,
• 54:13
  Thursday and Sunday I getting once a day.
• 54:16
  And whenever I have a fight, I get in twice a day, every day of
• 54:21
  the week. You know, my I have a timetable
• 54:25
  along with my team as well. So we have these work boxing, we
• 54:29
  have these work kickboxing, we have jujitsu days, we have
• 54:33
  these. We focus on some wrestling
• 54:34
  techniques and we have these for strength and conditioning.
• 54:40
  For me, my biggest secrets, which I'm going to reveal, is
• 54:45
  consistency. I try to be consistent and in
• 54:48
  the last, yes, I I definitely beat my chest about this.
• 54:54
  In the last 10 years I have not gone a week without training.
• 54:59
  In the last 10 years I can beat my chest and see I haven't gone
• 55:02
  a week without training. I always, always getting my
• 55:06
  training. In fact, my I I I beat myself up
• 55:11
  when I missed one. See, maybe I have like a car
• 55:13
  trouble or some important thing that stops me from getting in my
• 55:17
  morning schedule, however late I get back, I get in that schedule
• 55:22
  and I get in that workout session in and then I feel good
• 55:25
  if I don't do it. I'm like, you know, it makes me,
• 55:30
  uh, cringe at myself. You know, I feel a little less
• 55:36
  worthy of my, my, my name. That's the thing with successful
• 55:41
  people, right? I think for most of our
• 55:44
  successful. People, we tend to be very hard
• 55:47
  on ourselves. And then indeed, But then that's
• 55:50
  the thing you know you need to keep.
• 55:52
  Driving Yeah, I feel like I'm doing what I.
• 55:56
  Need to keep driving and you know assistance is key.
• 56:00
  Consistency is really really key.
• 56:03
  Interested So like how do you handle like say and say to you
• 56:07
  rather before a fight like what? What do you really do to, you
• 56:11
  know, keep yourself, you know, count, cool and collected?
• 56:17
  I take a deep breath and I focus on what I've planned or the game
• 56:21
  plan. So I usually go into fights with
• 56:24
  a game plan and I try as much as possible to stick to that game
• 56:28
  plan. Sometimes you might have to
• 56:29
  change it depending on your opponent, but I take deep
• 56:34
  breaths, focus on the game plan, because sometimes you're likely
• 56:39
  to get overwhelmed and forget what you were there to do.
• 56:42
  So I tried not to be a victim of that.
• 56:45
  Like I said, deep breaths focus on the game plan.
• 56:48
  Deep breaths focus on the game plan.
• 56:50
  It's the same thing whether or not you're test, you're happy,
• 56:53
  you're sad, you're injured, whatever your state of mind is,
• 56:57
  all body, the same thing will happen.
• 56:59
  You will get called out. You would have to face off with
• 57:02
  the opponent and you will have to fight.
• 57:05
  Now the one, the, the part of it that is within your control is
• 57:13
  what you actually do when you have to face off with that
• 57:15
  person. So I try to focus on that part
• 57:17
  of things and sometimes I play the fight in my head and if it's
• 57:22
  an opponent, I know even better. So I know his tendencies.
• 57:25
  I know his habits and I know what he's likely to do or not
• 57:29
  likely to do, and that helps me play things in my head.
• 57:33
  And I try to remain calm most of the time because you're able to
• 57:37
  think better when you're calm. When you're not, you know, then
• 57:41
  you're likely to make rash decisions which might end up
• 57:44
  being regrettable. Interested.
• 57:47
  Interested. So looking at the mixed martial
• 57:51
  arts in Nigeria, right, you were involved in the a KO
• 57:54
  competition, right? Kamaru Usman, I think he's one
• 57:58
  of the promoters of that shoe, right?
• 58:01
  So like, how's your time? You know, on a KO?
• 58:04
  Like, do you have any relationship with Kamaru Usman?
• 58:07
  Like what's like the feature of MMA Nigeria like?
• 58:12
  I mean, I feel like baseline, the future is very bright.
• 58:15
  You know, anything that Nigerians get involved in, we do
• 58:19
  it to the fullest. Nigerians are extremists.
• 58:21
  I think we are either extremely good or extremely bad.
• 58:24
  The ones. That are good.
• 58:27
  The ones that are bad. Actually, like you are very
• 58:31
  correct. Negative publicity, Publicity.
• 58:33
  You know, people who get into fraud and the likes.
• 58:36
  You know, they do it all the way.
• 58:37
  The worst fraudsters you'll find that Nigerians however, you know
• 58:42
  on the good side of things, some of the most intelligent people
• 58:45
  in sciences and art and Nigerians.
• 58:48
  And I mean just one. One search through Google and
• 58:51
  you find endless names. So I feel like periods have
• 58:55
  keyed into the MMA scene. I tell you ohh my it it is.
• 58:59
  There's new organisations springing up every day.
• 59:02
  As of now there is an official MMA federation in Nigeria.
• 59:07
  They're they're putting together a partnerships with military
• 59:12
  organisations to try to put more competitions out there to try to
• 59:15
  get more guys out there. So unfortunately that the
• 59:19
  planning sometimes can be a bit haphazard, but you know, I mean
• 59:23
  everything good has to start somewhere and in a few years I
• 59:27
  think the UFC might be flooded with Nigerians.
• 59:31
  Interested. But then I.
• 59:33
  Second, the second back I I have a story for you when it comes
• 59:36
  to. Like Nigerians being extreme,
• 59:38
  right? Because it sounds like you were
• 59:40
  actually. Listening to the recording of.
• 59:42
  You know the Trust recorded episode of my podcast from
• 59:46
  yesterday who was speaking with a speaking with a musician
• 59:50
  called Guilty. And we're talking about the
• 59:53
  reputation of Nigerians. You know, especially like in the
• 59:56
  diaspora, a lot of people have negative impressions about
• 1:00:00
  Nigerians, right? But then, before I give you that
• 1:00:02
  story. Right.
