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just your overall thoughts it did seem like just every fight was incredible tonight yeah um you know I think that uh the first fight of the night set the tone you know when you see a fight like that and you’re in the back watching you’re like oh you know I mean that’s why to be the main event guys a lot ton of pressure I mean every fight tonight was awesome um yeah I just I don’t even know what to say other than it was amazing day you mentioned it the main event uh heimless like I said it was impossible to live up to everything that was there and giving him a contract I mean did you have any concerns or did you say yeah the guy deserves it was almost just like how do I turn anybody down tonight no no it’s not listen I’ll turn people down in a minute I think that this kid is 24 years old he obviously looked like the more experienced Fighter um fought a tough durable kid and uh looked good everywhere he went you know what I mean a couple of times I thought he had him hurt and you know went to the ground with them and it’s like oh he’s going to what do you beat the out of him on the ground I mean he he literally was trying to finish him the whole time on the ground never once did that kid not not try to finish that fight and uh I thought he looked damn good doing it especially for a kid that’s only 24 years old you know how I’m with the with the younger guys ah maybe he needs more experience I didn’t think so I thought that this kid grinded out a technical impressive win and if the the rest of the show didn’t fight like absolute Maniacs tonight that would have been a great fight a little more impressive yeah does he need to change the tattoo on his neck are you going to get him to get that you can turn that F into a u H it wouldn’t take too long uh as you said uh Jonathan uh Brazilian heavyweight massive KO uh easy call right I mean yep got to do that everything was an easy call tonight I mean I there was there was nothing about any performance tonight that didn’t make me you know and and I gave uh I gave Tanner his win money uh Patricia got her win money uh AJ’s getting his win money um you know I it was an amazing night you mentioned all three of those getting win money did you consider any losers getting contracts tonight because we were kind of talking about that tonight some of those fights were so insane no I think that um you know all of these kids are you know this guy this guy’s not a kid he’s 31 years old this Tanner guy but he goes out and you know he gets another win definitely look at this kid and again he’s a kid you would definitely bring in you know if somebody fell out or or something like that you know what you’re going to get with this kid Tanner wants to win this guy wants to win I love people that that show up and show you that they’re here to win you mentioned Giants as a kickboxing record as well it seems like we’re getting a lot of kickboxers coming in lately um do you credit that to Israelite assigning the success he had or like why do you think we’re seeing more of these former glory guys or former you know that are saying I want to do MMA now money there’s money I mean if you if you had to look at Israel out of Sonya and say you know wow you know I’ve been in kickboxing for however many years and how much money have I made then you look at Israel yeah uh Stephen Nguyen you mentioned it man the guy was uh Herrera too Herrera as well yeah uh Steven Wynn looked phenomenal I mean he said no brainer I want to ask you about the Finish there because it was weird it almost got finished at the end of the first round should have been finished at the end of the first you think so 100 that that kid was hurt you know what I mean and I was uh I was freaking out a little bit I was like come on ref stop this fight man it’s just I mean the kid’s face was if that went a third round that kid wouldn’t have a face I mean it was it was bad so I think it was a late stoppage um I’m glad he stopped it when he did nice um just want to ask a few outside tonight obviously this was amazing um you got a a busy morning as well right so I guess can you talk about the significant day the TKO group officially merging all that I mean from your point of view what’s the significance of this new organization yeah I mean this this kind of stuff I usually just um you know I’m just gonna keep doing what I do and we’re going to do what we do at the UFC and and listen at the end of the day this is like one of the biggest mergers in the history of sports we’ve been kicking ass forever you know however many years now the WWE is doing well and I mean I say this to you guys every year but this just takes the whole Sport and everything to a whole different level and uh you know I flew out to that thing last night and did it this morning and it was actually really really cool it was cool to be a part of and uh I’m excited about the future and what we’re going to do and I always am regardless but after this merger I mean it just we’re so much more powerful than we were yesterday yeah yeah I read that Vince had worked into his contract that he’s the executive chair until his death resignation or incapacity uh I thought that was interesting did you get anything worked into your deal or I don’t give a about that kind of stuff you know what I mean even the CEO thing um it’s a lateral move for me I run everything that happens here everything that goes on here I I determine so nothing has changed it’s just three letters instead of but I’m the CEO and president of the UFC now um but nothing changes we’re just going to continue to to kick ass like we do every single year and and for people um you know that are Fighters or Media or whoever isn’t this just takes this whole thing to another level and and so much bigger and so much more powerful and when you think about all the things that I want to do before my time is up here today made that a lot a lot easier and a lot more doable you know these pis that we open they’re not cheap they’re very expensive to run um but I believe truly that they are the future of the sport this is what’s going to make the sport get bigger um and uh even if you you train at a pi as a kid we go into Africa we go into Mexico City and other places that I want to do this and you grow up as a kid training in one of these pis around the world you might not become a fighter but you’ll become a trainer or you know you will have something to do with the sport and touch the sport in some way to help it grow yeah yeah you used to never say before my time is up and now you’ve started to say that a little bit more well I’m 54 years old I mean I never said my time