Following Power Slap 3, tune in to the Post-Match Press Conference to hear the athletes take questions from the media. Power …
I don’t know unleash the Bees baby of course we’re gonna slap news Austin you drop down light heavyweight did it go exactly how you thought it would exactly how I thought it would my man I knew see money if I put in the work and I believed in myself that there’s nobody out there that could stop me and that’s how I’m going to keep on moving forward putting that hard work build my mind and uh come for that belt so Ron watch out brother because I’m Coming For That daggone belt dude it’s mine keep it warm you had some Choice words for Alan and some nicknames that you gave them um you know actually seeing them taking a strike and giving it to him do you give them any additional props um I’m not going to sit here and rub salt on the wound I’m not that type of guy you know it might look like that but uh dude’s a hell of a guy and Alan if you’re listening keep uh keep working and get back to it dude yeah so obviously Wolverine dropped down as well do you think you are ready and in line for a title shot now more than ready man I I I’ve been ready since I got here in uh in the beginning you know I knew that once I got a shot I’d put whatever I needed to put into it to be the best that I can and I don’t see nobody Iran um the bearded you ain’t got it brother I’m coming for that belt it’s mine we know you quit your job to become a full-time Striker um you know obviously that has paid off for you here tonight um do you do you feel like that you are in line for that title I know you just said that that you want Ron but skillfully you think you’re ready to take take that on 100 um I’m involving as well I’m constantly growing so what I just put on that stage right there is my next performance is going to be even better I’m going to get back to the house get back to the Dirty South and play around in the swamp you know throw around some lizards and uh come back stronger bigger better nastier meaner and uglier than I ever was so I mean they’re gonna have to send Ron somewhere and put him in a laboratory somewhere and work on him because what he got ain’t enough for me awesome thank you yes sir thank you is that your best slap so far so far better to come though better to come I just have to say you have the most energy I’ve ever seen in a person are you like this always or is this just a fight week kind of mood that’s just me you know I love competing um I’m I’m I come from Florida you know I live in the Sunshine State so that Sun’s beating down me every single day so I’m just full of energy so you’re screaming like that going down the grocery aisles too where’s the milk where’s the cheese give me some bread thank you over here congratulations how much work that you put in in order to get this Victory and a great victory at that uh can you just subscribe for educational purposes for the people at home what type of work and what type of training you put into this Camp to get this win yeah big time shout out to jobs or size man I’ve been chewing on that thing like it was bubble gum and I’m in fifth grade another big time shout out to iron Nick there’s a there’s two tools that you can get on there that are to strengthen up your noodle neck if you got one but you know I’ve been drinking whole milk and eating cow my whole life so I’ve always been a big boy strong and sturdy so better start now better start now before it’s too late gotcha and now how I describe to people and how I talk to people it’s the same formula and the same technique involves like uh pole voting like you know throwing the big ball like getting that technique down uh would you describe that would that be a fair assessment uh as far as the technical aspect is concerned I’d say very fair um one of the things that I when I first got back after my first match was I was striking and thinking about what muscles were being activated as I was striking so I wasn’t looking for any power or anything I was just looking at what my body was doing as I was doing a strike and I believe in shot put or discus maybe those things are come a lot from your your lateral muscle throwing in that Whip and and following through with it so I just thought about those things and I and I I put those muscles to work like uh like a dog and you emerged today as one of the most colorful characters you’re so comfortable and oddly comfortable in front of the camera uh where you get that Charisma where have you learned to uh be that uh that Showman man I’m from the Dirty South I uh I love having fun and anywhere I go I just have fun man I’m uh I’m a swamp Savage you know I’m just out here enjoying myself so like to like like I just got asked you know is this really me am I really running down the uh the grocery aisles looking for the eggs yes ma’am I am and um I’m just having fun that’s all it is congratulations brother thank you bro Austin um you knocked him out and then dropped your hips on him what was that about what you mean that was Derek Lewis my balls was hot that’s all that was and that was the Beast baby understandable I’m a fan of this man that’s what got me here I’ve been watching the UFC and I I’ve always been a fan of uh combat brutality and violence man I you know so [Music] Derek Lewis he’s he’s one of the best of putting on a show so I just uh following those big footsteps of his you know cowboy Cerrone was in the audience I’m not sure if you knew that um there were probably quite a few other UFC fighters does that get you amped up knowing those people yeah that gets me amped up dude I’m trying to sing some Kid Rock and down some Budweisers with Donald Cerrone and maybe hop on a bull or something go ride some dirt bikes or something that definitely fires me like I love the cowboy I’m a cowboy baby well there’s a highlight where you can see him in the background you’re celebrating and he’s up on the screen so you’ll have to watch for that no well yeah I definitely will thanks for letting me know about that I can’t wait to see that hey Austin you said you would do it in one and you did how does that feel I knew it was going to happen it feels great it um it’s like uh asking yourself what’s two plus two you know it’s four you showed your chin tonight what do you have to say to all the naysayers that were saying you haven’t been tested you haven’t