• 1:00:03
  I did not want to forget about, like you talking about your time
• 1:00:06
  on a KO. And you know what your
• 1:00:08
  relationship with Kamaru Usman is like?
• 1:00:11
  OK. Let me just quickly run through
• 1:00:12
  that. First off, with Kamaru, I mean,
• 1:00:16
  we have a very casual relationship.
• 1:00:20
  We've met a couple of times both before after any of the shows.
• 1:00:25
  He's had some nice compliments and advice and tips on how to
• 1:00:29
  get better and improve and you know, be the best you can be.
• 1:00:33
  I personally think it's an all round Greek guy.
• 1:00:36
  He's reading as the UFC champion was.
• 1:00:40
  I mean, it's nothing short of amazing.
• 1:00:42
  And of course there's a. Lot of nominal.
• 1:00:45
  Yes, there's a lot he could teach and I could learn from and
• 1:00:50
  he's not based in Nigeria and isn't here very often.
• 1:00:54
  But yes, we are in contact. We sometimes he makes like a
• 1:00:57
  repost of my post and whenever he's fighting, I have a full
• 1:01:01
  crew of my guys. You know, we set up a show at my
• 1:01:05
  at the gym at my Place team in Abuja and everybody comes to
• 1:01:09
  watch. We have to see Kamara in action,
• 1:01:11
  you know. So I'm a I'm a big supporter of,
• 1:01:13
  you know, his career and what he's doing.
• 1:01:16
  You know, like the last fight with Hamzat, we had a full team.
• 1:01:19
  You know, everybody, we had a watch party, was very, you know,
• 1:01:24
  interesting. So yeah, that's that for our
• 1:01:27
  relationship. There's nothing like overly
• 1:01:29
  serious. It's just, you know, it's more
• 1:01:31
  like a, I would say I'm like a protege, you know, I I take what
• 1:01:36
  I can take from him. I can learn whatever he's able
• 1:01:39
  to teach your offer, and hopefully he does me the best it
• 1:01:43
  can. As far as my time in the Q for a
• 1:01:47
  few months, I'm more of a I'm not very big on being confined.
• 1:01:54
  So that was my biggest each about being in the Q house,
• 1:01:58
  being confined in the space for the whole period.
• 1:02:02
  But aside that, the experience was nice.
• 1:02:04
  I mean, we got to train about six hours every day.
• 1:02:09
  We we it was a combination of both kickboxing and jujitsu.
• 1:02:13
  Uh, we played some competitive games between teams and between
• 1:02:19
  ourselves. You know, they say you never
• 1:02:23
  know a person until you live with them.
• 1:02:25
  And I think exactly, especially everybody in the house got a
• 1:02:28
  decent taste of what the other guy is like.
• 1:02:31
  I mean, outside the fighting thing, I mean just their
• 1:02:33
  personalities and who they are and what their proclivities are
• 1:02:37
  and all that stuff. You know, we, we definitely did
• 1:02:40
  get inside info about ourselves. And when I say ourselves, I mean
• 1:02:45
  about the guys in the camp or the guys who made it to the
• 1:02:48
  camp, because we were a lot more than 14 before we got into the
• 1:02:53
  camp. Well, to be honest, it was very
• 1:02:58
  interesting. I definitely look back at that
• 1:03:00
  time fondly. I I very importantly didn't have
• 1:03:04
  a lot of distractions right now. I mean, I'm, I have to work as
• 1:03:10
  well as train. As well as miscellaneous
• 1:03:13
  factors, you know, friends and family and, you know, use your
• 1:03:19
  daily life challenges in the house.
• 1:03:21
  I didn't have any of that. We didn't have phones, nothing.
• 1:03:24
  It was just sleep, eat, wake up, train.
• 1:03:28
  And that feel, How did that feel?
• 1:03:31
  Like, didn't do anything mentally.
• 1:03:34
  When I mentally he was, it was more tasking than anything,
• 1:03:40
  cause we did definitely need some more social interaction.
• 1:03:47
  That wasn't with cameras in your face, you know, because they,
• 1:03:52
  they, they virtually recorded every aspect of our time in
• 1:03:55
  there. Yeah, mentally that was really
• 1:04:02
  it. There's there's not much else We
• 1:04:04
  ate, OK, You know, and there was a, I mean, when when you put 14
• 1:04:10
  guys who are fighters and champions in their different
• 1:04:13
  respects, there's bound to be testosterone in the air, you
• 1:04:16
  know, So everyone is. Like.
• 1:04:19
  Like with the raised eyebrow. Like you.
• 1:04:21
  You're the one trying to stop me from getting this right.
• 1:04:25
  Everybody pushed themselves into more and the positive side to
• 1:04:29
  that was that, you know, we made everybody stay on their toes.
• 1:04:33
  Everybody put in 100 plus more. Aside from the six hour
• 1:04:39
  workouts, a lot of the guys, myself included, still put in a
• 1:04:43
  few hours extra to like get ourselves ready.
• 1:04:48
  Because I mean, if you feel like the next guy stronger than you
• 1:04:51
  are, better than you are, more skilled than that means you have
• 1:04:54
  work to do. So you know, the little rest
• 1:04:57
  time we had, we would put in some more work to try to better
• 1:05:01
  ourselves And getting out of the camp I my body felt like a rock
• 1:05:06
  because. You know.
• 1:05:09
  No alcohol, no you know, miscellaneous factors that keep
• 1:05:14
  you from staying 100% fit. It was just eat, sleep, train,
• 1:05:18
  repeat, and it was definitely good.
