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The MM-EH Show with Kyle Nelson and James Clarke · The MM-EH Show

0:00
hello there fight friends MMA Andy
0:01
curell here and welcome to this week's
0:03
episode of the MMA show this is going to
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be a pretty quiet week for us there are
0:07
no Canadian Mixed Martial Arts events
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happening in Canada that being said we
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do have two Great Canadian Fighters
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fighting around the world this weekend
0:15
starting off on Saturday night we will
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have Kyle the monster Nelson be fighting
0:19
Bill algo at the UFC Fight Night in
0:21
Atlantic City New Jersey uh Kyle is in a
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great spot in his career right now he uh
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he started off a little bit slow in his
0:28
UFC anyway he did really well in the
0:30
Canan local scene a little bit rough at
0:32
the start of his USC career and now he's
0:33
riding a two-fight win streak he's got a
0:35
new USC contract so stick around and
0:37
you'll hear my talk with Kyle and you'll
0:39
hear his thoughts on that and how he's
0:41
evolved as a fighter and just why he's
0:42
sitting so pretty right now and he's
0:44
just really happy it's really
0:46
interesting how uh when mixed martial
0:48
arts first started joining the
0:50
conversation as a legitimate combat
0:52
sport because of course when it started
0:54
uh it was poo pooed by a lot of the a
0:56
lot of the conservatives and a lot of
0:57
the boxing people and they just didn't
0:59
like it they thought it was R and all
1:00
that kind of stuff one of the the ways
1:03
that MMA was compared to boxing was that
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uh boxing people would look at mixed
1:08
martial artist and think oh that guy's
1:10
got like a five and four record he's
1:11
terrible or or something similar right
1:14
and the reality is that in mixed martial
1:17
arts a perfect record is not nearly as
1:20
important as it is in boxing now I'm not
1:22
a huge boxing efficient Auto no I I know
1:24
it's somewhat but I by no way claim
1:25
claim to be an expert but I think in
1:27
boxing it's really important for you to
1:29
try try to get as best to a perfect
1:31
record as you can right you know a loss
1:33
is a very bad thing in boxing two losses
1:36
is terrible you get three losses I mean
1:38
your career might as well be over and
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mixed martial arts it's completely
1:41
different you can get fighters who who
1:43
take time right it's it's mixed martial
1:46
arts is so varied and widespread the
1:48
skill set it takes time and years if not
1:51
decades to become proficient in all of
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them right uh we're seeing it a little
1:54
bit different now where the kids are
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coming up and they're learning it
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starting at eight years old they're
1:58
doing Jiu-Jitsu and by the time they're
2:00
16 17 years old they're absolute Killers
2:02
I know at Niagara top team a young man I
2:04
know named Aiden Nel uh you heard that
2:06
name from me first he is going to be a
2:08
world champion someday he just had his
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first MMA fight and he won he's 16 no I
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think he just turned 17 uh a n since he
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was a very young man he trained with my
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daughter doing Jiu-Jitsu so that's just
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one example of how Fighters are are
2:19
getting better these days and that
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includes the current crop of Fighters so
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Kyle is definitely in a in a great spot
2:24
so uh make sure you listen out for my
2:26
chat with him in just a few minutes uh
2:28
before we get to Kyle though let's talk
2:30
about James the suplex kid Clark uh he
2:33
is uh uh you might not have heard of him
2:35
before I know that my viewers some of
2:37
them are are pretty steadfast and
2:40
watching all the the major promotions
2:42
like USC Bellator even pfl now these
2:44
days uh but maybe they don't get a
2:46
chance to go to too many local shows or
2:48
there isn't a lot of local coverage
2:49
around the country I do my best but I
2:51
can only really get to the Ontario based
2:53
events right now I I hope to be doing
2:54
some more traveling soonish and I'd love
2:56
to go to to a bfl for example and I I
2:59
did one Sam I'd love to do more Samurai
3:01
and I'd love to go out to FL in in the
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maritimes uh so that'll be happening
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sooner I think this year with me you'll
3:07
see more of that coverage uh but because
3:10
of you know that reason some of the
3:12
local Fighters I'll call them local
3:13
Fighters maybe don't get the coverage or
3:15
the exposure that that some of the
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biggern name Fighters do and James is
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one of those James's last fight was last
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June at the Durham fight series number
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one with a nice Victory and James has
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been fighting for a long time he is he's
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in my opinion he's UFC worthy currently
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so so where he is right now you'll
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you'll hear from him about his
3:32
experience uh training in Thailand right
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now and just some of the big names he's
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being exposed to like Kevin Gastelum and
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some of the trainers uh hopefully with a
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nice win at this event James will get
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his name out there and get a little more
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recognition hopefully he can get signed
