Latest / Caught on the Mike... / "The Gifted One"- UFC Lightweight- Rafa "Gifted" Garcia

Transcript

"The Gifted One"- UFC Lightweight- Rafa "Gifted" Garcia · Caught on the Mike...

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna start today's episode of the podcast a little bit differently with some editorial remarks.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: First and foremost, my guest for episode 50 is awesome.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: I hope that by the time this episode ends, you are getting on the YouTube rabbit hole and watching every single one of his fights.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: Now for the editorial remarks.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: As Murphy's law would have it, for episode 50, I must have had gremlins in the system someplace.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: We started off recording remotely with Riverside FM, and they were having server issues, so we immediately got kicked off.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: We had to move the podcast over to Zoom to record, and there were audio issues with Zoom.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: So I apologize if the audio on my side is a little bit harsher than normal.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: But this podcast is not about me, it is about the fantastic guest that I have sitting across from me.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: So enjoy this episode.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: I look forward to doing more episodes with Rafa in the future.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks, everybody.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like that moment where your family delete enough to use that to pack up everything moved across the country.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: Or a UFC 11 by the name of Cubs Watson starts to manage your career.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: Or that moment when a top title contender by the name of Justin Gates becomes one of your biggest allies and training partners.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: But most importantly, that moment when you have that belief in yourself that you can accomplish great things that you have set out to do your whole life.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: This is the story of my friend Rafa Garcia, and I'm excited to have him as a guest on the podcast today.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: Ladies and gentlemen, this is caught on the mic.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: Here I am, sitting across from the gifted one, Rafa Garcia.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: How the heck are you, my friend?
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: Good, good.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: Happy to be here.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm glad to have you.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: How's the weather in Colorado right now?
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_02: Man, I'm trying to get used to it.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_02: I'm from the desert, so I'm the desert.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_02: I live in a ranch, so coming to the city and to the cold is something else.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_02: Over there, I had no neighbors.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_02: Right here, I have neighbors, so that's a big difference here.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: Without any further ado, why don't you introduce yourself, talk a little bit about your fighting career and how you got to where you're at?
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_02: Well, my name is Rafael Garcia.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_02: I'm from Mexicaliba, California, Mexico.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_02: I live in a border town.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I live with the border, a border in Mexico is called Mexicali, and the city on the U.S.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_02: is called Impro Valley.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_02: So I started fighting when I was um 13.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_02: I started I started doing MMA.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_02: My dad took me to the to the international guard.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_02: I had like a self-defense program there, and I just fell in love with it.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_02: I just loved I started grappling, and then when by the time I was 16, I did my first amateur fight.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_02: And from there on, I just loved it.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_02: I wanted it, I wanted this to be my job, made it my career.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: Did you play any other sports outside of fighting?
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I played a little bit of soccer, played probably all the way till I was like probably like 14, 15, but uh after every game instead of playing soccer, it was turned into a fight.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_02: So my dad was just like, uh, if you're gonna be fighting after every game, you might rather you just do fighting, but like like in where somebody with legal where there's a referee and stuff instead of just getting fights after every game.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: Like in a controlled environment, right?
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_02: You know, when you get a little bit older, people like get more serious about their playing sports and everything.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_02: So when after every soccer game, it would be everybody would get kind of mad.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_02: So if we go we would get into it.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: What was your pathway to becoming a pro?
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_02: Uh well, I I wrestled, I wrestled a year in high school, like that helped a little bit.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_02: And then I went to college for a year and wrestled in college for a year.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_02: And after that, I just decided as soon as I training teen, I I was like, I wanted to profession already.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_02: So I did like half a year in college, and then I just went into MMA and made that my career.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I knew I wanted to be a professional fighter, so there was You have an impressive record 13 wins, two losses, and the majority of your wins are by submission.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: So, would you consider yourself a submission artist?