• 1:05:23
  If there was a way I personally could put myself in that
• 1:05:26
  circumstance where I can eat, sleep, train, repeat and not
• 1:05:31
  worry about my life and like being able to function and
• 1:05:34
  provide for my dependence and, you know, keep my business alive
• 1:05:39
  and functioning, I would totally jump at it.
• 1:05:41
  But I mean, life is what it is. You have to work as well as.
• 1:05:46
  The it's it's fantastic. So you.
• 1:05:49
  You run a mixed martial arts Academy.
• 1:05:50
  Right. Yes, I do.
• 1:05:52
  Yeah. Like how's that business coming
• 1:05:53
  along in Nigeria? It's definitely interesting.
• 1:05:57
  It's it's tough because the economic situation in Nigeria is
• 1:06:02
  already a challenge for any. So I'm resting against that.
• 1:06:08
  But I'm putting in my best foot forward and we've been on for a
• 1:06:13
  few years and I dare say we are one of the best and in fact we
• 1:06:16
  are the best in Nigeria. We are the best in Nigeria.
• 1:06:19
  I I have been lucky enough or fortunate enough to, you know,
• 1:06:24
  have been in a few places around the world to see what the
• 1:06:29
  martial arts scene is like there, and I have tried to adapt
• 1:06:34
  my own place to suit international standards.
• 1:06:39
  I've had visits from a few international athletes and we've
• 1:06:44
  made necessary adjustments. I have partnered with some other
• 1:06:49
  professional athletes who are able to teach as well because
• 1:06:52
  being able to fight and teach a two different skills.
• 1:06:55
  Yes, exactly. I tried to, you know, align with
• 1:07:00
  people who are able to teach because my aim, aside from being
• 1:07:04
  a fighter, is also to pass the knowledge and teach it to
• 1:07:08
  enthusiasts and and people who want to get some skill and
• 1:07:13
  improve the quality of their lives.
• 1:07:16
  And you know, ultimately it's something to be proud of and
• 1:07:21
  that is where I'm working towards.
• 1:07:23
  Wow, that's nice. I remember.
• 1:07:25
  I remember that was gonna tell your story, right.
• 1:07:27
  I did tell you on the last podcast, but then, yeah, it's
• 1:07:30
  not out yet, so you probably wouldn't have heard it.
• 1:07:33
  So I work as an auditory in in the United Kingdom here.
• 1:07:37
  So there's sometimes, you know, I was at a client's office and
• 1:07:42
  you know, one of the staff members in in this kind of
• 1:07:45
  office, you know, PD come from, I'm from Nigeria.
• 1:07:50
  And then the lady goes like, ohh, wow, Nigeria.
• 1:07:53
  I hear the little footsteps from that country.
• 1:07:55
  Is that why? Is that why you're an?
• 1:07:58
  Auditor so that you know, you know how people coming, you
• 1:08:01
  know, fraud and you can tackle it like what the hell?
• 1:08:04
  Ohh why what? The hell this bad reputation
• 1:08:09
  catching up again, you know the natural instinct.
• 1:08:14
  You know for a regular. Person would be to be upset,
• 1:08:17
  right. But then being a professional, I
• 1:08:19
  can't, I can't be upset at all, right.
• 1:08:20
  So what I did was, you know, had to address the situation.
• 1:08:24
  Can't be, it's like OK, that's that's an interesting take.
• 1:08:28
  You know, the media, you know, has bad press about Nigeria, but
• 1:08:33
  after? Like what?
• 1:08:34
  What do you think? The.
• 1:08:35
  Population of the UK is then she's like oh she did not know
• 1:08:40
  so let's check it on the Internet 6 to 6,000,000 there
• 1:08:42
  are about 60 something million now up to 70 million and like
• 1:08:46
  OK, what's the population of Nigeria?
• 1:08:48
  She was like oh that should be less than the UK like Nah, we
• 1:08:51
  checked it that there was 200 million plus.
• 1:08:54
  Yeah OK, interested. So where you have, you know,
• 1:08:58
  large numbers, you have large numbers of the good, the bad,
• 1:09:02
  the ugly. Yuki, right.
• 1:09:04
  Then, yeah. She was like, yeah.
• 1:09:05
  And then and I told her that same thing you told you just he
• 1:09:09
  said previously, right, that Nigerians are extremists, that
• 1:09:12
  we have a culture of excellence. That's the way to put it, right?
• 1:09:19
  The average Nigerian, right, Average Nigerian family has that
• 1:09:23
  culture of teaching you to be the best at anything that you're
• 1:09:27
  doing. And that's why we have the best
• 1:09:29
  fraud, We have the best fraudsters, right?
• 1:09:31
  We have the best doctors, we have the best engineers, We have
• 1:09:35
  the best IT experts, right? We have the best accountants in
• 1:09:38
  the world like myself, because a person like myself, right, I've
• 1:09:42
  worked with two out of the top four accounting firms, the
• 1:09:46
  global accounting firms in the world.
• 1:09:48
  So how many people can boast and to see that we've worked with,
• 1:09:51
  you know, the top 4 organisations in there in the
• 1:09:55
  field of endeavour, not many people, right.
• 1:09:58
  So it's it's it's crazy, you know, the way Nigerians that.
• 1:10:01
  But then you don't get press for being a great accountant or
• 1:10:05
  being a great, you know, economist or being a great
• 1:10:10
  doctor. Only if you you know you.
• 1:10:12
  Perform something that is groundbreaking, right?
• 1:10:17
  The moment, if there was anything involving your name,
• 1:10:21
  you know, considering your experience with these financial
• 1:10:24
  firms and your your work as a financial expert, if there was
• 1:10:28
  anything involving your name and fraud, boom, you're going to.
• 1:10:32
  Nigeria. Nigeria.
• 1:10:35
  Something you won't This is this.
• 1:10:42
  Is going to blow up, and nobody's going to remember all
• 1:10:44
  the times you did good auditing work.