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because he's definitely he's definitely
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can do some damage in there so that's
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exciting all right uh next week I do
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have a pretty big story to talk about I
3:52
don't want to share too much right now
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but uh it's it's a long time coming and
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I don't know if I'll have the full story
3:58
and I was hoping to to delay I know I'm
4:01
being a little cryptic right now uh but
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um this is a long time coming to get the
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story out there I don't want to say too
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much because I don't have all the
4:10
information yet but the time time is not
4:13
my friend and so the story is coming out
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now
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um through side channels like it's being
4:20
expressed in the Mixed Martial Arts
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community and I will be doing my best to
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expose what I know and that'll be next
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week um I might not have everything but
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I'll tell you what I know next week I
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know uh sorry that might not satisfy you
4:31
right now but I guess that's why that's
4:33
a cliffhanger right you'll just have to
4:34
make sure you tune in next week all
4:36
right let's get going let's talk with
4:38
Kyle Nelson
4:39
first Kyle the monster Nelson welcome to
4:41
the MMA
4:43
show yeah thanks for having me on it's
4:46
good to see you it's been a while you I
4:47
I'm I'm used to seeing you in person so
4:49
an an on camera through the internet
4:51
interview is not something I'm used to
4:53
with you how are things going
4:55
everything's going great we drove down
4:57
down here to Atlantic City we left on
4:59
Monday did half the trip and then did
5:01
the rest yesterday and got here in time
5:03
to do all the you know the fighter
5:05
checkin and stuff like
5:06
that now when you say we who's we so my
5:10
fiance came with me and our our new baby
5:13
noox who was born a week ago today and
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then my mother-in-law Mary came down to
5:17
to help with baby Knox that's amazing so
5:20
Knox is an international travel already
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at one week old yep wow that had me beat
5:25
I think that's pretty good so how what's
5:28
it like being a a brand I I know you've
5:30
got several other children other boys
5:31
already what's it like being a a father
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again it's awesome uh you know it's it's
5:37
been a little bit my my other son
5:40
Griffin is four and then my son before
5:42
him Corbin he's nine so it's been a few
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years but uh you know it's you know it's
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like riding a bike comes
5:48
back that's awesome I wonder if you look
5:51
back if you look in your fight career
5:53
have you ever had any like really great
5:55
victories right after you had one of
5:56
your boys because maybe he he's a he's a
5:58
good luck Omen for you uh he's
6:00
definitely going to be a good luck Omen
6:02
it's uh it's hard to to remember I think
6:05
um yeah because it was so long ago like
6:07
four years ago when Griff was born uh my
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first son Corbin he was born like 2014
6:12
so it would be like another four years
6:14
before I got in the UFC uh but I know I
6:16
won a bunch of fights after that one so
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uh but yeah definitely definitely plan
6:21
to win this one Saturday and and uh yeah
6:23
we can dedicate this one to
6:25
Knox well that's great that's be a
6:28
feather in his cap um start his life
6:30
which is fantastic so Kyle if I'm I I
6:32
went back before we talk just now I went
6:34
back and I looked at some of our
6:35
previous interviews and one of the
6:36
questions I asked you in the past you
6:38
had a difficult time answering uh I
6:40
asked you and this is a couple years ago
6:42
probably year and a half couple years
6:43
ago I asked you where you thought Kyle
6:46
Nelson was in relation currently in
6:49
relation to where your final form your
6:50
ultimate best fighter of your of your
6:52
life were you were and you weren't
6:54
really sure I'm wondering if you have
6:55
any chance to to think about that and
6:56
think now like how good a fighter are
6:58
you right now compared to where you
6:59
ultimately want to be at the end of your
7:01
career yeah I definitely think I'm I'm
7:03
getting close now I think we've got a
7:05
lot of the little things dialed in you
7:08
know there's still there's always going
7:09
to be techniques and skills that I want
7:11
to improve and that's probably something
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I'll never be satisfied with but I think
7:16
you know the way we have our my weight
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cut dialed in you know my life outside
7:20
the cage has has you know gotten so much
7:24
better and and so much more organized
7:26
and stuff like that that I find that
7:28
plays a big part in my my career as well
7:30
I mean having that that work life
7:32
balance and the the family balance as
7:34
well I think I've been able to put that
7:36
all together much better now and that in
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turn helps my you know my career in the
7:41
UFC yeah we've talked about that before
7:43
about about the balance about the
7:45
importance of making time for your
7:48
family and and your kids I mean so you
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see so many fighters now who they're so
7:53
devoted and I'm not saying you're not
7:55
devoted but it seems like they they feel
7:57
if they miss one training session on one
8:00
day of one week of a year then that's it
8:02
they're not working as hard as they
8:03
could be but I think there's definitely
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something to making sure you feed that
8:07
other part of you that that has needs as
8:09
well the human
8:10
needs yeah absolutely and again when I
8:12
was younger I was just like that like I
8:14
