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"This is Vital" with Vinnie Lopez- Vital Training Systems Elevation Fight Team · Caught on the Mike...

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_02: Warning due to some language and subject matter, listener discretion is advised.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Meeting people where they are, helping other people come out on the other side victorious.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: The philosophy that fitness can be one of the greatest tools we have to prepare the mind, body, and soul for life.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: These are some of the values held by my next guest, founder of Vital Training Systems in Denver, Colorado, and striking coach for Elevation Fight Team.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: My next guest is a former mixed martial artist who you may have seen in the corner with the friend of the show, Curtis Blades.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'm excited to welcome Vinny Lopez to the show today.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: 2022's goals and sight.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: He couldn't have come on at a better time.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: Ladies and gentlemen, this is Caught on the Mic.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: Ladies and gentlemen, I could not be any more excited than to be sitting across from virtually my friend Vinny Lopez.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: How you doing, sir?
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I'm doing good, brother.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_03: It's a nice morning over here.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_03: It's nice and chilly.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_03: I'm warm in the house, getting some work done, you know.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_03: I couldn't be better.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_03: You guys got some snow, didn't you?
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_03: We got a little bit last night.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_03: Just a little sprinkles.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_03: It's been pretty mild this winter, man.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_03: So I like mild winters if I'm being.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you and me both.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: And the funny thing is, is you you would think you'd think I'd move out of the Midwest because uh because I just I don't like the cold, bro.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: I hear you, man.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: Me neither.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_03: But I don't know, man.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_03: Something about Colorado, something about Colorado and all the sun here, you know, it's it's really sunny.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_03: As cold as it can get, it always has an element of sunshine to it.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_03: So Colorado's pretty dope in that way.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we've got a lot more humidity where I'm at in Nebraska.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I lived in Colorado when I was a kid, and we'll we'll probably at least circle back to that at some point.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: But it's weird because 20 degrees in Nebraska hits a lot differently than 20 degrees in Colorado.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's totally weird.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: You are the owner operator of Vital Training Systems, and you're also a strength and conditioning coach and striking coach for Elevation Fight Team.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Am I correct with that?
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, you are.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, you are.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Why don't you introduce yourself and tell a little bit about your backstory?
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_03: So, yeah, my name is Vinny Lopez.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I got into the fight game in around 2004.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_03: Uh coach by the name of Sheldon Marr uh pulled me into his facility.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_03: He saw me, he saw me bouncing at a strip club.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_03: And he was like, hey, you need you need you need to come spend some time in my gym.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_03: And I was like, you know what?
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_03: You're right.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_03: So I go over there and and I just fall in love.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_03: I fall in love with grappling arts, I fall in love with the striking arts.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_03: I boxed a little bit as a kid as well.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_03: You know, it's a the fight game's always been in my family, you know what I mean?
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_03: We've always uh loved combat sports.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_03: So because of that, I always had my hands in it slightly, you know.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_03: I was a little bit too much of a knucklehead when I was young to get serious about anything.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, but uh Sheldon Maher pulled me into his gym in uh at an early, early enough age, and but like I said, I was a knucklehead.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_03: So I ended up um I ended up going to prison for a long time in in uh in 2005.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_03: And I didn't come home until right around 2009.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and um and that's when I when I really immersed myself in the arts.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I didn't really have a whole lot of options, you know what I'm saying?
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_03: I'm coming out of prison, I'm a felon.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_03: Uh nobody wants to hire a freaking felon, right?