• 1:10:47
  No, no, no, no. All that part don't matter now.
• 1:10:49
  It's the fraudulent aspect of things that go down.
• 1:10:52
  So it's. Still, the fact that you're
• 1:10:55
  Nigerian alone, that's crazy. But you know it's just it's it's
• 1:11:00
  it's just crazy, you know, like that just had bad press.
• 1:11:03
  But then. You know, we're doing a lot of
• 1:11:05
  great stuff. You know, Nigerian.
• 1:11:06
  We have some of the best musicians in the world right now
• 1:11:09
  as well. You know, Africa is taking over
• 1:11:11
  the globe. You get it.
• 1:11:12
  But then I think I think right now.
• 1:11:16
  What did you say? I said even in places they don't
• 1:11:19
  speak English. I was in Thailand and every bar
• 1:11:22
  played at least five Nigerian songs in the time I was there.
• 1:11:26
  Most of them don't speak English.
• 1:11:30
  I'm sorry, most of them don't speak pigeon.
• 1:11:32
  They speak English but they don't speak pigeon and it's
• 1:11:35
  obvious they don't understand what the artists are saying.
• 1:11:37
  Vulnerable boys making preferences with kiddies saying
• 1:11:42
  totally me one time. They don't know what all those
• 1:11:44
  things mean, but they sing along anyways and the dance to it.
• 1:11:48
  And it's. I was in Tunisia some time ago,
• 1:11:50
  same thing. It's an Arabic and French
• 1:11:52
  country. They don't speak English.
• 1:11:53
  Tunisia, Tunisia. Same thing with Morocco, Morocco
• 1:11:57
  last month. You know, you know, yeah, well,
• 1:12:00
  I see a Nigerian. Music as like.
• 1:12:02
  Wow. Like each listed and that.
• 1:12:05
  Even in Morocco house with one guy from Chile and the guy was
• 1:12:09
  like where you come from like Nigeria.
• 1:12:12
  I was like oh he doesn't know much about Nigeria.
• 1:12:14
  Like what do we have from Nigerians?
• 1:12:15
  Like OK, I'll top expert is Afrobeats.
• 1:12:19
  I think it was like, ohh, like I said, don't worry, just sweets.
• 1:12:24
  I'll play this song for you. You know it's afrobeats.
• 1:12:26
  And then? Brahmas calm down.
• 1:12:29
  It's like, ohh, that's so. Everybody come down.
• 1:12:35
  You know, it's crazy how you some of them, you know the
• 1:12:38
  music, but they. Don't even know that it's called
• 1:12:39
  Afro Beats. Yeah, right.
• 1:12:41
  Like that is how popular that means the Africans has gone
• 1:12:46
  viral with your vote, you know, we can't even control any
• 1:12:50
  longer. So like Nigeria, Nigerians are
• 1:12:53
  impacting the world, you know, positively.
• 1:12:56
  And you know there are also bad eggs amongst us that you know
• 1:12:59
  are impacting negatively as well.
• 1:13:00
  But then I think like the bad eggs get get more recognition on
• 1:13:04
  like. The gives you the good eggs
• 1:13:06
  like. The government should be paid
• 1:13:08
  outside the money for for being good ambassadors, for impacting
• 1:13:12
  people's lives who are inspiring people all over the world.
• 1:13:15
  But we don't get that, you know, that we don't get roses that we
• 1:13:18
  deserve. It's fine.
• 1:13:21
  It's all well and good, you know, Speaking of Nigeria,
• 1:13:23
  right? Do you see the first UFC Africa
• 1:13:27
  happening in Nigeria or getting? I don't see it happening, so
• 1:13:33
  it's not going to happen. Where do you think it's gonna
• 1:13:36
  happen? Much negative Logistics involved
• 1:13:41
  that might make it significantly harder to put together, more
• 1:13:45
  likely to happen in South Africa.
• 1:13:47
  Because, I mean, with the level the UFC has been able to build,
• 1:13:52
  I think it might be easier for them to just use the existing
• 1:13:56
  protocols and strategies already there and then expand on it a
• 1:14:00
  little bit to accommodate the UFC numbers.
• 1:14:06
  It's probably possible. I don't know about Egypt because
• 1:14:13
  of a few restrictions they might have, but South Africa jumps up
• 1:14:17
  be first. I think it's probably gonna
• 1:14:19
  happen in South Africa. It's very, very likely.
• 1:14:22
  Very likely, yeah. Yeah, they have the.
• 1:14:23
  Infrastructure already, but then at one point you see at one
• 1:14:27
  point you see the Nigeria. These maybe even appeared in a
• 1:14:31
  Pi. Because we have a lot of raw
• 1:14:33
  talent in Nigeria, It's not about the.
• 1:14:37
  So you know, this is a this is a very big problem with Nigeria.
• 1:14:40
  We have so much, but the atmosphere is not conducive
• 1:14:43
  enough. So now we have all the talent it
• 1:14:47
  takes to perform at whatever level worldwide.
• 1:14:50
  However, the facilities are not established in such a way that
• 1:14:57
  makes these things flourish. So something as tangible.
• 1:15:03
  As having just. One, not 2, Just one UFC fight
• 1:15:07
  card happening in Nigeria. I still think I'm very slim.
• 1:15:13
  For the next five years. I hope it doesn't.
• 1:15:18
  Happen. But.
• 1:15:20
  I mean. For example, some years ago
• 1:15:22
  there was a football match, Yeah, I think it it involved the
• 1:15:25
  Super Eagles and Ghana or some some African country and Ohh the
• 1:15:30
  World Cup qualifier. Yes, it was.
• 1:15:35
  It was a. Stampede.
• 1:15:37
  Listen, you, you, you have not seen that many people in one
• 1:15:41
  place. People's things got stolen, the
• 1:15:45
  stadium got vandalised. You know it.
