Jim and Matt kick off the show with Benjamin Levy Aguilar as the first guest, and the Chicago PD star talks to the guys about how …
gotta think a title fight could be next for Kai kind of France a huge performance tonight I know I’m the best in the world so I just gotta back myself [Applause] Builder tell me that’s on video I’ve never been happier I’ll name for a podcast dangerous [Music] welcome to UFC unfiltered I want to start in a different way from instead of saying welcome to UFC on villager we have Kai camera France uh coming on in a little while uh fighting of course uh in this Saturday’s Main Event uh Benjamin Lee the Aguilar is first he’s an actor um and he is going to be on right now with us sorry to be doing this so sloppy but we’re jumping right on because we have two guests kind of uh tight uh back to back so we want to make sure we don’t screw anybody he’s on Chicago PD uh Benjamin is so let’s get uh Benjamin in when he can and it’s good to see you Matt good to see you and I’m trying to Yap so fast I’m just trying to get it all done hey well hey man look at this guy hey what’s up how you doing man thank you man good can you hear me well yes you sound great oh great yo Matt I love your fight man I like with that I’m I’ve seen your fights and stuff I’m really really big fan oh thanks man I appreciate it Benjamin and I said you’re a martial artist as well you do uh Krav Maga yeah man I did I mean I think probably got growing up in Guatemala because I I worked with the Israeli Embassy so they’d have people from the IDF come and teach us and Guatemala is a crazy country so it it go we I did it I learned it the hard way the good way you know I wasn’t like a commercialized way it was really a military yeah really cool self-defense yeah what did you do for the Israeli Embassy Yeah well yeah I was working with them you know in Guatemala teaching bodyguard is actually tactical shooting and uh and Krav Maga that was like my job before I became an actor um oh you were teaching bodyguards and teaching martial arts to the to the Israeli Embassy employees yeah people from the Israeli Embassy and the government like yeah people that work with like the candidates and like you know I was just into it I always wanted to learn a little bit and I did boxing and I did some amateur fights growing up and then uh and then when I came to La uh it was funny because I I was like I don’t want anything to do with fighting but my first role that I got cast in in a short film it was called spirits so shout out to Nico and Cole they cast me in my first short film and it was an MMA fighter cutting weights and I had never done that so I went through the whole weight cut process uh and I lost like I don’t know it was it was a lot a lot um I did the whole sauna suits trash bags the towels I was just saying it sucks if you if cutting weight is rough enough but if you’re shooting something a lot of times you have to do two three four five takes and instead of just cutting it naturally you have to make that stretch over a two-week period for camera angles so did you actually have to do it more than uh a fighter would for a fight right yeah yeah let me think uh well I mean you know what it was I had to cut 30 pounds in 30 days of just of just uh muscle and because you again you’re shooting for a long so you can’t do a weight cut of water and look skinny for so long you know what I mean so I just cut a lot of weight and then at the end the day that we were shooting the actual weigh-in scene I did like 10 pounds of water or something yeah now do you watch mixed martial arts a lot do you enjoy the fights that UFC and whatnot yeah man I’m a big fan I’m a big big fan that’s wild now look a lot of martial arts out there it’s not gonna it it’s not gonna they’re not gonna hold water like Wing Chun by itself I used to do Wing Chun I had a wooden dummy in the garage trapping range the best thing is if you watch two Wings young guys fight it starts off like a thing out of Yip Man and then white belt on the floor like oh look at this and then this is horrible but there’s other martial arts like Krav Maga now normally if somebody goes well my Art’s too deadly and it’s for the honor usually that’s the worst thing you could hear because it’s like oh my God is based on a lot of whoops eyes you know grab your throat so but yeah you know yeah I’m sorry to interrupt you I I gotta be honest like that was one thing that really uh bothered me it was like a lot of people was like no we don’t Spar because it’s too deadly I was like if you don’t Spar then you don’t know you have to spar you have to because of the timing I was going to ask you that’s the next note like with Krav Maga is there anything like that with face masks a lot a lot of it is based on block you can tell me but you know better than me because you are a black woman and I’m not but from the outside looking in some stuff I’m like oh that’s cool like this and that but like it’s almost like back in the day like with some karate Styles they go you step here boom that’s a broken leg you go here boom it’s a grunt shot you’re down you that could be hot that could be possible but if you’re never applying it and you’re just doing the technique without the timing you don’t really know if you’re going to be breaking that R like do you guys do any sparring that’s like with masks on or anything with your poking the eyes or I don’t know if if it’s the real deal if it’s the way I you know I did it in Guatemala it was sometimes too real like it was like uh there was no you know like a friend of mine got shot in class by accident because the rules weren’t there you know to support things but so I I would say to anyone that practices the crowd my guy you gotta get in a cage and do some Muay Thai Jiu Jitsu wrestling and then in those moments you can think of where the rules would bend and what you can do that’s different you know what I mean and and also that there’s obviously a fight in the street is 30 seconds Max and I obviously a fight in the UFC is 20 25 minutes or whatever so there is a way of explosiveness then crowd my guy that is full on like all in because it’s life or death and it’s 30 seconds and you’re in and you’re out but I would say like you said Matt like you have to do sparring and even without the the the thing like I did a lot of sparring with gear because there’s sticks and there’s knives and there’s things but you still have to be able to do actual sparring with a mouse guard you know I think that’s my opinion well Benjamin