ESPN MMA’s Brett Okamoto sits down with Fortis MMA’s Sayif Saud about coaching Brandon Moreno for the final weeks of his …
all right man well here you are out here uh coaching Brandon Moreno how did this happen how did you come to be coaching him for this fight well Brett uh what happened was I talked to Jason house who’s Brandon’s manager and uh he actually contacted me and told me that Brandon was gonna need a coach to help him out to kind of finish the camp that was probably about five weeks ago I would say and uh I’ve always liked Brandon he’s like the sweetest guy in the world um I don’t think there’s anybody that doesn’t love that kid always has a smile on his face and we knew each other we had talked you know quite a bit at some of the shows and had a relationship so I told Jason I would do it and came out here and started helping him Jason called you and this would have been like mid-December if it was five weeks ago yeah that’s about right December that’s about right I don’t know the exact day but he asked me about it and and you know um and I told him that you know I would talk to Brandon and came out here and worked with him to see that if it was going to gel and work you know I I uh as you know I you know kind of stayed away from situations like this and have really kind of brought up my own guys and that’s something that we’re really proud of at our gym but Brandon’s a guy that um you can’t not root for him and uh I saw him in need of help and came out and worked with him and it you know it worked out pretty well and and we just went from there you get a call from Jason house saying uh would you be interested in coming on what are some of the the first things that go through your head when trying to make that decision well um I don’t know about other coaches but for me I’ve got to like somebody I’ve got to really like them and kind of believe in you know what they’re about and I think Brandon when you look at him you know he’s a father of three girls I have two girls I see him as a dedicated family man and a guy that’s um you know deeply rooted in uh character and for me that’s something that I can appreciate and respect so that was really my first thought and then just you know trying to help him be the best version of himself I think as a coach that’s what you really are always looking to do is help people become the best versions of themselves and that’s kind of what you dedicate your life to and I feel like you know he was just kind of in a bad spot and and I just wanted to be there to help obviously all situations are different but you have declined this is not like the first time you’ve ever been offered a situation like this right correct can you talk about some of those and then when they came up where they came up and why I did not want to get that I won’t say specifics but I’ve had a couple people that were Champions that some people approached me about training and it just I didn’t I didn’t think it would be a good fit for me or for the team I’ve got you know multiple Fighters that are now in the top 10 that we’ve been working for 10 years for this goal to be World Champs and and uh man I’m just 100 devoted to those guys and and I want to see them get over the hump and you know we put more fighters in the UFC than anyone else who’s a contender and done some cool things that’s kind of what we’re about so for me it was never um you know hopping on someone else’s his work you know that’s just kind of not my style but this situation you know this isn’t Brandon’s fault and Brandon’s a guy that I think is just trying to find his way as a Young Man and I think that everybody kind of knows you know what kind of person he is and I think that um he’s someone that just needed help you know and uh I was in a position to help him and he’s a person I feel good about helping and so that’s why I made a decision and I take every Case Case by case I’ve let people come to the gym and train with no money before and win and take no money from them you know Trey Sean Gore in his last fight so you know I’m blessed enough to have built up so many different Fighters now in the UFC that we’re in a place where we can help the people we want to help but yeah we we usually don’t take people on that’s just not rmo at Fortis were you ever close to taking any any of those Champions like was there no really I was not close and uh I didn’t really have many thoughts of Brandon I I kind of go with my gut that’s the type of person I am and my gut was absolutely I remember seeing Brandon backstage after he had won the title and uh he was helping one of his teammates and just the passion and the love and like I could see the nerves and uh I told Jason later because I’ve known Jason many uh many years and Jason has been around the game a long time and um I told him I said and he doesn’t really manage any of my guys he only manages one Damon Jackson so we just know each other it’s not like we have some you know working relationship or nothing I just know him and I know he cares about his guys and I told him uh I said that kid that you got he he’s got a huge heart and I told him the story I said I’m you know just watching how involved he was and how much he cared about his teammate winning and that’s what you want as a coach because those guys that have character are the guys that build teams and that’s what we’re about so when I saw it and I recognized it and uh and when he called me about the opportunity that’s kind of Right Where I went to he’s the type of guy that you want on your team he’s the type of guy that cares about everybody else and uh you know it’s one fight at a time I’m here to help him win this fight this is his title uh this is not a title that I look at as uh our title or our team’s title I look at it as Brandon’s title and I look at it