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_03: So I was like, okay, I know how to do one thing.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_03: I know how to do one thing and one thing well.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm gonna pour my heart into this thing, and and uh, and you know, and I made a run.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_03: I made as much of a run as I could at the age that I was at.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I lost a lot of a lot of quality years there, but um because because of where I came from and because I knew I only had a short amount of time to play this game, uh, I always kind of knew uh I better set myself up.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I better, I better understand where I'm headed when this small window of fighting closes for me.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and and and uh in 2013, I had a fight career, you know, it was up, it was down.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I wasn't the greatest uh athlete, but I think because of that, because because I wasn't the greatest, I had to pay attention the most and learn the most, like step-by-step techniques from Dwayne Ludwig, Trevor Whitman, Farid Samad, like I had all really, really high-level coaches that I would just sit there and stare and listen and learn because I knew, all right, when I'm done with this thing, I want to have an in-depth knowledge about what the fuck it is that I'm doing.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_03: So because of that, I I I immersed myself in learning.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_03: I, you know, my fight career was up and it was down.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I ended up uh retiring in 2013.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I saved up every damn penny I made from fighting, and uh and I and I took a chance, man.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_03: I I um I threw I threw it all I threw it all uh I threw it all on red, so to speak, you know, and I opened up my facility in 2014.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_03: And uh I at first I was kind of general uh just training general population.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't really know that I was gonna start training fighters uh until Leister Bowling came up to me.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_03: He was, you know, I had been retired for like a year or two, and he came up to me and he was like, I want you, I want you around the guys, I want you on the team, I want you to be here spending time with the guys.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_03: And so so Leister pulled me in.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_03: I started uh I started coaching the guys from more of a striking perspective, and then some of the guys started wanting to come with me over to address some of the SNC uh protocols.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_03: And man, the rest is history, man.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_03: I've been I've been I've been blessed to to corner all over the world, you know.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I've been blessed to corner some of the best fighters in the game, be around some of the best fighters in the game.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_03: Um and I mean we've won team of the year, I think, twice.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_03: I try not to pay attention to that shit, but it is cool anyways.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and um and yeah, man, that that that that's that's my life, you know, and and and and I'm blessed to be able to stay inside of the sport and do what I love and and put a little food on the table at the same time.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_03: So that's me, man.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe this is why I have such a fondness for you guys, because you, Cody, and myself have very similar stories.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: Mine, of course, was in the music industry.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: I I like clawed, fought, you know, did everything I can to make it in the music business.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: And then finally, I uh 2011, I was just like, I've got kids, I've got a life, I need to kind of work on the other plan A, not this plan A.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: But the weird thing is, is I developed this articulation for the business side of things and the functionality side of things, to where I kind of had this epiphany where I was like, man, I'm almost better at the business side of this, I'm better at the analysis side of this, I could help other people, you know, grow their brand, grow their um, grow their music careers.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I I never saw that when I was in the midst of it as a performer.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: And it sounds like from a coaching perspective, you know, in talking with Cody and listening to your story, you guys guys kind of had the same a similar path in the sense that you um you really got to know the the nuts and bolts of what makes a good fighter a good fighter and the processes that need to go into that.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: Am I off base?
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_03: No, you're absolutely correct.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I was listening with with a big amount of intent.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_03: Uh you know, coming from where I came from, uh just getting out and being a little bit uh desperate for for a life.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_03: Like I knew that whatever I was going to focus on, I it needed all of me.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_03: And um, and on top of the intent in which I went in there, uh trying to learn this game from a from a from a as deep of a perspective as I could get, I made a whole lot of fucking mistakes along the way, you know, and I because I I was I I was fighting, I was in there putting it on all on the line, and I made a lot of mistakes, and there was a lot of things about myself that I knew, okay, I see what this is, I see how it can get in your way, and I'm gonna help the next guy get past this particular thing.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_03: So, so so the uh getting out of prison and being desperate to know, desperate for life, desperate, desperate to for success, and falling on my face a bunch of times, you know, that that lends itself to a pretty wise dude.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I'm saying?
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_03: So now I try to I try to coach from that place, man.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_03: I try to coach right from that place.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's the essence of almost failing upward, you know.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I talk to people, I mentor people now for a living, and uh one of the things that I tell my subordinates or people that work for me, I always tell them, I'm like, you're gonna screw up, you're gonna fuck up a million times over.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: The thing is, all I want you to do, and I'll probably be pissed off at uh at you for it for about 30 seconds to a minute, but I'll get over it.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: At least you tried.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: I would rather you try and fuck up than not try at all and just quit.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, man, that's that's this whole life, right?
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_03: Like so many people just kind of they play it safe.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_03: They play it safe.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_03: There's no risk, therefore there's no reward, right?
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_03: But like if you're gonna put yourself in any kind of situation that that that requires a certain a certain amount of like uh I don't know, focus, there's there's a chance to fail, there's a chance to succeed.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_03: Like if you're gonna do that, you're gonna, you're gonna fail.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_03: You wanna fail.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_03: You wanna you wanna understand, you wanna be able to speak to this thing in a in an in-depth way.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_03: And if you're never doing shit, you can stay away from that.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_03: But if you're doing anything, if you're doing anything worthwhile, there's that risk, there's that risk, and you're gonna fall down, and you're probably gonna get back up because or you wouldn't have put yourself in that risky situation in the first place, you know what I mean?