was up when I was 40 and you know what I mean uh when I look at somebody’s posts everybody’s talking about how old I look I am old that’s how this works I’m older today than I’ll was yesterday that’s how it works but I feel like I’m 25 again you know I’ve been taking my health serious I feel great and uh you know when you start talking about my time is up here the last 20 years have gone by like this how fast the next 20 gonna go you know so um there’s still a lot of work to do and uh you know today was today was a really really big day for the sport last couple months for me I wanted to ask you about Australia Sean Strickland came in after you did at the post fight press conference and he’s like boy I bet Dane and Hunter saying we messed up here what do we got this guy as a UFC champion so Sean is obviously an interesting character it carries himself in an interesting way what do you think about him representing the brand and carrying the UFC belt around listen it is what it is um you know we obviously put him in that position and uh he went in and delivered and won the fight and he’s the champ now so um yeah you know we knew you know what you’re getting when you get him it’s this is no surprise no shock um yeah good for him he went you listen you could tell that night after that first round I mean he would go back to his corner and maybe listen to his corner for 15 seconds and that was it he was up and ready to go he felt it he he felt he was going to win that night yeah it was awesome see his body language last thing you were asked about a rematch you said that sounds right but you got you know dricus out there saying hey what about me you got homs that and Costa coming up in Abu Dhabi you had Jerry canonier there as a backup so all those seem like viable options are you considering all those or do you still feel like the fight to make is the rematch well I think if you remember that night people said well what do you think you think he’s rematch I said yeah the rematch sounds great and not never did I say I saw the stupid that was written you know by only stupid websites um you know never once did I say yes we’re gonna do this rematch I said no the rematch now you know we’ll see what happens there’s obviously lots of options out there and we’ll see what happens but yes I’m still not opposed to an Israel rematch we’ll see how it goes hi Dana hey um I want to ask a little bit I know the narrative with Sean is always like what’s he gonna say what’s he gonna do but when he won the title his post-fight speech was very moving very inspirational is there a side of Sean that we aren’t seeing and maybe we’re starting to see I agree I I think that uh you know two weeks before that we’re in Boston and I asked the media there were 70 media members at the press conference how many people thought that was going to be the outcome and one guy raised his hand out of 70 media if I had done that in Australia nobody would raise their hand and if they did they’d be lying so I think that going into that fight Strickland knew he was a huge Underdog in that fight and I think that him winning the title was super emotional for him and uh once he got time to get back and let it sink in and he showed up the depressed conference he was Sean Strickland again um but yeah I mean I think it was a it was a cool moment for him we realized that no matter how crazy he talks and all the things that he says all the hard work and dedication he put into this sport you know he reached it that night he he he did what nobody thought he could do the oddsmakers had him a seven to one Underdog he went out and he did it and you know even when you’re sitting there um I’m sure he was sitting there waiting for this you know am I going to get by the judges are they going to give it to Izzy we’re in Australia and once it came out that he was the winner and he was the new world champion uh you know we all saw aside to him that we’d never seen before it was it was cool and on that note do you think that maybe there’s too much attention being paid to Izzy’s poor performance and not enough towards Sean’s good performance no I think there’s there’s two sides so listen Izzy did not look good that night he looked slow he looked lethargic you look whatever and you know what a lot of people are saying that’s right but uh Strickland felt it knew it stayed right in his face and went after it and you like I was just telling uh you know him earlier is it it’s like he felt it and he couldn’t wait to get back out of that corner to get back in there and and win that title I’ve got to ask a McGregor question I’m sure you’re sick and tired of answering these but here’s the other thing too when you have a when you have a champion that’s been as as dominant as good as Israel has it’s normal to when they lose to say wow he didn’t look right tonight and all that good Conor McGregor um he called out Alexander volkanovsky and he also said he’d like to fight at 185 I’m wondering which one of those options is more likely to happen I have no clue I have no clue we’ll see listen when when Connor is back and we announced that Conor is fighting we’ll look at the landscape see who’s around what’s going on and we’ll figure out who he’s going to fight next so are you saying it’s I’m not saying a dang because every jackass website will be writing dumb tomorrow that I didn’t say as usual thank you yep I just got one if we can get your thoughts on Epstein Lawrence said something to ESPN today he said what we want to get is where every UFC fan is a WWE Fan and every WWE Fan is a UFC fan do you see similarities in the fan base and how achievable is that goal hahaha Lawrence I love you one of the dumbest statements of all time yeah I don’t know why he said that um I don’t even know what to say to that no there’s no there’s some crossover some people like WWE some people like you have some people like both they’re I don’t think there’s ever going to be a day where we turn every UFC fan into a WWE Fan or every WWE what’s beautiful about the Synergy between these two fan bases is they are very completely opposite you know there’s very little crossover and uh again I maybe he was misquoted I hope that’s the case uh because I could not disagree with them more over here yep we’ve seen Fighters make two appearances on the contender issues before but it’s pretty rare when we see guys make three appearances after seeing what Stephen Gwen did tonight what do you what do you make of that I mean he overcame a bunch of struggles I’m sure to get to this point and finally get that UFC contract you know when you’re you know anything in life but especially in sports when you can overcome adversity and