had a chance to show it tonight you showed it what do you have to say to those guys look at it you can’t break it baby that’s what I got to say to him you got the biggest energy on the roster do you think there’s anyone else in Elson powerslap who can match your energy ain’t nobody else on this planet brother I’m I’m one of a kind thank you congratulations on your win thank you bro thanks for being here Austin through the uh the first three power slaps we’ve and these post match press conferences we’ve asked about techniques and people working on their angles and and they’re striking from the other side of it I had a fan ask me how do they train to take the shot you know boxers or get in the ring they put headgear they Spar UFC they train with Partners do you actually go through training and take shots how do you train to take to strengthen the jaw so you you ended it with exactly what I do I don’t know I strengthened the jaw and I strengthen the neck I don’t take shots I keep my brain fresh I I read books you know I do crossword puzzles um I listen to music I chill I hang out but I work on my jaw work on my neck I don’t I don’t think it’s smart to beat up your brain you know I’m just trying to keep my brains safe and uh working my jaw my neck I think that’s more important so realistically like doing neck workouts with weights or whatever it may be working out the necks muscles the Trap so on so forth yeah because if I’m in there constantly getting beat up next thing you know somebody’s going to want to really take a whack out of me because I like to talk everywhere I go so if I’m in the gym working out with somebody more than lots I’m gonna end up talking to you so maybe one day that might get underneath somebody’s skin they try to crack me one time I figure I just work on the muscles that need be and and get them strong and ain’t nobody gonna knock me out anyhow come on bearded you ain’t got about it you ain’t got it whoa foreign thank you foreign foreign foreign foreign foreign foreign foreign foreign have any options the crazy Hawaiian welcome to powerslap was it everything that you wish you hoped your first appearance would be I mean we always try to get that knockout in but um Micah is I really try to knock him out and that guy stood there and did not flinch took my he ate my so big UPS to him but nobody ever done that at least with me ate my like that so he’s uh he’s a big eater you definitely had a lot of respect for him going into this match do you have even more respect for him now oh I mean I said the same respect that I I don’t think I can respect him anymore um That’s my boy and wife again I try I really try to knock him out KOA you and I talked during powerslap one you were here for powerslap too being a part of this how have you seen just in this short time the progression as you’ve been doing this a long time the production the crowd the energy inside this building the progression overall with your experience how how have you seen it sort of just continually progress under Dana’s watch is scary really really like I always dreamed of it you know when I first started somebody who once told me that there was no money in it I can’t pay you right now um oh we prove them we prove them wrong so sorry I lost my voice every time I turn on the crazy Hawaiian I lose my voice so I’m gonna have to turn them off right now but uh the production is like no other um come on I look at all you the first one was just like five people and now we got a whole bunch so everything’s falling into place this is God timing God’s timing always why did you switch uh to the left hand in the third round I really feel like I needed to give him something else you know after doing in my right my right twice I really felt like man he’s eating my right like nothing you know and it was kind of worrying me and my left like like my brother a lot of people don’t know he’s a right-handed uh Striker but he uses his left until I gotten to knock out slap for cash and I used to I use my left on the last round hoping to do the same but uh is the first promotion allowing you to do it so I tried it I saw you look up to him were you actually saying should I do it is that what you were asking him oh um I was actually asking my brother in the crowd yeah should I do it you know and he was like if you want to so I really wanted to and uh he ate that man it was unbelievable do you feel like uh you’ve established a name for yourself now after that fight like that uh you’re the guy you know there was a lot of hype around your debut do you feel like you established a name now with that win I mean a lot of people have to do their research about me um Micah was probably the toughest opponent I had so far um and uh I just I just feel like this Sport’s not going to go nowhere um it’s just going to keep going up and up and they hate for the sport is what’s going to drive it to to be one of the best sports to statistically for anybody to get paid you mentioned that he was your toughest opponent what did friends with him playing yeah he called me up this morning he said hey I’m eating locomoto right now what are you doing I said leave me alone God damn it for one day so I can hate you so I can actually put some hate behind my strikes and he said okay bet I got your Mac salad though and I was like are you are you claiming you’re going to lose right now because I’m uh I’m gonna get that Max early anyway um but yeah it’s hard to go up against somebody that picks me up from Vegas every time I land you know it’s really hard but I really really I don’t know if you guys noticed it but I really try to knock his ass out and he just ate it you guys going to go out and celebrate after this absolutely question over here right over here hey how you doing and congrats on the win by the way so um obviously you’re fighting one of your friends and one of your uh combatants uh so the mental aspect obviously you’re in the heaviest weight class one strike could be game over I mean both of you guys generate the most power uh what’s the mental aspect to stay in the Box keep your hands behind your back stay do not flinch like what’s the mental aspect before he’s about to hit that uh hit that slap don’t be a straight the up don’t be a if you want to do this Sport and if you think you’re gonna Flinch because I mean close your eyes I don’t know is take that eat that