Latest / Caught on the Mike... / Devin "Brown Bear" Clark - UFC Light Heavyweight/Elevation Fight Team

Transcript

Devin "Brown Bear" Clark - UFC Light Heavyweight/Elevation Fight Team · Caught on the Mike...

• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: Ladies and gentlemen, this is Caught on the Mic.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Ladies and gentlemen, in the very first episode of Caught on the Mike in the new year 2023, I am super, super, super excited because I've got Devin Brown Bear Clark on today.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I was just telling him before I started recording, I was in Aurora, Colorado in July.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: I watched Elevation Fight Team train.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: It was an awesome afternoon.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, man, I hadn't met Devin yet.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: Next thing I know, he was gone like a ghost.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: How you doing, man?
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, doing good, doing good.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_02: Uh getting in that that last part of camp.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so yeah, it's grindy, but it's it's getting done.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: How's the uh how's the weight management going right now?
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, actually, really good.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: I'm ahead of schedule with that.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_02: Uh that's one of the things I tried to change uh for my last fight.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_02: Just come in uh uh at least four or five pounds lighter uh than normal, making that weight cut a little easier.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so hopefully making uh my fight better.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Do you ever find yourself like getting cagey and kind of getting growling whenever you start cutting weight?
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_02: Uh no, not really.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I mean, I say that I don't, but I you know, my my wife, the other people who say that I kind of do.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I think I handle it pretty well.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_02: I've been doing it since I was uh, you know, it's hard to say this, but since I was like 10 years old, my mom had me in garbage bags going to sleep before you know wrestling weigh-ins and stuff like that.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_02: So um yeah, I'm no stranger to the weight cut.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know, cruising your Instagram earlier this afternoon, I noticed you made one other change uh since your last fight.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: You've converted to being Russian.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: Your new name is Devmot Clarkmanov, I believe.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: If you guys aren't following Devin on Instagram, please do.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: That was a funny post, man.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: I was just cruising it and I started laughing.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, holy shit, this is amazing.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that was um that's thanks to my my roommate, John Kuteman.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_02: He's he's 23 and he's a little bit of a ghostwriter when I get in camp.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, because I'm not like too shy or nothing, but I just don't have shit to post all the time and and I I'm not very creative with coming up with stuff like that.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_02: So uh he kind of came up with the idea.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, all right, let's let's do it.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: I love it, man.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: Well, sir, without any further ado, why don't you introduce yourself a little bit?
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Tell us your origin story.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'll try.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_02: I might bounce around a little bit, but you know, Devin Clark, uh I go by Brown Bears, my fight name.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_02: And uh yeah, I'm in the UFC now.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_02: I've been fighting with the UC, I think, going on seven years.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_02: And I originally got into fighting from wrestling.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: I grew up wrestling, started wrestling when I was about seven years old.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_02: Uh won a state title, won won a junior college national national title.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_02: Uh then after that, after I flunked out of school, I I messed up and I went to school for wrestling and not actually for school.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_02: So uh being young and dumb.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_02: But so yeah, after I I failed out of school, I was working construction and still wanted to be an athlete.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_02: So I started cage fighting and in like in the back room of um like a fitness gym.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_02: And my dad's friend, Sonny, he was the coach, and we'd pretty much go in there and spar every day.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so that's kind of how I I got started with MMA.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_02: We'd just go in there and spar every day, and I decided I wanted to try a fight.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_02: It's funny, my my dad was actually against it.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_02: He's like, oh no, whatever.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you didn't want to send me to this this this team and on this, that, but really he was kind of checking me to make sure I do it the right way.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_02: And he understood what I was getting into.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't really know understand what I was getting into.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, you know, it's another sport, like what's what's the big deal, but now it's it's blood and guts on on this side of it.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, I s I started fighting and figured out that I was pretty good at it when I applied my wrestling and and stuff like that.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_02: So I went undefeated uh all throughout my amateur fights, and then I went pro and was fighting mainly for the RFA, and I went undefeated there too, and I got signed by Dana White.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_02: He was doing that show looking for a fight on YouTube.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_02: So he was in the crowd that night, and I was fighting for an RFA title against a tough Brazilian.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_02: And I I go out there and and I'd get some like really good takedowns, like aggressive, some of the most aggressive takedowns I ever had.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_02: And the guy ends up breaking his finger, and and he realized he can't really do anything anyway.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_02: So he he gives up in between round two and three, he doesn't answer the I answer the bell over a broken finger.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, oh shit, I'm not gonna get signed.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_02: That didn't show enough.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_02: And then sure enough, I got signed, and some hard years later, here we are.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, I think I'm going in my 14th or 15th UFC fight and and continuously trying to get better at the same time.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_02: I had a daughter in 2013, and I have my wife, Megan, uh, and we've been together since high school.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_02: I think we were juniors in high school when we started dating, and we've been together ever since.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, I waited 10 years to marry her, but uh I was always like, ah, we're too young.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_02: Uh but yeah, uh wife and daughter, and we live in South Dakota, and I I do my my fight camps out here in in Denver, Colorado now.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_02: I originally did them in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_02: This is my third fight camp in Denver.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_02: So uh with the elevation fight team.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_02: I think everybody's caught up now.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_02: That's about where I am with life.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: Do you find, you know, being originally from South Dakota and rooted in South Dakota, you know, I've lived in Iowa, Nebraska.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: Wrestling is sorry to hear that.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, no, I I've lived all over the United States.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: I went to high school in Iowa and college in Iowa and then moved to Nebraska.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm a transplant, so you can talk all the shit you want, man.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, there's just plenty of it to go around.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, absolutely.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: But um do you find as Midwesterners, wrestling is really rooted in the Midwest, including, you know, like pro wrestling and where you're from in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, it's kind of a hub for all forms of combat sport, even and sports entertainment.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: Did any of that play any kind of influence on you when you were a kid?