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know about submission artists.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I love grappling.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_02: That's what that was like my base.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_02: That's what I first thing they taught me when I started going doing MMA.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_02: So I mean, uh, I mean, I love grappling, that's like my favorite thing.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: So, did you have siblings that you used to grapple down?
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_02: No, I'm actually the oldest one.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_02: The younger, the I have a brother, he's five years younger than me, and then I have a sister, she's 13 years younger than me.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, that's quite an age difference.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: So, you guys all get along okay then?
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we get along very very well.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but yeah, like my brother, he has like an amateur fight, so she kind of like fought a little bit, then he just did something else.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_02: Sorry for um went to his job and got a job and she just stopped fighting.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: So you're currently in the lightweight division of the UFC, but you uh fought for and you held the championship for another um organization before this, correct?
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_02: I fought for Kumbata Americas and I was a champion there.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: How did that feel?
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it felt good, you know, but that wasn't that was the goal that my goal was to be the UFC champion.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um that was always in my head when I when I was in combat, I was I was with like my goal when I got in here was to be a UFC champion.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_02: I wanted to be the best in the world and be recognized as the best in the world.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_02: To do that, you gotta be in the UFC and be the and have that UFC belt.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: And you fought three times in 2021 with the UFC, and your first fight with the UFC was taken on three days' notice, wasn't it?
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it was.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_02: I cut 22 pounds in two days.
• 6:07
  unknown: Wow.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: So tell us a little bit about how that came about.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so I was like in a kind of a contract situation with Kumbata Medicas, where we were like in the dealing, the negotiation deal, and um a few days um after the that that was done, um um Cub told me like Cub sponsor my manager, so he told me, hey, I want you to be kind of like kind of in wait or just because we can get the car anytime, you know, just be ready.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_02: And so I mean, I I used I used to drive three hours to Orange County.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_02: So um I drove to Orange County that week to go train, and and um Cub told me Cub said told me that he got an email, I think he got a Tuesday night, but it was like Tuesday, like 11:30 at night.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_02: So almost like Wednesday.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_02: And he told me he he didn't even want to call me.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_02: He told me, I haven't I just want to let him sleep good because you're also gonna be starting thinking about the weight and everything.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_02: So he called me next morning.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_02: He told me, how much do you weigh?
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, Man, I'm like 178.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: And he was like, You think you can make 156 by by Friday?
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, hell yeah, I don't know how I'll do it, but I'll do it.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_02: I'll make it, I'll make weight.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that that I wasn't gonna let go of that opportunity.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_02: I've been working it for so hard.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, 13 years since I started from 13, I debuted when I was 26.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_02: I wasn't gonna let that go.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: So, what did you do?
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: Did you move into a sauna for three days or what?
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_02: Practically, I was walking with the sauna, running with a sauna, doing everything with the sauna seat on.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I mean, it was a little painful, you know.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I'm not gonna lie.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, kind of suffered a little bit, but I mean I got it done.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that was my ticket into the UFC.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_02: Like one thing that I remember Cup told me he was like, Man, you gotta make weight because if you don't make weight, like the the fight could get canceled and you you don't you won't have a contract, so I was just like more pressure to me to make weight.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: So that fight in particular is kind of what led to your contract then.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's awesome.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: So, how many, if you don't mind me asking, how many fights do you have on your contract?
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um, four.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_02: So this is my last one.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, this one.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so um and and I haven't brought that up yet, but on April 16th, you're fighting Jesse Ronson, right?
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yeah.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: So what are preparations for that like currently?
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um I mean, just try to be fast and try to be me, you know, try to work my game plan.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_02: I'll try to pressure him forward, try to get him tired, take him down, be make it dirty, you know, just be on top of him, um, get some dirty boxing in there, um some ground and pounding there, and just try to make him quit, you know.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: And you just recently moved to Colorado, so has that kind of changed your coaching arrangement, or do you still have the same corner, or what what's happening with that situation currently?