• 1:15:47
  It was. It was.
• 1:15:50
  It was a horrible outcome Idea. See.
• 1:15:53
  And you know, I bet the people who planned it and put the
• 1:15:58
  things together, maybe FIFA or whatever affiliated body did not
• 1:16:03
  expect that one. They were going to be so many
• 1:16:06
  people and two that there was going.
• 1:16:09
  To be that. Much vandalism and and like how
• 1:16:14
  do I say rascality, you know, going to happen at the venue.
• 1:16:19
  So actually I heard that people, even people that did not get
• 1:16:22
  tickets. You know, like forced their ways
• 1:16:24
  into the into the. Stadium Ohh my you you listen
• 1:16:27
  they brought down some of the. Fences of the Stadium, I mean
• 1:16:31
  it. It just it was really baffling
• 1:16:34
  to be honest. I I found the the road leading
• 1:16:36
  to the stadium was blocked off totally with cars of people who
• 1:16:41
  parked to walk down maybe a full kilometre to get to the stadium.
• 1:16:45
  It was that long, yeah, But I think it does because of the
• 1:16:48
  outcome of the match, you know? Nigeria lost their chance to to
• 1:16:53
  proceed into work up. Even leading up to the time.
• 1:16:58
  Like the amount of of negative things that happened even before
• 1:17:05
  the match started was just out of Eden.
• 1:17:10
  Imagine if that was a fight show.
• 1:17:12
  So everyone is in fight spirit like everyone is in.
• 1:17:17
  Words about word activated has to plan for.
• 1:17:24
  A. Facilities to deal with rascals
• 1:17:26
  or people with negative tendencies, for example.
• 1:17:30
  And that is, it's just I I think it just makes things that much
• 1:17:35
  harder. Yeah, but then yours is no
• 1:17:38
  stranger to such. Issues because they are
• 1:17:42
  everywhere. Listen if you prepared.
• 1:17:45
  Anything. Anywhere else in the world, if
• 1:17:47
  you want to prepare it in Nigeria, you have to prepare it
• 1:17:50
  specifically for Nigeria. Don't apply the same, you know,
• 1:17:56
  structure or framework used anywhere else.
• 1:17:58
  And Nigerian society is very different with everything.
• 1:18:03
  But do do you have enough gangsters?
• 1:18:05
  Like America? Come on, freaking out the UFC
• 1:18:09
  events in in the US and then they still contain that.
• 1:18:13
  The people who do this are not gangsters.
• 1:18:16
  They are. They are hawkers and people who
• 1:18:19
  do petty treat. They're people who who who are
• 1:18:23
  like you know, they they do petty businesses and stuff.
• 1:18:27
  They are not gangsters. It's not their work, it's just
• 1:18:30
  that they have a tendency to switch under very little notice.
• 1:18:39
  I don't know how. Something, something He's become
• 1:18:46
  a. Gangster like.
• 1:18:47
  You're saying and. Except that is replacement
• 1:18:50
  fighter, exactly. You.
• 1:18:53
  Know so. I mean.
• 1:18:57
  See, See, they had to do a UFC Africa fight card and it
• 1:19:02
  involved Usman having to face. He may have, And Usman is this
• 1:19:09
  to Shimaya? And most of the people who are
• 1:19:12
  likely going to vandalise the stadium or whatever venue it is
• 1:19:16
  probably don't even know who's man.
• 1:19:18
  Or she might have Nigerian. And he has lost.
• 1:19:23
  Boom, All held good. Everybody's going crazy and some
• 1:19:27
  of them don't even know doing it, you know, they just join the
• 1:19:32
  crowd sheep mentality and just act.
• 1:19:39
  I saw the Internet, she said. People the security budget.
• 1:19:44
  Has to be the highest, you know, things like that.
• 1:19:49
  It's not like everywhere. Is.
• 1:19:50
  Unsafe. These are normal people.
• 1:19:52
  They they they don't do this normally, but they have a
• 1:19:55
  tendency to fall into that ship mentality and just go with the
• 1:20:00
  crowd and do stupid shit. And pardon my French, but it's
• 1:20:04
  unfortunate. Let's, let's hope for the best.
• 1:20:07
  Let's hope for. The best, right?
• 1:20:08
  But then, like, what's your take?
• 1:20:10
  What's your like, your take on your contribution in supporting
• 1:20:12
  youth development, You know, especially in martial arts and
• 1:20:16
  you? Know like what have you like
• 1:20:19
  done in this area thus far. OK, First off.
• 1:20:23
  What my take is. I think the environment needs to
• 1:20:28
  be made better. It has to be more conducive for
• 1:20:31
  athletes or prospective athletes to get in there, train on their
• 1:20:36
  skills, get better because they mostly have the talent.
• 1:20:39
  They just don't have the exposure to qualified training
• 1:20:44
  or exposure to a qualified conducive environment to allow
• 1:20:49
  them to train and improve. Because I mean any martial arts
• 1:20:54
  requires a lot of time. It requires even for the people
• 1:20:58
  who have natural talent, it requires a lot of time,
• 1:21:00
  dedication, consistency. And for most of these people
• 1:21:05
  there is there is no conducive environment.
• 1:21:09
  To allow them to put. All these qualities to improve
• 1:21:12
  themselves and I feel like at the beach and that is where it
• 1:21:17
  is, we need to get qualified people.
• 1:21:20
  We need to get a conducive environments that allow people
• 1:21:25
  to train, athletes to train and improve.
• 1:21:28
  Now on the other end, what I have personally been doing off
• 1:21:32
  my pockets with my own sweat is I'm.