Hall you can’t just Breeze by my friend accidentally got shot in class uh can you tell us what that’s that’s a tough thing just to kind of go through quickly how did your friend get shot in class accidentally and I was in a this was a stupid was when I was 14 I had lost my father I was trying to become a man the way I knew how I was like maybe I learn how to fight and like protect myself and stuff so I went to this very he wasn’t the guy that trained me all my life this was just like a nine month period at 14 years old I went to this class where they were teaching us how to fight with knives and the guy believed that you had to learn with the real so that you could like feel the adrenaline so we would go slower but it was real knives and real things and real guns but obviously no bullets but but they wouldn’t really have a protocol of checking the weapon they were just like people come in with their weapons and they’d be like okay time for class they take out the magazine do one of these and then just like boom right on the forehead so you had to kind of trust that they actually took the bullets out and I was 14 my mom said I was in karate class or something and I I would get these like the cold steel on my forehead and I actually learned how to do the technique well because of the fear and one day the instructor forgot oh he we left the class we finished the class he put the magazine in him and a guy had a question and I didn’t know how to answer it so we called the teacher he came back with his boots on and stuff and he was like yeah for example if I do this and I saw that instead of checking he kind of just wrecked and shot and in that moment I thought that’s loaded so I grabbed this dude who was not my friend at the moment now where Blood Brothers you know what I mean but we I we fell down back and I remember I stood up and there was a loud ringing in my ear and I looked around and I was like I got shot so I started touching my body and I’m 14 man and I’m checking my body I’m like this is it I’m done I’m done and then I looked down and the yoshin he was holding his stomach like this and he pulled his shirt up and he had a hole in his butt two holes it went gone through in his stomach and he was telling it burns it burns and I was like what and I I didn’t know what to do everyone froze the instructor doctor actually literally grabbed his face and said this is what you’re gonna tell the police and started making up a story of of like what happened like basically threatening him like to to leave him there and I was like you guys are crazy angle one so I carry the guy downstairs and I put him in an ambulance and the instructor still still told me like Benjamin go get the bullet or go find the case or whatever and I went and I found the case and he was like did you find it and I lied out of instinct I was like no I didn’t and I had it and I got home and I was like shaking and my mom was like were you okay I was like I’m just cold I’m just cold and I went to shower and I remember washing off all the trauma and then I called the guy who was in the hospital and and I had his number and he was like I really wish I had the bullet and I was like I have it man I have it here um and he he survived but he didn’t hit any organ but he hit an artery or something it was crazy so that that instructor what an ass to worry about himself what did you never go back to that class and whatever happened with that guy man never went back to him he called me a few days after and he said I owe you big time and I didn’t want anything to do with him and and I think then he got involved in politics and stuff and uh yeah I don’t think he ever made I don’t really know you know the next conversation with your mother was Benjamin what do you think you take one though right that’s you as far away easier my father was on the NYPD and his his friend is Lieutenant Derek big black guy strong guy yeah you know Hollis Queens in the basement of my uh my grandparents house uh-huh me and I was like 16 at the time and we were doing gun disarms with real revolvers and that’s great first thing look open it up check shoot it at the floor do it again they were being overly protected right there’s a protocol they wanted to use the real gun so I remember we’d get it and like when you say you get hurt in class uh we would get it and he would do it on me too the guy Derek like this and I listened somebody pulls a gun on me I’m giving them my money clip I’m not around all right yeah one of those things where it was cool it was like they’d be here and he was fast and I was trying to do where you’d move it and turn the nozzle back and it felt like your finger was going to break off so yeah I remember doing that to this day you know you stepped out of my head no no it’s the real deal like that so it’s really good karma is really good for that yeah when you were a kid growing up you said a lot of the guys would bring their own weapons was it a rough area you grew up in was there a lot of a lot of fighting and a lot of danger when you when you grew up yeah there was you know I grew up in a very specific thing because I had no money but I went to a school with people with a lot of money right but a lot of those people that eventually I got in with they they were like they they were you know sons of you know drug lords and it was and a lot of people trying to prove themselves so it was a mixed crowd of people with money trying to get involved in gangs and people that had no money that were rough and there was just a lot of of that in my childhood so so that’s why I always wanted to learn and I had no father so I was like maybe if I learned how to fight like and look eventually it all paid off because now I’m an actor on Chicago PD I I know how to handle weapons I know how to fight you know I do Muay Thais uh here in LA and I do I’ve done in Covina I do some Jiu Jitsu you know so I mean very light not not go breathe yeah oh very nice yeah yeah yeah but you know what you know we just went to a Meditation Retreat right um for 10 days in Tennessee and guess who I met who I met your friend Gloria oh I love we love Glover he was like I love Matt Sarah and he was like tell him ask him who had the best fight of 2022 the former chair listen that guy is just a champion in life he’s such a sweetheart you know I know listen I know we you got to get out of here soon what is the retreat what is that about what do you do oh it’s a bro it’s a Meditation Retreat uh with sad Guru I don’t know if you guys have heard of him uh