if you don’t then uh you might not be a champion like you know do some neck workouts or some I don’t know thank you very much I mean aloha um I know you guys wanted to you know put on the show for the fans but I think they still loved it were you good did you feel good at the end of your performance that you were able to go these hard rounds I mean I I was disappointed initially you know um we need maybe like two or three more rounds I think one of us would have you know 99 sleep so um just wait give me some Russians give me some South Africans give me somebody else Brazilians and somebody else other than somebody in the U.S I don’t think there’s anybody in the U.S that can be me so uh let’s let’s let’s Branch out how’s that we’re branching out the location uh taking it back to you know one of the islands obviously I would love for this to be a an island thing um because we got some bangers like me they call me a couple weeks ago and I came right off the couch ready to slap whoever any at any time so you know that being said like feed me my opponent give me somebody that looks badass give me some of his big and bad somebody anybody you with your brother being in with your brother being in the same division and if they bring a title to the super heavyweight division what’s the plan there like are you gonna let him go for a towel you’re gonna go for the title like what’s up I told him we need to sit back and watch because eventually we might need to go over against each other for the sport obviously that would be really hard even a lot harder than any fight I’ve ever been but it’s just it’s a sport I I’ve done this because I knew it was going to turn into a sport somebody said uh that’s not a sport yeah it’s not fighting you can’t go out there and slap somebody they’re not going to sit there and let you slap them but it is a competition and it is a sport I mean cornhole is a sport come on now congratulations thank you if they uh bring power slap to the islands who would you want to fight honest honestly I would have to try and see like what kind of MMA legend or boxing Legend but I’ll take on it whoever anybody Maybe I mean who’s fat and big in Hawaii I don’t know on that that guy from loss you know uh there’s always Big Island energy in the crowd for these power slap events is there anything you want to say to the people watching back home I’m sorry they only give me a few tickets but I was trying to get the Hawaiians to come up in the parking lot and start this like the capital thank you congrats on your win thank you thank you foreign foreign what’s up guys how are you uh performance bonuses Nate Bernard and Austin Turpin they both got ten thousand dollars and fight of the night was AJ and Wolverine they both got ten thousand dollars and you know we had a hard time picking the bonuses uh Ozil Rodriguez looked good I’m gonna take care of him too um who’s got the first question Dana when we spoke after powerslap too you said that this is fun for you because after each one now is when you get to break things down and tweak and perfect and so on and so forth now that you’re after your third one uh where do you rate this how happy are you with the production the yeah I love the build I love the build Brands I love to build things from the ground up I love to build things that people say can’t be built uh I I like to break records I like to do all that stuff and uh you know I was I was talking to a couple guys tonight the production my production team tonight knocked this thing out of the park the production was incredible when you watch this show we should win awards for this show tonight we’ll never win a award for this show ever but we should win an award for the show tonight production was the quality of the show was incredible um like when you watch I won’t throw anybody under the bus but when you watch Showtime boxing um and these guys are putting on events replays are terrible the production quality is horrible um I mean you’re waiting for a replay replays never come as soon as the slap is over my team has three different replays from three different angles um and the list goes on and on of the quality of production that we had tonight so and the reason I’m saying this is I’m not I’m not bragging I’m I’m commending my production team they absolutely these guys it’s International fight week we have all these things going on you know big UFC event tomorrow and the production team that worked this event tonight absolutely killed it I also want to commend the athletic commission they they are so on their game with this thing fouls and you know everything’s right they’re using the the instant replay the way you’re supposed to use instant replay when you think about how instant replay should be used in sports just Nevada State athletic commission congratulations amazing job on such a you know this is our third third live event in Vegas and uh they they killed it so I don’t know if I answered your questions but I hope I did yeah you know this is the third event you’ve put on and I’m even for me as a spectator I noticed in the main event sort of different tactics different skills that they’re trying to use and it’s like you’re seeing the sport evolve in real time I’m curious if you watching it feel the same way 100 yeah um you know part of uh part of you know the scrutiny that we’ve had over the last six months you know it’s it’s awesome I mean you you have to have this kind I have to have this kind of stuff I love this and you know when me and my team look at you know dive in and start how do you make this better how do we how are we better than the last time we were you know I don’t know if you would try to excel to the level that we’re trying to excel to without the critics and the scrutiny and and all the things that come along with it it’s this thing is so identical to the UFC when we started it’s it’s scary other than the fact that it’s it’s way more successful sooner than the UFC ever was you know what I mean I mean the sponsorship is off the charts on this thing and and it just tonight was a big night for us so every so often you get a match where like one guy fails one guy then they’ll get fouled back and it kind of sort of slows down into this yeah do you expect that to disappear as this sport gets further and further along yes and and what happens is a lot of these guys aren’t experienced