and stay focused and and uh keep your eye on the prize and what it is you want and you’re talented enough you can be him tonight so I I love that stuff and and I’m really happy for them and uh that’s what this show is all about yeah and uh I know you touch up on this a bit after the fights in Australia but Laura Cinco made history at UFC 293 becoming the first female in the modern era to be part of the UFC pay-per-view commentary team how is it like being seen the progress she has made throughout the years and she made her way up to this and how is that achievement like Laura’s a beast so if you took what you just said about Stephen and applied it to Laura you know what I mean she has worked so hard um I I say this all the time the key to being successful in life is knowing what you want to do once you know who you are and you know exactly what it is you want to do you get up every day and you grind until you get it and she is the perfect example of that and uh what what she’s done in such a short amount of time is amazing and uh she’s so talented I was talking to uh DC flew home with me today so we were talking on the plane and he was talking about how you know his first time showing up to the contender series he wasn’t as prepared as you probably should have been and how Laura was just crushing him in in the meetings for you know running circles around him she knew everything about every kid here and she watched every single fight that you could watch on all the kids that were on the card and she’s just you know she’s a true professional she knows she’s like the Ronda Rousey you know of commentating she knows she’s first she knows she’s carrying the banner for women to to break into this role and she’s doing everything she can to make sure that uh you know she always is the best that she can possibly be would you say she’s like the one of the future Stables of a UFC pay-per-view commentary team yeah yeah there’s no doubt about it she’s a absolute Pro and a beast awesome and I had a question about UFC 295 I mean looks like we’re still waiting on that co-main update do you have an update on that yeah I I didn’t get to do today I got home and had a bunch of other stuff fly at me so we didn’t even get to do matchmaking today so I barely got here on time but uh yeah nothing yet you think it’s still looking like Edwards in Covington or oh I don’t know yet I’ll let you know as soon as I know if it was that easy I just announce it fair enough yeah Dana right over here uh Dana I was wondering as a Vegas local as someone who runs a sports company or just wanted your reaction to what’s going on a lot of the casinos you can’t bet a bunch of machines are down just what’s your reaction to seeing it happen in the city I didn’t even know that why what’s wrong huh Cyber attack on MGM he’s not working because yeah a bunch of the games games not working I had no idea I’ve been kind of busy lately I haven’t been paying attention to other guys businesses but yeah that’s that’s weird and then I want to ask Alexa Grosso obviously fighting this Saturday she had talked about it she hopes the Independence Day card becomes an annual thing obviously fans are still hoping for an event in Mexico I just want to know you know fence will say hey not as many Mexican Champions is it still a priority to the UFC just what is your response about going back to the market and you know just that for those fans I would say that those fans that are saying that must not be reading or listening to anything that I’m saying I’ve been beaten uh the the Mexico drum now for for months I literally switched everything around so that we could do this fight on Mexican Independence Day um we’re opening a pi in Mexico City for those of you that didn’t know that and haven’t heard and I’m planning on going to Mexico City here soon and uh you know for the grand opening and then yeah doing event in Mexico City also soon I hope thank you yeah could not be more invested in Mexico than I am right now Dana over here yep uh just to go off of the Nokia UFC and Alexa garage so uh in her rematch with Valentina just kind of curious your thoughts on this rematch how it might be different your excitement level for a fight of this magnitude coming up this weekend what’s the question just your thoughts on kind of the main event this week uh well I love it I made it uh how different it might be you know it’s a very unique rematch Valentina yeah you’re talking about the number one pound for pound fighter in the world for females uh the first ever female Mexican world champion taking on the not not the one of the greatest female fighters ever one of the greatest fighters of all time she already beat her once so the rematch is awesome and and and very exciting for that Division and obviously very exciting for Mexico yeah and I mean I think it does speak a lot about the division how far it’s come in the last couple years you know maybe start off a little bit slow but I’m curious where you would rank flyweight for the women right now amongst you know the women’s divisions you have do you think it’s become the best one at this point that what the flyweight division in the for the women if it’s become the best out of the women’s day yeah I mean there’s there’s so many good fights coming up in that division right now I mean realistically if you if you look at all the divisions right now there’s some good fights okay there’s a lot of good stuff we were just going through matchmaking I said this recently but uh and every year I go holy how are we going to beat this year and then as we start planning out the end of the year going into next year it’s like here we go again so yeah it’s awesome definitely and I just want to ask one thing about powerslap too just because I know things are looking real good you’re really happy with it but I’m curious you know when you look ahead like you get all these detractors people saying it sucks or whatever like they said the same about the UFC too well that’s why I’m curious like what exactly you see the longevity of powerslab being yeah this thing’s so big it’s bananas uh I mean I could throw so much at you that I’m housing I’ve never been a part of something so successful in such a short amount of time and all the other stuff that we’re working on right now sanctioning you know all these states are going to start opening up and sanctioning and then we’ll start taking it on the road and doing live Gates um it’s a global sport in seven months the numbers that we’re pulling out of these other countries uh we’re working on season two right now and we got some some fun guys coming in from around the world for season two we’re working on uh where we’re