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_02: Just the traditional wrestling, folk style wrestling.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, I was always surrounded by that.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_02: And I actually right now I live in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which um is not where I grew up.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_02: I grew up in Harrisburg, South Dakota, which is a small town, or it used to be a small town.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, it's grown quite a bit these days.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_02: But just smaller farm town.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_02: My my uh mom was from there.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_02: So I had my grandparents and stuff, they're from Harrisburg, South Dakota, but lived out in the country.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_02: So that's that's kind of how I grew up, going around in all these little rural towns, wrestling, uh, you know, as a as a young black kid in in the middle of South Dakota, uh, going around all these these tournaments every weekend and and getting all this kind of experience, competing, but also meeting different people and just kind of experiencing everything from a Midwestern point of view, small town point of view.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, so that's kind of what I know, yeah.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: You know, going kind of in line with that, I remember as a kid myself, I used to move all over the United States.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: It was like every two to four years.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: And um I didn't live in a small town until I was in a high school.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I'd lived in Denver.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, I've lived in Denver, I've lived in Albuquerque, I've lived in Amarillo, Texas, I've lived in Kansas City, Missouri, I lived in Des Moines, Iowa.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: And uh in high school, I moved to a small town, and that is just a different environment all together, like in good ways and in bad ways.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: And it really teaches you a lot about yourself whenever you're you know, kind of trying to sharpen your mindset and such.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: So, what kind of things did you learn growing up that you still apply to your career today that has really sharpened your sense of purpose?
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, one of the one of the main things, and it's a lot to do with like uh competing and and being able to be coached uh and starting wrestling at a at a young age.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_02: Uh that's why I say wrestling is one of the best sports.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, because you know these old wrestling coaches, they they treat you like they're they'll treat a high school wrest wrestler, you know.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_02: Um so you pretty much just listen and put the work in.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_02: And then especially when you're l young and you start putting that work in and doing the stuff the coaches say you're doing, stop goofing around and taking a little bit serious, then you start winning and and you realize that that that stuff pays off and that's crucial.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and and the thing about that is that's crucial with life too.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um it's it's the little things that matter and the dedication to everything and giving your all uh when you're n when you need to and and especially when when you're told to.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and especially if you're trying to get a uh a good outcome or a greater outcome than last time, something like that.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: You can't really uh do the same thing and expect different results.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_02: But growing up in a smaller town and and seeing some of those things, uh and it can it and not only with the wrestling, but with being in a farm community uh and stuff like that, seeing the farmers and how hard they work and just the the rural environment of you know it's rain, snow, whatever.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_02: We we have to get our work done.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um and and sometimes there's no one to help you.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and and the people that that you might need help from, you uh you have a close relationship to the relationship with them.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_02: And so you kinda it's a good lesson of of kind of who to trust and and you know keep your friends close and and stuff like that, and uh you rely on only the the close people in your life and those people that really care.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I'm glad you nailed on that because I think that's something I learned as well.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: I I really wonder wha how my life trajectory would have ended up differently if I had stayed in big cities, because learning work ethic in a small town and in a farm community is absolutely fucking huge.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, definitely, because uh like a neighbor or or your mom's friend or somebody, if somebody needs help, you go help them.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_02: Uh there's really no question about it.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_02: And and uh I've grown to enjoy that, enjoy being the guy that can go fix something, um, or go help somebody out, use my truck to pull somebody out.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_02: That's my favorite.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_02: Uh but uh it's yeah, so it's it's that's one of those things, just trying to be a good person and um and so I didn't grow up in the in the big city, so then when I started to venture out, mostly when I got to the UFC is when I started seeing the big cities and kind of how how people are in the bigger cities.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_02: Uh a lot of times they don't care.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it's people are just too busy, you know.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's not that they're assholes or nothing like that.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_02: Uh sometimes it is, but a lot of times they're just too they're just too busy and caught up with the the you know the faster pace uh lifestyle of of the city and and there's nothing wrong with that.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: And it is really kind of amplified whenever you're in a small town and you're a nice guy, everybody knows that you're a nice guy.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: But if you do some asshole shit, everybody knows you did that too.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, absolutely.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, word spreads quick in a small town.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: My wife is from a small town in Nebraska originally, and so that's it's something we commiserate on all the time.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: So how did you end up in Albuquerque?