you know I mean some of these guys are are starting but there’s going to be so much money involved in this thing I mean do you guys just talk to the crazy Hawaiian he’s like this was this was something for me I now I’m going to start taking this a lot more serious than I did and you know I was telling Kevin earlier um a few of these guys have already quit their jobs um you know uh the Bell always wanted to buy a Mustang GT bought a Mustang GT after his last event you know and this is uh we’re six months into this thing and uh you know the two guys that fought on the main event have made over a hundred thousand dollars already this year so you know this is real money this is life-changing money for a lot of these guys and the answer to your question is yes this will happen you know there’s a lot of inexperience going on right now and that will all start to change over the next six months when you started this I remember a bunch of us asked you oh were you ready to take on a whole nother job a whole another promotion are you ready to take on a whole nother roster of crazy guys who have to pay loads of money and go out into Vegas and cause Mayhem well I got to give credit where credit is due Frank is is running this company and doing a phenomenal job Erica over there in the corner is our Matchmaker um and a lot of other people that are helping working on this this isn’t me doing everything myself one thing that I there aren’t many things that I’m good at but one thing I am good at is I’ve always been good at building good teams around me I I did it with the UFC um in the early days I did it after the sale and we’re doing the same thing with slap and other companies that that we’re running right now two more quick ones from me this might sound like a City question but it was something that occurred to me watching the main event is there any conversation about making these guys trim their beards or is it just like if your opponent’s got a bushy bid you have to deal with it and find the chin no you you could not be first of all I think Wolverine lost half his beard tonight when you when you see that thing in slow motion there’s there’s red hairs flying everywhere after each slap and I I would absolutely agree with you because the first AJ’s good AJ AJ and Wolverine are two are the best in the world right they’re two of the best absolute best in the world and I think that AJ had a hard time finding his chin in the first one uh and Kevin we go back to the old days of boxing you weren’t allowed to have a beard in boxing you had to shave it um you know now everybody’s got a beard so I I don’t know I yes that’s up to the commission not me but yes I agree with you 100 and last one for me you obviously announced Jon Jones versus today for the 30th anniversary card massive heavyweight fight what do you think it means to both of those guys and why was this the fight to me what was the question I’m sorry I missed it you made you made Jon Jones verse yeah right yeah so yeah we’re going back into Madison Square Garden um you know this is a fight that had to be done for especially you know when you think about the um the legacy of Jones the legacy of Stipe the greatest mixed martial artist of all time versus the greatest heavyweight of all time after he moves up to heavyweight it’s a fight that had to happen and uh no better place for it to happen than Madison Square Garden over here yep congratulations on a great night thank you watching on TV is pretty exciting but also being there in person is like mainlining adrenaline is the key to this getting this in front of crowds is what’s the contingency plan of getting this in front of crowds so in the next two years if you look at how how far this thing has come you know some of you I’ve talked to personally you know when I say publicly you think I’m still doing this three events and this thing isn’t isn’t it this thing is a Juggernaut okay a juggernaut and um what we’re working on right now is regulation and we have a bunch of States lined up in the next two years half of the states that have commissions will have power slap so right now this thing is an invitation only event that we’re doing here you know tonight we had obviously a lot of media members here because of uh you know International fight week thank you for having an open mind and coming and checking it out we had lots of sponsors here tonight and you know sponsorship on this thing is going through the roof once we get it legalized we’re going to start taking this thing to different states for Live Events um but if this is our third event you know in the next two years you’re gonna you’re gonna start to see this thing move around a lot for educational purposes for people watching at home does it come down because the Ultimate Fighter was essentially uh do you feel that like it reminds me of the technique that uh it takes to like do shot put you know what staying in the box also mental not flinching you know keeping your hands behind your back there’s a lot of elements there’s a lot of tranches to this is it down to because with the UFC also you had about athletic commissions politicians fan backlash et cetera et cetera et cetera is you know fans seem like the one thing in the media seem like the one thing to get over is it just comes down to education and educating uh the uh the MMA demographic and the general uh support consumer great question and there’s two answers to that question number one um yes some people need to be educated number two some people will never like this no matter what you do or what you say same with MMA I mean if you even look at the UFC and how big this company is and how what a major sport we are globally and everything else we just got New York and France done not too long ago you know what I mean um so so when you look at this as new this is you know seems crazy to everybody the same thing that we went through with the UFC I was saying this tonight to Kevin too there’s a lot of people uh that don’t like this right they’ve been very vocal about it we don’t like it well there’s eight and a half billion people in the world and there’s a lot of people who do like it so not everybody has to like this I only need some of the people to like it you know um and yes that’s what we’re going to continue to do and I literally went into a deep dive with my analytical team this week and