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_03: So it's like, I don't know, man.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_03: If you're not failing, you're not doing shit, you know, in my in my opinion, you know.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: And and the thing is, is you know, and I we're gonna touch on this here in just a moment.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: Every day's New Year's Day.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: Every day is a brand new day to kind of start over and start fresh.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, it just because you failed yesterday doesn't mean you can't get up and try again today.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, absolutely.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: The byline, I was watching some YouTube videos uh in regard to your gym, and one of the my favorite parts was most badass gym in downtown Denver.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: Your words, sir.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk a little bit about vital training systems, what some of your programs are, um how how that actual business came to be about, and uh just give us some insight.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, man.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_03: You know, vital training systems kind of embodies my journey, man.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_03: It's it's it's about it's about the the mental toughness toughness it takes to get through the darkness, you know.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_03: Like I spent a lot of time in the in that place, and and it shaped a lot of who I am.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_03: A lot of how I address life in this uh today was shaped, you know, behind those walls.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_03: And and and I and I and I don't discount that as being a positive thing for me.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_03: I know it could be negative for a lot of people, but for me, I was able to use it in such a way that it's it's springboarded my life.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_03: Um so so so I take that that darkness piece, right?
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_03: I take I take the the experiences I that I that I learned from getting my fucking ass kicked, you know what I mean, and getting back up, getting my fucking ass kicked, and getting back up.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I've I I take um all of the wisdom that I got from all of the great coaches that I had.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_03: I had the best.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_03: I I was I mean, I don't even know how I ended up in those rooms, but I did.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_03: And I want to give that because what it did for my life, man, like I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for all of those experiences.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_03: What it did for me was was unspeakable, and I want people to have a little taste of that.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_03: So because of that, it is a badass facility, it is a no bullshit facility.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_03: You don't want to fucking be in there if you're half-assed, because you will get called out, you will get pointed out, and you will you you will have to kind of face face the the the facts and the realities about why you're even in here in the first fucking place.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_03: So I bring I bring all of that experience, all of that energy, all of that passion to the general public to give them a taste of what it could look like.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_03: And and and people love it.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_03: They love it, they love the no nonsense, they love the approach, they want they know when they go in there, they're in there doing something because I remind them about it every chance that I can get.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_03: You know, we offer striking programs in there, you know.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_03: Uh uh, I try to keep more of the technical professional setting training to myself because um ultimately my programs that are in the gym, the pro the fight game, the strength and conditioning stuff, and the and the and the teaching of fighters, that's that's my thing.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_03: That that's like my passion.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_03: That's what drives me.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_03: That's not my business, right?
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_03: Those fuckers, half of them don't got a fucking penny to their name.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_03: So it's like, you know, I do it because I love them.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I'm saying?
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_03: And and sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn't, but I don't give a shit because I'm gonna do that anyways because it's my passion.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_03: Now, what the my striking programs and the conditioning programs and the and the facility is geared toward the general population to get a small taste of what it looks like, what it looks like to fight, to fight back a little bit.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_03: And um, and I I love I love what I do, man.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_03: I love what I do.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_03: We got some badass coaches in there that that have gone through extensive training and extensive uh learning about how it is and where it is that I come from and what I want this facility to represent, and they all embody it to the T.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_03: Otherwise, they get their ass fired anyway.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_03: So it's like, you know.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_03: If you don't embody the values uh of vital training systems, and that's all of it, and understand it to a T, then you just can't be in there because because the experience is important to me.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_03: The experience for these people that are coming in, I want them to feel what it what it really is.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, it's it's pretty badass bot, man.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_03: I gotta admit.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: I like that one of your promotional lines is that you meet people where they are.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have various skill levels or skill sets, kind of ways that you evaluate people if they they were a new client for vital training systems?
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, yeah.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_03: Everybody that walks in those doors goes through uh an assessment, both like a physical assessment and a bit of a mental check about why you're in there, you know, from through a questionnaire, through a uh, you know, a movement assessment.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_03: You know, we we we we we take them through that first and foremost.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_03: And then what what what that means, you know, I meet you where you're at, is like, man, everybody's fight looks different.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_03: Everybody's fight looks different.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_03: You can come in, you could come into my facility getting ready for the biggest fight of your life, you know, actual fight like uh Curtis Blades, Derek Willis, or whoever, you know what I mean?
