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after this massive win here in your hometown yeah definitely the biggest win in my career is the toughest test of my career and yeah if it was great well you said you would knock them out in the first round but it was a submission in the first round so uh walk us through the the exchange it looked like he was kind of showboating a bit trying to use his length and then you clipped him once and just tackled him yeah yeah it was this style that he died he does a lot like I watched a lot of his fights and he gets pushed up against occasion and just sort of cruises out he did it to me a few times and I just Wired from the cruisanna hit him with a hard shot and went down I hit him a few times and I thought I was landing and then he turned and gave his neck so I I know how to choke someone so I just jumped on it it looked like when you clipped him with the right hook I seen I think most players would probably kind of come with the left but you followed up again with like a similar right hook again so what did you see from Randy just kind of collapsing to just follow up both punches simultaneously yeah I like doubling up on the same side you know yeah a lot of MMA fighters just stick to left right left right left right but I like to show some class in the boxing double up on the same side sure and uh you obviously you said you won top 15 but when do you want I know you’re going to Bali or wherever you said but how soon do you want to get back in there because we have a few welterweight fights that are coming up soon yeah there’s a lot of people that match I’m kinda I feel like I like my schedule last year was uh for in January and June and November so yeah probably mid-year would be cool and finally what do you make the fans here in Perth sitting sitting uh cage side is like we can’t really hear your self-est thing yeah it was insane you know it was what I expected what I envisioned and yeah pretty surreal I tried to take it in as much as I could hey Jack how you doing good thanks Mitch I just thought more people wanted to talk to you quicker but um I’ll take it in a I like this mate when it ends so so unsighted so quickly and you head back uh over the next couple of weeks with your head coach Ben Vickers how do you break this down do you just go yep great cool let’s move forward or can you still take things away that you weren’t happy with we’ve got stuff that we’re just working on in general so we just get back to the drawing board and continue to improve on the the skills that we have and get better at them and yeah I think they look I’ll look back at the fun and I haven’t actually seen it yet but I think there will be some things that we can pick up on and the over the last year or two it was about getting to the UFC seeing if you belong you now well and truly belong at the top do you have a long-term plan in terms of of the career or is it is it just guy in the top 15 you’ll take anyone yeah honestly I’ll fight anyone in the top 50 I’m after the I’m after challenging myself and I think yeah I thought Randy bring the challenge and yeah I’m excited for the next challenge and there’s is there any name that you think you’d match up well with not really that not really I think I think Vicente Luke doesn’t have a fight I think that would be a banger awesome all right thanks mate sweet thank you foreign thanks everybody um just to kick things off let’s start with bonuses the fight of the night was obviously Islam and Volk performance bonuses go to Jack Della and uh yair the uh the gate tonight broke the Australian Arena record so highest grossing event for any arena in Australia across any content concerts Sports exhibitions whatever uh the attendance was 14 124 fully sold out with a gross total in Australian dollars of five million 911 598. two transports tonight uh Pedro and Sheamus uh and that’s it for my side any questions from you guys right here um well phenomenal crowd tonight I mean you’ve been all over the world and seen so many of these events where does tonight’s rank in your pound for pound list I mean pretty yeah pound for pound bass pretty high on the list um I mean the place was deafening like I feel like I’ve been at a with my voice I feel like I’ve been in like a Metallica concert just sitting in front of the speakers um it was great it was great we went through a few of us in the back just going through some of the really memorable events over the last you know 12 months at least and thinking about London last March and Paris uh a few of the Vegas events and this is right up there um it was loud I think it was 50 full before the first fight happened and then 90 full during the prelims early prelims um so it was it was an incredible week after um not having been here for over three years and one of the things that you know we’ve got this relationship with the tours in Western Australia um TWA and we do a lot of work trying to figure out you know the impact of the event right there’s a lot of discussions around the impact from an economic perspective how many people are coming to Perth and not only do we have an out-of-state ticket purchase percentage of about 68 percent um but we had a you know thousands of people that are coming to Perth because even without a ticket so I think the um how event this was how much this event was coveted across the country um I think is a testament to how far mixed martial arts has come you know all across the country not just wa um and something that certainly gives us so much confidence coming back hopefully as soon as possible yeah and this is kind of two questions in one um you know when are you looking at a return and Alex and his post fight interviews said something I believe it was really loud about Adelaide and year is that did you say Adelaide