doing season three uh the video game was the biggest uh you know test that the company had ever done and they do all the online video games doing 60 000 downloads a day um sponsorship off the charts and the list goes on and on and on it’s it’s actually been really fun for me cool thanks Dana thanks hey Dana yep um with the formation of TKO um Stephanie McMahon said last year that WWE was looking at boxing you’ve dabbled with the idea before is there room in the organization for a boxing company yeah is it is it one you would create or one that TKO would look to buy an existing company I would create could you elaborate huh could you elaborate no [Laughter] with um the you’ve got a show on September 16th like Mexican Independence Day and Cinco de Mayo is so closely associated with with boxing and Mexican Fighters and Floyd Mayweather can we see that going forward where UFC is going head-to-head with boxing for these key dates in the calendar because tgb promotions and Premier Boxing Champions did have that day at the T-Mobile Arena but they’ve now gone to September 30th for the Canelo Jamel Charlo event yeah I mean for for the last however many years you know sometimes we end up battling over the same dates but it always works out it’s not like there’s going to be any you know listen we go pretty much every Saturday so we’re going to run into other things and one moment Sean Strickland it looked like he put a video where he might have already broken the UFC belt and he was putting it back together with duct tape had you seen that I have not [Laughter] plan on seeing lots of things over the next several months though enjoy thank you Dana yeah um can you share what you uh you went back and talked with uh Casey Tanner and AJ Cunningham obviously you gave them their win money but can you share what you told them just respect man so much respect and and uh you know how I feel about this show and you know how I feel about the matchmaking of this show and when these guys show up and and just do what these kids did tonight it’s awesome I I just I mean I thought tonight was the first night that I’ve ever walked up into the Octagon during the contender series apparently Little Miss know it all uh said it was the second time that that I’ve done it but uh yeah it’s fine I love this love it uh Sean Strickland’s post fight interview got 2.6 million views which is one of the largest it’s in in quite some time what do you think that is it’s just people wondering what the hell he’s going to say or is it just the star power 2.6 million views on what on YouTube his uh Sean Strickland’s post fight interview yeah let me tell you this so on Instagram I have 8.3 million followers um me wrapping the belt on him did 16 million views yeah so uh DC was telling me on the flight back he did interviews with him on his uh on his YouTube channel and it was the biggest he’s ever done or something like that and yeah if you saw you know there was a lot of hype around Strickland early he lost a couple hype kind of died down he came back and he won the world title and people are fascinated again do you think it’s just people are wondering what the hell is going to come out of his mouth or is it star power I don’t know I just think I I think uh I think people love an underdog he was such a big Underdog in that fight he came out in one and you know like she was saying earlier uh you know people are like oh don’t take away the fact that he that that Strickland won the fight and yeah good for him I love that I love I love the support he’s getting it’s it’s great were you surprised that Israel adesanya didn’t speak at the press conference he came in and said something and then dipped yeah so I asked him I told you guys that night I asked him an acting I said you okay he said I’ll talk to you later I bumped into him in the back and he told me about as much as he told you so yeah it was it was uh it was it was strange and then finally uh was there any communication to try and get Cain Velasquez at the event this did this weekend was there any what was there any communication of trying to get Cain Velasquez at the Noche UFC event this weekend I don’t think so Kane was in town we just shot something recently and he was here I don’t know if he’s still here yeah I have no idea thank you yeah well UFC well well look who flew in for the Nintendo Series yeah I’m actually leaving right afterwards tonight um in terms of UFC Noche is that going to be an annual event like are you going to book the the arena every year for that particular date well the question is do we continue to do that date do we do Cinco de Mayo do we bounce around I don’t know yet this you know this is the first one um we’ll see how this year plays out as far as Mexico goes and uh I don’t know we’ll go from there have you heard anything in terms of people coming in for the event from Mexico have I heard that like like in terms of the numbers like is it going to be a massive amount of people that are coming in specifically for the event I have no idea I would assume that there are lots of Mexicans coming to the to the to the uh to the event on the uh you know yeah I would imagine I don’t have a I don’t have a tally of how many are coming over to see the fight though just keep good metrics uh and last one for you you mentioned kickboxing and kickboxers coming over um to do them and maybe because there’s more money and more lucrative every time you come up with you know doing boxing events why not just go right into kickboxing that seems to be much less of a barrier of Entry here in North America and we often see fans you know and there’s a lot of grappling involved in MMA they’ve kind of rip it and they want to see action fights and striking when you watch Glory Kickboxing K1 like the action is unreal why not delve into that area where there’s again a bit less of a barrier of Entry less sanctions Etc it never worked never worked for whatever reason kickboxing never worked so when I back in the 80s when I was a kid I was a huge boxing fan and kickboxing used to be on ESPN they used to call it the kick of the 80s and and then it was going to be the something of the 90s and then we went into the 2000s and you know it never took off tell me the last time you saw a big kickboxing match and there’s been plenty of big fights with big kickboxers that’s pulled big Gates and the world cared and everybody wanted to tune in it’s never happened since the 80s yeah just in the Netherlands they have a big events every evening in the Netherlands they have Glory collisions seems to do really well but I just feel like it has never really been properly promoted in North how well though lots of lots of