ripping social media numbers apart this thing is very Urban um this thing uh does Unbelievable with the Mexican Community it’s off the charts in India and it’s very fascinating as I start to dive into this thing and and and continue to study it and figure out how we’re going to build this stuff and I cannot explain to you enough how much I love this this is what I love to do this is the stuff that gets me up in the morning and fires me up and uh you know I told I keep talking about Kevin because I can’t believe Kevin’s here but uh you know I I was saying to Kevin when we did the first trial here did I or did I not I said watch what I do with this thing in the next year and here we are at the third event and I’m going to tell you all now watch what we do with this thing in the next two years okay so one more question it might be a dumb question so forgive me if it is um Endeavor obviously you have WWE UFC uh Power slab under one umbrella is the possibility of maybe crossover slap Events maybe we have Elon Musk fighting about Mark Zuckerberg in a slap contest that would be awesome well it’s a fascinating question and and it’s hard to answer right now but in the next couple months I’ll announce something with you guys that’s happening right now um but yeah a lot of people have a lot of ideas or think they know about how this whole um mixing pot of of companies work and you don’t you have no idea how it works um but in the next couple of months I’ll Enlighten you on some stuff now is not the time thank you sir great questions Dean I want to ask you one question really quickly um I saw Derek Stevens was here tonight did he like it and is is that something that you two could do business together Derek Stevens is a big sponsor all the fighters stay at Circa and yeah and uh yeah he’s been a bit I mean if you guys drive down the strip today literally every casino on the strip and downtown has it on their signs all every Casino restaurant bar is showed it tonight so um in the beginning in the early stages like this it’s about getting eyeballs on it and and uh Hooters Twin Peaks uh Dave and Buster’s uh PT’s pubs in Vegas the list goes on and on of all the bars that showed it tonight too so huh yeah yep yep yep Dana you’re you keep talking about the numbers you’re big on the numbers the coin toss that came out well in advance this time around as opposed to one and two how much did that play into like the the betting numbers and so did that have something to do with it and what what’s the return then the feedback you’re getting from the betting numbers yeah it’s all about the betting that’s why we do it early um because that obviously event affects the way people will bet on the on the sport um and that’s the other thing another great question if you look at all every major Casino had betting uh um uh all the offshore uh uh DraftKings head betting on it I mean uh what’s the note boys Ruben had it yeah FanDuel I mean all all the majors have gambling on this thing now so the answer to that question is hell yeah it’s doing good or they wouldn’t even bother with it so I mean when you look at you know talking about legitimacy early you know we’re doing everything that we did in the UFC you know we’re out getting this thing sanctioned we’re working with the athletic commission to make sure they they do a great job uh you know everywhere that you possibly Bet On It has betting has odds on it um you know production quality off the charts the list goes on and on of uh all the things that we’ve worked on over the last you know you’re talking six months we saw the NFL owners uh agree to allow sports betting kiosks in stadiums is that something you would entertain down the road possibly in events and then maybe even with UFC where they could have kiosk be able to bet you could bet on your phone obviously right for people that wanted to bet in Kiosk is that something that you would entertain probably the wrong guy for this question I’m a sick degenerate I love gambling and yes I would uh absolutely positively there it’s part of the fun of watching sports everybody bets on the games on Sunday and you watch the games that you bet on same thing with fights and I would do kiosks in a minute yes yep um is a super heavyweight title coming soon yeah yeah we we like the super heavyweights they’re fun and and uh you know in the UFC super heavyweights never really made sense um but in this sport there’s a lot of guys out there that could actually be fun and exciting there is a title for super heavyweights what is the weight limit is it 265 plus again yeah these guys are what what is it it’s 200 up right when you do get a a live crowd would you like Fridays to be the days because there’s a lot of people in town well we first of all we did well tonight we did really well with with the live feed Friday night you compete with everything man now you compete with dinner on Friday nights you know what I mean you got to take your wife or your girl to dinner yeah you know I like Wednesdays and Wednesdays are really good for the bars too Friday night is good for bars tonight because we’re like in the middle of baseball and you know there’s no there’s not a bunch of stuff you’re competing with but once you get into football season you got college football you got the NFL yeah Wednesday nights are a good night for us tonight worked out perfect because it’s International fight week all the stuff that’s going on this week between the media that’s in town the fans that are in town sponsors that are in town it worked for this Friday and tonight we pulled the most consistent longest concurrent uh viewers that we did we held the Peak at like an hour and a half tonight so it’s just when you’re when you’re when you’re building something from the ground up like we are here and you know every little detail 10 things can go wrong tomorrow night they’ll piss me off right we should have done a perfect whatever but none of you will notice and it doesn’t matter and we’ll do a fight another Saturday and whatever 10 things go wrong when you’re building something like this it’s a disaster it’s a disaster so it’s part of the fun of this too you have to be on your game every single time you put on an event everything has to align and you have to do everything perfectly and there’s a ton of pressure that comes with that and I love it I feed off it I eat it I I