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: Was that after you signed with the UFC or was that kind of a precursor to that?
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_02: Pretty much right when I got signed to UFC.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_02: So I got signed, and at the time I was kind of doing some two or three week camps.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_02: Actually, I was fighting for the RFA, so I was doing some two, three-week camps in uh in Vegas, and then I did one in like California and didn't quite maybe it was good training, but I didn't quite gel with it and stuff like that.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_02: But when I got signed, uh I knew I needed to go to a big gym for for a training camp, at least at least for a few weeks, a month, something like that.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, just because the the the training and the size of the training partners wasn't quite there yet in in Sea Falls.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_02: So I of course I had to travel and I'm undefeated at this point.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_02: I have my sights set really high.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna be the next USC champion, this and that.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_02: And my philosophy on it was I would I need to learn from the best.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_02: So it was my options in my head, my options were go train with Daniel Cormier or go train with John Jones.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, okay, Cormier, I think.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_02: And then I'm like, uh, my wrestling's pretty good.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_02: So let me go train with one of the best strikers in the world.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, I'm gonna go train with John Jones, and and that's kind of how I made my my decision to go to Jackson Wayne.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: And what was that experience like training with John?
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_02: It was amazing, amazing.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_02: Uh he he definitely he's helped me out over the years.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_02: He's I'm still friends with John.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_02: He's a bit of a mentor for me, uh quite a bit of a mentor, actually.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_02: It it and it was surreal to be in that room.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_02: So the first day I go in there and it's a r like a wrestling day, and Phil Hawes is in there, Tim Kennedy's in there, John's in there.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so I kind of I'm going with like Phil Hawes, and he, you know, he's a really good wrestler.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and I didn't go with John that first day.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_02: I I had it felt like I had to like pass these tests, you know, go through these other guys first and and kind of see how I trained.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_02: And so I went with Phil Hawes and it was super close around, competitive, but it was still, you know, like team teammate stuff.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_02: No one's trying to hurt anybody, stuff like that.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_02: So then the next day, it's um a little love sparring, and it's nine o'clock in the morning, and this is my second day in Albuquerque, second day in altitude, and I think it was Wink or whoever, or Izzy, Izzy, it might have been Izzy Martinez, um, say, all right, Devin, you want to go with John first?
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I go and so I'm walking to the cage.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_02: They have two big cages at at Jackson Wing.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_02: I'm walking to the cage and in my mind I'm like, what the fuck do I do?
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_02: I d I I'm like, all right, all right, Devin, do what you know.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_02: Do what you know.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_02: So I go in there and we have some good rounds.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_02: I think I I probably got like a little half-assed takedown on them, but it was it was super good, good rounds and in in pretty good chemistry.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_02: And at the time he was he was uh training for Cormier.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so obviously me being a little bit shorter and having the wrestling base and stuff like that ended up being a pretty good um fit for me and him to be training partners.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_02: And then of course after that we became friends and all that, and uh yeah, ended up staying at at Jackson Jackson Wank for what five, six years.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: Man, that's like skillet to the fire moment, isn't it?
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_02: And and the thing is at the time, obviously you got John Jones in the room, but these other people are were also world class.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Phil Hawes, Derek Brunson, Tim Kennedy, uh, and whoever else was there at the time.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_02: I know there's a lot of big names.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, so it was just a gauntlet of a of a room and a really good experience, especially when you're just kind of I just got in the UFC, so that was really good for me to see these high-level level fighters right away.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: Did you get to like experience some of the better parts of Albuquerque when you spent time there?
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I spent a lot of times in the mountains.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Sandia Mountains, just love and life.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_02: That's like for me, uh, that's the better part of Albuquerque.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know what I mean?