he’s uh like uh uh Guru from India that’s uh you know impacting like 3.5 billion people now and and uh it’s teaching you so many things that we don’t know about our body because we just all focused on being outside instead of inside and the breath work you know like there was a lot of good people there like athletes big big athletes in that in that thing just and I think um it just teaches like since I’ve done that meditation that took me like 30 hours of practice to learn a 21 minute meditation do it twice a day my sleep quota has reduced to four hours a day and it’s not like I’m trying to wake up I just don’t need to sleep anymore I sleep four hours a day I eat less and I have this more energy um it’s insane are you sorry are you good at letting your thought I can’t let my thoughts go when I meditate I don’t know how to get rid of it you could have just like Let It Go but you know that’s a good I thought the same thing your mind can never become meditative your mind will always have thoughts it is you who becomes meditative because you’re not the mind or the body you’re something in between right so so it’s it’s about seeing the thoughts just come and go as clouds in the sky and knowing that you’re detached from them so the thoughts will always go now now this kept helping people with this thing is there psychedelics involved or am I travel in this place just to tell somebody to listen to a waterfall man I swear to God there’s no psychedelics and when I got there uh I did a very tough course and I was like what do I and they don’t tell you anything about what you’re gonna do and finally someone said okay imagine this picture that it’s like you did Ayahuasca without Ayahuasca and I was like that’s simple like that’s not possible bro oh I’m sorry is that the same Benjamin as a runner’s eye it’s cheating Chong had a kid listen to me wait what is it called again before I forget Ben what’s the meditation called but if you guys follow satguru on Instagram he he’s he’s he’s the real deal like this dude um Guru said sad Guru s-a-d-h-g-u-r-u I’m looking for the happy Guru I don’t want that I’d be happy to be happy stop around but listen you know even those guys with the Retreats with the psychedelics like you gotta do it it opened my mind well the first 24 hours you’re and throwing up in a bucket but like okay well you you look at the bucket thing yeah yeah no no no shading in this one yeah I got with the said Guru yeah how long do you how long do you meditate for every day uh man now I get to I I’m able to now be in like meditating for an hour sometimes wow like like bro I could never do it you want to feel like a beast sit down for an hour in silence and you’re like that’s that’s the truth bro that is the truth when you can when you can shut down for an hour inside of silence is what we’re all scared of that’s why we’re all talking and connecting and finding things to do and getting busy when you can silence it that’s G that’s what I think so that’s the path I’m trying to do and it become makes me a better actor because I’m more present now like everything affects me more and more attentive to things you know what uh when does the Chicago PD air and how can people say I know they can see it’s NBC they can see it on peacock but uh how long has it been on and how can people see it well yeah it’s uh you can see it on on NBC uh uh it’s on Wednesdays at nine or ten but it then it’s on peacock okay uh the whole season is now out the finale was last week I think nice man are you guys coming back next year or are you still waiting to find out no yeah we’re coming back oh that’s great that’s the worst is in between uh I’ve never been on anything that got a season two so I always know what it’s like to have a what you think is a good season one and then just be sent you’re walking how many years has this been on it’s been on for 10 season but this is my first season your first season right okay yeah this is going to be my first time doing a second season of the show my last two shows were just one season as well yeah like oh what coming back I know it’s beautiful because like you know acting is such a unpredictable thing you know and like being able to be in a on a Network show where it’s it’s Dick Wolf you know what I mean this dude’s a beast and he can he can make it happen so so that’s beautiful and I get to to work on my craft more and I play a cool cop he’s from he went from juvie to like to becoming a cop he plays this gray area and I can really like find stuff because I like to get in in my characters they like the people that you root for that they got that they they ride that fine line of is he a good guy he’s a little rough around the edges yeah that’s him he breaks some rules you know he he he’s he’s tough he’s a tough kid and coming from where you come from and you’re experience in the martial arts and having grown up with that it probably does give you some authenticity just very naturally because these things are not things you’re just pretending they’re things that you’ve actually experienced and it’s behaviors you’ve actually seen even though you’ve never been a cop you’ve seen these type of interactions and a lot of actors probably have not had that experience 100 I was lucky to grow up in Guatemala and like I you know not nothing what came easy to me you know and uh and uh I think I wasn’t realizing I was I was becoming an actor as growing well growing up without knowing I was going to be an actor because when you’re a kid from from a rough neighborhood or like a broken home you need to learn these things that other kids maybe don’t learn right like just to to cope with feelings or to to navigate between the marital violence or you know what I mean or like all these that you you go through you have to learn how to be smart you know and I think a lot of kids with trauma have that if I learned teach you to compartmentalize well too because if you’re afraid a lot if there’s things in the neighborhood that are scary and then you have to go and do something else you can’t constantly be consumed by fear so you probably learned in acting how to put that fear aside and just kind of do what you have to do 100 gym and and all or use it right like like because I grew up where like art you don’t do art if you’re a guy in Guatemala you do boxing or soccer that’s it uh and I come here to L.A and everyone’s doing their feelings you know and I’m like what is this but when I when I when I got into it and I was like wow like this is an outlet bro like I can I