just can’t tell you how much I love this if you can’t tell but anyway Dana from the early days of UFC it was often compared to No Holds Barred and when you think about the times of the struggle and everything and considering the lessons that you learned along the way from where the UFC began to where it is now what are some of those lessons that you’re trying to apply to slap and trying to take it to extents that it hasn’t made before well or like I said before early on you know we’re focused on the things that matter good matchmaking so you get good fights building talent and then obviously live and television production if you don’t screw those things up you’re in good shape Dana yeah you’re definitely adding fuel to the fire we’re seeing events more frequently they announced power slot number four coming up on August 9th on Wednesday did you think it would happen this fast and are you excited that you know with everything you have going on yeah we’re getting to a point now where um you know we’re actually starting to talk about you know we got our legs under us now we’re we’re getting this thing dialed in maybe we start doing more events and uh so so we’re figuring out but we got season two coming up of the reality show which is going to be heavy International uh uh talent and um yeah the answer is yes any update on the video game what any update on the slap video game yeah no it’s it’s it’s it’s funny you asked that if I did get some information on that today we’re close to to getting it done and getting it out yeah one last one um obviously in regards to Medicals I know there’s some stuff with UFC and uh you know saving saving some of the lives of these Fighters right with the slab Fighters going through the the same Medicals as UFC um do you take do you think it gives credibility to to the actual sport itself or the Medicals that you’re doing since they’re they’re the same not now no nobody gives a but as we continue to do this like the UFC you know all the bad stuff that was said about the UFC early on and I even hate saying this and talking about it or whatever but um here we are 23 years later with an incredible safety record in the UFC so right now you know you’re going to get these doctors that want attention and these guys that come out and want you to talk about them and put their names on your stories and all that those guys are all flying around right now in a few years then it will mean something over here to follow up on that right here um Josiah Harrell got removed from the card today against Jack delameda because they found an abnormality with this brain scan um he’s 7-0 and he’s never had an MRI he said in his life like how crazy is that that you know on these Regional circuits you know people aren’t getting checked out like that and just how scary is that that he came into this week with the condition like that so if you took the 23 years that we’ve been doing this and you found and you saw how many people we found with problems um that probably shouldn’t have been fighting um even kids that we we found that wanted to get into The Ultimate Fighter you know yeah it’s it it’s everything and it’s insane that that this goes on out there you know and and these other organizations are regulated I mean I uh yeah it’s crazy we we spend millions and millions of dollars on health and safety it is the most important thing that we focus on and that we care about as far as uh putting on fights and like he was just asking these guys go through the same exact medical testing as UFC fighters do is there anything that can be done in the sport as a whole you know a message maybe you can send to these lower level promotions on how to maybe better protect or is it just a money thing they can’t afford to have it they can’t afford it it’s like even Logan Paul and I have had this conversation Logan Paul was doing the slap thing before me and he said to me you know a few weeks ago he’s like brother you killed it you took it to I said listen you weren’t wrong you were right it’s just you couldn’t pull this off you you it would be impossible for some of these guys that are lower level promoters to do the level of testing that needs to be done to make sure that everybody is safe but knock on wood again you know a lot a lot of bad things have happened in the sport in the last 23 years even in the smaller shows you know at the end of the day if you’re involved in a combat Sport and I consider football a combat sport too um there’s a risk every time you go out and compete there’s a risk what we try to do is minimize the risk as much as possible it was part of the reason we built the pi too you know what I mean we got these athletes in there for weeks sometimes months evaluating them making sure they’re good making sure they’re training properly you know healthy safe list goes on and on you mentioned in the production of tonight’s event how proud of it you were does this need to stay here in the Apex to maintain that or if this goes as far as you want it to be and maybe you look at Arenas things like that is it possible to maintain that same thing in bigger venues 100 I mean you look at what we do with the UFC this this show tonight has more cameras than the UFC does there’s like 34 isos so I can give you 34 different shots of one slap and it’s all in slow-mo and you know this thing is probably overproduced but uh it’s awesome and uh yesterday it was announced George St Pierre is going to be coming back and competing here in the Fight Pass Invitational on a grappling match yeah um he said he’s talked with you guys maybe a few different opponents do you have an ideal opponent a lot of people out there want to see him against Habib nurmagomedov well um yeah I he was talking I saw something where some wrote a story about I lied to GSP and I probably lied to him you know about this about khabib so this was after they both retired and he said Dana called me and asked me if I wanted to fight Habib but he didn’t have an okay from Habib saying that he would fight well you got to call somebody first right yes you got to call somebody first I don’t get them on three-way calling and say hey guys what’s happening would you like to come out of retirement and fight each other so George had been retired longer so the question was would George even consider you know what I mean fighting a beep he said yes so then you talk