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's like and for a lot of years I enjoyed the environment of Albuquerque.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_02: Like, okay, this is where I'm going to get ready for a fight, and that's the whole mentality of the city.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_02: You don't run into too many cities where like anybody's down to fight at any time.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_02: Albuquerque, yeah, that's that's how it is.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of crazy because when I lived there as a kid, I used to I remember I lived in Rio Rancho and the house that we lived in, we would walk out on the back porch in October morning and you'd see all the balloons taking off for the balloon fiesta, snow on the mountains and the sandas, but like it's warm outside.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: You're like out in a jacket.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's one of the weirdest environments ever.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I told my mom at one point in time, I said, if I ever move back someplace, I want to move back to Albuquerque, not realizing how bad some of the other aspects were.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: Because of course I'm looking at it through rose-colored glasses because I was a kid living there, but she's like, the crime is awful.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, one of one of the worst, uh, yeah, some of the worst crime in in the country, uh, along with everything else.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's a cool city for sure, but right.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I think some of the leadership is is misguided.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I don't disagree at all.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: How did you make the transition to training in Colorado and working with the guys with Elevation Fight Team, Cody Donovan, Vinny Lopez, Zach Pounga, Curtis Blades?
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: How did you make that transition?
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_02: So I made the decision to to switch gems after uh the Ian Kutawapa fight.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_02: I got up beat up pretty good.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so like things at Jackson Wink were were changing.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um there's a lot of like heavyweight, but I didn't have too many guys in my exact weight class and stuff like that.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_02: And so it was just kind of uh the organization of it wasn't quite there for me uh at my point in my career.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm looking at it like, okay, I'm coming off loss and Kudalaba.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_02: I this could be my last fight um in the UFC.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um let me make a change.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_02: And of course it was super drastic and it was a really hard change to make.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it yeah, it I had to think about it, think on it for like weeks and have that nervous ball in my stomach, you know, trying to talk to Coach Wink about it, and then everybody else there.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, you know, it's something I did not want to do, but I felt I needed to do it um so I could so I could grow.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_02: I needed to see something else, uh, a different kind of leadership.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_02: So I had to plan to uh with my room roommate now, John uh John Kuhnman.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_02: We decided to try Denver first.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_02: Uh there's multiple teams here that we could go check out the gym, stuff like that.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_02: We ended up at high altitude and just stayed at high altitude.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we saw, yeah, I met Vinnie and Cody, and I'm like, all right, this the way they run things, the organization, the leadership, uh, and the and the the bonding of of you know the team.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I really enjoyed it.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_02: And I really enjoyed their f their philosophies and stuff like that.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_02: So I kind of made the decision without going to any other gyms.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_02: Uh that was the first gym that I made at or that I stopped at, and I was like, this is it.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, my observation and just getting to know all those guys uh over the past couple of years, I'm somebody that's pretty huge on core values and like living living out what your core values are and your integrity and such.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: And there's something about the high altitude guys and the elevation guys that I cannot define with words, but you just know, you just know and you trust them, and you know that the bonds there are absolutely genuine.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: And even watching all of you guys from afar, you know, the gorilla gang uh bond over over the past couple of years, like it's it's huge.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah, absolutely.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_02: I mean you can kind of feel it, and I didn't really know at the time, but like Vinny, you know, Vinny is you know, he's he's the man.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I I feel like I was kind of like in a little testing period, and I and I passed that test, you know.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_02: And it wasn't just because of my fight skill, um, how I it's how I am as a man and and my core values and what I stand for, it it aligned with a lot of what they do.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_02: They're all family men.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um and and that's one of the the the the big things on the team is you know looking out for each other and And um and and your family.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: And you can see it.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's so transparent.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: And like even just for those that are listening right now, and um if you follow any of the elevation fight team guys, any of the coaches, any of the fighters, and you follow their social media, they uh you know, they wear their hearts on their sleeves and put everything on full display.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that gives them a competitive edge.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: They are not afraid to be, you know, to show what the definition of, you know, for the dudes at least, what what real masculinity is these days.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, nobody on the team really shies away from it.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_02: And and and the thing is no one's out looking for a fight, it's like street fights, stuff like that.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_02: No one's no one's trying to, you know, big dog people and stuff like that.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_02: But if you're disrespecting uh or or you know, in in any way showing harm to somebody else that doesn't deserve it, like that shit shows right right up right now, and everybody is ready to go.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and that's from the coaches on down.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and so it's it's it's it definitely a uh super cool niche that we get we got going here on the team.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: Kind of speaking to some of your own personal core values.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: I know that you, I'm assuming you still are on the board, national board of Garrett's fight, uh, Down syndrome awareness.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: How did you come to that?
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, what was your why behind that?