• 1:21:37
  Doing my best to. Provide world standard conducive
• 1:21:41
  environment to allow willing, able and consistent at least to
• 1:21:47
  trade and improve themselves. I'm working on a few guys I I
• 1:21:51
  don't feel like I know who. Also, whenever I'm able to get
• 1:21:54
  more qualified people from within the confines of Nigeria
• 1:21:59
  or even from abroad, some have come and you know, whenever I
• 1:22:03
  get a chance, I try to get them in there, try to get all my guys
• 1:22:06
  in there, myself included. Nobody stops learning.
• 1:22:09
  You know, I I learn from everyone every day and I, you
• 1:22:12
  know, add it to my skill set. That is how we all grow.
• 1:22:15
  And I tried to provide that enabling environment to allow
• 1:22:18
  athletes grow and and improve and and you know provide a
• 1:22:24
  platform that just helped them bounce off to the next level.
• 1:22:29
  Interesting that that that's a good.
• 1:22:31
  One that's a good. One So we all aim higher, right?
• 1:22:35
  So. What?
• 1:22:35
  What? What bigger stages?
• 1:22:36
  Do you see yourself? You.
• 1:22:37
  Know practising mixed martial arts.
• 1:22:41
  Umm. I'm pretty flexible on.
• 1:22:44
  Stage. As long as I get practise
• 1:22:46
  martial arts, I'm happy too. If it's Bellator or One FC or
• 1:22:50
  UFC or or EFC even, I mean for me.
• 1:22:57
  So maybe this, I want to see you.
• 1:23:00
  I want to see you, the UFC. I'm gonna call Uncle Dana.
• 1:23:02
  You know, I I kind of bind. I kind of bind the UFC apparel
• 1:23:06
  all the all the. Time and you know not not have
• 1:23:09
  my boy in the UFC. How, how much money I've
• 1:23:14
  invested in the UFC. You know, like I've been
• 1:23:17
  subscribed to UFC Fight Passport.
• 1:23:19
  Betty yes, I've always buying stuff off their store right.
• 1:23:23
  So what next year season? Is in the.
• 1:23:25
  UK. In London, I'm just going to go
• 1:23:28
  get. Hey, Dana.
• 1:23:33
  I'm gonna talk. I'm gonna talk like cannonier.
• 1:23:36
  Hey, quit quit distracting Dana. Dana, I want to give you a word.
• 1:23:41
  Sign my boy. Machine gun sheds.
• 1:23:44
  Yes. Yes, he needs to.
• 1:23:47
  OK, OK, he's. Very flexible put me.
• 1:23:51
  In. In the midst of 10 wolves and
• 1:23:55
  give me 3 months, you have 11 wolves right there.
• 1:23:57
  That's the way I think. That's the way I do things.
• 1:24:00
  I'll adjust immediately. So I mean the moment I have such
• 1:24:04
  an opportunity. Ohh my you better watch out.
• 1:24:06
  I'll be a problem, or even more of a problem.
• 1:24:10
  Interesting that, you know, I just keep shooting for the
• 1:24:13
  stars. Aim for.
• 1:24:13
  The moon, You know, Interesting. So, So what?
• 1:24:17
  Are your hobbies and. Personal interests, President
• 1:24:23
  interests. I mean right now, to be honest,
• 1:24:26
  training is a big hobby for me. I I used to have some other
• 1:24:30
  hobbies like reading and what else did I like to do.
• 1:24:36
  I like to hang out with friends and all that stuff.
• 1:24:38
  But right now I would say my big hobbies are training and riding
• 1:24:43
  a bike. Interesting.
• 1:24:46
  So so like. What skills or competences?
• 1:24:48
  Do you have right that people do not know about what you're proud
• 1:24:52
  of? Like what is it that you're
• 1:24:55
  really, really great at? What?
• 1:25:01
  I mean, I'm good at. A lot of things I can cook.
• 1:25:04
  Ohh. Fantastic.
• 1:25:06
  So you're like. Me.
• 1:25:07
  So you you have a lot in common with me, right?
• 1:25:09
  I'm a first child as well, right?
• 1:25:12
  And then yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm a great.
• 1:25:14
  Chef I'm. Really.
• 1:25:15
  I can book. I back in school I studied.
• 1:25:19
  Foods and nutrition and ohh interesting.
• 1:25:23
  I was very big. On learning to.
• 1:25:26
  Cook and you know and and let's just.
• 1:25:30
  Say I know my way around the kitchen.
• 1:25:32
  Maybe it's gonna be that that that's a great.
• 1:25:36
  One that that that's a great one, you know and then you know
• 1:25:39
  it's not. It's not just enough to know how
• 1:25:40
  to cook food like only you or a few people can.
• 1:25:43
  Eat, right? But you know, like a lot of
• 1:25:44
  people can eat. So like, I've done, I've done
• 1:25:47
  crazy stuff when it comes to cooking, right?
• 1:25:48
  Like, I've cooked for a whole party, you know, You know, in
• 1:25:51
  Abuja, you know, you know, we like house parties a lot, right?
• 1:25:54
  So like I, I used to cook a lot for, for, like the house parties
• 1:25:58
  there. There's some time that a friend
• 1:26:01
  of mine was having. I think their sister had like
• 1:26:07
  one year the first year birthday of their daughter and then I
• 1:26:11
  made this, I'm assuming for the whole party and.
• 1:26:16
  You know, usually. People are usually.
• 1:26:18
  Interested in the chicken meat or the beef, right?
• 1:26:21
  And they wanted, they said. Yesterday were like, Who made
• 1:26:23
  this thing? We want more.
• 1:26:25
  We want more. And then that's how it like he
• 1:26:28
  just went by. And.
• 1:26:29
  I started like making asking for for parties.
• 1:26:31
  When I was in Abuja and like in my office in in London.
• 1:26:37
  So there's a time having this culture of tea.
• 1:26:41
  Nigeria and Ghana culture the and then I made as soon I made
• 1:26:45
  the Subu I took it to the office and you see like even white
• 1:26:49
  people were like ohh the gods the gods are swinging.