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_03: Uh Alistair Overing, Curtis Blade.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_03: Like you come in here and I'm gonna prepare you for that fight, or your fight could be I have to lose 150 pounds.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_03: You know, that's your fight, or another guy's fight.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, I just had an aneurysm, the right side of my body doesn't work.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_03: I need to get my life back.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_03: There's a bunch of different people in there, and that's the beauty of it, man.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_03: It's like I got professional athletes, I got uh extremely obese people, I got people trying to learn how to walk, I got people trying to learn how to get just get their life back in general or go.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_03: That's just what we're doing in there, and I don't give a shit what the fight looks like.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_03: I just love to be alongside people who are ready to fucking fight.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, it inspires me.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_03: I get I get chills through my body even talking about it, you know what I mean?
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_03: Because I get addicted to that shit.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_03: I like to see people win, man.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_03: I like to see people win, man.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_03: Even when especially when they think they can't.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_03: That shit fucking fires me up, man.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_03: And that's what my facility is all about.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I love that because you know, and this has been my observation actually with all of you, Colorado guys.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I was super impressed when I had Zach on the show.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, dude, this guy is gonna be.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: I I don't like dropping this, but like this guy's gonna be a star someday.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like he just mindset, you know, in general.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: But there's something about that bugger's a steel trap up there, man.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like he right, oh god, yeah.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: I know, I know.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, man, I feel like a lazy piece of shit now after I got done talking to you.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: But but but the thing is, is a lot of what you're talking about is like tough love, but you guys all exude this level of core values that I've talked to other fighters and other places and people local to me, and you know, but there's something about all of you Colorado guys, and all of you guys that are running around with Elevation Fight Team and your gym and Cody's gym, and it's like there's something very impressive about that.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: How do you merge both mindsets together?
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like your values that make you guys such humble and great people, but not afraid to call out the bullshit whenever you need to call out the bullshit.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_03: If you are truly a humble person and you truly want the best for a human being, you cannot be a yes man.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_03: You have to be able to point out the holes and the flaws and and and be passionate enough about it and humble enough about it in your approach and how you say these things to actually walk this person anywhere.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_03: Otherwise, yeah, you can be nice all the time and fucking, yeah, good job, pad on the butt, pad on the butt.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_03: And that's cool.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_03: That's cool.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_03: And there's a time for that and and and understanding when and where, man.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_03: Like sometimes people just need to be encouraged.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_03: Sometimes people just need to be like patted on the butt and be like, hey, nice work.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_03: Other times, though, other times, if they're gonna go, if they're gonna move anywhere in this life, they have to be pushed, they have to be exposed to the truth about where their shortcomings are coming from.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_03: And um I think uh me, Cody, and some of the other coaches here on Team Elevation, we we pride ourselves on being aware, relationally like mature enough to know when and where what approach needs what.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_03: You know, what's gonna be the most effective approach here for this person, you know, based off where they're at.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_03: And uh, you know, we train ourselves outside of the gym, outside of the fight game.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_03: Cody and I, him and I we do a lot of work together.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_03: We do a lot of work both in the fight game and outside of the fight game.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_03: We do a lot of men's work, man.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_03: We do a lot of men's work.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_03: We go up this mountain and we fucking get down and dirty with with with men and and and helping them to tap into their true potential and who they really are inside, who God says they are, you know.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_03: And um, I think because of that, because of that uh that type of work, we're able to kind of get in there a little bit deeper and understand when and where to be what, you know, do I need to be aggressive and fucking rattle this dude's cage and wake his ass up?
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_03: Or or do I need to just come up alongside him, man?
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_03: Just come up alongside and listen.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_03: And and and understanding when and where is super important, man.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_03: Super important.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: Gosh, that's that's phenomenal.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, what is your greatest accomplishment from your vantage point as a coach?
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_03: The thing that comes to mind first.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_03: Like I got something that I'm in the middle of now that when I actually accomplish it, it will be my greatest accomplishment.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_03: But but uh I would say Austin Hubbard, the uh the shit, what organization was it?
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_03: The LFA fight, uh getting him getting him into the UFC, you know, from where he came, when he came to me, uh I don't know.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_03: If he was in Chicago, he was training, but we had a lot of fucking work to do, man.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_03: And um being able to walk him through the fire, through that fight with uh Achilles, or what I forgot what the hell that guy's name was, but it was a fight where uh everything was we all the odds were in his favor.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_03: We were we were out there to get slaughtered and And Austin went out there and had the performance of a lifetime.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_03: Got the call up the next week.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_03: That was that made me feel uh like I'm really doing something here.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I'm saying?