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_02: I haven't done a whole lot with it as of lately.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_02: I still talked to Garrett and his and his dad, but I had a friend of mine that was was helping me at the time, and his son has Down syndrome, so that's the whole story on how I I got into it, and his name is Kevin Kroger.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_02: And at first I'm like, ah, you know, I d I don't know.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_02: I don't want to like like make that my deal just to get viewers and fans and and people like that.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_02: But it was actually something that I I do care about, and it's just some of these kids they want to fight, they want to do stuff, do normal stuff, and they fucking can do normal stuff, and a lot of times society will will say, Oh no, you you can't do that, whatever, not bullshit.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_02: I've seen it.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I was at so we we we drove from Sioux Falls to I think it was uh St.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_02: Louis, I think, is one of the only commissions that would do the fight, but Garrett actually had an MMA fight um uh with another another kid that has some disabilities and stuff too.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: But he had a real fight and seeing the bond that his dad him and his dad have and then being them being able to him being able to fight, even though everybody told him no, and and to see how much pressure that was on his dad too, because if something went wrong, it was it was on his dad, you know, on his guardian.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_02: And they're both like F that Garrett trained for it, he still trains, and his dad uh helps him out, and Garrett wants to do this stuff, it should be more of a deal, and everybody should care about it.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and it it's a lifetime deal, you know, showing support for for some of my friends, you know.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I like what you said there, and it was kind of a blink and you missed it comment, but you didn't do this and become involved with this for the sake of clicks, you did it because you believed that it was you believed genuinely in the causes about, yeah.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_02: And and at the time it was really to spread awareness, you know.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: So February 4th, you were originally supposed to go to Korea.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: How pissed off are you about that?
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I'm not too pissed off about it.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_02: So, like, it was gonna be a cool trip, right?
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_02: It's gonna be a cool trip.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_02: Go to South Korea, see the world, all that stuff, uh, which is cool.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, super cool.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_02: It was in his home, you know, in his in his backyard.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but now this guy's got to come into my backyard.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_02: I fought at the Apex so many times.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, you know, let's go.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_02: You're in my backyard now.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_02: This is we're in America.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_02: This is how we do shit.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_02: You're about to run up against an American wrestler.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_02: That's uh I got some redemption shit to do.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_02: Uh this is for me.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_02: That as this fight has nothing to do with my opponent.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, I I I respect all of his skills and everything like that, but this is a redemption fight for me.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um hopefully a redemption year, a redemption next few years.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I've uh it it's it's hard because I've I've I'm growing so much being around these these guys at high altitude and the coaches, it's it's it's transforming me a little bit.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't want to get ahead of myself and be like, oh, I'm a change fighter, this and that.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_02: Like that that's not the case, but uh I've been able to change a few small things that that will make me a better fighter as long as I uh hold up my end of the deal, my end of the contract, and I go up there to actually fight.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_02: My last fight was not the case.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_02: That was I didn't go out there to win the fight.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_02: I just kind of showed up and expected shit to go my way and everything went wrong.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and I didn't re react in in the in the proper way.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you you broke a pinky toe during that last fight too, didn't you?
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_02: Not during the fight.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_02: I broke it 20 minutes before the fight, uh hitting pads, and then I broke my left hand in the first round.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um which sucks and in most people like and I heard I've I heard it a lot after the fight, like, oh well shit, what do you expect with the broken pinky and a broken hand or broken toe and a broken hand?
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, it's alright that you lost that fight.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, no, it's not alright.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_02: We train to be the baddest motherfuckers and to you know, that doesn't matter.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_02: You'll ask Cody or Vinny, you'd be like, Oh yeah, I broke my I broke my hand, broke my finger.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_02: It's their words, fuck that hand, fuck that finger.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_02: You have a job to do right now.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_02: You know?
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_02: And at first I'm like, ah, well, it's you know, I I can still feel it though, but we're training for that, uh to to have that pain.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_02: And even now you have these little nagging injuries and stuff like that, and it's it's we're you're figuring out how how to deal with that in in real time.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um it's not something you think about, you just you kind of bury it and learn how to fight with it.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um and and so that that was a huge lesson that I learned in the last fight.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_02: I let that those things get to me, and I was thinking about those when I was should have been thinking about winning the fight.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_00: Do you ever wonder if having such a high high like the win over William Knight just before that fight and having that low just kind of how that might have messed with your head a little bit too in between?
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, absolutely.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, because that was my uh William Knight fight was my first camp at high altitude um elevation fight team.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_02: And so we were on this this high, we won that fight, we did what we needed to do.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_02: Uh then I go into the second the the this last fight, and it's a totally different fight.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and you can't treat one fight like another fight, totally different fighters.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_02: It was a different weight class, even heavyweight to light, heavyweight.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, so it's it's a definitely uh a different feel.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_02: And I I feel like I kind of got into that uh cruise control mode whereas where I said as long as I do everything I did in my last fight, I'll be fine.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and that that's not always the case.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes the wind will be kind of handed to you, you can kind of be a little more comfortable and do this and that.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_02: And sometimes you have to go get it.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and that last slide is where I needed to go get it, uh, and I failed to do that.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I don't want to throw strategy out there or anything, but your next opponent is six foot four, and he's primarily a striker, and I'm sure that's kind of weighing on your mind a little bit as far as strategy goes, isn't it?