guys tried to do it lots of people it was on ESPN when ESPN was the biggest most powerful you know Sports Network on Cable and you know it didn’t have all the competition that it has now and it just never worked and and yeah I know it’s it’s like saying you know when you say oh it was did well in the Netherlands like saying Muay Thai did great in Thailand it’s it’s like you know okay but it doesn’t it doesn’t translate to the rest of the world that’s it for me huh you guys done with me have a good night thank you yeah it actually doesn’t have anything yeah first and foremost congratulations obviously you’re officially part of the USC now so what are the emotions for you mean foreign I’m kind of speechless it’s just a dream come true um it it just I’m ecstatic right now um it’s very happy to be here and it’s again just so happy and it hasn’t dawned on me yet but uh as I said a dream come true and being in the UFC and it was an incredible fight as well uh I know you said you’re expecting a battle but what do you think of your performance you prove Victorious but it very much tested tonight it will break foreign yes we came prepared for anything that could happen and obviously prepare for a war just like it was and as it turns out as I said I came for expecting what God had prepared for me and I mean it’s a win that’s it’s got even much more value uh from how for how it was you’re still so young but to be in the USC now but you’ve been fighting professionally since you were a teenager so I guess what does it mean for you to be in here this early in your career but yet have the test that you’ve had things Seasons [Music] um yeah it started training at six years old and then I decided to move on to MMA at eight years old and ever since that happened I I set up my goals and said that I was going to be um in the UFC and obviously being so young and having all that you know that that that um all that experience is very important and I’m ready I feel ready to be in the UFC that’s awesome last thing for me um what do you see as the ideal path for you into the USC I mean as you said young but a lot of experience you’re in a very deep division so is it a slow ride do you want to make an immediate impact in the rankings how do you see this going um [Music] Disney oh um uh the so been working I understand that this is I came here to work um I whatever Dana says I’m ready to go um I want to be the employee of the month um and I just whatever they say uh I’ll be ready to fight uh it’s what I love to do I train all the time if I could have just trained 24 hours a day I never stop and I heard there’s a card in Orlando at the end of the year and I would love to see Disney um Michael Bisping was on the broadcast team tonight and he mentioned that uh you showcased uh the potentials of a future champion in there what does it mean to hear that from someone like him uh praise uh just found out that actually said that uh the guy that I admire so much I used to play him a lot in the video game Hall of Fame I got it’s like you know to me he’s just so special uh and I will be in a work uh extra to actually make that happen are there any other guys you looked up to in this in this career um yeah there’s so many of them and JSP Anderson Silva the other Machida but you know the besides the famous guys there’s so many people that I draw inspiration from the ones that are next to me on the mat there there are a huge source of inspiration for me thank you what do you want to want to see most at Disneyland Disney World Disney World sorry [Music] uh I think everything my parents had the opportunity to go to Disneyland Tokyo in Japan um but I think that everything I’ll just be I just want to be there and see everything and um and uh put on a show for the people there hope you get to see it foreign we see the big smile but what are the emotions like for you right now thank you I’m so so happy you can’t even imagine I’m I’ve waited so much to this and when this contract to us is changing everything in my life so I’m so happy Second Time Around of course was was there any lessons that you learned or things that you did different this time because of the previous experience that helped you tonight yes I think I grow a lot in my personal life since the fight and I I need to to learn too many things that I I have an idea in that time and learn all those things clearly make out difference right now because I I think I’m I’m a person with the mind in the right place now and this count too much on this fight because I get in there and I knew that I need to show all my potential all I got to get the contract and that was was what I did yeah you got the Finish but certainly not an easy fight she was a very difficult opponent were you expecting that type of fight and how did you feel about your performance yes I’ve talked to my coach backstage that I knew I was going to be hurt in the fight I knew that because I knew she she was a striker too and I need to say that in the first round my proud it’s makes a lot of in my head because I I could take her down before but I I I’d like to see my hand get in there and she’s feeling my hand and I I just couldn’t do that in the last minutes of the first round so if I I put my head in the right way before I think I can I couldn’t finish the the fat later sooner but but it’s okay we go to the second round I talked to him in the in the break and I got my head straight and I came to the second round with all the structure strategy ready and I got the takedown and it was amazing very nice last thing for me I’m sure you want to celebrate this moment and everything but you’ve got a UFC debut to make right so do you have plans for that do you want to try to get it in before the end of this year do you need a break and maybe look to next year what’s the plan for you so I really like to fight this year yet but now I’m gonna have a break about one two weeks to relax a little I I’ve came into a very long camp since the beginning of the year and I’m gonna take the break but I’m ready to to when they need me I’m here and I hope I can make a fight before the year is finished uh your opponent in your first outing in the contender series is fighting this weekend just want to see if you’re gonna catch your fight and is that one that you’d like to run back now that you’re both in the UFC so she’s a different class way than mine and I don’t know if I fit very well on the Flyway but if there is a chance I would be proud to to do the fight of course what’s like what’s the message you have for the new fans you gained today and just people that are going to tune into your fights first I’d like to thank everybody that was watching