00:00How are you feeling right now and what have you been up to as you've been waiting for this?
00:03Obviously, you're always going to be training, but I know you have a lot of other things going on around you as well in your life.
00:09You've got to keep that hustle going always.
00:11Yes, sir.
00:13I've been busy, staying busy, whether I'm training in the gym or I'm in the gym coaching, I stay in the gym.
00:19So, I mean, there's that.
00:21Life's been great.
00:22I got married this past year, so that's been a new chapter in life.
00:27I'm excited for this next fight right now.
00:29I've just been getting ready for this, putting all my focus into it as it requires that.
00:36Well, you're always focused, you're always locked in there, and you're always training hard, as we have seen and heard many times.
00:41And I know you put up some posts recently about that as well, talking about how the past 10 years, how much you have dedicated to this, how you're locked into this.
00:49And May, this is your focus on what it's done for you.
00:51How do you feel that this has changed your life over the last decade for the better or worse, whatever it is?
00:58But I feel like it's been for the better from the times we've talked to you.
01:00But how do you feel like it's been for you this past decade?
01:04I was just focusing on this as your career, your path, and your calling.
01:09It's been everything that I needed at this point in my life.
01:12I'm absolutely at the best point in my life, physically, mentally, spiritually.
01:19It's saved my life, I believe.
01:21It's saved my life in a lot of different ways.
01:26It's been great.
01:27It's been what I needed when I needed it, and I'm very grateful for the experience.
01:32I'm looking forward to each and every next step.
01:35July 12th is just one more step closer to my goal, which is carrying a world title.
01:41So I'm not looking past them, but that's the goal always.
01:47You've talked about how it changed your life for the better, but I've seen also you trying to do that for others and how important that is for you, too.
01:55I saw you picking up someone, getting out of the clink, trying to help them get their life together.
02:00You posted how you remember that walk when you were making it, how that was what it was like for you then, and now trying to be on the other side of that and being that person to pick your brother up and help your fellow man.
02:12What's that like for you now, being on the other side of things and the work that you've done to get where you are to try to help people who have been in the situation where you've been, where a low point and trying to pick up the pieces?
02:23It's super important, man.
02:25You know, as an OG in the game is what I like to call it, it's up to us to help lead these young guys, man, and not down to the same path.
02:36And when they do come out of a dark hole, that there's someone there to let them know that, hey, there is some light at the end of the tunnel.
02:42And that's whether you're in trouble, whether you're not in trouble, whether you're just dealing with some things.
02:47Man, if you have the ability to help somebody else see a brighter path, man, you're not doing due diligence if you're not trying to step up and do that.
02:56It's been a really big deal for me because I've come from that.
03:00Man, I came from some really dark places, and I found my way out of it.
03:04And I'm just super grateful for the people that were in my life when those times came.
03:09And I just want to pass it forward, you know, pass it forward.
03:12And you continue to do that in many different ways.
03:16Of course, you're always in the gym working.
03:18So you posted about that and how, you know, you've never been the guy in there just, like, going in there trying to be the biggest, toughest, and bullying everybody.
03:25You know, you've always gotten in there, and, you know, sometimes it's you kicking someone's ass.
03:29Sometimes it's you getting your ass kicked.
03:31And you're learning from that experience and how important that is to, you know, not just go in there and, you know, try to be the biggest, the best.
03:38You know, not try to beat everybody up, but, you know, learn and how important that journey has been for you to go through as well, both physically and mentally.
03:47Absolutely, man, especially in the gym.
03:50I wanted to say that I use my life as a metaphor for the gym because everything I do is out of the gym, man.
03:56But the way you'll carry yourself inside of a gym, especially when it's a combat sport, gym, says a lot about you.
04:02If you're going in there and you're thinking you're going to beat everybody up and you got this attitude with everybody,
04:07but it's probably how you carry yourself in life.
04:10I'm always a student, even when I'm coaching.
04:13You know, I'm learning from my guys.
04:15They're learning from me.
04:17And if I didn't have that mindset, then I wouldn't be learning and I wouldn't actually be growing.
04:23Some days I'm the hammer.
04:24Some days I'm the nail.
04:26But every day is a lesson, and I'm grateful for it.