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_02: So I was trending over there um in Orange County um with with Cup, and then um I think it was for when Gaishi fought Khabib.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um I came out here and and I helped and I became really good friends with Gaishi.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_02: When I fought um Chris Gritz in my chair, um I asked him if I could do camp here, and he was like, Yeah, just come over.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_02: And we just like became really even better friends.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_02: Like I started training with him, he started helping me a lot.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_02: And then um I I mean I liked a lot here, and I just from my I just came back to do my camp with when I found a fun and just decided that it's best look for me to to do good in this sport was to come out here to Colorado.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_02: So I decided to bring out my family and just uh be all about it, you know.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: So you're building your family in Colorado now, right?
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, and you got two little kids?
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, two little kids of uh he's gonna be six months this month and a two-year-old.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, congratulations, man.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: Congratulations.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: How has that changed things for you as far as how you view your fighting career?
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I mean, I just gotta feel like it motivates me a little bit more, you know.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_02: Well, not a little bit, but a lot more, you know, because uh, I mean, I'm doing, I mean, it's my job.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, this is what I do for a living, so I gotta even train even harder because I mean they're sacrificing too because they're coming out here with me, you know, and they're coming out here because they believe in me.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_02: Here, my kids and my family, so I gotta put everything, you know, and not leave no doubts to go out there and do it for them.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: And that's really inspiring.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: And you and I were talking actually when we first attempted to record this 10 minutes before we we started this one and kind of through Instagram.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: I was really inspired by your last post-fight press conference.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: Because that win had to feel great, didn't it?
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it did.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you know, sometimes you work so hard, and like my first two UFC fights, I didn't get the results I wanted to.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean, that was just like that was the best feeling I ever had.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: I can't even explain it.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: Do you think maybe with the first two fights that it was more of a psychological thing than just because you were adjusting to such a huge change in your life?
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: Finally getting that thing you've sought after your whole life.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like it was yeah, I feel like it was more about me trying to make an impression, you know.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like you see my first two, my first two fights.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um, in the first one, I went in there and I was like taking their head off almost and like almost like so close, you know, even to finish them and hit them so hard.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_02: And um, I just sat down with the with my manager, and I was like, cub and I was like, whatever we did wrong.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_02: He told me, like, when you get to this level, everybody's tough, you know, everybody's game, maybe everybody's been tested, so you gotta like break them down little by little.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_02: You can't just go out there and just try to like rip their head off and trying to try and make an impression, you gotta get the win.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_02: So that's what I did in my last fight.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_02: I started breaking my opponents down little by little, and instead of trying to make an impression, I was trying to go in there and get the win, you know.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: I really admire the fact that you've brought your family to a place to where you can maintain a hundred percent of that focus so you can elevate your game throughout.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: Because if anybody listening to this has a few free moments, get on YouTube and watch some of Rafa's past fights.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_01: They are incredible.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_01: Seriously, dude, like whenever you and I started talking a few months ago, I dove down that YouTube rabbit hole and I just watched pretty much everything.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: So nice.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: So so I'm a huge fan, man.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: I I I'm a huge fan.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: What are some of the unique skills that you've had to adapt to make yourself successful, not just in the octagon, but in life in general?
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I mean, I feel like just I'm just I feel like I'm really humble, you know.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_02: Like even like when when I'm always like I'm always trying to improve.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_02: So I mean, even if I get a big win, I'm always trying to looking for little things to improve, you know.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I'm always trying to learn.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm never I'm never stubborn, like trying to be like, oh, I know everything.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm always trying to learn.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_02: I'm always asking, hey, what did I do wrong?
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_02: Taking advice from everybody, and just listening to everybody.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_02: Because I mean, I feel like the moment when you stop, when you start thinking that, oh, I know everything, oh, I know what I'm doing.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, you when you be trying to become like your own coach or just like not listening to people, that's when you start things start going not good, you know.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_02: So that's something I feel that it's I've always done, and and and I feel like it helped me a lot just listening to people, listening to people advice, tell me, listen to people when they tell me I'm doing something wrong, or you know, just just trying to trying to correct all the little mistakes I've I've made in the past.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: And humility is a pretty powerful thing, and I think that's something that you don't naturally have, it's something that's taught to you over time.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: And with that said, who are some of your heroes in life?