wanted to you know go to every session I
8:16
was pushing myself 100% all the time and
8:19
then yeah I mean you I mean career-wise
8:22
you end up getting injured a lot when
8:23
you kind of overtrain and stuff like
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that and then you know your your
8:27
friendships maybe your relationships
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even your you know your time with your
8:31
parents and stuff really kind of Falls
8:33
by the wayside and then life just kind
8:35
of gets miserable you know and then
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what's the point in even being
8:38
successful or making money or doing any
8:40
of that stuff if you don't have the
8:42
people around you to you know spend the
8:43
time with yeah for sure one of the
8:46
things I really like well I like a lot
8:48
about you but I I do follow you on
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Facebook and one thing I really enjoy is
8:52
when you make your often post about just
8:54
spending family time you're taking your
8:56
boys to the woods or you're doing
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something or you're doing whatever ever
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just being out and about and I know that
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it's tough to really say that social
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media is is 100% representation of real
9:06
life like I don't know what it's really
9:08
like but I get the impression that
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you're just a really good father and a
9:10
really good man and and a good family
9:13
member yeah I mean I try my best you
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know um I don't get to see my my sons
9:19
Corbin and Griffin too often so I try to
9:21
make sure that when I do see them you
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know I'm I'm introducing them to to my
9:26
lifestyle and and kind of how I want
9:28
them to grow up and what values and and
9:31
virtues and stuff like that I want to
9:32
try and instill in them so and that's
9:35
that's what you get on on the social
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media you know whether we're we're
9:38
hunting or or fishing or doing some
9:40
outdoor stuff or you know even
9:42
exercising my my youngest son Griffin
9:45
he's in love with push-ups now so he he
9:47
throws some push-ups down all the time
9:49
so yeah I mean just doing you know the
9:51
best I can for for my kids and my family
9:55
yeah that's all you can do is the best
9:56
you can I was I've got a a daughter
9:58
myself and uh you know I I'm I'm
10:00
fallible I'm not a perfect human but I
10:02
try and uh you know I just hope I can be
10:04
there for her like you seem to be for
10:05
your kids so you know I love that okay
10:09
so let's move on now to uh fighting
10:11
right so you are fighting this weekend
10:13
against Bill Alo at the UFC Fight Night
10:15
in Atlantic City tell me your thoughts
10:17
on this fight how did this come about
10:18
and when you were off for this fight did
10:20
you know who bill was and and did you
10:21
think uh you know what did you think
10:23
about him as an opponent yeah so I
10:25
definitely I remember I think Bill's
10:27
first fight coming into the UFC and and
10:29
I been paying attention to him ever
10:31
since then um and so I knew he'd be
10:34
probably somebody that cross path with
10:36
pass with um so I mean as far as his
10:39
style like he's got again a standup more
10:43
so Striker style but it's kind of like a
10:45
Taekwondo or karate style where he's
10:47
he's light on his feet he's got his
10:49
hands down a bit he switches stances uh
10:52
he's a little bit taller I think he's
10:53
like six foot but um again I fought you
10:56
know tall Strikers in in Fernando
10:58
Padilla and Herbert and I fought some
11:01
kind of trickier Strikers before as well
11:03
so it's nothing I haven't seen before on
11:05
the ground I believe he's a brown Bell
11:07
and he's got he's got pretty good jits
11:10
but uh I've been training Jiu-Jitsu for
11:12
18 years now I'm techically you know a
11:15
brown belt also but I definitely think
11:17
I'm getting close to to getting my black
11:19
belt so I feel like on the ground and on
11:21
the feet it's uh I can Edge him out a
11:24
little bit everywhere and that's that's
11:26
all you're going to get in the UFC I
11:27
mean everybody's good at wrest saying at
11:29
striking and stuff so the best you can
11:31
do is try and find an area where you're
11:33
going to be a little bit better and then
11:34
try and exploit that area yeah and for
11:38
this fight like my my fiance had kind of
11:41
one stipulation you know coming into the
11:43
new year was I could I could take a
11:44
fighter whatever just not in March and
11:47
then of course the the fight came down
11:48
the line to fight Bill alil and it was
11:51
March 30th like a well our due date was
11:53
March 12th so I ran it by my fiance what
11:56
do you think it's the end of the month
11:58
you know knock should be here we'll have
12:00
a couple weeks to settle in and and get
12:02
used to that stuff and she's like yeah
12:04
yeah absolutely go for it and obviously
12:06
Bill ELO being a great opponent as far
12:07
as where he's kind of at in the rankings
12:09
and you know I think it's a good step up
12:11
for me and uh yeah so so she was on
12:14
board so then I was on board and then
12:17
Knox decided to wait a little bit he you
12:19
know he he hung out there a little bit
12:21
longer than we expected but uh you know
12:23
everything's here now and we're good to
12:24
go was that a little nerve-wracking
12:26
wondering when when he was going to come
12:28
well I wasn't I wasn't too concerned I
12:30
know he was going to come at some point
12:32
right but uh my my fiance definitely
12:34
wanted to to make sure she was able to
12:36
come down and stuff like that so I'm
12:38
sure her nerves were were going pretty
12:40
good okay that's good uh I'm gonna get
12:43
crucified by some of the female viewers
12:45
if if I don't ask you you keep referring
12:47
to as your fiance what's her name
12:50
Claudia Claudia is my my fiance yeah
12:53
yeah I know I've met her a couple times
12:54
very nice lady you're very lucky man
12:56
you've got a beautiful family yeah thank
12:58
you so you've uh you when you started
13:01
your UF career you were a killer in in
13:02
Canada you went to the UFC it was a
13:04
little spotty at the stop you know you
13:05
had a couple losses here and there but
13:07
you're on a good great track now you've
13:09
got two F two wins two great wins you've
13:11
got a new UFC contract uh you must be
13:13