yeah did he tip something off there no I don’t think so I mean well I don’t think so because we haven’t made a decision yet on on what the next event is um but just in speaking to Mick just now I mean the Brilliance of just these guys and the way they put the card together and think about the opportunities for not only other Aussie athletes and where they’re going to compete in the next six months but the fact that yairus had such a brilliant performance and now he’s up against Alex I mean you basically got UFC countdown sort of produced already with all the footage that came out of those two fights so um not sure the timing of our return or the timing of that event in particular that fight in particular but we will definitely be here at some point again this year well what about the flip side of that you now have you know I know yeah there’s an interim Champion but two Mexican Champions essentially is there a possibility of going back to Mexico and maybe bringing gear there for this fight yeah I mean Lawrence has been talking about that for a while I mean we want to get the performance Institute open we announced that um earlier this week the performance Institute of Mexico City and um I’m not really sure about the timing probably later this year but at some point um or in and around that launch we’re in that opening it’s going to make sense to go to Mexico City last thing for me um kind of you know away from that little location question any updates on Canada is the Canadian asking here are we going to get there anytime soon two Good Buds just chatting um no one’s watching yeah um no there’s no update we’ve got nothing nothing to report at the moment but yeah we’ve been very clear I think every time that we’ve chatted it’s you know it’s only a matter of weeks probably until we announce something it’s great thank you yeah hey looking back when uh Dominic Jameson fought in their Hometown like when steepe won in Cleveland and he never went back people always thought like why did we never go back to Cleveland with Steve can you bring Alex anywhere else out of side of Australia after witnessing what we did tonight I mean I think there’s you know one of the things that Hunter was mentioning in the back was the the fact that like you know Stock’s never been higher so not it was not even was it it was a it wasn’t even empiric Victory right like because he didn’t seem to take a ton of damage I know he was on the ground quite a bit but the fact that his stock Rose by virtue of the he took Islam five rounds um I’m sure a ton of people had on their scorecards that he was up three to two and not down three to two um so I think we can take him wherever um now if the question is does it make most sense to always have him here then yeah there’s a big argument for the impact that he made across the country this week you know our pay-per-view Buys in Australia were trying to be bigger than our pay-per-view Buys in Australia when Connor fought right so the the the impact of Volk um and numerous others including Jack Dell who had like an incredible performance as well um I I think it you know makes a lot of sense to come back right we’re still in this world of um you know this is a one of our principal pay-per-view territories around the world and so from a promoter standpoint it’s important to have him in an area where we can he can make the most impact not only from a brand perspective but also so we can continue to you know reach new high water marks on the revenue side and on the flip side of that I know you don’t make them the matchups or anything but at what point you start bringing like non-australian Superstars onto these cards like as much as they love Jack and Rob and Ty and Alex like I’m sure people here would love to watch like Jorge masudal fight or yeah like Leon Edwards fight like at what point do you bring non-australian Stars here um I mean we look at it as it’s a luxury that we’ve got so many um competitive and so many high quality Australian athletes and you know you see the impact I mean the yair and um and Emmett fight was great but like it was an incredible fight it didn’t have the same resonance with the crowd as the the rest of the Aussies competing or the kiwi’s competing um so how long I mean you know we had Rousey in home and trying to think he could put me on the spot man I feel like I’ve just gone five rounds with uh with Islam um but um yeah I I think there’s a real opportunity there’s one thing you saw that over the years you can sense that you know the understanding appreciation for mixed martial arts has continued to rise almost every time we’ve come back right and there were just small kind of nuances slight adjustments in position um slight you know holds on on attempted Subs where if someone you know made that move um the fan base almost unanimously started to cheer right they understood exactly what was happening in a very precise and acute way and I think that’s a testament to how far the sport has come here so could we bring other Global Stars 100 but when you’ve got great Australians um or new zealanders that can compete it also makes sense like it’s almost been an embarrassment of riches right like you’ve had you know Izzy and Rob and Volk and Ty and you know the list goes on um we’re in this really great period of mixed martial arts in Australia I don’t know if this is a little you’re the right guy for this question necessarily but a lot of fans are saying that ticket pricing is crazy for events like this events like London I’m curious is that something that you guys said or is that Ticketmaster Dynamic pricing we’ve heard about a lot recently and how much do you have to do with those prices yeah I mean we we scale the venue right but we scale the venue Based on data points and education on you know what the market can bear