can say what I feel and I can feel that anger that I used to feel and I can feel it well and I can you know put my heart on the table then you’re like wow this is therapy you know so you Channel it you can Channel it man you have all that pain all that baggage and you just put it there and and then people like it because people are afraid to feel it so my job is to put it on in front of you so that you recognize it well there’s a difference too because people can sense when somebody is pretending something or in your case when you’re just kind of opening a door and letting something come out that’s already there and I think that that plays very well and I think people can feel that it’s genuine yeah yeah I agree with you Jim I agree with you 100 there’s a difference when it’s just real well look man we have kaikara Francis coming in in just a minute thank you for coming on really interesting to talk to you um that that story was so great too you never brush over my friend got shot in class that’s a great story and um everyone should check out Chicago PD go to Peacock you can see the whole season and look forward to seeing you next season man and uh I’m happy it’s working out for you it was really really fascinating to talk to you appreciate it God bless you guys me too pal we’ll talk to you again okay all right bye all right be good buddy [Music] what a great what a great guy and an interesting story um nice energy yeah very nice energy I like nice nice guy nice guy very nice dude and uh he’s got that look of a a kid that’s going to be in the movies for a while I can see him in like a fast and few he looks like he’s ready for a franchise somewhere he’s got he’s a good looking kid he’s got he’s got something about him I like it but he has such a nice energy he’s the type of guy that people probably misread sometimes too like you know you see that guy nice looking nice guy and don’t realize that like if you with him he’s probably gonna he’s gonna he’s gonna cause a great amount of physical distress for you oh who got like oh me you mean you’re talking about me well not everybody knows you’re gonna cause physical distress as well as emotional distress by the way um people can sense that way I’m saying he seems like a nun he seems like just a nice guy Jimmy yes sir I care of friends as long as he’s not fighting a guy named Brandon I think he might dude I was just thinking like since 2016 or 17 is the last time he lost to anybody who wasn’t named Brandon uh yeah he’s fighting uh Amir al-bazi who’s undefeated in the octagon and he was he 16-1 yes he is 16 and one that’s the main event this Saturday night an unbelievable fight but Matt have you seen I had to ask you I thought of you a lot watching The Ultimate Fighter because it’s veterans against the new guys uh Chandler against McGregor and It’s oddly enough Chandler has all the vets and uh and uh McGregor has all of the of the young blood as they’re calling them and have you seen the the first episode and what did you think I enjoyed it yeah me too sometimes I watched that show and it like brings me back you know what I say also it says fight this and this and that like you know I live that thing so I know what it’s like not to know who you’re fighting and then well this one they actually know you’re fighting the first one but you know they do that to match up but uh I enjoyed it uh it was very very short work by uh Roosevelt Roberts yeah and very accurate and you kind of felt for Nate Nate genterman man like you know you could see a guy would I when I was watching Nate talk to his family at home uh you know looking at pictures I should say uh and then they showed him with his family like prior to going on the show I’m like I am so happy I wasn’t I was engaged with my my now my wife so engaged with her uh during the shooting and I was on a mission like I knew you know I missed her some but it wasn’t you know my mind’s on the goal you know what I mean right is on the prize he didn’t have kids at home no that’s the point if I would have had kids and how you are after you have kids you’re just more emotional so when I saw that guy tearing up and stuff I’m like oh boy yeah I didn’t deal with that I felt for him too because you know that he’s better than that you know he’s a better fighter than getting knocked out in eight seconds I mean all the pressure on him it’s the first fight Connors his coach this is a big season and it’s I felt very bad for a guy not losing a fight but getting knocked out that way because it can happen to anybody who gets caught and uh I give a huge advantage to these veterans man these are guys who have experienced the pressure I think even though these other guys have fought the uh the the younger guys have had a lot of fights but I think these guys come back into the UFC have experienced a certain amount of pressure that these younger fighters maybe haven’t walked through yet so I think they have a huge event manage uh in these fights I think I think those veterans are gonna I mean listen I always go for the kind of the old school I guess sure I think they’re gonna have like I think they’re gonna give hell to these these younger guys I think Connor will be a good coach too like you know there’s there’s times where he can be he can be really obnoxious but I think as a coach you kind of get the best qualities in him as a fighter he’s probably a a good coach and Chandler is just uh a great guy and uh you know I’m really really looking forward to this season and in episode one I haven’t been this excited about uh The Ultimate Fighter in a long time and this was such a great opening episode number 12. oh you know he’s never heard my impersonation it was pretty good I actually thought it was him for a second did you did you close close your eyes for a second close your eyes all right can I close my ears [Laughter] a whole episode though man I just thought of you as what the veteran what this again these guys are not getting a championship shot but getting a shot back in and it’s hard not to root for guys who uh who you know are fighting to get back in but then again you want to see young guys get their first shot too they’re guys who have never had that taste so it’s kind of hard to to root against them but yeah I felt very bad for Nate um you know I I just it sucks when you don’t get to show what you when you but you know yeah yeah anything you know what I mean he really didn’t show anything and we know he’s you’ve seen more on the you know lead up to the fight with his PO you know