feeling pretty good about where you're
13:14
sitting right now yeah absolutely it
13:17
definitely feels like everything's
13:18
finally coming together I know when I
13:20
first got into the UFC I was like oh
13:22
that's it you know I've made it we're
13:24
here now and then yeah it just it just
13:26
didn't quite work out that way I kind of
13:28
had to rec calibrate some stuff you know
13:31
with the the training camps and the the
13:33
weight cutting and stuff like that and
13:35
now that we've got everything dialed in
13:36
it definitely feels like I'm here now
13:38
and now I'm ready you know to start you
13:40
know putting in some actual work and
13:42
stuff
13:43
so yeah well it's working out well for
13:46
you and uh I guess this weekend we'll
13:47
see it's the next step on your journey
13:49
to be to being a UFC fighter and a
13:51
hopefully someday UFC champion so uh
13:54
Kyle I I know that fight week is always
13:56
really hectic and there's a lot of
13:57
commitments and people asking for your
13:59
time so I truly appreciate you taking
14:00
the time to spend with us uh before we
14:02
get going is there anything you'd like
14:03
to say and what you'd like to think yeah
14:06
I mean thanks a lot for having me on
14:07
here and always promoting you know local
14:09
MMA you're the place I always go to
14:10
check for you know the you know the
14:12
event the results and stuff from all of
14:14
our local shows so thank you for that
14:16
thank you thank you and yeah thank you
14:18
to my my coaches uh you know Aly
14:22
Adrian um all my sponsors my fiance um
14:27
make sure you check on my social media
14:28
I've got all my sponsors on there you
14:30
know if you're looking for you know
14:31
whether it's rehab or you know sheath
14:34
underwear we got the sport lab moose
14:37
Delaney shess Joe you know everything's
14:39
everything's there so make sure you
14:40
check it out and give them a follow
14:42
too we do Kyle well once again thanks
14:45
for your time and best of luck this
14:47
weekend we'll be rooting for you thank
14:48
you very much okay yeah I'm really happy
14:51
with Kyle and you know some of the times
14:53
when I when I talk with Fighters or I
14:55
talk with people about talking about
14:56
Fighters they they you you know they
14:59
look at journalists as somebody who's
15:01
just trying to get a story out and I am
15:03
to a degree right like I love a good
15:05
story I love getting stories out but I
15:06
also TR to like getting to know the
15:08
people and all that stuff I said about
15:09
K's family I mean the fight stuff is
15:12
important yeah you're coming here for
15:13
the fight stuff but at the end of the
15:15
day Fighters are people just like you
15:16
and me right we all have our our our
15:18
peculiarities we all have our
15:19
differences we all have the ways we we
15:21
run our lives outside of work and I just
15:23
love the way Kyle you know he's such a
15:25
family man I absolutely love it I know a
15:27
lot of you are too it's just that Kyle
15:29
it's right out front and center for me
15:30
to see so I hope you appreciate that too
15:33
okay uh so let's go on to James Clark uh
15:36
I me I talked about him for about a
15:37
minute back uh you know before the the
15:39
KY interview uh James is really good
15:42
interview he's got the gift of the gab
15:43
and I'm not saying that disparagingly at
15:45
all I absolutely love it sometimes when
15:47
I speak with Fighters it's a challenge
15:48
if I ask a question and they give me
15:49
back a one-word answer or yep nope or
15:52
yeah I agree it's nice if I ask a
15:54
question and they can just run with it
15:55
and so James is is doing great uh at
15:58
some point I'd like to start doing more
15:59
long form interviews uh I guess sort of
16:02
like a podcast that I've talked about
16:03
before uh I think James is definitely
16:06
you know I knew he was interesting
16:07
before but not as interesting after
16:09
speaking with him now for 14 minutes or
16:11
something like that so it's well worth
16:12
it make sure you listen if only to hear
16:14
about uh the little girl's life that he
16:16
saved while training in Thailand so
16:17
that's pretty fantastic all right let's
16:19
go James Clark great to talk to today
16:21
sir how you doing great how are you
16:24
doing Andy thanks for having me on hey
16:26
it's my pleasure uh for the people
16:28
watching right now tell them where you
16:29
are right now yeah I'm in puket Thailand
16:32
obviously uh halfway across the world
16:35
from uh Canada but uh I'm in my happy
16:39
place and uh it's it's fight week so you
16:43
know no complaints here I'm just uh
16:47
excited for soul season Soul season
16:50
that's right you are fighting this
16:52
upcoming weekend in fukat against col
16:54
Kil basa at a new uh I guess it's more
16:56
like one of those new hybrid promotions
16:58
right there's different styles of fights
16:59
on it there's mu Thai there's mixed
17:01
martial arts I'm not sure if there's
17:02
others and uh you're fighting an MA
17:04
fight MMA fight obviously tell me what
17:07
you know about M2 Global or sorry M2 MMA
17:09
and how they contacted you and became
17:11
aware of you and vice versa yeah so uh
17:14
yeah it is a mixed event they do a bit
17:15
of that type of stuff down here in
17:17
Thailand um obviously uh you know the
17:20
the rules are a little different here
17:22
and uh obviously we're in the birthplace
17:24
of Muay Thai so you see a little bit
17:26
more of those type of uh of events it's
17:29
a yeah it's a new promotion similar to
17:32
the last one I just fought on that my uh
17:34
coaches and managers threw on uh during
17:38
fight Series so um yeah they're they're
17:41
not established yet but uh just super
17:44
grateful to be helping them build it up
17:47
and you know get get my hand raised is
17:49
obviously the main goal uh George
17:52
Hickman down here I've known him since I
17:54
was about 20 years old um yeah 29 now so
17:58
like nine years this is my sixth trip
18:00
down here obviously uh Co made it a
18:03
little hard to get down here for a
18:04
couple years but uh he he got me the
18:07
fight and um yeah just super grateful
18:11
all these guys have uh been uh taking me
18:15
under their wing like his brother Frank
18:17
Hickman as well um the wrestling coach
18:20
for all those guys at uh City kickboxing
18:24
volosi um Israel Sonia ker France like
18:29
that whole team uh Frank has been the
18:32
main uh wrestling coach I think uh for
18:34
their whole careers basically so um you
18:38
know that's uh that's obviously means a
18:41
lot that he's you know giving me
18:43
personals and spending his time um I I
18:46
met his brother George the older brother
18:49
first actually and just super uh super
18:53