at the moment did it make sense to bring this fight to Optus to the stadium here I mean it’d be possibly there’s probably five or ten thousand people that came to the city that didn’t have tickets so could we have scaled up to 30 or 40 I I think the demand would have been there it obviously would have changed the average ticket price um but I think there was an opportunity given the demand just you know to um to scale it appropriately so um yeah this is this is driven by our you know our knowledge of of what you know the market can bear at the moment I just wanted to know uh when is Australia rank in terms of uh countries that you have to work with in bringing events Australia for its size seems to get relatively quite a lot of UFC events is it because the government is so transparent with working with you guys tourism like what what actually makes it so easy so working with state governments in this country um in more of a partnership way is a relatively new thing um and I think the the affinity and the interest the desire for like Global events whether it’s sports or music or you know food or fashion festivals whatever it might be it’s heightened in Australia because one people love events in this country and two like it’s far right it takes a lot to you know um it’s helpful for promoters or other managers of of Tours or sports events you know to make it here um it wasn’t long ago that we were fighting or working with to educate state governments around the health and safety protocols and practices that we’ve got in our sport why the Octagon is a better you know field of play than a boxing ring and so a lot of that work and that education I think is has uh has gone into the development of just the understanding of our sport right we want to work closely we’ve always talked about this concept of running to regulation to ensure that you know not only are we working with state governments to educate them about our sport but also about the the proper rules that are that are that govern mixed martial arts here so I think recently there’s been um you know much more constructive and productive conversations with local governments around how we can partner on events and and this week working with the tours in Western Australia was a good example of that and I forgot to ask you on of course once again I don’t know if you’re the right guy for this either but um when Islam uh commented on the lack of promotion uh for this event do you know what because obviously it was huge like yeah you heard it tonight everyone’s talking about it people that don’t have tickets are watching it somewhere do you know why he he might have thought that I don’t I have no idea I mean I haven’t talked to him about I don’t know the root cause of that what I do know is that you know this is one of these events and and Dana and and Sean and Mick and Hunter have been talking about it for months like you don’t get many opportunities to have the pound for pound number one and two together right like it’s an overused cliche but the Stars really do need to align right you’ve got to have the right athletes at the right time their careers you’ve got to have you know a venue that makes sense right to bring it to Australia it was absolutely perfect for us um and then you’ve obviously got to have at least weight classes where they’re within one uh weight class of each other and so this was the perfect circumstance where you’ve got two guys that like and it turned out to be an absolutely brilliant fight um so I’m not sure what the uh the impetus or sort of the the cause or the objective of those comments where I certainly didn’t agree with that thank you uh can I just ask from sorry over here Mitch from over here we’re really excited over in wa about Jack de la matolina we just saw you know he’s not a one-trick pony gone from Knockouts to now submission where does the UFC sort of see him in the next 12 months and he says he wants a top 15 welterweight now um so it’s a tough conversation or a tough topic for me to comment on um because it’s not you know within my purview I know talking to to Sean and Mick I mean these guys think that he’s the real deal um what that means on his next bout I’ve got no idea will he get a top 15 I mean you think his performance like Randy Brown’s no joke I think his performance tonight probably warrants something like that but not for me to comment um but I think it’s a pretty safe bet that he’s going to continue to rise at the ranks and you just spoke about you know this stadium and all this Arena sorry and how full it was we’ve Jack sort of mentioned that one day his dream is to hold a big fight here we’ve got a big Stadium down the road that can seat close to 50. I know it’s outdoors it’s something like that either possible for somewhere over here considering what you saw tonight you’ve got good precedence in this country right with a couple that well in Melbourne Etihad Marvel so uh we’re not going to rule it out um at some point it might make sense we don’t do a lot of them done sort of six five or six in the past um but you know if there’s one country that can handle it’s probably this country thanks does having such successful events in Australia detract from the likelihood of there being events in New Zealand because Australia is just more scalable yeah I mean our events in New Zealand have been incredible yeah no not at all wind would be the likelihood of the next kind of of income it could be this year yeah I mean we’re trying to from event perspective and I’ve spoken to a few guys about this in the past few months I mean we are getting back to pre-covered levels in terms of the proportion of international events that we have um on our overall um you know we’re not going to get all the way back there this year but we will get back there at some point