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well Stephen uh congratulations on
getting back on the win column there
with another fight of the night right so
uh what are physically how are you
feeling after that we see it on your
face
or too much right here or like right
here but right here it’s a little sore
uh yeah man I mean I’ve got bumps and
bruises and of course with a win it’s
all worth it you know going out there
and put on a good show in front of the
fans and I told everybody you give me a
striker we’re gonna get fight of the
night and Kevin Holland was up for the
grabs and uh we we put on a good show is
that the type of fight you expected from
Kevin in there because even when you
would like one of you would hit the
canvas you immediately would step back
and say no get back up yeah man I mean
it was kind of one of those Unwritten
rules that we had going into this fight
um I know later on the rounds he was
shooting I know he had a busted hand but
I think I fell down in the first round
he let me back up he told me in the
first round he’s like hey I’m not taking
you down I’m like all right man sounds
good to me so yeah it was kind of one of
those uh handshakes we had in the first
round nobody’s going to go down what’s
he telling you to slow down in there at
some points he was telling me to slow
down and I was telling him I’m sorry the
entire time he was like oh you got me he
was like I’m sorry man you got me good
oh I’m sorry yeah it was fun he’s a is
he was doing a guest scrum in New York
and he said there should be bragging
right between Kung Fu and karate now 100
100 man I mean his Kung Fu style is
awesome I mean he wouldn’t be where he
is
if he wasn’t as skilled and it was just
uh
we wouldn’t have put on a good show if
it wasn’t for him as well so I
appreciate Kevin and the commentary was
saying that when you would land a lot
but when he would land it just looked
like it would just do more damage with
one punch so especially when he kind of
clipped you in that first round so how
does his power compare to your past
opponents well um it was the reach that
did all that that I think that helped
him with that you know um I had to close
more distance in order to hit him all he
had to do was straighten his arm out so
it landed more flesh
um
um so that’s why later on in the round I
started to use more kicks going to the
body going to the Head a lot more spin
kicks but uh I had to be fast I had to
close the gap quick
um and one of the reasons why I kept my
right side forward
um if we were in a closed stance if I
threw my power hand I would lean right
into his power hand so when I put my
right side forward in that open stance I
would throw my left which led my head
away from his power hand which helped
out a lot he clipped me I think it was
first or second I’m not sure when I was
up against the cage and he smoked me
good right in the forehead but um thank
goodness I was blessed with a hard head
thanks pops
for that so
we ran it this is going to be a weird
question but we ran into Kevin after the
ceremonial wanes and I asked why you
guys recovering your chest and he said
you guys were like walking around
flicking each other’s nipples all week
so what’s the story with that uh he was
telling me a story in New York City
he flicks somebody’s titty
and I guess Kamara Usman or somebody
Kamara Usman was with got mad at him and
so uh I thought it was hilarious so
during some of the uh the interviews
this week he flicked my teeth
so I thought I was going to get him back
so that’s why he covered his boobs up
because I knew I was going to get him
back he knew I was coming for him the
final question is it safe to say you’re
not gonna be looking for a wrestler
anytime soon and I mean if you guys want
more fights like that give me a striker
baby give me a striker so of course you
know I’m always looking for the title
and that’s always at the top of the list
but why not have some fun fights on the
way
Stephen what happened in the third round
it looked like the referee kind of
stopped the fight and then changed his
mind and put the fight back on did you
know what was happening there was it a
low blow what was going on
I think
I don’t know if it was I was in close I
think I had him up against the cage and
I threw it either a knee or a punch and
I think I might have clipped his cup or
got him in the groin and which is why
which is why they stopped it
um I think that’s what you mean yeah to
the outside perspective it looked like
they have to actually stop the fight and
then oh really okay yeah I did I don’t I
don’t remember any of that it’s funny I
had to go back and watch it because I
don’t remember a dang thing but I do
remember having to stop because of a low
blow not sure if I actually hit him
there but
um he got to take a break
do you know when you may have hurt his
hands because it sort of seemed apparent
the end of the third and fourth round
that he was not throwing it anymore but
could you feel a moment where he seemed
to wince or anything like that every
time I throw my left leg right to his
right arm I knew he had a tough he had a
really strong right hand and me and my
coaches uh pops and Divinity and Carlos
um Machado knew that if I threw that
back leg to that right arm it would slow