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, he's 6'4, he's a striker, he's got these little baby hips.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I should be able to take him down all day long.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_02: But in again, we're we're in the UFC and people train for people like me as well, especially now.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_02: You have the Russians coming up and they're doing all this wrestling stuff.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_02: People have they're forced to train what train it now.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I don't expect any easy takedowns or anything like that, which it'll probably be easy anyways, but I'm not expecting it.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um I expect to have to work for it and and and set stuff up, and you know, and and vice versa.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_02: It it's a fight, and I'm going out there to play this game, this fight game.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, which before I was like last time I just kind of showed up, and that happens sometimes.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_02: It it can't happen this time, it won't happen this time.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm going out there, my mind's made up already.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_02: I'm going out there, I'm playing that game, and I'm gonna win that game.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I have to put all these tools that I have toward towards that night.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and I have to keep reminding myself my myself, because you know, we as fighters we get so much pressure from the outside world, social media, our coaches even, our our spouses.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um and you kind of like, oh I gotta do this.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_02: This person said this, this, that.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but I've been making a routine uh before I train.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_02: No, this this is for me.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_02: This one's for me.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_02: These next all my next fights are for me because at the end of the day, that's that's who has to go out there uh in that fight.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_02: I can't I I uh you know, I I can't put it on my coaches or my dad or this and that, expecting them uh to to get me emotionally ready to go for this fight or something, you know, and and it it's uh I figured out that it is it's all on me and I can easily get myself ready for this fight.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, emotionally in in that time.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously I have like a mental coach and everything like that, but I'm saying like at the end of the day, right before we walk out there, I have to make that decision that I'm gonna go out there and fight, and I'm gonna go out there and win, and I'm gonna uh try to win instead of just playing it safe and hope hoping for a quick knockout or or something like that.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_02: No, I it that could be the case, or it could be a 15-round grinder uh dog fight.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_02: So being prepared for all of it.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yeah, and it doesn't hurt things that one of your training partners happens to have one of the best double leg takedowns in the world with Cardis.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_00: But one of your other training partners wanted me to ask how often does he judo throw you through the air?
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_00: One time.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_02: I'm assuming this is Zach.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, he he got me a really good one one time.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_02: Uh you can rib him about that.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_02: There's a second time where he had a decent one, but it wasn't, it didn't hurt, so it didn't count.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_02: Uh the first one though, the first time he did it, I'm in the air and I hit my back.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, oh my, what was that?
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it was super nice.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_02: I had to give him props right there, like nice throw.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um but uh yeah, that hasn't happened again, and it won't happen again.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_00: He's one of the most like low-key funny guys ever.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_02: I think that was because he used to be a cop.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you gotta be have a little humor being a cop.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_02: Could see Zach sipping coffee, talking shit with the donuts.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_00: From the ice bass.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's great.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_00: That's fantastic.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_00: So outside of the ring, what are some of your hobbies?
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_02: Hunting, fishing, hanging with my family, uh, stuff like that.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I like shooting guns.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_02: Also off-roading.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um I I love my truck.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody knows me will tell you I love my my goddamn truck that breaks down every now and then because I beat the shit out of it.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_02: But uh, but yeah, it's what I do, I guess.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_02: Uh a little bit of video games, but even in my video games, I'm uh I play like uh truck games, like simulation truck games, and so you know, it's so you uh you did some winter camping on New Year's?
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_00: How did that go?
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it was good.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it was a little cold, but uh we we managed.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_02: We were gonna stay the night, but we decided not to.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_02: Uh because if we so we went out there, I don't probably left Denver at like 11 a.m.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_02: or something like that.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_02: Uh then got up there and all that.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_02: But it uh if we were were to stay overnight, we I had training at 8 30 in the morning the next day.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_02: We would have to get up at like 4 a.m.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_02: tear down camp, uh, then hike back and then drive back.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_02: And we're like, that's not a good setup for a good week of training.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um so we XA'd that and just kind of hung out.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_02: We hiked up there, it was a really good hike, uh, camped for a few hours, then then hiked back, and and it was a good experience.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, a lot of the reason we go up to altitude is is for conditioning reasons, yeah.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_02: Uh breathing, and anytime you're getting that altitude in is is good.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so and I can actually feel, you know, from that that trip alone, uh, how much better my lungs felt uh the next few days.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_00: What's it like for you having been training in Denver?
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_00: Because you you've been there a little over a year now.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um what's it like going to another climate and doing something like light cardio or some fight training in another climate after you've been in that elevation?
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_00: Do you notice a difference?
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_02: Not really.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_02: Uh you might when you're warming up and stuff like that, but in the fight, I don't notice it too much in the fight.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_02: I still get tired and every everything like that.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but what it does do, um, because obviously you can work harder when you have that.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so you actually work harder when you come down to sea level or anything like that.