high level dudes like you know um along
18:57
with my team back home Justus Brookman
18:59
um he's cornered many UFC guys as well
19:02
but uh you know it just it means a lot
19:05
that they've all kind of uh big
19:07
brothered me down here and uh you know
19:10
this is a little bit different trip uh
19:12
having a fight this time obviously right
19:15
uh in the past I've just been uh I've
19:18
just been training for fights back home
19:20
so um yeah it's a little bit different
19:24
um Brad Rell the kickboxing coach down
19:27
here as well um
19:29
I think he's had like four or five
19:30
fights in the UFC um maybe even more
19:33
than that um he he's also took me under
19:36
his wing um it it's just super uh super
19:42
grateful and uh definitely helping my
19:44
confidence and and my overall
19:47
game when it so correct me if I'm wrong
19:49
but it's my understanding that you know
19:51
you just said you go to Thailand often
19:53
for for training camps did you go to
19:55
Thailand this time with knowing that be
19:56
a fight coming up out of this or was it
19:58
something just sprung on you and you
19:59
were given the opportunity no um I was
20:02
here uh I was here two months well I've
20:05
been here for this will be three months
20:08
uh by the end of my trip I I have a
20:11
flight booked for the day after um the
20:15
fight but you know I never make plans uh
20:17
I never make plans for after the fight
20:19
you know you never know you never know
20:21
exactly what you're getting into so uh
20:24
you know if I had to switch my plane for
20:26
a day or two or whatever uh so be it but
20:30
uh yeah I'm leaving the day after which
20:32
happens to be April fools so no joke
20:35
there but uh yeah I was here two months
20:39
prior to this trip as well my coach uh
20:42
Joe Elliott the owner of big country and
20:45
uh he's got like three gyms now doing
20:47
super good me and him started he's the
20:49
one who got me into MMA and uh obviously
20:53
got him tattooed on my leg you know lot
20:56
lot I have of him we grew up in this
20:58
game together so uh but um this Dr Lane
21:02
one of my top sponsors uh shout out to
21:05
Lane's Optical he uh he just said Hey
21:08
Joe uh you want to go to Thailand with
21:10
me uh I'll take you to james' spot in
21:13
Thailand and uh you know I was a little
21:15
bit uh I've been trying to get Joe to
21:18
come out here for uh years uh obviously
21:21
uh I didn't have the funds to uh you
21:24
know just take him here but uh he booked
21:27
his trip uh with Buddy and I already had
21:30
this trip already booked so I was like
21:33
screw it I wanted Joe to see Thailand
21:35
through my eyes so I came I booked a
21:38
trip and I was down here with them and I
21:41
was telling I I always tell George uh
21:44
George Hickman he's um one of the main
21:47
uh MMA coaches down here he lives here
21:50
down here full-time as well so I'm
21:52
always bugging him for a fight have been
21:54
for years so um yeah nothing came in
21:58
right away and then I was down here for
22:00
about a month already and then he got
22:03
this offer for Colton and uh he said you
22:06
want it um I had to extend my trip to
22:09
pull it all off so uh said just let me
22:12
ask the babysitter of my uh my dog which
22:16
happens to be my mother right now um
22:19
she's all right with it and uh you know
22:21
she wasn't very impressed at the start
22:24
but uh she uh she didn't need uh she
22:28
didn't need Co and just uh you know she
22:32
understands the MMA uh dream Waits for
22:34
No One um you know in dog years of three
22:38
months is probably like over a year now
22:40
and dog years I've missed in my dog's
22:42
life so you know it's uh it sucks but uh
22:47
at the same sense this MMA Journey it's
22:50
uh you know uh every fight's a little
22:53
bit different but it it waits for no one
22:55
and your training session can let uh
22:57
your your your MMA Journey can end in a
23:00
training session so you know I had to
23:03
take full advantage of this and uh
23:05
that's exactly what I
23:07
did it's it's really important that you
23:09
you grab these opportunities I mean I I
23:11
know so many fighters and I've got to
23:12
speak with so many fighters over the
23:14
years and and a Perpetual issue for them
23:17
a lot of them is the struggle to find
23:19
Reliable fights that'll actually put on
23:22
an event schedule a fight sign a
23:24
contract and have the fight go through
23:26
so many fighters you know they end up
23:28
not even fighting once a year just
23:29
because so many issues how important is
23:32
it for you to be always ready and and
23:34
training and be prepared to to grab
23:35
these opportunities when they come to
23:37
you yeah no the more the older I get the
23:40
more experienced I get and knowledgeable
23:42
on this uh this subject actually uh it's
23:45
been on my mind a lot lately because uh
23:48
yeah like I I haven't thought in about
23:50
eight or nine months when however long
23:52
June June was um so yeah it's uh we're
23:56
going on almost a year and um yeah I
24:00
think I made a few mistakes uh obviously
24:02
I had a one and three Pro record at one
24:04
point in my career now I'm eight and3
24:06
and haven't lost in six years my last
24:09
loss being to Matteo vogo uh at
24:12
135 and he's not even a 35 anymore he's
24:15
a 45 but uh no excuses there's no
24:17
excuses in this game I was smoking
24:19
cigarettes I was doing dumb [ __ ] um I
24:22
needed to uh I needed to eat the Humble
24:25
Pie a bit but uh yeah as far as the MMA
24:29
scene back in Canada like I said on the
24:31
mistakes as well I uh well I started my
24:36
journey uh signing a five fight contract
24:39
with one of the dirtiest promot
24:41
promoters in the game one of the best
24:43
promotions but one of the dirtiest
24:45
promot promoters in the game Stephen
24:47
patri and uh you know I think to an
24:51
extent as a promoter you had to put
24:52
yourself first before the fighters as
24:54
well to build your brand I think that is
24:56
part of it um you know like the whole
24:59
Don King thing but uh you know not too
25:03
many people uh patri screwed over a lot
25:06
of other people um I I don't blame him
25:08
for my losses those are my losses but uh
25:12
you know he was only offering me out of
25:14
weight class fights and uh you know just
25:17
signing a five fight contract out of the
25:19
gate as a debut fighter it it really
25:22
made me not trust these promoters very
25:25
well so yeah I got it so I kind of
25:27
hopped around I hopped around a little
25:29
bit um you know I have I have four
25:32
titles um from three uh three different
25:36
organizations Alone um that kind of
25:39
speaks for itself uh I I didn't really
25:42
trust any of these promotions I I I
25:44