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_03: Uh this thing with uh Zach, Zach Ponga, uh getting getting called to the show to do the Ultimate Fighter show, that's a big accomplishment for me too, man.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_03: He came to me with zero fight experience, less than I don't even know.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, it was it two or three years ago?
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_03: I don't even know.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_03: Like short amount of time.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_03: And I've been able to to to have a big part of walking him to where he is now, to where, you know, he's 10-0, you know, Colorado fighter of the year, uh, going on the Ultimate Fighter show.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_03: And I think he's gonna make a lot of fucking noise there.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_03: You just said it yourself, he's gonna be a star.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_03: I like to take the underdogs, I like to take the guys that they think ain't gonna be shit and fucking and and walk them to the big show underneath the lights and and let them look around and be like, holy shit, I made it.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_03: That that right that for me is huge.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_03: You know, Curtis Blades, fucking, Curtis Blades is a goddamn uh what would you call him like a like a freak of nature?
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_03: He's he's gonna be the best.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_03: I already knew he was gonna be the best.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_03: I did, I just sprinkled some shit in some dust on there, and he just took it and ran with it.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_03: Of course he was gonna.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_03: It could have been a fucking, you know, could have been god dang.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_03: My wife could have been coaching Curtis and they could have made it to the top to the top five.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_03: Let's just put it like that.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_03: But when it comes to like Austin and Zach, these guys who got the cut, they didn't weren't born with those gifts that Curtis was born with.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I'm saying?
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_03: Didn't wrestle collegiate wrestling like Curtis did, didn't didn't take that path.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_03: It's those guys, man.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_03: Those are the guys that fill my heart up with pride, and uh and and I love I love doing it.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: So, what's something that people misunderstand about you?
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_03: They miss, you know, we we kind of touched on it earlier, like this this humility tough love thing.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_03: Uh you know, based off of how I look, like I'm tattooed from head to toe.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I do have a uh an aggressive approach to how I love.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I'm saying?
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_03: Like even when I'm coming up alongside you, it sounds a certain type of way coming from me.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I'm saying?
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_03: So people can sometimes misunderstand my aggressiveness for uh it's almost like um the exact opposite of mistaking my kindness for weakness.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_03: It's like the exact opposite of that.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_03: They mistake my my passion for anger.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_03: Like it, oh I always get mixed with that.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_03: So people stay- God, I get that.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, people stay away from me a bunch, man.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_03: Even on our own team, they stay away from me because they they they haven't like broken through that to see that that's that's how I'm trying to come up alongside you.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_03: That's how I'm trying to show how much I care.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_03: And so it gets misconstrued a bunch, but the people who and because of that, my circle stays fairly small.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_03: But guess what?
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_03: I fucking like my circle staying very fairly small.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_03: You have to be able to get past the fear of, hey, this guy looks aggressive and sounds aggressive.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_03: If you can't get past that, I really don't want to be involved, anyways.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I'm saying?
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_03: I really don't want to be involved.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_03: It makes perfect sense.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_03: I want you to, I want you to have the courage and the like desire enough to get past that initial, like, wait a minute, this guy kind of sounds like an asshole.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_03: Then then we can get through it.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I'm saying?
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_03: Then we can go, okay, yeah, I see what you did there.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_03: I see that took a risk.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_03: That was a risk, you coming up to me right now.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_03: And because of that, I'm gonna show you who I really am.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I'm saying?
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: So, who are some of your heroes?
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_03: So, uh my heroes, you know, my my grandfather comes to mind for sure.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_03: I was just talking about him this morning and about uh about how he he kind of shaped who I am a little bit.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_03: Like I was talking with my wife about it, and uh I was just reminiscing, you know.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_03: I have a grandson, I have a grandson right now, and and uh and he needs me, you know what I mean?
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_03: He needs me in a big way, kind of like I needed my grandfather in a big way.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_03: Without him, I probably wouldn't even be here today.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_03: So he's he's like from a life perspective, he's probably one of my biggest heroes.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_03: Uh when it comes to the fight game, I have two guys that I really look to that shaped how I do my thing, how how who I am today on the in the corner, so to speak.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_03: Uh Trevor Whitman and Leister Bowling uh both uh spent a lot of time with me, man.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_03: And I don't know why.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't deserve it.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_03: I wasn't very I wasn't a very good fighter, you know what I mean?