that I’m just trying to help him you know finish kind of what he started and that’s a different position for me but um one that uh I’ve taken on and that has been really really fun training with him and and Tapatio his boxing coach world class Izzy uh Silva world class wrestling uh his Jiu Jitsu coach Hector’s excellent Hoya striking coach so and then seeing his teammates who love him and these guys that have been living with him you know I went over to his house I go downstairs and there’s freaking six guys there you know hey coach what’s up we’re ready and uh it’s a cool story man and I just want to help him you know write the last chapter was there any hesitation on your part just from the sense of what you just said that like this won’t be mine like that you’ve been putting a lot of work towards you want a UFC champion you want to coach a UFC championship fight this is going to be your first time in the UFC championship fight like is there any hesitation of like I don’t want it under these Services no because you know what when you don’t have the ego to take it as that it’s yours anyway then what does it matter when you look at as this is a good kid and I want to help him fulfill his dream this is what I’m in the business to do and everybody knows what I’m about and everybody knows what I’ve done and what I produced and that I started a gym from nothing that I brought I had zero UFC fighters and now we have over 20. uh our record on the contender going from nothing to having six Fighters ranked in the top 15 in all different weight classes these are things we’re very proud of that we have done and um I feel like the media has given us a lot of love I feel like the fans have given us a lot of recognition and I feel like you know the last thing to do is have a champion right and and but in the end of the day I’m not doing this for myself uh I’m not a fighter anymore it’s not about me it’s not I’m 42 years old um if you’re 42 years old and it’s still about you then you didn’t do it the right way uh you know when you were a young man or a young woman so for me I’m in that that phase of my life where I’m blessed enough and fortunate enough to have you know built this this team and this structure and I can I can help a guy like Brandon who is a champion but uh I’m not big on and you know that and I think that’s why I haven’t posted about it that’s why I haven’t talked about it because I’m not about that I’m about it’s the first time I’ve talked about it really on camera and uh I’m here to help him you know finish what he started and that’s really how I look at it so you live in Dallas we’re in Vegas how has this looked over the last five weeks a lot of trips man uh you know he is a soldier just tell me what to do coach and I’ll do it that’s what he says just tell me what to do and I’ll do it but after analyzing the situation I’ve been doing the show UFC breakdown here so I’m kind of here quite often now a lot more than usual and I’m doing it again this upcoming week so I’ve kind of been piggybacking some trips off of that and also the guy’s got three kids he’s got six guys living with him in his house I’m not trying to make him change stuff up the last four weeks and move to a different place or he would do it he’ll do whatever you ask him to do and that’s what makes him a great student but for me I didn’t think that it was the best thing for him so I told him I’m going to come out here and I’ve been coming out here and and uh and we’ve had a schedule and I’ve been overseeing the schedule and and uh texting all the other coaches and and staying in correspondence with everybody and we really from where we started to where we are now uh it’s been uh been pretty good and I’m pretty proud of the effort that everybody’s put in and and kind of have everybody’s work together last thing I’ll ask you because he’s trying to uh distract you here you’re doing a good job of ignoring him oh yeah uh obviously you knew Brandon you’ve watched his fights so what stood out to you when you got into the gym with them can you talk about just him as a as a fighter yeah I mean absolutely I think everybody sees the heart on Brandon when they see him right they know that he’s down and playing his feet and throw down but I don’t know if they see the Artistry and the skill and the distance management and uh the shot selection and just the IQ you know uh what I tell Brandon is I’m like you’re so smart because what does Brandon do he’s an analyst and you know me doing analyst work as well on on the breakdown show that’s not easy I mean you’ve got to be pretty thorough and you’ve got to really understand um all the facets of mixed martial arts you got to be able to say them quick you know when you’re on air and you see something you’ve got to be able to read it talk about it analyze it and that takes a mastery level if you see all the endless Bisping Champion Dominic Cruz Champion DC Champion Paul Felder Contender I don’t think people realize these guys have a Mastery level understanding and that’s the reason why they can sit there and watch MMA Brandon Champion analyst so I want uh you know I want him to trust himself and and trust that that genius that he has inside him and I think you know at 29 years old he’s starting to flip that switch into a mature Champion while still being a great student yes or no sir and um it’s getting the guy to believe in his own his own Brilliance sometimes and say hey you know what you’re a great student you always listen but man you know you need to you need to just go ahead and fly you know take the ball and run and I feel like that’s where Brandon is and I feel like he’s about to do that and uh I just want to be here to help him do it thank you for watching ESPN on YouTube for live streaming Sports and premium content subscribe to ESPN Plus