wouldn't really sign anything more than
25:47
a two-fight oneyear contract just
25:49
because a lot of them you know like n
25:52
Diaz was talking about last couple weeks
25:54
ago like a lot of these guys they don't
25:56
they don't want you to see the end of
25:57
the contract act um and it just put my
26:00
trust it I I didn't really trust but
26:03
then I see these other guys and it works
26:05
well for them uh when they do have that
26:08
Bond of trust and with the promotion as
26:11
well like you look at that Tommy
26:12
Morrison kid um you know not I guess not
26:17
to say he's fought fighting complete
26:18
bums he beat my buddy Matt Dawson so
26:21
like that's a fairly good win but like
26:23
uh that's his best win actually uh in my
26:27
eyes but uh Dawson was had a f 400 or 4
26:31
and4 record like myself uh at the time
26:35
and he's fighting uh he's fighting a guy
26:38
who's like five and0 or something at the
26:40
time so on paper it's just like I don't
26:44
know I think he's trying to look for the
26:46
easier fights and that one just happened
26:48
to be a a real tough fight because
26:50
Dawson's an animal and fought everybody
26:52
under do for sure yeah he's a dog right
26:55
but um you know not to put Tommy down I
26:58
think he's doing it proper he's got a
26:59
really good team around him and stuff we
27:01
we've trained once before too so he he
27:04
don't really he knows he's not ready to
27:05
fight anyone like me but I think a guy
27:08
like that can get to the Big Show I just
27:10
don't think he's going to stay there
27:12
very long like uh he'll be lucky to uh
27:15
you know even like TJ laramy he got
27:17
there a little bit early but like I I
27:20
think TJ laramy has a win over Charles
27:22
Jordan and Charles is still there so
27:25
it's like Styles make matchups and
27:28
um if you look at it there's not very
27:30
many fights for me back in Canada period
27:34
um uh anyone could say what they want
27:37
why don't you fight Tony or Lou or
27:39
something but like you know if you look
27:41
at uh Tommy Morrison Louis Jordan and
27:48
uh and Tony
27:50
laramy all four of us have fought
27:53
Mexicans in our last fight like yeah um
27:56
you know uh
27:58
I I I get it like I I'm not I'm not
28:02
saying that I was any any better but um
28:06
and uh props to Tony and Louie they were
28:09
about to fight but hey that was just Lou
28:12
got hurt and that just ended up being
28:13
talk you know like it is what it is the
28:17
fight hasn't been rebooked um Tony
28:19
hasn't rebooked a tough fight I'm sure
28:22
he could have um and I I got a guy who's
28:25
got a winin one Championship next week
28:27
so like I I figure I figure I'm the I'm
28:31
the number one guy out of Canada right
28:34
now I I smoke this guy and I'm I'm on
28:37
the Big Show like uh potentially so I I
28:41
feel like uh all four of us are right
28:44
there at the door but Canada just I feel
28:47
like each promotion is only building the
28:50
guys they want you know one at a
28:53
time you know I kind of disagree with
28:55
disagree with you a little bit uh I
28:57
think you're starting to see a lot more
28:59
collaboration and working together
29:01
between different Canadian fight
29:02
promotions uh for example like bfl
29:05
unified Samurai they seem to be letting
29:07
their Fighters travel across the country
29:09
and fight for their other organizations
29:11
which is is great for the fighters and
29:12
we're sort of getting away from that
29:14
promotion first mentality that you you
29:16
alluded to so I don't know I I I think
29:18
that's really cool and I'm I'm really
29:20
liking it yeah no I I agree with that I
29:23
definitely seen that uh I seen that one
29:26
or two times with uh
29:28
with the cross promotions like that
29:30
which was super cool I'm I'm all for
29:33
that like these guys shouldn't be acting
29:36
like they're UFC already although like
29:39
they're helping guys like us get to the
29:40
UFC and it's also super cool that like
29:43
Samurai unified and bfl are all on UFC
29:47
Fight Pass like that's huge we have it
29:50
three promotions out of Canada now
29:52
they're all on UFC Fight Pass I'm only
29:54
the BTC champ they're the only ones that
29:57
aren't on Fight Pass knock knock
30:00
hopefully they uh they get there because
30:02
they've had they've had awesome shows as
30:04
well and uh AG I do believe they can get
30:07
there as well um yeah I I just see it
30:12
like it just seems to be in the
30:14
flyweight division there's only so many
30:16
of us there's only about there's only
30:18
four guys now Tommy just getting to the
30:21
point now where he's uh like he has a
30:25
record now where he can fight me Tony or
30:28
Lou like mhm there's there's ultimately
30:30
no one else in Canada Canadians that can
30:34
fight us right now if they do it's like
30:37
I feel like they're getting fed to the
30:38
wolves um in my eyes
30:42
obviously I don't I don't like to be one
30:44
of those people that uh act like my
30:46
opinions are facts either like these are
30:48
just opinions people that I hate those
30:51
guys that are like what I say is
30:54
definitely right like because because I
30:56
talk a lot of [ __ ] myself and uh hey um
31:01
it is what it is I fought Lou and Tony
31:03
those are my only two losses as an
31:05
amateur like like I said I was still
31:07
smoking cigarettes when I fought Matteo
31:09
as a pro so uh it it is what it is um
31:13
those are definitely fights I want uh in
31:15
the future like but I'm I'm never one of
31:18
those type of people to uh you know I
31:21
have a fight that's in front of me uh
31:24
nothing else matters like uh a a win is
31:28
a step forward and a loss is two steps
31:31
back I heard Robin black say that one
31:33
time when uh Lindsay uh Lindsay garbot I
31:37
believe she was fighting um she was
31:40
fighting Ashley Nichols that night uh
31:42
rest in please uh to Ashley obviously
31:44
that was super sad um I think uh I think
31:48
me mental health isn't something that
31:49
gets talked about enough as well just
31:51
touch on that like uh you know you were
31:54
at my last fight as well um you know I'm
31:56
a very emotional dude myself especially
31:59
in fight week um you know I I always
32:02
quit smoking weed and stuff and uh you
32:04
know it [ __ ] with your emotions a
32:06
little bit I always quit the whole Camp
32:08
I go without it but you know to to live
32:11
my life I feel like I needed a little
32:12
bit outside of it it just doesn't mix
32:15
with my fighting anymore cigarettes
32:17
definitely didn't um but uh yeah that
32:19
whole thing with Ashley that was super
32:21
sad like I think we all have our own own
32:24
demons and I feel like uh as a man
32:28
especially um and as a fighter those are
32:32