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_02: Ah, my heroes.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a real religious person.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like God is my hero.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I mean, um I mean, my dad's the one who got me into this, so he he's always believed in me.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_02: Like I feel like he's always been like the guy who's always telling me, like, when I was 13 year old, he was telling me, Hey, like, I see that you could um train to this place, and he'd like would start making things in his head, like, yeah, I mean, we could probably get you out there.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what where would you like to go train?
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_02: Like, he was I feel like he was seeing into the future too much.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, Dad, I'm only like 15 years old.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what why you want to send me out and train out there?
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I feel like like he always had that like that belief in me.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_02: So I feel like that kind of like got me like uh I kind of like more motivated and everything.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_02: So I feel like he's one of the guys that pushes me the most.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's almost like he kind of took you and put you in a place where you could kind of be the hero of your own story.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, for sure.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I've I bet he was the villain like in many stories.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_02: Because I remember at the beginning, um a lot of people would tell him, like, hey, how can you put your 16-year-old son and get him in taken to the fight?
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_02: Because I back then, like, there was like all the events were like in kind of like in Mexico, they were like kind of like on a nice place, they're kind of like in bars and stuff like that, where they used to do the case fighting.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_02: So for my dad should explain to them, hey, I'm gonna take my kids um to go to go do some sport, uh, it was just fighting.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um, come and see them to the fight, come to us, probably gonna be like, You're gonna take your kids to go get in a bar fight practically.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_02: So, I mean, a lot of people were like, Man, you shouldn't do that.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_02: You're doing something wrong.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_02: And my dad just never cared, he just cared about seeing me happy and just supporting what I wanted to do.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: And when your kids get older enough, are you gonna get them involved in martial arts?
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, if they want to, I'm not gonna push them, push them to do it.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, nobody pushed me to do it.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_02: I I just did it because I wanted to and I love this sport, so I want that them to do whatever they want.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, whatever they want, I'm just gonna support them.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_02: That's as I got supported.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_02: My wife definitely wants them to wrestle.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_02: They want she wants my girls to wrestle, to fight.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_02: My boy, the same thing.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but I'm just like, well, whatever they want to do, I'll support them 100%.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_02: They're gonna do it, they're gonna do it right.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, for sure.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's funny.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_01: My kids, like, at first, I wanted to push them into it.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, you gotta go do some form of martial arts, just because I wanted them to learn that discipline that comes with it, right?
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: You know, because what a lot of people miss about like MMA, martial arts, things like Taekwondo and jujitsu is not just the physical aspects of it, but the mental discipline that comes along with it as well.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway, I wanted to push my kids into it, and I ended up letting them find it their own way.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: And now my 13-year-old son, I kind of seem like I have a kinship with your dad.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: Because I'm like, come on, dude, we're gonna work out today because he's passionate about it, right?
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think I feel like that's the way I'm gonna be my daughter.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_02: Right now, she's just like, she'll see me, she'll be like, she'll like she loves that.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_02: She'll be she'll she'll be like wrestling, wrestling, papa, and she'll grab the leg.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, stop.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_02: Because I'll be walking and she'll just like kick me.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_02: She's like, kick who just kicked me so hard.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_02: You're you're strong a little girl.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's that's an incredibly rewarding moment whenever your kids latch onto something, and you're like, Man, I'm I'm a little scared.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: You might end up being better than me at this.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_02: That's the goal.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_02: That's the goal.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_02: So it's that's that's all you so.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: What do you do with your downtime?
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_01: Whenever you're not focused on on camps and your next fight, what do you do for fun?
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: What do you do to unwind?