in the next year or two and that likely means two or three events in Australia New Zealand every year cool thank you no worries just one more uh going off that what’s once you do get back to pre-covered levels once you say like as you hope how many UFC events do you think would still be at the Apex that’s a good question um I think the Apex is always going to be in the mix now it makes a lot of sense um you know we kind of turn off the lights and lock the doors every you know when the event’s over um and it’s you know it makes sense from like an ease of operations um it also makes sense as a good fallback plan like we have something just doesn’t work out in a venue um or if it’s tough to get to a certain city we want to get to we can always go to the Apex um I think there’s a lot of advantages to it so I don’t know the number but I think it’ll it’ll always be in the mix um we really appreciate everyone’s support it’s huge for us to come back to Australia and it’s really important for us to um to put on a good show and um I think the work that you guys all did was incredibly helpful in promoting the event across the country and around the world um we’re pretty excited with the results this week not only in the Octagon but outside so appreciate all your support guys thank you thank you hello hi Alex um you dared to be great tonight it didn’t you know go your way but it was a very very close fight do you feel that you won or how did you feel about the scorecards ah look man it’s a it was a close fight to what can you do I’m the type of person that uh yeah I could have done more so I’m gonna be harder on myself you know a lot of people are probably you know a lot of people counting me out so they’re like oh wow like you know what I mean but I was never counting myself out I was expected to win so I’m disappointed I know I could have done more I could have capitalized on the things earlier as well um I did think he was going to be stronger and I’ve you know I probably could have done more earlier but anyway what do you do credit to him well-rounded yeah I uh underestimated strike and the underestimated my my wrestling uh and stuff like that so what do you do mixed martial arts yeah we uh we at least we threw it all out there yeah I mean then that fifth round like it was you know right there for you is that just one of those things if you felt like you had another round or some more time oh yeah of course you know I felt like maybe I could have done that earlier like I said there was positions where I was like he’s not strong I even said in my corner you’ll probably uh hear it I’m like oh he’s not strong I’m not being a dick I wasn’t being disrespectful I was just like oh he’s not strong but maybe he’s baiting me maybe he’s waiting for me to do something so I didn’t capitalize it uh straight away which I should have and I started realizing that later on I was like excuse my language um could have done more and then like I I’m gonna try and get him down you know I mean and then we end up getting their scrambles as I let’s let’s uh go all out I reckon I can do something on top here as well so I did that but you know maybe I could have done that earlier maybe not I don’t know but anyway I’ll watch the fight um do some research but that’s pretty clear that out you know I could have won that fight that’s why I’m hard on myself did he have you hurt at all at any point like somebody I don’t know like you know uh yeah I think I dropped to a knee or something like I said I was there the whole time so me saying that you know wasn’t a knock down wouldn’t be fair but I mean I was there the whole time like I think I come back with a punch straight away like um so yeah again I’m not uh gonna make excuses when it comes to things like that yeah I was I’ll sweet so uh anyway yeah the last thing for me I’m sure they’ll get into you know the fight with the air and that business but you did mention in the cage I’ll be back at lightweight is it your hope that Islam continues to defend and whenever you come back he’s still the guy there oh what’s the fight anyway I watch the fight and see what it was like um I’m hearing that he where he was saying uh I heard we swear I could be wrong that he was gone back to his Corner saying he wants a rematch because he thought he lost so um that’s funny uh I would jump on that rematch where’d you hear that he wanted a rematch hey who told you that I don’t know what was it wrong no no no I did whatever he said that like you know whether he thought that he might have lost that he for did I don’t know I just I just heard that from someone but I’ll watch the fight we’ll see and you said you you under underestimated his striking maybe what exactly no not really like uh obviously I knew he’s got a good eye um yeah he’s got a good eye so he sees things okay so he can counter it’s like his feet doesn’t uh function as good as his eye so it’s like his eyes uh want to do something like you know his punches would do something because he can see but in his legs can’t keep up um but yeah that was enough to land some here and there so it went too hard um that’s why because he probably wasn’t uh based enough I shouldn’t be telling any more of these things but um but yeah but it is still still landed so a good one there’s a good uh there was able to Reign straight I’m like ah no I see he’s seen that again he’s his eyes not too bad he’s got a good eye his distance isn’t too bad um again I could have capitalized more man uh even in the yeah I guess I was just expecting him to be a little bit more Relentless uh in the shots um so maybe uh held back just a little bit towards the till the the last round I guess and then we saw you talking to him throughout the entire fight even when he had your back you were talking to him while you were punching walls was