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_03: I was a 500 fighter, you know.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know what the fuck uh they they they they poured so much into me, you know what I'm saying?
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_03: And because of that, uh I'll never forget it, you know.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_03: I'll never forget the lessons that I learned underneath those two men and how at a time when I was desperate for leadership, I was desperate for a way out.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, those two guys stand out as people who helped me shape my own life, helped me decide where I was going to go in this life, those two guys right there.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: When you look and you define your sense of purpose and your sense of what your why is what does being human mean to you?
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_03: So being human, and so in in regards to my why is uh for me it's about helping people see, uncover, believe, and their worth, what they're worth, what they're capable of in this life, uh how they were they're here on purpose for a real reason, and to and to help these guys uncover that and start to even believe like, wait a minute, there's there's a reason for me.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_03: Are you sure there's a reason for me?
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_03: There I can do what?
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_03: Are you sure that that I I deliberately put myself in that type of situation at all times?
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_03: I believe it's why I'm here, I believe it's what I'm supposed to be doing, is to uncover and help these guys see what they're truly worth, what they're truly capable of, and go fucking get it, man.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_03: That's that's my why, man.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_03: That's that's me being human, that's me being loving.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_03: That's that's the best I got, you know.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: Hell, yes, I love that.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: I love that shit, man.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_00: So what's next for Vinny Lopez right now?
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_00: What can you talk about, I'll say.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_03: Uh so from a personal uh standpoint, my my wife is pregnant.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_03: So I got thank you, thank you, thank you very much.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_03: Uh uh, it's crazy.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_03: I'm having a uh I have a grandson, and I'm about to have a son, so we're all screwed up, bro.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_03: Like it's crazy, you know.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_03: It's this is this big Puerto Rican family that's all like the branches of the tree go a bunch of different ways, but uh that's like a big thing personally for me.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_03: Um I we just vital training systems just moved into a new facility.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_03: We've been there since October, uh, trying to just get that the ball rolling there in a new in a new neighborhood and stuff.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_03: Like that's that's big on my plate right now.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_03: Um my son has started fighting.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and that and that's what I was gonna tell you is going to be my biggest achievement eventually, you know, is coaching my son is super fucking challenging, super challenging.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_03: And if I can find a way to navigate through this thing, it's going to be huge for us as a family.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_03: And um, yeah, of course we got fights coming up.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_03: You know, Big Curtis, they they don't put him on the shelter too long, so he's gonna be kicking somebody's ass soon.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_03: Razak, Razak, uh he fights mid-February.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_03: I got Lavelle, Lavelle's gonna fight in March.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_03: You know, we got a lot of fights coming up because we had a nice little break over the holidays, which was nice.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_03: So we're gonna be busy as shit this spring.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_03: I know it.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_03: Uh so just yeah, man, those those are those are kind of like the the hot spots for me right now.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_00: I think it was incredibly underscored when we talked earlier how much of a family business vital training systems is.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_00: Like, because that's that's you and your wife.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's everybody, right?
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_03: Oh yeah.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_03: Oh yeah, that's me and my wife, and and and very close people.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_03: And um, yeah, that that to get hired on there is like a there's a process, man.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_03: There's a process.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_03: There's a there's a values inspection, there's a who you are, there's a do you fit.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_03: There's a there's a this is who we are.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_03: Are you sure you want to be involved with this?
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_03: Because if you get involved with this, you're in, you're in it.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_03: So it's like I think that lends to the to the culture and the community in such a big and powerful way.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, people walk in that place and they go, What the hell?
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_03: What's going on in here?
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_03: There's something different about this place.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_03: And I think it's, you know, it starts with me and my wife, man.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_03: It starts with me and my wife.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_03: Uh uh, and people are sometimes amazed by that.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_03: You work with your wife?
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, hell yeah, dude.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_03: We've been doing this thing together every fucking day for the last 10 years.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_03: And it ain't gonna change because uh she's my eyes and ears, and I'm her muscle.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_03: And and uh, you know what's what's cool is uh I we we just uh what my training manager, uh her name is Georgie Hobson.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_03: She's uh she's a big piece of the puzzle there.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_03: And I and I had this other guy that I that I uh that I hired on about a year and a half ago.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_03: And um Jen and I are really big on healthy marriage, right?