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I just love spending time with my family.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_02: This sport takes so much time, you know, from you, and it's just like takes you away from your family.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_02: Like you're just when even with your family's here, you sometimes you're just like so focused on your fight, like you're thinking about what you're gonna do tomorrow.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_02: Just like tomorrow I'm gonna do I'm gonna do like a hard cargo session.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm just thinking about it like mentally preparing.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_02: I'm just like, man, I'm gonna do some sprints, I'm gonna do this.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_02: So uh you know, um, just when I don't have a fire try to like to dedicate as much time as I can and spend it with them because I mean they they they feel it, you know.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: So since you've been living in Colorado, how long ago did you move there?
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I've been here just like for a month, month and a half.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_02: Oh not even a month, just a just a month.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_02: It was just it was recent.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: Man, so you haven't even got to experience nice weather, Colorado as a tourist here.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: No, have you?
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_02: No, I haven't.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_02: I told my wife when before I got here, we're like, everything's so green, everything's so nice, and everything when we got here, everything was dried up and everything.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_02: My wife, but she was like, Where's the green trees?
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_02: Where's everything?
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'm like, Oh, it's winter.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: I was uh so my family goes out there at least twice a year.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: I'm in uh Lincoln, Nebraska.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: Man, I gotta come out there sometime soon and like do like a round table type podcast with you guys and maybe do like do a hike someplace or something just off the charts because I love it.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: I love going out there, man.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: That's like Colorado's one of my favorite places on earth.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, in the summer or the spring is so beautiful.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_02: That's what I was telling my wife, and we got here in the winter, so it's a little bit different.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_02: Snowing and everything is just like damn.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a desert boy.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a desert boy, so live in a desert, live in a ranch.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_02: Like we live like totally out there, you know.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_02: And now here we live in the city now.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_02: It's the winter, everything's so different.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_02: We just getting used to it.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: Are you and Justin training together currently?
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: So you both have big fights coming up, so that's pretty exciting.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, we've we've been training together.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's super exciting.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_02: They're helping each other out, supporting each other, so it's awesome.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_01: That is great.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: That is great.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't want to ask your actual strategy, but if you were to kind of change your game plan from the last fight to this one, what's something new that you're thinking about throwing into the mix?
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I feel like I should use my ground up a little bit better, just have have better control on top, because I mean again, my takedowns, you know, I'm always scoring takedowns on everybody and on my fights.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um I mean, I got a bunch of takedowns with a Chris.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_02: I just need to do more damage.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_02: Got a bunch of takedowns on my last fight too, but I feel like I I could do more damage, you know, just doing more damage from the top.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_02: Something you guys are going to see on my next fight.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_02: Some little elbows area, some some a lot of punches.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so what is your what is a day of Rafa's training look like?
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it just depends on the day.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_02: Like Mondays is like my hardest day.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_02: I start my day at seven in the morning, train at seven, then I do uh I do mitts at seven, I do at eight, I do grappling, then at nine I do the striking classes.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_02: That's from nine to eleven thirty.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_02: Then after that I do conditioning weights, and then I do like a little jog in the afternoon.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_01: How many days a week are you lifting or are you doing weights?
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I just do it once a week, and uh Wednesday we do sprints.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_01: You don't want to bulk up too much because that then that kind of starts fiddling with your weight a little bit, doesn't it?
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean I I don't like I don't like to lift weights, never lifted weights.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's something new that I started doing too uh out here in Colorado.
• 20:52
  unknown: Yeah.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_02: I mean I've always lifted kind of but just very light, just like for reps, you know, but right now right here I feel like sometimes we just lift heavy and I mean I feel stronger too.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's great because it's almost like it's a natural testosterone booster too, just to lift weights.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: And what my current routine is is I don't really lift heavy, I lift for reps.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: So kind kind of like what you were talking, it's just just for conditioning sake than it is for bulking up.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: So have you ever considered going up a weight class or down a weight class just to diversify your your range a bit?
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I like 55, so I feel like that's that's a good weight class for me.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I don't know about going up to 70, maybe later, later, later, later in the future.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_02: If I ever get because I I feel like uh I'm a 55er, 45ers, I feel like it's too hard.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_02: The last time I made 45 was I don't know, like five years ago.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean, it was too hard, you know?