what were you saying was he talking about look again uh when you’re in positions like that I’m not being a dick I’m not being disrespectful but you know it’s getting his head you know what I mean like even when he had me I’m like going well you’re not that strong like I’ll say stuff like and then he’s there I’m going what you’re just hanging on I’ll go you said uh 15 seconds I’m gonna you know you’re gonna drag me deep waters you know that that type stuff I remember that stuff as I go he was hanging on for dear life um so it’s just stuff like again I’m not being disrespectful he’s still in a good position so it’s up to me to get out of there but I’m going to get in his head and just uh just kept him just kept punching him in the head saying like you know like I’ve yeah again uh I guess a body lock is a dominant position so their refs can’t just leave no he’s just hanging on trying to hide his head um but yeah so just let him know as they’re gone yeah look at your luck you know just trying to survive in certain positions so that was all rules I’ll say I have to ask what you thought of yayo Rodriguez’s performance you obviously said you want to drive back down and unify he pulled off the submission when over Josh had it yeah we’ll see yeah we’ll see um but of course yeah sales uh a good win good win by yeah he looked uh sharp on his feet uh caught him a couple times rocked him a couple of times and and uh caught him in the Triangle so I was training at that stage but um like I said uh you know I’m not a selfish guy I’m all about booting things up now we’ve got to now we’ve got a guy right there’s a guy uh in the 45 that you know what I mean there’s a guy that deserves that shot and it’s clear and that’s what I wanted but we’ll see what’s happening so congratulations to you go back yeah yeah I always say yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah I thought everyone else was saying it wrong uh going back to the fourth round where he had your back for ages okay it is a dominant it was fourth round that one yeah it is a dominant position but like you said it wasn’t trying to advance wasn’t really going for submissions was just kind of trying to avoid your shots is there a length of time where after which the referee should possibly consider separating it in a rift so I don’t know um if he’s trying I don’t even think he was trying to go for submissions at that stage because he knew I could just get my head to the so like I said um yeah I don’t know again it’s a it’s a strong position it should always be up to the purse again I’m the type of that’s just me right like as a I I you know I could sit there and be like oh yeah yeah whatever but for me I was like you know instead of me which this is how everyone should be instead of me trying to blame the ref I blame myself because I should have got myself out of there you know what I mean so I don’t know the refs rules however that is but again I’m more harsh on myself uh not not the ref for things like that obviously a moments in the clinch gets occasion look like you’re going for the takedown yourself because was that just because you felt I can do something here was there I was just trying to go for um he was gone for possess put himself out of position again I could have got some of those man like a I told you I’m strong like I’m telling you I could have definitely got more more takedowns if I really wanted but um I guess I was second guessing myself in in sort of positions but uh yeah I don’t know it just you know they were there so it’s just to let him know he’s out of positions like going don’t think you’re just gonna hold me in these positions they’re like oh it doesn’t work like that with me so as soon as I’ll do that and then grab the body like you would like you know obviously free again be like oh I’m out of position go sit back and just me letting him know and um again I could capitalize more but wow I’m sure he’s got a bit more respect for Australian wrestling now I think he does yeah but I mean again I could have done more last one for me I know you’re going to be super hard on yourself and say you could have done more and stuff like that the the concept of powerful pound is a weird thing right it’s like oh if you’re the same size with your current skill set who wins that fight well that’s the thing he put the title on the right line right which is um for his title but I mean power for pound like you know like let’s remember pound for pound it goes to size or not why do you think I was a massive Underdog and stuff like that but at the same time I expected a win so I’m going to sit there and be like oh he was bigger and all that I was like yeah you went up to lightweight of course you know I mean that’s expected but powerful pound is a funny thing um you know me going out there winning would have showed just why you know on that pound for pound you know what I mean but it’s you can see that I could definitely uh win that fight I definitely want that fight back is it going to be hard for you to go motivate yourself to fight a featherweight when you know his Love’s there he’s got the tunnel and you know how close you could have been and what you could have done it’s gonna be hard no look you know oh yeah I want that lightweight built sir Alex just over here just over here no on The Voice sorry mate or on the strength uh and you’re saying like you know he wasn’t maybe as strong as you expected I am curious where does he rank in terms of like strongest opponents you face because obviously you face so many in so many different um divisions oh I don’t know um it’s probably still up there but I mean I just yeah it’s just funny the again the narrative like you know if I wanted to push this crazy narrative I was like oh my run with it they let him let you think he’s Invincible but it just