like two things that are like you know
32:34
it almost puts guys in that category and
32:37
like not to take anything away like look
32:39
at what happened with that actually like
32:42
it just it as a man it's like it's not
32:45
you're not like supposed to talk about
32:47
these things or something right like
32:49
I've turned a bit of a leaf on that um
32:52
and especially like I said when I'm in
32:54
the camp and stuff it's something I'm a
32:56
little more open with I'm a little
32:57
little more uh like to talk about it or
33:00
touch on it because uh you know you
33:03
never know the type of messages you get
33:04
and stuff after like uh a lot of times
33:08
uh I've had I've cut some really good
33:10
promos after my fights um and then I've
33:13
cut some ones where I went a little you
33:15
know I went uh you know I went full
33:18
[ __ ] and uh you know I I feel like uh
33:21
you know they weren't the best but
33:23
that's just that's just me you know I'm
33:26
uh taking as you get it you know so uh
33:30
like I said you got to take the good
33:31
with the bad I've cut some really good
33:33
ones and then uh went a little overboard
33:36
on some but uh you know that that's just
33:39
the fight business I think we're all
33:41
dealing with stuff especially like as
33:42
Fighters not just as Fighters but like
33:45
uh you
33:46
know yeah I just uh it's not just
33:48
Fighters it's it's there's so much to we
33:51
could talk about this for hours there's
33:53
so much and it's it's people people have
33:55
people have problems and
33:58
just because we're two guys sitting here
33:59
talking I think men have a much more
34:01
difficult time find number one finding
34:04
somebody that they can be close enough
34:06
to to actually share what they're
34:08
feeling because a lot of times men are
34:09
judged by emotions uh I think fairly so
34:13
and then even if we do have someone
34:14
close I mean men men I I don't think
34:18
express ourselves verbally as much as as
34:20
maybe maybe women do like we'll go say
34:23
if you're say if you and I are buddies
34:25
and you're having a rough day you're
34:26
going to be like hey Andy come on over
34:27
over let's let's uh you know work on
34:29
this car engine or we're going to go you
34:31
know chop some wood or something like
34:32
that that's how we kind of deal with it
34:34
so right that's why I think I think
34:36
fighting is is such a good thing because
34:39
it it allows you to use your body which
34:41
is a good thing it gets your endorphins
34:43
flowing it it just makes you feel good
34:45
when you when you train right so I mean
34:47
it's got to be a benefit to to your line
34:49
of work definitely definitely and uh
34:53
yeah as much as it's a benefit it's a
34:55
downfall as well because it's like uh
34:57
the highs are so high right and the lows
34:59
are so low like uh like we were kind of
35:02
touching on my last win a year ago it's
35:05
like it keeps me in the gym obviously
35:08
like that it's like a I've had problems
35:10
with drugs before obviously I'm not just
35:13
talking about weed and [ __ ] and I've
35:16
lost like 50 plus friends not
35:19
necessarily good friends but like uh at
35:22
least 50 plus people that I know
35:24
ex-girlfriends even def fet all and
35:26
stuff and it's like I've seen some dark
35:28
stuff I actually saved a little girl I
35:30
saved a little girl like right in Fr of
35:31
a truck last week so it's like felt like
35:33
a hero like that's probably like one of
35:35
the only times that I ever like I've
35:37
obviously done great things in my life
35:39
but I've done a lot of bad [ __ ] too so
35:41
like tell me that story about say little
35:42
girl what happened there yeah like I so
35:45
I checked my weight uh had a little bit
35:47
of a sore neck uh three weeks out it was
35:50
like uh it was one of those things I had
35:52
to be like I need someone like Justin
35:54
Brookman and [ __ ] and like guys that
35:56
like protect me from myself cuz it's
35:58
like a little store neck ain't going to
36:00
like 3 weeks out from the biggest fight
36:02
of my life like I'm I'm going just turn
36:04
it up right like yeah a week out is when
36:07
you get to heal like obviously it's all
36:09
good now there's no excuses I'm feeling
36:11
amazing uh my Camp's basically done I'm
36:14
just coasting but so I didn't go to
36:16
wrestling practice I went but I had to
36:18
do something so I went I went on the
36:21
aird for like a half hour and stuff and
36:23
then anyway uh make it long story here
36:27
uh I uh I went and checked my weight
36:29
because I'm like very obsessive with the
36:31
weight especially two weeks out I'm like
36:34
got to check the weight got to check the
36:35
weight even though it's like Thailand I
36:37
could be eating like I had cheesecake
36:39
yesterday you know what I'm saying I
36:40
could eat whatever the [ __ ] I wanted and
36:42
probably still make weight but like I
36:44
know what benefits and what not but
36:47
anyway so I I go I'm like oh I got to
36:49
check my weight Blake so I go to check
36:51
my weight and then uh literally that
36:54
Split Second of checking my weight I
36:56
come out there's a three-year-old little
36:57
girl maybe she's like 2 and 1/2 ft tall
37:00
type deal she runs almost gets smoked by
37:03
a scooter first and then um I guess it
37:06
looked like the woman or her mom
37:08
watching her had like a 5-year-old uh
37:11
boy with her too um so she was trying to
37:14
watch like two kids I guess and then um
37:18
so that's just what it looked like from
37:20
my angle but she was like about five
37:22
five or six feet in front of me already
37:24
running across the street to go and it's
37:27
a fair busy street uh all the streets in
37:30
Thailand are like that but it was about
37:32
the size of a garbage truck big big
37:34
garbage truck and she almost gets hit by
37:36
the scooter she made it past the scooter
37:38
the scooter dodged her and then I could
37:41
see her still going forward towards this
37:44
she was right in front of this garbage
37:46
truck and because I could see it like I
37:49
had to run to catch up with her but I I
37:52
used my voice and I was like I stop like
37:56
I I caused the scene with my voice I
37:58
think but like I don't even know if that
38:00
stopped the truck or not but like I
38:02
literally had to jump in front of this
38:04
[ __ ] garbage truck and I had to pick
38:06
this little girl up like like I I was
38:09
probably like it was one of those things
38:11
like I've like I said I've done some bad
38:13
[ __ ] in my time it was like I've seen
38:16
guys where it's like you know there's
38:17
always a couple guys where it's like
38:19
they see cops and then they're like
38:21
they're like they turtle and they freeze
38:23