his fights prior yeah so we knew we know the guy could fight so listen man he’s gonna feel like that until his uh he gets back in there listen oh sorry what were you gonna say I was gonna say uh what are you saying uh listen you you you know you don’t know you’re going to say this car no I do I see this card uh you know uh abazzi against Kai Kara France and co-main is Alex casares uh against Daniel Pineda a great fight and Jim Miller and Jared Gordon um is is the third fight up on that card nice to see Jared Gordon back in there um we’re looking forward to that after that Bobby uh no contest with Bobby green yes now how did now you heard about the Tim Elliott thing right uh no I did not all right Google it I don’t know I don’t know listen days basically he found out his his wife who’s been on the show up before the girl Gina uh the devil I think they’re getting divorced because she was with his best friend uh former uh the former teammate this guy Kevin something around that I don’t wanna I won’t throw everybody’s names out there but this guy so and on anything you know on the wedding night and this and that it’s really awful um okay yeah he’s gonna bring that with them in the cage and use that as fuel when did this all happen Matt yeah I’ve been pretty recent oh okay so you know that’s a rough one but let’s get sucks yeah that sucks yeah that’s a problem but I’m looking at this fight at these fights and I’m like yo I didn’t how did they slip in a fight where Jim Miller was fighting Jared Gordon I didn’t even know that was going down I know what was that fight announced was that uh has that been uh announced a while ago or is that a newer fight all I know is this weekend you know but um you know listen I have a good time and locally you know my kids they are and you know they always uh messed around with Jiu Jitsu but they you know like with me but they just started going down within the last year you know what I mean like like religiously so I’m throwing them in like a first tournament like this weekend so during the day that’s what I’ll be doing this weekend my three daughters my wife they’re doing a jiu-jitsu tournament and uh you know listen man I mean competing is not for everyone but you know my oldest dude always did dance and they used to competing and going on the stage and doing that and they they have enough they’re enjoying they’re enjoying their their battles at Sarah BJJ with the other kids so look man is a local tournament let’s go in there let’s see how we like it you know so you know I started them off with all Mark and some teddy bears so let’s get them in there and uh I’m gonna have some fun with that so that’s my Saturday Jimmy okay yeah as we’re talking man I’m kind of looking at the allegations uh that’s very uh very tough for Tim Elliott I’m sorry to hear that uh that’s just um you know obviously very painful to learn yeah yeah that’s a rough one that sucks we’ve all been through it though I mean most of us have maybe not in a marriage but in life I’ve done it and I’ve had it done to me and it’s just it’s awful all right Jimmy did you hear anything I told you about what I what I’m doing this weekend yes I did but I was just as we were talking I was kind of looking I tell you I’m gonna be that guy hold on a second hello yeah all right I told you you’re looking up the most foulest I apologize a story that went the other way I’m telling you a story that went a nice way a positive way no I know but I want it to be up to speed on what you were saying because I know Tim is fighting on Saturday uh also on Saturday my wife and my three daughters are jumping in a local jiu-jitsu tournament oh that’s awesome yeah that’s great we would like to hear that so what I was telling you and you were like yeah you know that’s great there’s 10 Things I just talking about my kids now can we anyway I apologize um that’s great are you as the dad how nervous I know you know that like you’ve been training them but how nervous is it to watch them compete no you know what I’m gonna be watched way more it’s more of like look man sometimes with these tournaments most people are cool but like sometimes you just get like moronic like insecure coaches or like when they’re coaching a kids match and I’ve seen this before the kids are going forward like yo you’ll get it break it really break it you imbecile like you hear things like that and a guy like myself gets like yeah they do what you do what’s the matter you never had a situation never did you used to get smacked somebody what is what is your situation that you’re yelling for another kid to break another like I don’t know maybe because I’m like secure myself I don’t do that right but most of the times people are civil and they’re cool and this and that but you know those those listen I’ve been in this business for 30 years so I’ve seen very good coaches nice coaches cool coaches everybody and you also see insecure people sure look through either their children or this or that so you know I’m looking forward to a nice day of them testing themselves that’s what it’s about so it must be nice for you Matt to see your wife and your kids all involved with the thing you teach like they’re all loving this thing like you know people try to get family into the family business and here’s this thing that they’re actually enjoying doing that you’re giving them it’s got to feel great I was talking to wanna New York’s finest this guy’s been on the map for 30 years I think about his daughters My Buddy Joe bonetti and uh Jedi’s Joe and uh I was with him the other day and he was at the school you know he’s been he was at my wedding 16 years ago and uh so I see them at the school I haven’t seen him in a while you know and uh it’s not his kids now they’re in college he goes and he sees me I’m on the mat with my wife and my daughters he goes this is beautiful I tried to get there this didn’t like it Matt they didn’t like it he goes this is beautiful this is you know it is no listen uh my wife even says like I don’t crowd you with this I love when they’re all at the school right it’s Friday nights we’re there and after we eat all right let’s order some doordash we we’re in my lounge we’re eating afterwards and it’s nice man it’s a nice thing everybody’s in the family business and I see they listen win lose I’ve won on Jiu Jitsu tournaments I’ve won on different levels I’ve lost that as a black belt my first time so you know you get to learn a lot about yourself in these kind of competitions and I was more listen when I go to