the fight and I really like to say them I came here to show the Brazil has so many talents and we are so strong in our way and I really want to mess this this way class because I’m here to show all my aggressivity and to win the Bell sooner I hope thank you thank you did a congrats on the win hello thank you um we saw how the fight played out but what was your game plan going into this before it just just the fire caught on and it was this firefight back and forth so I really wanted a knockout we was with the strategy but I knew it would be difficult because she is a striker too but after after I talked to my coach there I was mentalizing the I was going to be hurt and I was going to have a knockout but in that in the ground with Grand and pounds and became almost like that but when I saw that I wasn’t going to have an account I changed and I do organization and it was so well but my child my history was on the couch what was that and just one follow-up was that what the talk was in between rounds one and two like okay let’s just go to the mat let’s Implement our game plan we’re stronger here and also kind of catch your breath because that was amazing first five minutes thank you and yes uh we talked this in the in the break because he he knew what was going on to me he knew me very well and he he told me stop that and go to the strategy because this will work and that’s what I did I really put my head back on the game and it was amazing because I won the fight but I’m really upset with myself because I could have this sooner I I really could excellent congratulations on the win and on the contract thank you thank you okay foreign it took a while but you got it done uh I guess man just what’s the emotion like I’m sure you’re still processing a little bit but to finally get the contract what’s the feel for you you know uh you know well the contract aspect you know I it’s been a very long road for me man and you know it’s been I think four years since my first Contender series fight so uh you know I I just had to keep going man you know that was the main thing I know there was a lot of pressure coming into this fight you know I had to finish this fight it was my third time around you know um so I went in there with that mindset man kill or could be killed and it’s funny because that wasn’t my game plan going into tonight my gameplay was stake move because AJ’s a tough guy man you know stick move float on my feet but I don’t know what it was I just said you know I’m gonna bite down in my mouthpiece right now and I’m gonna throw and we’re going to say who we’re going to say who stands and who falls awesome going back there again like this is silly silly guy I mean it’s hard to come back and do it over and over again was there ever a part we thought like maybe this isn’t going to happen for me absolutely man like uh you know obviously I’ve seen my teammates everybody’s in the UFC at Fortis and like um you know being on the contenders twice and winning and still not getting the contract and you know there there were I was in a dark dark space for a little bit you know and I didn’t really know where to go at that point but you know I have the best coach I have the best manager at Jason house coach safe my family my girlfriend everybody that has supported me just telling me just keep going you know and um because of them I’m where I’m at now and and here we are talking to you fight tonight was insane uh I mean what did you think of your performance overall and just the war that it was out there uh you know I fought a little bit dumb I kind of I went in there and I kind of just slugged it out like I said that wasn’t my game plan but you know I got the job done and uh I’m just gonna go back to the drawing board right now man and uh just continue to get better I was planning on throwing some more kicks but um shout out to my wrestling coach Kyle crutchmer we’ve been working on our takedown defense and you know it showed off tonight for sure not a bad coach dad uh last thing for me uh you know the dream is here but now it’s just starting right so I mean what’s the plan as far as debut I’m sure you want a little time to recover after a war like that but you know is there like a need to make up for lost Tom do you feel like you want to get in there as soon as possible or what’s the plan for your debut you know right now uh I’m not I’m not thinking about the debut quite yet I definitely do want to come back and be a better version than I was tonight I’m gonna watch the fight I’m going to study it I’m the sooner of the game like I said uh this is my life and I want to look at the tape and see what I can work on better and then whenever me and my coaches my managers talk we’ll figure out a good time to come back and uh I’ll be a lot better than I am tonight Hey Stephen my man Alex um you kind of alluded to it but like it was really you and Abdul as the two guys that like weren’t in the UFC right like you guys were always like the monsters in the gym that didn’t get to the UFC now you’re in the UFC how does that feel it feels good you know like Abdul me and him just had a conversation last night we were just talking about you know like how he felt in his fight Camp how he felt coming into the fight the days before the fight and you know we both had very similar feelings like me and him were very close and you know his energy feed it off I fed off of that you know and uh I came in tonight just cool calm and collected and when it was time to go I just it was time to go man you know would it be safe to say like seeing him get that contract really like got you going absolutely man this uh you know he he’s he’s the I think uh coach just made him the the captain of the lightweights now so you know he’s he’s leading the team and I’m right behind him did you feel any rest in there like you had not fought since your last fight yeah so you know it’s been I think about almost two years since I fought but I said in my interview before I never stopped training you know uh there’s a there’s a few fights that fell through uh in between that that I wanted to get on like some Fury and stuff like that but um I kept training and I kept getting better you know and uh I didn’t feel Rusty in their time I didn’t feel tired so it felt great being in there again congrats thank you talk to us about the value of that about the value of not having to train for a particular opponent but getting almost two years of just making yourself better yeah you know like there was a few things I did you know I built my own business as well um I’m a personal trainer and I have a a great business around me with a lot of clients so training them to help me