to the other guy um but yeah I thought that was a weird and again there’s a lot Lost in Translation when George Saint Pierre talks too so I maybe I’m wrong I don’t know but the way that I read it he was saying he felt like he was kind of lied to or something or that’s the way they wrote the story who knows what he really said but uh yeah I thought that was weird today but what are you asking me could he be gsp’s opponent for the scrappling got it that would be awesome I would love to pull that off that’s not in the works right now but yeah I would love to pull that off so I’m I’m getting heavily involved in the grappling world now too if you haven’t noticed so um we’ll have a big announcement for all that too but yeah I’m I’m going after the grappling world big time and just one more uh Leon Edwards was doing some interviews at ufcx today and he said he met with you guys and Colby Covington fight could happen at Madison Square Garden in November maybe the co-main event for Jones and miocic how far along is that yeah that that could happen there’s a lot of options I don’t want to talk tonight about potential UFC um I mean we could be here all night talking about that but yes that is potential hi Dana hi babe every week I or every event I ask you about the women but I have a different question about the women you mentioned all the analytics and stuff you’re looking into have you found that women are receptive to being watching yes it’s crazy we had a uh first of all in the Deep dive that we did into social media that with my analytical team excuse higher women than I would have ever imagined tonight there was a two-star general here his wife was here and uh one of the things that I noticed when I talk to women is they get it this doesn’t need to be explained to them you don’t have to break it down like you do you know UFC or or MMA or whatever you wanna any other comments boy you want to talk about women get it we get a lot of things sure no I I don’t disagree but you don’t expect women to be you know we’re going we’re going to Vegas we’re going to a power slap event yeah it’s awesome I love that that yeah talk to a few women tonight so any update on honest card Frank they’re coming we’re working on it thank you thank you I wanted to ask you about uh Austin Turpin in his performance what’d you make of that is that dude a maniac he’s a maniac he just quit his job he’s focusing full-time now on this and uh yeah the kid’s impressive you look at him and you you know you look at him and you look at the guys he’s going up to against and you think he’s in trouble this kid’s a Powerhouse and he’s an absolute lunatic and I also wanted to ask you about the co-main event between the crazy Hawaiian and Micah I know you were pretty excited about that one 400 pounds was 400 pounds were you slightly disappointed we didn’t get to see a finish in that one um listen every fight can’t be offended I told him that when he just walked out he’s like I wanted to finish every fight isn’t a finished kid it doesn’t work that way but like I said he said I’m start taking this serious now man this was this was something tonight this was a different level this was more than I expected and he saw his brother fight so um I I think what happens is too is with a lot of these kids you know we treat all you know whether you’re in the UFC you’re here you show up you feel like a professional athlete you know what I mean you’re treated like a professional athlete and I think that’s what they walk away with after this experience and we we’ve heard it from a lot of the fighters they’re starting to take this serious now a lot of guys are quitting their jobs and and uh looking at doing this full-time and uh back to the light heavyweights after tonight with Wolverine versus Turpin be something you’re interested in is what uh Wolverine versus Austin Turpin something you’d be interested holy this turned into a UFC press conference now I don’t know brother I don’t know I’ll get back back in the matchmaking room on Tuesday and we’ll figure it out thank you that’s my patented answer for everything hey Dana uh follow up on what was mentioned earlier you had mentioned earlier in the press conference how the belt finally got to buy a car yeah and when you have stories like Jen’s pullover talking at the Hall of Fame introduction inductions about how MMA saved his life when you facilitate are in charge of many of these great organizations for you how does that human aspect remind you of what this is all about yeah you know what it’s funny because when you talk about when I was earlier talking about the negativity that was surrounding power slap when you dive in and you start to talk to some of these people you know um and you realize how it changes their lives and how this impacts their families and and uh it’s easy to sit on your high stool or whatever your wherever you’re coming from or you just don’t understand the support or maybe you’re just not a fan of of you know some people out there that don’t even think headings should be allowed in soccer and stuff like that um but a lot of a lot of these people that are involved in Combat Sports boxing kickboxing you know the list goes on and on right down to slap um you don’t understand where they come from and what they’ve seen and what they’ve been through and and how something like this could change and impact not only their lives but their families um yeah it changes your perspective on it hopefully for you when you go down to the tea of the production the people that you hire in the front office everything everyone in sports are very focused on the dollars and trying to make the most money for you how important is it to make sure that everyone understands the concept of it’s it’s more than a game it’s more than just the fight and it’s about the human aspect yeah I mean we that’s we try to do that I mean a lot of this a lot of um you know what we do here in the UFC and here is try to do some storytelling and let you know who these people are and understand them but you know I don’t know if it reaches anybody because at the end of the day there has to be why are we here tonight why are these two guys slapping for what what does it mean what’s what’s the goal here and uh you know we talked tonight about rankings we you know a few of these fights Erica was telling me tonight we’re had title implications