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_02: It was too hard in my body.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_02: I was uh I wasn't enjoying the process or anything.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_02: It was it was more about making weight than fighting.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_02: So I feel like 55 is a good good look for me.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_01: What is something you wish you knew about?
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: The fight game when you started out that you know now?
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um, just I feel like to get anywhere, you just gotta get good relationships, you know.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you could be the best athlete in the world, but if you didn't have good relationships, good good guidance, you know.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it's hard to get somewhere, you know.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um when I first started, I I tried out for the Ultimate Fighter.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_02: I went I I bought a ticket.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_02: I remember I was I was about to get married and I took somebody from my wedding plans and to buy a ticket to go Arch Argentina and go to the trial sold there.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_02: Remember, I got there and I was there like for uh two days.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_02: I went to a child, I was all excited.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_02: I thought I was gonna do it's gonna be like something cool.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_02: I went in there, I grappled with somebody, I tapped them out, I did a little bit of myths with somebody I couldn't even understand because the guys were talking to me in Portuguese.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_02: And then they told me, okay, you're done.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_02: You go home.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, that's it, like you guys didn't even get to interview me or anything.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_02: I submitted my guy, like that's that's the only test you got.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_02: And and there was I saw some people that got into that season of Dulster Fighters that didn't even go to the trials or stuff like that, but they were they were getting uh the right guidance, you know?
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_02: And so when I after I met Cub and he became my manager, he started guiding me the right way and telling me what fight to say, what to do, talking to people about me, just guiding me and just showing me the way so like that helped a lot too.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: So without saying the it's the lightweight champ, who's somebody who's a dream opponent for you in the UFC?
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_02: Uh dream opponent.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_02: I mean I mean I would have left you fought um um it's called Paul Felder.
• 23:32
  unknown: Yeah.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_02: That's that's one of the fights I would have left you, I would have left you have.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_01: But then he go when he retired.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_02: I know that I mean he retired, but that's one of the fights I like how he fights.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_02: So I do too.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_02: And I feel like it's a good thing because if I if I was fighting me, like every time he sees me or comments here, he was out he would know who I am, so if you feel like he would talk good about me.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_02: It's a win-win.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_01: So who somebody that's currently active then?
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_02: Uh currently active.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I don't know.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_02: I haven't I haven't thought about it.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um I was gonna say Barboza, but he went down to 40 fights too.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_02: But uh that's a that's that's a fight I would love.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um I like to like Profile Faziva, I like how he fights.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like uh someone I like to I would like to fight.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: For sure.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: Just one fight at a time, one day at a time, right?
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's how you gotta take it.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for sure.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_01: So what are some words of wisdom that you have for our listeners out there, whether they're in the fight game or not?
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I mean, just be patient, you know, and be constant with what you want to do.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like that that was like my main theme with me.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_02: Like, get your UFC, just be patient and stay just stay motivated and be constant with everything you're doing.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um just believing in yourself.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: That's great words of wisdom, my friend.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_01: Rafa, it's a pleasure to get to know you.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna have to do this again.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think?
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_02: For sure.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_02: For sure.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_02: Let's do it.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_01: I once again want to thank Rafa for doing the show today.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_01: Audio, technical, issues and all.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: He's a great fighter who has got great things ahead of him, fantastic, short but sweet conversation.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: I look forward to talking to him more in the future.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_01: Make sure you give him a follow on Instagram.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_01: And pay attention, April 16th.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: He is fighting Jesse Razo to be a good one.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_01: And while you're checking him out, make sure you give me a follow on all forms of social media TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or wherever you can find it.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: You can also hit me up at www.cotonthemic.com.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: As always, I appreciate a five-star review on the Apple Podcast app.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_01: And as of now, Spotify now has a rating system themselves.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_01: This has been Caught on the Mike with Michael Clark.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Michael Clark.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: Until next time.