watch my daughter’s dance there’s times now there’s times they did great and they got special Awards there’s other times over the course of you know now my oldest is 14 and my other one is my middle is 12. there’s more than I want to say maybe one time a piece where they forget a number or something they have to walk off stage and dude that’s the worst thing ever you know I mean that’s worse than watching them get all unlocked as long as they’re not hurt you know what I mean when they get a number on stage or something and they run off stage Jimmy you just want to be like okay you just want to get the hell out of there and you feel their pain that’s the most embarrassing thing but I’ve seen like I’ve seen my my them uh my for instance the last time that happened with my middle one I don’t want to bore anybody with this but she would she would she went off stage and then she had to go back 10 minutes later do the same number and killed it not a person you know what I mean yeah I think I think those things are good in life because especially if you come back out and do it because they kind of show you that the embarrassment isn’t going to kill you you come back and you do something and okay yeah this is survivable this is social embarrassment is what scares everybody I think even more than physical altercations is the social humiliation so when you have an embarrassing moment and you come back and you actually do it I think that’s a really good thing when I say about like people with if and let me know producer let me know if uh I guess gets here yeah yeah he’s not here yet you know I had a one of my black belts so I just I had to let go uh and I’m loyal to a fault I’ll keep a guy on too long sure the guy gave him a karate background and now I have a big school you see my school on Instagram the guys are running around to warm up you know yep that comes a little bit late I’m not I’m not I’m not hard on them traffic I’m happy you’re there you know yeah it’s my place so I’m not there no let’s add this back when I had two schools I can’t be there all the time anytime a guy would get a second late this guy that was running the class everybody’s jogging he would embarrass them in front of oh I guess Jimmy can get here on time but I guess Robbie guess he could take his time and we’re all out here I mean dude I would lose I remember at one point between that and embarrassing guys in class uh I would I lost up to like I remember it was like six weeks I lost six guys and nobody knew nobody was they weren’t in cahoots and is because of somebody making it’s like it’s like a to make someone make themselves feel better they’ll single out somebody to feel a little sure sure of course oh you know for the greater good I had to let the guy go after a while and uh did you warn him first and go look you got to stop with this oh yeah oh I gave him a suspension at one point one of my older guys came up to me and now he’s a black belt this guy John and he goes man you know I just he was some people when they think somebody’s close to you they’re almost afraid to speak off yeah they’re like oh well what if I say something I’m gonna be out of the school and I like mad and this and that yeah I mean so I remember one of my guys brought me a sign because Matt you know I’m you know I’m you know I’m an adult and I’m like I do what he’s even talking about I don’t know what the Yeah listen man I was I didn’t know I was warming up but I was working with this guy who’s a new guy and I didn’t know and the other guy called me on he embarrassed me in front of everybody and now listen man I know he’s a higher rank but you know I want I want smack I’m a guy no you’re not gonna talk to me like that you know I go Hey listen I’m right there with you dude I so it got to the point where I’m like this I’m I got this place to empower people and so if they ever get with they can deal with it I don’t have this place for people to get with so I got annoyed I go look man I suspended him with pay because you’re a nice guy yeah that’s not a big punishment paper two weeks I’ll pay you but he’s like no but to him it was hurtful because he loved being there so then eventually I go look man you got to go it’s just not gonna work I can’t for the for the greater good of me helping people you’re that my Wipeout class right it’s out of control now we got guys coming in like crazy because you know some guys if when they’re teaching they’ll they’ll make it like all right this guy is not my type of guy I’m gonna thin the herd out a little bit they’ll make it where it’s uncomfortable now that guy’s not training there’s no skin off their back but like me he’s like hey dude I want to grow this thing and I want people of course you’ll make it in a personality who messes well with you get the out of here so I kept them along that guy you know oh he’s in the waiting room Kai Kara France is in the waiting room uh he’s not I I imagine he’s in uh in Vegas uh let’s bring him in [Music] various how you doing man let’s find out guys good how are you oh yeah we see the meat guy sticking his head in the back I’m only kidding we see the guy on the bed it’s my wrestling coach just make sure he doesn’t pick it up you don’t want to make the game yeah it’s been a while since you fought July of last year was there an injury or is there was something you wanted to take time off or what um or would just things just fall through for you yeah there’s a bit of everything uh it was definitely an injury that kept me away I had a back injury so it’s something I had to prioritize investing back into my body just being a lot more um mindful of like recovery Mobility stretching all of these things that uh I guess was a humbling thing to I neglected until it humbled me until it sat me down and I couldn’t do anything so finally out of that and it’s been a great Camp no injuries and and um perfect timing but uh yeah we’re busy outside of the the cage coaching a rugby team being a wrestling coach filming a doco a New Zealand that was on a mainstream platform so humanizing what we do in the UFC and people could follow my journey and awesome thing about it is I’m still in my journey this is just another chapter so this new audience is on board now and they’re following me for Saturday night was the um oh sorry Matt was the injury did you have that during the Reno fight was it did it affect you at all or did it happen after no it was just something that came up after the fight and and that yeah it was it was just over time got worse and then just