would have been a so much better story if I won right so sadly I wish I could just sit there going hey this invincible man you know you just want to push over I told you you know but right now I’m not in that position but um we’re close and uh again very winnable fight I’ve got to watch the fight back you know I don’t know again I’m my hardest critic I always am I blow the water out like I win massive fights and I still remember that one time I got hit I still remember that you know one time I didn’t get something or you know I mean that’s just how I am you know I’m a a very very yeah a very very harsh on myself and hard on myself so um I’ll be good to watch that fight back and just see everybody’s like what’s everyone’s thought on that like it was a was it a close fight like I don’t know it was it was uh yeah very close Okay so I’ve got to go watch that back three two either way yeah I’ve got to watch that fight back rematch let’s go where are they I guess on that um I know one of the narratives especially like Islam said look I want to prove that this guy doesn’t belong in the lightweight division right obviously it’s just pre-fight talk but I wonder after having such a close fight do you think you’ve established that you do belong the lightweight division like obviously got me in uh positions and stuff like that but again some of those is more technique and things like that you know what I mean like it was more that it wasn’t power like you know what I mean like again I’ve got to watch the fight but um yeah I didn’t feel like this freakishly powered like type of thing you know what I mean obviously he’s got that size advantage and and things like that that’s gonna that’s gonna help him a little bit and you know you might feel that little bit of um that weight and like a fatigue I didn’t get fatigue obviously I come back stronger in the end anyway but there is that that weight Advantage but I mean to say that I can’t handle lightweight it’s just ridiculous he’s meant to just blow everyone out the water he was meant to just uh as soon as he grabbed me down I was game over I told you that wasn’t going to happen I told you as I was going to do more and you know where you know I told you so I’ll get back up I told you that you know he won’t submit me and all that type of said I was right but I did say that I was gonna come come out with my hand raised and well very close I was very a very close fight people maybe thought I won but the judges did it so uh I’m very proud of myself right now thanks Alex thank you and Alex uh is it to your right is it is it motivating or does it sting a little bit more to to lose that fight on points but finish on top ah nah just losing me like losing in general uh I’m a winner I try and uh win everything I can you know what I mean and you know I kill myself in the gym to prepare myself uh to get my hand raised and uh yeah I expected to be on top or be put more hands on him and dominating heartily you know the whole way through so uh yeah I’m not happy with just uh ending up on top and you’re happy with my hand race and can you just put into words uh the support you’ve had from Australia this fight like especially tonight that was incredible um obviously everyone was still uh you know happy with the fight and you know so uh you know obviously give me the Mad cheers and that was uh you know it was good I was uh obviously trying to roll them up as well have a bit of fun with it and just remember I was here so involve them as well like let no I’m I’m hearing them and thank him and um yeah try and put on a bit of a show for him but it would have just been better getting my hand raised in front of him too you know what I mean so again that supports me crazy you know look at the weigh-ins and the press conferences and all that type of stuff though you know I mean like that doesn’t happen much you know we have to take us all the fighters backstage so we can open the curtains further back so we can fit more people in and you know what I mean it’s uh so obviously it it went beyond what people expected so shout out to the Aussie fans uh for delivering foreign performers over to see you mate hey uh look obviously uh 145 here you go mate 145 defense is next clearly and then uh maybe the rematch with Islam but if that doesn’t line up for the title shot are you willing to maybe jump into 155 and fight guys like you know Dustin Poirier Charles Michael Chandler these types quick turnaround for the rematch um yeah we’ll see man again I need to watch the fight I need to talk some people and again right now I just come out I’m hard on myself I don’t know uh you know I got I’ve got to look and see what’s happening so um yeah we’ll see but obviously we’ve got you know when I go to featherweight we know who it is you know what I mean and again shout out for you Rodriguez I think that’s an exciting fight uh so uh good on him and also I think the great thing about this sport compared to say boxing is a loss doesn’t always detract from your star power so you did you come up short today a little bit but I reckon your stock has risen even higher than it’s ever been so do you feel that and just you’ve really proven that you really are even better than we thought you were oh man it’s uh again that’s everyone else’s expectations right my expected to win uh obviously people are proud of how that went but I expected to go out there and win um and dominate and you know what I mean and again it was good obviously he’s still proud of myself uh still proved a lot of people wrong right but I mean I didn’t get my hand raised so again I’m gonna be hard on myself I watched the fight back and you know maybe that’ll make me feel a little bit better but yeah it sucks Alex just over here man I’m just wondering did you get a chance to say anything to Islam or his