it down a lot so I kept trying to fire
that my back left my left leg roundhouse
to his back arm over and over and over
again to try to slow it down so that
might had something to do with it you
landed the left straight over and over
again were you surprised at any point
like man this guy could take a punch
well he’s so long and I have to start
throwing my left hand at all longer
range so right at the very end it didn’t
have as much power as I wanted on it
because I had to really close the gap
and he was very long so he just faded
back and kind of evaded a lot of the
power but he was tough man I think
that’s what surprised me the most he
could take some shots and keep on coming
quick ones obviously you you sort of
said a couple of things that were
exchanging there but what other stuff
was he being was being said in there and
anyones that stand out to you uh
whenever we headbutted each other he was
like oh man I’m sorry I’m like oh no
it’s okay keep fighting keep fighting we
had some fun conversations in there at
the very end he started to shoot I was
like hey I thought you weren’t going to
shoot man he’s like I gotta do what I
got to do
uh and last one can you please expand on
getting arrested for skinny dipping
oh my gosh I knew this is coming up why
did I open my mouth it was years ago
and some girls were involved and we went
that’s always the way I know I know we
went skinny dipping and we got caught so
uh but I got all that expunged I got to
train some police officers for like like
several weeks and uh it was good gotta
expunged man that’s what did they catch
you because they knew you were coming oh
did they catch because they knew they
said did they set up like a way to catch
you like oh so what happened was like a
week before somebody had vandalized
their pool I’ve never been to that pool
before in my life and we just got this
is the wrong time they had put up
cameras and stuff so me and a few others
are naked bods were up on the front pool
Hall board for the longest with
everything blacked out so yeah uh it was
uh parents weren’t happy about that but
you know you live in you live and you
learn man
any other questions Kevin’s management
tweeted that right in the front they
tweeted that he broke his hand in the
first round probably on my head on a
cross definitely on my knock and I felt
that one uh but like I said you know
that’s what he that’s what he gets for
punching me in the head you know what I
mean uh no I got a hard head and I did
feel that I had to weather the storm
um he threw a lot of elbows as well that
kind of staggered me a little bit but um
I had to keep moving and um like I said
uh I got a hard head and
um weather the storm and and you know
got the w
over here Stephen
I noticed uh like in the fourth he was
kind of like a wounded animal you know
he had the the hand and uh it was some
points where he would kind of like say
something and you would just go right in
did you feel like he was kind of delayed
a little bit just by the hand and just
thinking about it too much well I
stacked him a little bit I could tell I
hit him with a few spin hook kicks to
the head round house kicks to the Head
some left hands and I was like dang why
was this guy still up I definitely broke
my left hand on his Noggin as well he
broke his right I broke my left so he
was just tough man it wasn’t giving up
so I just kept Focus focused on I saw
him shake his hand so I just kept
focused on that right hand just kept
going for it with my left leg roundhouse
yeah and the body kicks were just yes
pops called it he said go for the body
nobody taxes his body so I kept digging
the body with the left leg and it paid
off and then the lead leg kicks were
killing him two and in the fourth that
was just yeah man there’s like I knew he
was long and I was watching I went back
and watched the uh the Brazilian Cowboy
fight and he kept throwing low calf
kicks on cabinet and Kevin wasn’t too
happy about it so I just kept throwing
those left uh outside left calf kicks on
the outside so I worked both sides but
the plan because I can work both sides
to stay away from like I said his right
hand I kept my right side for pretty
much the entire time I try to throw him
off a little bit switching every now and
then but that dude’s tough man golly
yeah you’ve seen but you seem like just
a step ahead just with the speed and and
the technicality of the Striking so I
feel like that’s what kind of threw him
off after a while because the first
round was a banger oh the second round
was a banger and then you know you were
kind of pulling away towards the end I
kind of fell after he told me he was
like Hey man slow down I was like oh
this dude’s getting tired he told me to
slow down I was like nah I said yeah but
I was like nah in my head so I I knew if
I just kept it kept in his face the
entire time he would start to slow down
and um I knew I was going to be faster
than him
um I’m getting faster
every day I mean I’ll be 40 in February
I’m still still out there getting it man
so um I the only thing I can do is go
back and watch this fight me and my
coaches next week we’ll probably go back
and watch and see what we can fix and
get better and uh we’ll ready for next
time yeah man beautiful performance man
thank you brother I appreciate you
all right
thanks guys