and and things like that so those are the stories that we try to tell along with who are they where do they come from and why should you care about them hey Dana over here um last time at Power slab 2 you said there was 20 000 applicants looking to come in and slap has that number increased in any UFC fighter showing interest in coming over here and slapping Macy Barbara was talking to me about it tonight I don’t know if she’s serious but uh yeah who you know as this thing continues to grow and at the end of the day the the reality is the more money that that comes into the into the sport the bigger it gets and the more people that’ll be looking for opportunities um but uh yeah I think that you will you will see it but the the balls that you have to have to hold that pad behind your back and take a slap from another person is is another level we didn’t see Wolverine walk out here today is everything okay with him as far as what’s coming out next okay um are you excited to have KO Chris back is he gonna very I love that kid he’s a maniac but I really like the kid a lot and obviously he’s super powerful and uh he’s fun to watch and yeah I’m excited to have him back fans were disappointed last night um that Anderson Silva was not in attendance for the Hall of Fame do you know why he was not there that Anderson wasn’t what that Anderson Silva was not at the hall of fame last night do you know why I no I don’t know hearing that like musk’s mom doesn’t want him to fight like how how real is this thing it’s very real it’s very real thank you good night thanks for coming you guys I appreciate it foreign foreign congratulations how’d the wind feel tonight oh pretty good um it was a it was a tough match AJ you know shocked the hell out of me and we kept going back and forth elaborate on what shocked you was it the the chin the strong chin the powerful slap elaborate on that um yeah he had a lot stronger of a chin you know I mean obviously everybody’s seen them get laid down past couple times and yeah you had a strong chin and uh the fourth round he caught me pretty good of course you’ve been in many other slap fights before and considering this one where would you rank it on your all-time matches uh probably second can also considering too that you were a former heavy heavyweight champion and now you’re light heavyweight are you considering trying to go double belt in any way uh no I think I’m I’m happy at light heavyweight 205 was a great weight for me thank you Ron congratulations um you were actually an underdog coming into this on the betting line and you finished as the favorite did that did that did you know about that heading into this match uh no I looked at the uh the circus casino and I seen that we were pretty close to even so I didn’t I mean I knew earlier in the week I was you know a big Underdog but I didn’t know about being the favorite or anything you know comparing this Victory to the one you had over Darius How does it compare uh it actually compares to probably about the same I mean Darius was somebody that I had competed against in the past and you know wanted the Victory and AJ is somebody that you know had the belt that I’ve wanted so it was a it was about the same on the road to the title series you coached AJ now going up against him here tonight what about him surprised you honestly it’s chin um I did not expect him to stand up and keep going like I said I mean he didn’t hardly take no breaks I didn’t take no breaks we just kept going back and forth thank you during the match we could see uh AJ get like a feel for your beard um what did you make of that um I made that uh you know I probably should shave it down a little bit I guess but uh you know I mean he was just trying to find The Sweet Spot and uh after tonight obviously you became the light heavyweight champ Austin Turpin also picked up a win is that something that interests you as your first offense uh yeah he’s uh I was a hell of a knockout from him so yeah it’d be uh that’d be a good defense against him or um yeah anybody the commission were to make you guys shave your beards would you retire would you shave your beard uh it just depends on how low I guess I mean I don’t mind shaving it down to where you can find the chin but I prefer to still have hair on my face you had to cut wait for this one was that a challenge for you at all or was that no problem for you uh it was it wasn’t a challenge until I hit about 210 that last five pounds was a challenge for me but the first 20 pounds were they came off pretty easily do you think you’d ever go back to heavyweight no I mean I like 205 uh 205 is a great weight for me I you know I used to walk around around 2 15 before I had to try to game for heavyweight so I’m gonna stay here I know you’ve had it but before but how does it feel having a belt again uh it feels great it feels great to have the C by my name again so um yeah I don’t plan on losing that seed this time is there anyone you feel deserves the challenge next to come up and face you uh I know AJ you know maybe a rematch or uh or Austin you know he had a hell of a knockout and he puts on a great show awesome thank you congratulations on your win thank you bud they announced that power stop number four is coming back August 9th did you sustain any damage or do you think you’ll be able to defend it on the next card uh I think I’ll be able to defend it I didn’t really sustain any damage um I got a I got a knot on the tip of my chin you know he hit me pretty good in that fourth round but I think it’ll heal up and I’ll be good to go thank you Iran um I just wanted your over thoughts on um on Darius uh you know you guys were basically one or two in the whole entire world for a long time um but now he’s dropped his last two fights didn’t look too good in the last one like wait what do you think is going on um I mean I can’t speak for him I mean he’s probably just got personal issues going on but he is still you know I consider him one of the you know still one of the top tier guys so I’m sure he’ll be back and he’ll be good to go do you think it’s this new rule set that’s getting him like it’s he’s not adapting to it correctly uh no I think uh like I said I think he’s just got personal stuff going on I think he like I said he’ll come back and he’ll be good to go congratulations hey thank you bud thank you everybody foreign