train my mind and training my mind you know relates into my physical and I continue to train and just worked on my own skills my Jiu Jitsu my wrestling my my striking everything like that and uh I I focus on my life I focus on my life in bettering my life you know and then that helps me with my fighting so and you see this guy AJ Cunningham I mean he’s been five round five never been finished before yeah obviously performance and getting a finish is so vital to getting a contract on the show as you well know from this being your third appearance so when you see tape on this guy how much extra pressure do you put on yourself to try to get that finish and be the first guy to finish AJ Cunningham yeah I saw that I mean as soon as I took the fight and I was watching this fights like damn this guy is tough man like this guy has never been finished he’s been in wars and he’s finished other guys he’s been in like Wars where he finished the guy in like the last 30 seconds with the choke you know so but that’s why I trained so hard um I took 13-week training camp um I didn’t go see my family I miss my family so much but I couldn’t see them I missed out on so many sacrifices you know that I did for this training camp I really zoned in I didn’t do any interviews anything like that I just knew I had to do dig deep down not on top of just having a tough opponent but um just you know for myself knowing that this is my left this is possibly my last chance of possibly go to the UFC because it’s my third time so I just had to dig deep in there tonight and lastly how hard was it at the end of the first round to focus on a second now knowing that he could have been finished yeah uh I saw him dropping I for a second I thought it was going to be over you know I was like man but you know my coach is like get over here you know my coach just keeps me on my toes all the time he’s like get over here you know get back to get back to the game plan go back out there and finish the fight in the second round that keeps everyone on his toes thank you much thank you very much thank you so much congratulations on the win there um were there any takeaways or lessons that you learned from those first and second showings on the contender series that helped you get that result today and finally overcome that hurdle of getting the UFC contract yeah man uh you know I say the first fight the first fight uh I thought the guy was going to take me down the whole time so I was like just I was just so much more inexperienced back then and then like the second fight I felt like I was playing a little safe I just wanted to get the win um I wanted to just get that win back and now I feel like it’s come full circle man I just I know what I needed to do tonight and in this whole training camp that’s why I told myself I know what I needed to go in there and do tonight and I was finished the fight and uh back to tonight’s fights I noticed you talking to your opponent during the fight what was going on through your mind during those sequences were you like in the Flow State or what was it yo when I was talking to him um I was trying to he was we were banging in there so I was just like I was just saying come on man let’s go come on like and you know uh like I said I don’t normally go and have wars like that but I just there was something in me I mean a demon came out tonight man I was like you know what let’s let’s have a war and that’s what we did and I was like let’s go I had a little bit of Sean Strickland moment and uh you mentioned there that this could have maybe been your last chance to get into the UFC obviously it takes a lot of mental toughness to be in this spot you have any advice or just message to someone else that may be in your position maybe not just in sports but in life in general just honestly for anybody that’s going through anything right now like in life in general just like and I know it sounds cliche just never give up I’ve been through so much man like I got knocked out my first Contender series fight I won my second one and still didn’t get signed um and then like I got injuries I couldn’t fight for two two years like I’ve been through so so much but I never gave up I never gave up this has been my dream since I was 15 years old and I never gave up look at my face like I’ve been through so much wars in the gym injuries everything like that but perseverance man that’s that’s what’s going to get you through it and if anybody ever feels some type of way please reach out to me and I’ll I’ll help them out I have clients that have gone have gone through so much stuff too losing weight or whatever and I’m here to talk to them you know and um I just want them so anybody that is out there know that great message Man congratulations thank you so much thank you so much guys foreign congratulations on uh securing a UFC contract I guess uh just give us the emotions that you’re having right now knowing that you got the deal is ah guys I’m very happy I really cannot say how I’m feeling today with the words uh uh I have I’m on UFC you know I have no words for explaining for you the guys today nice uh big knockouts or nothing new for you uh but I mean this was on a big stage a big moment so was this a special highlight for you is so special for me because these situation is special you know uh I was fighting with friend of uh then white in uh man they’re so oppression you know uh this is of course will be the the special highlight for me uh and a battle so I mean you get things done early but you guys see that type of fight or you’re swinging at each other right away foreign everybody is strong everybody’s dangerous everybody’s deaf for three minutes you know if you have uh the good mentality for for make a right game plane that’s that’s it you know uh we will give we make a good paint for this fight and uh the resulted was this obviously still kind of new in your MMA experience but you have high level Combat Sports Experience so how do you see your journey in the UFC is it a slow rise where you have to you know learn the game or do you feel you can compete at a high level right away uh I don’t care about against who you fight you know uh if you give me a one top guy for a fighter you face him because uh for my whole life on kickbox I’m a fight against tough guys and uh like that I don’t care again against who are you fight if webc give me a easy fight or you do if you give him a hard fight also you do you know I’m here for work and I don’t care against who you fight nice last question for me when would you like to make your UFC debut would you hope that it’s this year sometime do you need some time off when do you think you’ll make your debut