• 1:26:53
  Ohh, yeah. You get like, it's not just
• 1:26:55
  enough. You know where you cook food and
• 1:26:57
  your fellow Nigerians enjoy it, right?
• 1:26:59
  Yeah. Like when you cook food and like
• 1:27:02
  other people people from like different countries can relate
• 1:27:05
  to it. Then you know that ohh you've
• 1:27:08
  been able to like chef it interested.
• 1:27:10
  Interesting one. So before we let you go we have
• 1:27:13
  a few sort of questions for you right.
• 1:27:15
  So but then what advice do you have for upcoming athletes and
• 1:27:20
  young people in general? What advice do you have?
• 1:27:25
  Because basically you know this, this, this show, right?
• 1:27:28
  This podcast is about sharing the stories of ordinary people
• 1:27:32
  doing extraordinary things, but also right it is with the aim of
• 1:27:36
  inspiring people, especially the up and coming people, right?
• 1:27:39
  We want to be the reason why people do not give up on their
• 1:27:43
  dreams. People chase their dreams,
• 1:27:45
  people chase their passions. People want to become something
• 1:27:48
  in life and give back to the society, right?
• 1:27:51
  That's and the real reason why we do this.
• 1:27:59
  I'll see. Far as young athletes.
• 1:28:03
  I would say train hard. Train consistently and look for
• 1:28:09
  Make conscious effort to look. For people.
• 1:28:12
  Who have the knowledge and skill that could help improve yourself
• 1:28:18
  and never feel like you know everything because you don't.
• 1:28:23
  And there's always room to learn and improve and approach every
• 1:28:28
  challenge with that mindset. I intend to learn, I intend to
• 1:28:32
  improve. And once you can do that, I mean
• 1:28:35
  you only go up and disguise the limits as far as young people, I
• 1:28:42
  would say get it, get an education.
• 1:28:45
  I feel like an education. Very, very important.
• 1:28:48
  Ohh, it's very important, you know.
• 1:28:50
  Nowadays. Yeah, people are like education
• 1:28:53
  is a scam and it's not necessarily ETC.
• 1:28:56
  And I feel like education doesn't really teach you that 2
• 1:28:59
  + 2 = 4. It teaches you how to, and that
• 1:29:04
  is the most important part. It's not what the education
• 1:29:06
  teaches you that is the thing. It is the fact that education
• 1:29:11
  teaches. You how?
• 1:29:12
  To think so, you can apply the. Same.
• 1:29:15
  Thinking methodology to so many other things and you know you're
• 1:29:20
  the method behind the madness. Exactly you.
• 1:29:23
  Know you're more informed now. You don't need a teacher to
• 1:29:26
  teach you because now you know how you can teach yourself and
• 1:29:29
  how you can learn. And you know with the with the
• 1:29:33
  resilience of Nigerians. I think once most of these
• 1:29:39
  people who aren't dedicated are able to learn how to teach
• 1:29:42
  themselves because now information is everywhere. 99%
• 1:29:46
  of the things were being taught in school is on the Internet.
• 1:29:49
  All you need do is learn how to access them.
• 1:29:51
  Design the schedule and you can teach and educate yourself to
• 1:29:55
  virtually professional level in virtually any field right now.
• 1:30:00
  All you need is enough dedication and enough
• 1:30:02
  consistency to achieve that. And you know if if people can
• 1:30:08
  just learn how to teach themselves and how to learn the
• 1:30:13
  sky is the limit, so my. Advice for every young.
• 1:30:16
  Person out there. In fact, every old person too,
• 1:30:19
  because there's some old people that don't know.
• 1:30:21
  So for everybody. Learn how to teach us.
• 1:30:26
  Learn. How to learn and learn how to
• 1:30:29
  teach because there's too many gullible people in Nigeria.
• 1:30:32
  That's why we have, you know, a lot of the negative press we
• 1:30:35
  have and and mishaps, etc. If.
• 1:30:39
  People just had more access to information and stayed informed.
• 1:30:44
  There will be less gullible and you know, ultimately society in
• 1:30:49
  Nigeria will be so much better. He just said what you were
• 1:30:53
  talking about. Learn and you know.
• 1:30:54
  Put the. Emphasis of learning for a
• 1:30:56
  little bit. Like you're sounding like this
• 1:30:58
  guy that's become popular on social media to be very dark
• 1:31:02
  black man video. Yeah, and I got that guys this.
• 1:31:05
  Don't play. Don't play.
• 1:31:07
  You gonna learn? Are you going to learn the hard
• 1:31:09
  way? No play.
• 1:31:14
  So you're telling the youths don't play?
• 1:31:17
  You're gonna learn who is better.
• 1:31:21
  I think that's the reason. It's just real.
• 1:31:23
  And he's factual, even though a lot of people try to like
• 1:31:27
  controversial right now. Yeah, he.
• 1:31:30
  Is what I mean most of what he. Says.
• 1:31:32
  Is not wrong. It's he's very accurate.
• 1:31:35
  And you know people don't like the truth, and it's unfortunate,
• 1:31:39
  but that's human nature. Most people don't like the
• 1:31:41
  truth, and as long as you keep speaking the truth, you will be
• 1:31:44
  hated for it. That's it.
• 1:31:48
  Yeah, yeah. Interesting that that was the
• 1:31:51
  last question for me, right. But then you know.
• 1:31:53
  On the on the port we have a tradition, right?
• 1:31:57
  French guest leaves a question for the next guest.
• 1:32:01
  Thank you. Do you wanna do you know?
• 1:32:03
  Wanna know the? Question I was left for.
• 1:32:04
  You. Shoot.
• 1:32:06
  Go ahead. Hmm.
• 1:32:08
  OK, that's good. So the question from the.