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_03: Like, like like true, true love, true respect, true communication.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_03: We really pride ourselves on doing this thing right, and uh, and and another group, couple coaches, are going to be getting married underneath our roof.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_03: They met and they they kind of dived into uh our teachings and our protocols and they and they they understand and they know how we feel about marriage.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_03: And and for and they just got married uh two days ago, and like you said, it's a family, right?
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_03: And and like and like it, there's just that energy inside of there, and we're so we're so proud of how it feels in there, how real it feels, how authentic it feels, and how and and the beautiful things that are happening underneath that roof, like this fucking marriage.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_03: That I at first I was pissed about it, dude.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_03: I was like, you did what?
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_03: You're doing what you're banging the coach, like what the hell are you doing?
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_03: I was like, you're not supposed to be doing that, bro.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_03: Like, what the fuck?
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_03: You better not be and I was like, unless unless it's a hundred percent real, unless this thing is no fucking joke.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_03: If it's no joke, I fully support it because I believe in marriage that much.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_03: But if if you're playing games, dude, I'm going to kill both of you.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna kill both of you, and uh and ultimately here we are, man.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_03: And so far, so good.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_03: But yeah, family is super important to us.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's beautiful, man.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_00: That's beautiful.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_00: So here we are.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_00: We've just finished the second week of January.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I know as a guy that goes to the gym five days of the week, um, one of my biggest pet peeves, and it's the dumbest shit ever.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_00: I have to get over it myself, is the the New Year's resolutioners.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_00: But the thing is, is I have to have a sense of empathy because everybody starts somewhere.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_00: So have you noticed an upswing of traffic or of inquiries for the gym or people wanting to join on with the gym recently?
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_03: Definitely, definitely.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_03: There's been an uptake, but uh in my facility, the it's a bit of a private facility, like there's no like open gym membership.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_02: Right, right, right, right, right.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_03: You can't just come in there, you have to be working with a coach, or you have to be in one of our class programs to even be in there.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_03: So, because of that, it kind of weeds out the like riff raff, you know what I mean?
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_03: Which is super important to me.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_03: I was like, dude, I don't want, I need to know who's in my facility.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_03: So we cap it at a certain amount of people that are even allowed to be in there, and because of that, the quality of the of the people who are in there and their commitment to fitness, they know on the front end, inside of that questionnaire, inside of that assessment, they know what will be expected of them.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_03: Like it's very, very clear.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_03: And if that's not gonna work for you, we're not the facility for you.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_03: So we don't have a huge amount of turnaround.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_03: Like if you're gonna come in here, if you're gonna come in here, it's a commitment.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_03: You're we're gonna be doing this thing for a while together.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_03: And uh, I think most people who come to my facility understand that on the front end because we're extremely referral-based, you know.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_03: Like a friend told a friend and then they told him don't go in there bullshitting, because if you go in there bullshitting, they're gonna they're gonna call you out on it.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_00: So, what are some words of wisdom you have for anybody listening to this podcast?
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_03: You're here for a reason.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_03: There's there's too many men out there right now floating around with no sense of worth, no sense of purpose, and no drive.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_03: And I believe that that is going to be the downfall of our society.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_03: The men in this in this country and our communities need to stand up and take their roles as leaders in their households, in their communities, and it can start in somewhere as simple as a gym just to remind yourself that you're a fucking warrior, you're a fucking animal, and and this world will collapse unless we stand the fuck up.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_03: Stand up, stand up and be the man, be the man God designed you to be.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_03: That's that's my words of wisdom.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_00: I love it, man.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_00: Vinny Lopez, it has been a pleasure talking to you.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_00: The world is a better place with you in it, my friend.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_00: We gotta do this again.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, I'm always around, man.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_02: Let's do it.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_02: I loved it.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_02: I had a great time.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you very much.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_00: It was a great honor to have Vinny on the show today.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_00: You can find more on him at Vital Training Systems.com and also seek out Vital Training Systems on all forms of social media.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_00: While you're checking those out, make sure you check out Elevation Flight Team on all forms of social media and high altitude martial arts on all forms of social media as well.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_00: You can find me at www.cotonhemic.com and find me on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure you give us that five-star review on the Apple Podcast app.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_00: And just recently, Spotify implemented a rating system.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_00: Would appreciate a five-star review there as well.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_00: This has been Caught on the Mic with Michael Clark.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Michael Clark.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.