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but you can last longer, your body can last longer, your endurance is there.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, you know how to calm yourself down, your recovery is a shorter time, stuff like that, the little things that really really matter.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, you're still gonna feel tired.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of people are like, oh, I'm I'm training out to you, I'm gonna be good, I'm not gonna get tired.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_02: No, you're gonna get tired.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it's just you're you're gonna know how to deal with it better.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, management.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, nope.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_00: So the new uh the new high altitude location, I have to make it out there.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_00: I'm yeah, gonna try and make it out there around springtime.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_00: So uh I'm gonna have to run into you whenever I get out there.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it's it's a super cool facility.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, a lot lots of room.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_02: It's new, shiny, mats are new, new cage, uh, and it it's a super cool deal because when when you have a new facility like that, people uh there's like an instant like motivating factor of having that that new facility.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um it just makes you want to get better.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and and yeah, the team's super happy right now with the with the new facility.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, it's like new pair of shoes or new gym clothes, right?
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, just instant confidence boost and everything like that.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_02: It it worked out good and it it turned out really good, and they did it in a pretty short amount of time, so it's yeah, kind of impressive.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_00: So, Devin, what is your advice, given the state of the world right now, for making the world a better place?
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I would say shut down social media.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_02: Uh all everything.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_02: Shut it down.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_02: Uh take us back, you know, 20, 30 years.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um texting's cool, stuff like that.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_02: But I I feel like social media is one of the things that's most wrong with the world.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_02: Even though I I use it every day, I look at it every day and stuff like that.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but if we didn't have it, it people would have to get out in the world and actually experience stuff, and um there wouldn't be as much bullshit because just you can bullshit so easily on Instagram, you have these people living these lavish lifestyles, and you you take that camera away outside that lens, these motherfuckers are living on an air mattress and and this and that, seeing in a house with 20 other people.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it's fake and it it's creating a fake society, and I feel like it's a little bit giving the wrong message to especially kids, and saying, Oh, you you have to do this or you can do this, this and that.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_02: Like it makes it hard for a kid or a younger person to decide on their own with all this extra influence, especially with all the sex.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_02: You can't go on Instagram without seeing titties for no reason, and it's it's normal, even good girls or good women, whatever you want to call them, uh, that are loyal and this and that, they're still showing titties, and it's it's normal, it's accepted, which you know, I'm all for women's rights and women doing whatever the hell they want, but it's it's not what they're saying it is.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, you know, it's a it's a quick fix or a quick reaction, it's a quick reaction.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_02: And so and everybody loves titties, so it's obviously they're getting likes.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_02: You know, even women, like whatever.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_02: So people are getting likes on stuff they shouldn't get likes on, and then they're getting this confidence, this false confidence, uh, that doesn't relay in in real life.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_02: Uh you're all you can be an all-star on social media, and then you go out real life and you're a shitty person and you don't have skills and this and that.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_02: Uh if social media shut down, you wouldn't know what to do.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, I don't think that's all right.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, I think people should be able to to live and actually uh have some skill.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_02: Uh if the man or woman doesn't have any skill, I mean, what you know, what what uh what are they?
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_00: Jeez, dude.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I gotta tell you something.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_00: I I'm not a bullshitter.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm always I wear my heart on my sleeve, I shoot it straight.
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_00: So um, you know, I've I've had a god awful week.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we we we had some stuff happen at home, had some stuff happen with a friend, regardless.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um but uh I had almost the same exact conversation today, except I was on your side of it.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I was talking with some friends of mine and I was talking about how a couple of years ago I took a social media fast.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_00: It was from Christmas until the day after uh New Year's.
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_00: And the whole point was is to find more meaningful engagement with people and interact with people in the real world again.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_00: So when I log back on the day after that week long, week and a half long fast, I logged back on.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_00: The first thing I did was purge like 350 people from Facebook alone because I'm realizing the importance of more meaningful interaction, more meaningful engagement, keeping your circle small but impactful.
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_00: So it kind of hits on everything you just said, and I shit you not, dude.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_00: I just had that conversation last night.
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_00: So serendipitous, brother.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, but everybody sees it, and everybody knows it.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it's gotten to the point where there's even warnings about having too much social media in your life and and the stress that it puts on you and the depression that it can cause.
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_02: If you challenge somebody to go um say you go on social media for two hours, you have to be on social media for two hours straight.
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_02: That's that's all you do.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_02: You're just on social media scrolling, whatever, whatever.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_02: By the time you get done with that, you're gonna be like, you're not gonna feel good about yourself.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_02: Uh you have all these especially you know, you have all these people, uh good-looking people, people with money, this and that.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_02: They're doing things this, you know, a certain way, and you realize, oh, I'm not doing that.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I need to do that, I need to get better at um posting, I need to know how to make reels, I need to need to know how to do this and try to keep up with the social media, which is good.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_02: People are making careers out of it and stuff like that.