• 1:32:10
  Previous guests that is on TV, I can't really.
• 1:32:13
  He is popular, known as, well, Tea is an artist visa spot.
• 1:32:19
  So he says. What do you think?
• 1:32:21
  Is the essence a purpose of life?
• 1:32:26
  What do you? Think is the essence of purpose
• 1:32:29
  of life. And how do you think the human
• 1:32:31
  race came about? Creation or evolution?
• 1:32:35
  So it's like that's a 2 pronged. Question.
• 1:32:40
  Right. So let's see, Let's break it
• 1:32:41
  down, right? What do you think?
• 1:32:43
  Is the essence a purpose of life?
• 1:32:47
  Like why are we? Here what's the essence?
• 1:32:52
  That's deep. Sit in one word, I'll say
• 1:32:55
  fulfilment. Fulfilment is the.
• 1:32:59
  Essence of life. So how do you get the feeling?
• 1:33:03
  So it's very dynamic for everyone.
• 1:33:06
  Fulfilment is different. For some people it's money, For
• 1:33:09
  some people it's status. For some people it's education
• 1:33:13
  or knowledge. For some people it's development
• 1:33:16
  of both self or society. For some people it's family.
• 1:33:20
  Some people just want to have a husband or a wife and kids and
• 1:33:24
  they feel good. You know, for some people it's
• 1:33:29
  progression. You know, moving from one stage
• 1:33:32
  to the next and being able to feel like they've moved and and
• 1:33:36
  see that progress. You know they feel fulfilled and
• 1:33:38
  they feel happy. And even though you know the
• 1:33:40
  quest for perfection is endless, but as long as you feel like
• 1:33:43
  you're getting better, you feel fulfilled.
• 1:33:46
  So I would say if I had to put it in as few words as possible,
• 1:33:50
  it's fulfilment. OK, OK.
• 1:33:54
  So what? What?
• 1:33:55
  What? What do you think about how the
• 1:33:57
  human race came about, Ross? I don't have answer for that
• 1:34:01
  one. Creation or evolution, like do
• 1:34:04
  you think? Are you part of the people?
• 1:34:07
  That's. Super Darwin.
• 1:34:09
  Huh. I mean the the.
• 1:34:12
  There's loopholes in both, so the evolution and if you.
• 1:34:18
  Choose. One of them.
• 1:34:20
  You 2 stewards. I I kind.
• 1:34:25
  Of feel towards the evolution theory because.
• 1:34:28
  The. The the Bible theory is purely
• 1:34:32
  fictional. The idea was to.
• 1:34:38
  Point out a morale of the story kind.
• 1:34:41
  It's like tales by Moonlight when you listen to when he says
• 1:34:45
  oh oh conquer did this and then that happened and that happened.
• 1:34:50
  The aim isn't to tell you about the conquer.
• 1:34:52
  The aim is to tell you that you shouldn't steal from your friend
• 1:34:55
  or you shouldn't be back to the next guy or something.
• 1:34:58
  I feel like the whole Bible story was aimed at teaching a a
• 1:35:04
  moral lesson than it's been an actual a depiction of how we
• 1:35:12
  came to be. It doesn't make sense.
• 1:35:14
  Interesting and important theory.
• 1:35:19
  I find it hard to believe we came.
• 1:35:20
  If we did come from monkeys, why are there still monkeys now?
• 1:35:23
  I mean, we should have all moved from monkeys to human.
• 1:35:27
  You know, I I don't. I don't know.
• 1:35:28
  I have a bunch of questions about those things though.
• 1:35:31
  But I'll say for the fact that I can at least.
• 1:35:35
  See. The monkeys I know.
• 1:35:37
  OK. There's something we came from.
• 1:35:39
  I I don't know where the Garden of Eden is and nobody knows any
• 1:35:43
  descendants of Adam or Eve or or ESO and and and a big sorry Cain
• 1:35:48
  and Abel ETC. So it's it's a very touchy
• 1:35:53
  subject. Yeah, difficult to to.
• 1:35:57
  Express knowledge that you do not have about that interested.
• 1:36:02
  So one question would you like to leave for the next guests to
• 1:36:06
  answer? Am I allowed to know who the
• 1:36:09
  next guest is? Like question because what if?
• 1:36:15
  He's not like, yeah. Question.
• 1:36:17
  That is very Nigerian. Tailored.
• 1:36:21
  OK, so so The thing is, anybody can.
• 1:36:24
  Answer anything? Alright, we are all human.
• 1:36:28
  Beings. We all human Ohh.
• 1:36:36
  I. Would say.
• 1:36:39
  OK, I'll make. It a random one.
• 1:36:43
  To be able to defend yourself, which you think is a more
• 1:36:47
  important feature to have skill or strength?
• 1:36:52
  Hmm. To be able to.
• 1:36:53
  Defend yourself. Which do you?
• 1:36:56
  Think is. A more important.
• 1:36:58
  Feature Skill. Feature to have skill.
• 1:37:02
  Or strength. Wow, fantastic one.
• 1:37:05
  That's a great question. Very great question.
• 1:37:10
  That is fantastic. So at this point we have come to
• 1:37:13
  the. End of the pod for today.
• 1:37:17
  Thank you very much, Cheques. It's been a really, really great
• 1:37:21
  time, you know, having a fantastic conversation with you.
• 1:37:25
  I wish you the very, very best, you know, in all of your
• 1:37:28
  endeavours going forward. I hope to see you do very great
• 1:37:33
  things, accomplished, greater heights, you know, in your life,
• 1:37:36
  in business, in your career and hope that you continue to be a
• 1:37:42
  creator, inspiration, you know, to the up and coming people.
• 1:37:47
  Thank you very much and God bless you.
• 1:37:48
  Thank you very much. I appreciate that.
• 1:37:50
  Thank you bro.