muscle tightness that was the main thing so one of these things we you do too much for regards and then you had to start a game kind of thing so yeah gave me a nice time to reflect and uh go from there okay now with this fight coming up with Amir uh abazzi did they say look we got good news this guy’s undefeated the good news is his name’s not Brandon they’re not around look well done I knew that was gonna happen but it’s a weird thing you’re killing everybody this name Brandon but look at least it’s the studs that we had a hard time with you know what I mean I mean both Brandon Roy Val and Brandon Moreno obviously I mean you know I know what I love about the city kickboxing guys they’re not they’re not shying away from the tough fights whether it’s Israel or Sonya oh man he Akai I mean did you when you get offered Amir who’s undefeated now and only has one loss in his whole MMA career undefeated in the UFC and you do you look at that like that’s a great name for me to bounce right the hell back in yeah I don’t really look at it uh too deeply I just saw the guy that came in and that’s the next guy um like I’ve never been one to shy away from a challenge and I’m not here to pick fights when I signed up to the UFC I know I’m finding the best guys in the world so that’s what I want to be doing if I’m not here you know competing and you know working my way towards being a flower world champion then um I’m in the wrong organization so I welcome it I thought these guys that are undefeated you know I thought these guys are a specialist of what these guys that have momentum and I love it I love I love the challenge because when I go on there and I um get it done I take all that hype and I get my title run back on track how is what’s the documentary about and uh what platform is it on uh so it’s just um just to New Zealand it’s on a platform called tvnz uh they had a big kind of budget so they got to follow me to Dallas for my last fight and do fight week and kind of let people um insight into the what goes on how do you get to you know to fight for a world title people don’t really see that so I got to kind of shed light on New Zealand Combat Sports um you know it’s been awesome having my wife talk my mum and dad Eugene our coach uh Izzy Dan so it got it was cool to kind of bring everyone into it and um spread just shed more light on to what we do because how I balance you know being a father husband you know how I you know try to navigate through all of that pressure stress and then life after fighting so they’ll follow me how do I pick myself back up what do I do to get back in the ring um and uh yeah so many things that play a massive part to this career but like I said before people got to see what I’ve come from what I’ve what I had to go through but now I’ve got another in front of me so they get to see what I what I uh what true character uh I have are they still shooting oh I apologize are they still shooting it or is it done or is it a series no no it was a series six part Series so once they finished in New Zealand the rights they know hopefully uh get picked up on a bigger platform overseas and then that’s when uh obviously fans can can tune in and watch but um they’re not filming now it’s just uh well who knows what if they get another budget we we could do a second season no your small stature at High School that’s how you started training that’s what I’m reading here so you started training MMA because people yeah yeah it was just to get just get confidence yeah now you remember the first time somebody tried to mess with you after you had some adequate training time training that’s the thing I never had to use it which was uh which was funny because it was like it was always for my like personal reasons to get into martial arts but yeah I never really got into a street fight I never really got into like uh physical educations outside the gym and um I always knew that with great power become becomes great responsibility so I always wondered uh yeah sorry guys sorry that I I in my head I screamed that I’m sorry about that guys but yeah that’s that’s how I avoid seeing martial arts and I just respected it so much that uh I wanted to keep it in the gym I I knew where I wanted to be and you know I don’t get bullied now you know I I try to um be an epic Advocate I go to high schools now and I talk about it and try um Inspire the the next generation of of especially young men to do better and um try to use my I guess um Journey as an example of you know how you can change your fairness into success and what do you expect out of albazi uh this uh this Saturday he’s lost one fight it’s been on about four years since he’s lost uh uh what do you think he is going to uh bring it what do you think he expects from you so yeah this uh is a contender that wants to take my spot on number three uh you know he’s coming in with a four fight win streak you know he’s a great great uh well-rounded Fighter um but like I said before I fought these guys before I fought guys that had never lost the four guys that are are massive win streaks um it all changes when I land that first right hand and that’s what I’ll love to see I love to see um that realization you know Cody Cody saw it um Bonzer and saw it but uh it’s just one of these things that um this is uh due to have been a main event this would be my second time final four or five around a fight uh being a headliner all pressure more obligations uh me traveling 15 hours to get to Vegas to fight uh lose my suitcase feeder a few days ago and it’s only just arrived today so a little things like that you can’t um you have to adapt you have to just go off it it’s not not something that uh you can uh have the perfect lead up um so that’s what I bring into this I bring in that experience is it hard for you to travel without family or do you bring family with you I think you have a baby’s on the way right you have a one child and the baby’s on the way yeah I’ve got another one on the way so for me this one this Camp um well for this fight week it’s just business so no families here just my coaches uh just the usual setup um and that’s all I need um you know family times for after and right now it’s it’s uh everything towards uh again getting this win and and putting uh my title title run back on track how much time do you give yourself to get to Vegas I know that is such a long haul flight when do you get to Vegas and how long to adjust to the time usually about a week so I got in on Sunday night so uh you know my I’m