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but it it it it it messes with people, and especially young people, uh people that have uh anxiety issues already or low self-esteem issues already.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_02: I don't believe uh that like social media as a whole is helping.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_02: And now on on the other hand of that, there are a lot of good accounts on on social media, a lot of motivational stuff and and staying healthy and diets and and just all around, you know, normal people doing normal stuff.
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_02: I like that uh farming's become a a trend on social media.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_02: You got city people buying buying farms and chickens and shit.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, uh so I I I like that part of it.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_02: And there's a positive part of it, but as a whole, I think if it went away, we'd be a better uh society.
• 43:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's crazy for guys like you, like fighters like you and public figures and guys like me that are trying to you know push a creative devil endeavor like a podcast.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's a necessary evil, and it's something that sometimes we have to stop and make peace with because it's like, man, I don't wanna, you know, I talk about this with in regards to my podcast quite frequently.
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, you know, I have two rules, and my rules are I won't talk politics and I won't talk religion because my belief is everybody's a person, you are an individual, so is everybody else.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_00: But like I'm not gonna engage in the low hanging fruit that.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: Just for the sake of clicks.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to do it.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_00: I would rather talk about having meaningful conversations and be as much of a listener as I am a speaker.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's a lot of what social media has erased.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's erased people's ability to have meaningful conversations.
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's like follow my shit and believe my shit, or you're the enemy kind of stuff.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_02: There's just so much content now.
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um and it's it's watered down.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um and you know there's so many so you know, I'm getting in your realm a little bit, but there's so many podcasts and and people doing shows and this and that.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_02: They're not all good.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_02: Right, I know.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_02: And and you know, as a human, you're like, oh, they're on social media, they got views.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_02: They're probably right.
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_02: In a lot of cases, like, no, that's fucking you know, like um yeah, the taste, uh yeah, like he says whatever he says.
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_02: I don't even know a lot of his his I don't I don't follow him.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um but people live by what he says, and same with Joe Rogan and and this and that, and it's it's you know, people are forgetting to think think for themselves.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I I know a whole community of people that um if I said something that was for Joe Rogan or against what Joe Rogan said, I know exactly what the reaction is gonna be.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like you know, people are forgetting to kind of have their own idea on things and and come up with stuff on their own.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_02: Uh or maybe I'm just an asshole that's out of date, but no, no, no, brother.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_00: We are two peas in a pod.
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_00: We're two assholes that are out of date.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_00: So, dude, I absolutely love this conversation, and I uh dude, I'm so glad that you and I are connecting on all this stuff and we finally made this happen.
• 46:09
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, for sure, yeah.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm happy to be on.
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_02: I love talking a little bit, dude.
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_00: I do too.
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_00: What is your Instagram handle for my listeners?
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_02: Uh at Brownbear UFC.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_02: Uh after I get done shitting on Instagram.
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we yeah, you everybody Devin just shit on Instagram, so go follow him on Instagram.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_00: Let's double his follower count just because hey, it's 2023.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_02: That's what we do.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_00: You that's exactly what we do.
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_00: But uh, that's the that's the power of cognitive dissonance.
• 46:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's having the ability to hold these two thoughts in your mind and not totally have those thoughts compete with one another, just yeah, coexist.
• 46:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, yeah.
• 46:52
  SPEAKER_00: But for real, man, I am so happy we finally got to connect.
• 46:57
  SPEAKER_00: I'm proud to call you a friend.
• 46:59
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for doing the show.
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'm excited to see what's next.
• 47:02
  SPEAKER_00: I do feel like there are some great things coming for you and your teammates.
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's like it's like watching uh the chimney before Santa Claus comes down.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_00: You know something big is about to happen in with watching the gorilla gang.
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's just a matter of it happening, right?
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's like the Bulls right before Jordan hit that sweet spot.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Devin Clark, thank you very much for doing the show.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_00: The the world's a better place with you in it, my friend.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_02: I appreciate that.
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for having me on.
• 47:39
  SPEAKER_02: Great conversation, great show.
• 47:41
  SPEAKER_02: Appreciate you.
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_00: Once again, I want to thank my friend Devin Brown Bear Clark for being on the show today.
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure you give him a follow on Instagram at Brown BearUFC.
• 47:53
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure you give Elevation Fight Team a follow on Instagram, and also follow High Altitude Martial Arts based out of Denver, Colorado, on Instagram.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_00: They're great people, always great guests of the show.
• 48:09
  SPEAKER_00: While you're following them, make sure you give Caught on the Mic a follow on all forms of social media Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
• 48:20
  SPEAKER_00: You can also visit me at www.caughtonthemic.com.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_00: Go back to Spotify, go back to Apple Podcasts, listen to some past episodes because we have some exciting things in store for 2023.
• 48:37
  SPEAKER_00: I can't wait to share them with you guys.
• 48:39
  SPEAKER_00: This has been Caught on the Mic with Michael Clark.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Michael Clark.
• 48:43
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, thank you.