up and stuff for anything right but like
38:27
everything slows down just like in a
38:29
fight for me right but it's just like
38:30
the hero and the coward like you don't
38:32
have time they think the same right you
38:34
didn't I didn't have time it was just so
38:37
I grabbed her and uh yeah a bunch of
38:40
people from the gym at bang to seen it
38:42
and stuff uh Casey O'Neal actually
38:44
shouted to her she seen me save that
38:46
little girl but all kinds of UFC uh
38:49
people at the gym Kevin Gastelum I've
38:51
been talking to him every day it's like
38:54
but anyway it was uh so then I I get the
38:56
girl I get the little
38:57
little girl and I go to give her to who
39:00
I thought was her mom and then the girl
39:03
says where's your mom where's your mom
39:07
so uh wow I don't know I gave the little
39:11
girl to that girl so I don't know if she
39:13
was just saying that to like make
39:15
herself if it looked to me like she was
39:18
supposed to watch the kid right but uh
39:21
she she did say like where's your like
39:23
so anyway I don't know whose kid it was
39:25
I just I I got out of there but like I
39:28
if I would have seen that little girl
39:29
Get Smoked by a garbage truck and like I
39:32
just missed her by a second that would
39:35
have really I would I'm already
39:37
emotional dude I said you know like uh
39:40
but it it was probably like the it was
39:42
the only time that I was like I made a
39:44
[ __ ] difference you
39:46
know so it's like you put a little
39:48
points in in your karma Bank yeah and
39:51
and a week before that I seen someone I
39:52
seen an old lady get smoked on a scooter
39:55
like and I don't know if I don't know if
39:57
live type deal uh but uh yeah it's like
40:02
it's Thailand right like you don't
40:04
really know until you get down here I've
40:06
been here six times right I've been in a
40:08
couple scooter accidents myself just
40:10
scrapes and stuff my buddy Blake he
40:12
wiped his scooter out a couple times too
40:14
so it's like it it happens down here
40:18
right but uh you know it's uh it
40:22
it's yeah it gives you little bit of
40:24
gratitude right um every time I have a
40:27
fight I always got a lot of gratitude
40:29
but some crazy shit's been happening so
40:33
yeah well James you know we've chatted
40:36
you and I have chatted briefly before
40:37
but nothing to this extent and I didn't
40:39
know what an interesting fellow you were
40:41
so I I'd definitely love to speak with
40:43
you again at some point I I I haven't
40:44
started it yet but uh I want to start
40:46
doing like a more of like a long form
40:48
podcast series with people uh where you
40:50
spend an hour two hours talking about
40:52
the whole world and whatever you want I
40:54
definitely think you just added yourself
40:55
to my list because uh I really speaking
40:57
with you thank you so much yeah you too
41:00
Andy I'm I'm I'm a bit of a talker like
41:02
I said sometimes when I'm smoking the
41:04
weed I don't I don't got much to say but
41:07
uh hey I'm I'm full of enthusiasm now
41:10
for for a journalist you're a dream
41:12
because sometimes you speak with people
41:13
and I've got to drag out the answers and
41:15
I get like one word or two words so you
41:17
know meeting somebody like you it's it's
41:18
fantastic so before before we get going
41:21
uh I'm going to give you a chances there
41:22
anybody like to thank anything you'd
41:23
like to say before we go yeah just shout
41:25
out to all the guys that have been
41:26
helping down here like uh George Hickman
41:30
Frank Hickman um Brad Rell uh Woody the
41:36
strength and conditioning coach but uh
41:38
I'm thinking those guys are likely going
41:39
to be in my corner this fight but uh I
41:42
can't leave the boys back home who like
41:44
I'm not a self-made man here so um
41:47
Justin Brookman Joe Elliott Gordon mcil
41:51
they're uh they're tattooed on my
41:53
[ __ ] leg for life so uh you know I
41:55
got to keep them keep them close and uh
41:57
you know I wouldn't be here if it wasn't
42:00
for them um I know I know they're going
42:02
to be in that uh ring with me uh next
42:06
Sunday for sure regardless like I said
42:08
they they've built me into the man I am
42:10
today and uh you know I uh I'm just
42:13
proud that I get to do what I love and
42:15
uh surrounded by greatness um you know I
42:18
I'm pretty much done my hard Camp here
42:21
uh training with the highest levels of
42:24
fighters in the world um I've been doing
42:27
uh my circuits just finished my circuit
42:29
with uh pfl champ there uh Brendan uh
42:33
he's getting ready to fend his belt uh
42:36
BR Bruno um whole whack of guys that are
42:40
just getting the I'm getting the exact
42:42
same treatment they are here so just
42:44
super grateful to be where I'm at and uh
42:47
you know we're seven days out from Soul
42:50
season so we're g to make it happen
42:53
thank thank you
42:54
Andy well thank you that thank that was
42:56
fantastic FC I'm not sure if I'll be
42:58
able to watch the fight I I haven't
42:59
really looked and see if it's going to
43:00
be streamed yet or not but uh if I can
43:02
watch the fight I will and if I don't uh
43:04
I wish you the best of luck and kick
43:06
some butt I think it'll be 7 a.m. uh
43:09
your time it'll be on YouTube Instagram
43:11
bunch of things just follow M too and uh
43:14
if you don't see it live I'm sure you'll
43:16
catch it uh you'll catch it anyway maybe
43:18
stay off the internet till you till you
43:20
watch
43:21
it all right James thanks for everything
43:23
good luck all right man thanks again you
43:25
take care there you go what do you think
43:26
so so M2 MMA I don't know where that's
43:28
going to go um the truth is mixed
43:30
martial arts promotions around the world
43:32
come and go and uh we'll see this is
43:35
going to be a first event for them
43:36
hopefully it turns out well hopefully
43:37
James does well gets a nice win and some
43:39
recognition and either fights with them
43:41
again or moves on to bigger and better
43:42
things regardless uh it's great I love
43:44
mixed martial arts you love mixed
43:46
martial arts let's uh just keep watching
43:48
and wish everybody
43:49
success okay that's it a short and sweet
43:52
one for this week but uh make sure you
43:54
tune in to to UFC Fight Pass and uh I'm
43:56
not no sorry I'm not sure if cos and
43:58
Fight Pass or not but watch the the
44:00
fight night tomorrow night on Saturday
44:01
night and if you can I don't think for a
44:03
streaming for for james' fight uh I take
44:06
that back there might be and I'll see if
44:07
I can post where you can watch that I'm
44:09
G to try to watch it myself uh and uh
44:11
that's it fight friends keep watching
44:12
the fights and I will see you next week