sleeping back to normal now and um it’s just you my usual routine with uh before my uh fights that I’ve had so far in Vegas so um yeah it’s it’s the usual setup for us uh nothing’s out of the usual run in the morning train at night same time for fighting so yeah smooth sailing yeah that’s smart guys are training tonight it just seems to make more sense because that’s when you have to uh but a lot of guys like to train early in the morning and I guess whatever your personal preference is do you just find that training at night just kind of keeps you more in sync with when you’re fighting yeah for sure you just want to be getting your body clock adjusted and sweating around the same time um but yeah it’s just one of those things you give or take if you’re fighting at midnight do you want to fight around the same train around the same time you’re fighting or do you want to maximize your sleep and get a bit of nice rest so there’s a bit of balance there um and I feel like we’ve found that in uh in our system well look this is an incredible Main Event coming up what do you think you need to do uh number three now uh you know everyone has a couple of setbacks but overall you looked tremendous in the last couple of years so what do you think you need to do to get a shot at the title and I know you’re not looking past albasi but I’m just saying in general what do you think you need to do um yes for this fight Camp it’s been about 12 weeks that we’ve had to prepare for a mayor and and uh it was about a month ago where they gave us the headline slot so the great thing about our gym our system that we have in place is already already getting ready uh for five round fights so we didn’t have to adjust too much the volume was already so high so I was already fit enough to go five rounds when I got the call so it’s a great place to be when um there’s no that no added pressure or stress to have to build a gas tank when it’s already there so for this fight you know I’m not expecting it to go five rounds um I’m expecting pressure I’m expecting Amir to bring the fight to me um you know this is he hasn’t thought the caliber of Fighters I thought he hasn’t fought someone like me and um I I’m ready for the challenge I’m ready for everything that he brings and um I feel like I remind everyone one of the best in the world you know that Moreno fight showed that I’m right there with the best guys and it’s been a bit of time away but um I get to I guess re-establish myself in this Division and great for the flowers to be a main slot it’s been a while since we’ve had that so the UFC have trusted me to deliver and that’s what I plan on doing awesome thanks a lot Kai uh good luck on Saturday and we’ll talk to you again afterwards uh have a great fight and uh look forward to seeing this all right it’s gonna be a great fight and congrats on the main event appreciate it boys thank you okay thank you friends thank you buddy bye awesome um great fight this Saturday and um I really enjoyed talking to uh Benjamin uh Levy Aguilar as well he was very interesting guy I think so I like I liked him I liked him a lot I did too you know what I’m saying I think Kai care of France looks ready and I think he wants to make sure that I mean here won’t like it Rock the Jimmy yes sir well you just click off the screen no no I wanted to promote the fights the prelims start this Saturday ESPN plus 6 p.m eastern time which is all that matters New York time nine o’clock is the main card so don’t get confused and think that it’s a 10 p.m main card start like normal um there’s an incredible uh incredible line of a fight that Jim Miller uh Jared Gordon fight I’m really looking forward to almost as much as the main event and again Alex casares Alex never in a bad fight he’s always exciting by the way because Sarah four out of five fights he’s won he has quietly won his last four out of five so uh happy for him in the co-main and this is a great card this Saturday night in Vegas I was so I forgot to ask Kai I was so happy that he had that that Uncle Ben quote Oh I know you are it made me did I show that I was happy that he didn’t indicate but I I sensed it I thought maybe I made a scene no I always say with great power uh comes a little responsibility although delegated if possible his quote was probably better tonight 7 P.M you can hear jokes like that at the Fat Black Pussycat here in New York you’re getting a great material like that uh the show’s been selling out every week so see if you want to come by if you’re if you’re in New York 7 P.M fat black and um can’t wait to do uh The Bert Kreischer uh the 18th I’ll be in New Hampshire with Bert and Tiffany haddish and a bunch of Big Jay oakerson and then um looking forward to Rogan’s Club both early shows are sold out July 14th and 15th at uh comedy Mothership I’m doing Joe’s club and uh the late shows have some tickets but the uh both early shows are sold out July 14th when are you gonna be there for July 14th 15th the comedy Mothership I got a call a text from our friend Joe Rogan yes Memorial Day now look I haven’t texted with Joe in a while you know what I mean so I was like yeah I thought maybe I was getting sure like he goes yeah I just spoke to Dean Thomas he goes you know at first like hey what’s up brother it’s Joe Rogan he goes I just spoke to spoke to Dean Thomas he thought it’d be cool you know be fun if we all if you guys did my podcast what do you think so I’m like now look before I answer back I’m like wait somebody with me I might be somebody might be a little Jimmy thing going hey we’re doing it you know you did that one thing with Tony Ferguson that time so Dean is is this really Joe he goes nah I just spoke to him like okay so then I texted back so we’re going to do uh great like end of the month they’re gonna be taking a taking a write-off fly out to uh a flight at the Texas have fun buddy so I’m Jimmy yes and I’m gonna see Joe uh when I’m down there as well so what’s that I said you know I’m plugging this podcast because yes you we want this to go on forever I do love it and ever and ever and yeah Jimmy we have such a good time I’ll be plugged the fights you plug your fat black pussycat yes good Sarah bjj.com yes and good luck to your uh your daughters this weekend oh my wife yeah yeah all your wives do that’s right yeah good luck to the family Libs well you know the city you know how this works we either win or we learn we got that white belt mentality and Jimmy I will be talking to you shortly okay pal good team yeah it’s time bye good