team afterward words in the back when you were in the back or anything oh man like you know we’re both respective respectful dudes I’m a respect for dude I went over they said congratulated him um obviously they again I think they really thought that I was going to be walking to pass so they were like yeah shocked faces but I mean again lucky numbers I expected them to be shocked I expected it to see his face like I did out there and um in raised man that’s last thing Alex turned kind of on a high uh the Walker was one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen you know covering Combat Sports were you able to embrace that moment for what it was or were you so dialed in that no no Locker that’s I’ve come to if you remember me the first time I was like fighting in Australia and all that type of stuff I was always just uh on the topic I was just a competitor right now I I love it all man like you know I mean the build up so that then entertainment sort of thing I get it and I get it now I you know I want the crowd to feel me I want to feel the crowd um I fight best when I’m uh with with that energy when I’m a little emotional and stuff like that you know you’ve seen that in some of my last fights to really fire myself up um I do my best work there so uh it was good I definitely I felt them um yeah I just uh if I could have been a moment man you know what I mean go there imagine getting a big finish prove them data’s wrong in Australia what a moment uh you know 057 00:46:02,639 –> 00:46:05,239 it’s still a good moment anyway uh again the support’s been incredible shout out to everyone uh they’re bad that you know supported the the event the pay-per-view and shout out to everyone that was watching um and sorry to people that counted on me cheers [Applause] come down it’s like perfect well jayer we’re in front right here I know uh you want the Undisputed bile and that’s the interim belt and right there in front of you but I guess what are the emotions now that you are on another Mexican Champion upstairs up there on stage even though I uh believe that I could do this in one stage of my life it’s almost like unbelievable at the same time I don’t know it’s weird it’s weird to to explain you know that I finally get to carry this belt around and call myself a champion it’s been a it’s been a long journey you know we’ll talk I was talking to my coaches earlier um and they say okay it’s been it’s been a long time it’s been already 10 years since we started working you know and um you know this feels so realistic but um you know I’m really happy you know I’m super happy that I can have my family here with me for this special moment and in this special land you know that I always wanted to come here to Australia uh the public was so amazing the crowd was perfect you know and the people has been so nice to to me and my family and you know I can’t wait to come back here you said immediately there were a lot of bumps in the road just to get here to Australia so given everything that happened leading up to this where does this rank in terms of your career wins can you repeat the question given everything that you went through to get here to Australia you know you had to fly you had to stand I think it was bottle you said it for a long time the other side of the world where does this just rank in terms of just your the whole journey and everything in your career well well it’s just um like you know whenever you get into the top of a mountain and then you get to the top used to realize there is more exactly in that point right now I just go here used to realize that is more to come and there is more places to to go you know and um this is um I don’t want to say nothing you know because this is a lot for me but compared to what one can do in this sport this this means just a little you know so I’m gonna I’m gonna keep pushing to accomplish more goals into this company to my dream and making my my family my country and my friends feel proud of me in looking at this fight against Josh uh this play out as you thought uh he seemed to land a couple hard punches in the first and then you came out very aggressive in the second round yeah um we I work with my coaches the same strategy as you saw in the fight I work with my with my training Partners we knew he was going to come hard we knew he was going to move around and then and sit down and land those hard punches we talk about it in the interviews he’s so explosive he aggressive he’s aggressive and quick you know I couldn’t see that punch you know coming towards me and uh all of a sudden I was I’ll for a second you know and um in the second round um it wasn’t the first one when I hit him in with the with the lever with a lever kick and I saw him kind of like slowly start like slowing down you know I could see him like kind of struggling to the fight I could land a couple good punches he had a good cut in his face and I I was like okay he’s be relaxed and you you’ll get it don’t get desperate and um then he landed that good punch and coming out in that second run I was saying to myself you stay positive stay positive you will get it don’t get desperate and everything is going to be there you just believe in yourself and um you know I could I could get a w we saw your your coach Izzy Martinez cage side after you got the bell and he has long been saying that you know you’re gonna you’re going to get the UFC championship at some point so what was it like to finally you know go back there and see him with that championship hey uh I told him it probably it’s been a long time right he should took me less time than this it’s like no everything is a journey everything is a journey you know and uh if you’re in this point in your career right now is because he had to be like that so you know for everybody’s different