uh I think then I don’t get hurt you know I’m 100 and uh if you give me a fight or something impossible you’ll be ready to this you have a message for the rest of the heavyweight division that watch your fight tonight I just have one message to all have weights on my division the bad dreams is coming I’ma have the most dangerous halfway then I come into this division thank you I just got one for you in the in the first round there when your opponent was kind of getting cocky and he was putting his hand up and looking off how satisfying was it for you when you got the knockout foreign [Music] I’m have almost 100 fights you know I have experience enough for Mercedes things and don’t give a that’s it when he was playing with me I say okay you play and I fight I knock you out that’s it thank you guys foreign congratulations on securing your UFC contract I’m sure you’re processing it a little bit but what are the emotions like for you foreign foreign obviously happy I knew this was going to happen at some point in my career um and were able to achieve it um and now hey we’re here in the UFC and now another another stage of my career starts a dominant victory for three for tonight uh unable to get the Finish though I mean a very very tough opponent I guess how did you feel about your performance and was it frustrating when the guy just wouldn’t go away Sarah [Music] opportunity listen tough opponent I tried to finish him off in every single one one of the three rounds uh Malik Lewis is a very tough opponent I mean there were moments out there that I feel that he managed the situation so well he didn’t lose focus he was just there um very tough and I’m just feeling grateful feeling grateful to the UFC to have this opportunity and you ended what was a crazy night of fights were you watching the other action unfold earlier in the night and did that put any pressure on you or change your mindset of what you had to do tonight is hey um I uh the pressure is always there I was able to see some some highlights here there the fights uh I think the Red Corner went 5-0 every single one of the the winners was Red Corner was that true that’s true uh so I mean very happy for them uh and enjoy enjoy your night last thing for me uh you’re here but now you got to make the debut I know you’ve already fought three times this year so I guess what is the plan do you need some time off now or do you want to fight right away to make your debut how do you see it play now is foreign I want to remain active I just we want to go step by step and just kind of you know uh building our way up to the top we want to be a champion and yes if they want me to fight towards the end of the year I can do it or start of the Year whenever they want it uh we’re gonna we’re gonna be here we’re gonna continue to fight I’ve just got one question for you um Dana says he thinks you can change that tattoo to say UFC how soon are you going to do that if at all is impossible um a impossible impossible foreign [Music] so it’s very grateful to them so I I wouldn’t change it uh I’m not thinking of any new tattoos I asked from just you know a new one you know right now not for now but I’m not I haven’t thought about it yet what if Dana says that the deal breaker you have to do it is I’ll think about it I will think about it thank you over here congratulations on the win it seems like I’m congratulating a Peruvian fighter every week now what’s in the water out there man it seems like we’re getting uh more and more Peruvian Talent come out here to the UFC felicides [Music] vocabulary foreign ESO is I think the Peruvian fight scene is growing it’s evolving I think there’s a lot of fighters in Peru um they’ll give you something to talk about I think you will see more and more there’s a lot of level there’s a good there’s a high level of fighting in Peru and I think you should be seeing more more Fighters coming off uh in the future we have some very good Fighters out there and you you’ll see some more and then there’s we’ve added another one to it obviously more and more we see fighters from Latin America and UFC how do you feel and what do you feel how do you see um so many Latin American fighters in the UFC foreign [Music] Sangre the Latin fighter has Warrior blood um we we fight every day I mean we have to fight every day it’s a challenge to us that’s we see it all the time um we are not afraid uh we don’t see any problems with challenges or anything in the sort we will always fight no matter what because it’s in our blood is and with so many proven fighters in the UFC would you like to see an event in Peru someday estaria FSA in Peru uh um yeah I’ll be amazing uh for us to actually see I mean November we’ll be I mean just an amazing event um it would be great for Peru and for all of us that they’re looking for um a spot in the UFC and they love the UFC that’s Jonas is congratulations on this new um this new stage of your of your career and for I mean obviously for having gotten the contract uh did you ever think with so much talent coming from Latin America and the the current scene right now when you start a back way way back did you think that it could be the way it is right now for Latin American Siempre tation is generation is exposition is Latino um I think that for a long time I heard that we were told that in a proven Federal someday would come to the UFC and I think that the opportunities perhaps were not there as much as there are now and I think that now we’re we’re we’re beneficiaries of of um the I guess this new generation of which I’m belong the fact that we actually have this this chance we’re very happy about the fact that not only more Peruvian Fighters are coming to the UFC but also there are more opportunities for Latin American fighters to be here foreign [Music] um and finally for me you’re you’re here in the UFC um you’ve had this is a new stage of your life um you’re here you’re ready to make your debut whether it’s towards the end of the year or towards the the start of the next year what message do you have out there for kids that think that this this dream is so far out there that is virtually impossible that I’m not I’m not going to be able to make this um it’s too much for me to get into the UFC foreign FSA [Music] is foreign [Music] I would say don’t lose track of where you want to be don’t lose focus keep working hard don’t give up um because I have always done this I mean I I say it for myself because I I always Envision this I’ve always manifested being in the UFC and here I am I made it so I would this is what I would tell people just don’t don’t lose track of things don’t lose focus and keep working and you’ll get there yes