for me it was this way and uh you know I also coach Mike and Coach easy they’ve been putting a lot of work into this you know and many many other people there are not here they’ve been put on a lot of effort and work uh into making me who I am right now as an athlete and as a person and I can thank all the people and not for all those those days of hard work and finally I have to ask about Alex volkanovski’s performance in the main event uh he’s it was obviously a very close fight he says he wants to drop of course he wants to drop back down unify the belts at what point do you start you know looking at that fight down the road and breaking down how to match up with Alex yeah I was looking at the fight um I couldn’t really see that much of the other fight it was how he was going in between Islam and him but uh it was it was a pretty good fight I was like We’ll see it was pretty it’s a pretty close fight talking about his fight against me um I think it’s quick I think he’s explosive and he has a pretty good wrestling and you two defense so I think the fighting between him and I will like stay standing standing up so we’ll be like a like more of my striking fight and everything comes down to who does it better in that day who does a better strategy who’s able to maintain the strategy if he’s working you know unable to adjust if it’s not working and you know I can’t see much about anything you know it’s just matter of who’s also buried it that day yeah tonight was the first time Alex is lost in the UFC and in over 10 years when you guys fight do you think that’s going to have a more motivated version of him or do you think maybe you’re catching him at the perfect time now because maybe who knows where his confidence will be at where his mindset will be at all those things bro he’s fighting for the 155 pound division against Islam macashif you know he’s not fighting like a nobody Islam is tough it’s really tough we have seen the Russian the Russian guys fighting this company they’re super tough and you know he was able to go in there not only five rounds but demonstrating he’s capable of also winning you know because he was the fight was pretty close he was three rounds to two so uh I think he did a pretty good job he’s gonna I just think the fighting between him and I will will be as he has to be you know he he’ll be there 100 I don’t see why not and I’ll be there 100 as well so so you guys will have a pretty good fight do you think uh you’ll have to come back here and do the unifier here or we had Dave Shaw the UFC executive up there I asked him about maybe doing it in Mexico and she you know didn’t dismiss it so is that would that be your perfect world yeah that would be perfect you know uh I actually I talked to Alexander volcanovski in the past in Dallas no not that much with them but with his manager and he was like he asked me will you be able to go to Australia will you go to Australia I was like yeah why not yeah of course I’ll go so I I stick to my to my world and I came here won the interim title and uh now I want to ask the UFC to take this belt this championship fight to Mexico City in September whenever they opening the the UFC performance Institute so we can do it there you saw Alex’s walk out tonight and how crazy that was but is that something you dream of of like what that could be like for you in Mexico um I I didn’t really see him you know I was busy doing the interviews and some pictures and stuff you know and I I wasn’t able to see it but I’m sure I have no doubt that it was crazy for him you know all the people here is they’re they’re big fans you know and uh they are really supportive of their people and I’m sure it was it was crazy for sure oh yeah yeah uh you’ve had some bumps in the road on this journey uh the losses to Edgar Holloway it was at any point that you thought like you might not get to this crowning moment that you’re right now yeah those are the moments that I thought the most you know on the those are like the demons that I that I talk in the interviews that you have to fight every single layer of your life the what ifs what if I can’t what if I don’t or what if this happens or what if you know and uh some of those things they never became true you know so the only thing that you can do is live your life the best way possible avoiding the most mistakes you can and doing the best you can you know and then stop thinking that much just sleep and uh with that say you know um I’ve been learning to fight my demons every single day and winning over them every time that I that I you know think of situations like that and uh who’s been the most instrumental in in this journey for you cool who’s been probably the most motivating who’s motivated you the most perhaps a coach or family member to get you to this moment it’s just still a mix of everybody you know I can I can mention a single person but uh of course my mom my mom has my heart she’s a special part of my life my brother as well my little sister my dad is a special part of my life of course but those two guys back there looking at me right now my coaches you know they’ve been they’ve been there for me regardless of my craziness of what I decide to do you know they’ve been they’ve been there for me for many years and put in a lot of trust and effort into this to become true and I can thank them enough because they have seen me in my Wars they have seen me my best and uh you know they know me they know me like no many other people knows me and uh you know have them here right now this is amazing you know I can take my my management team and off I can take my friend Marco and off for helping me out to get here and uh it’s just it’s just a mix of everybody you know all my people back there at home you know it’s it’s everybody you know you can you have to kind of absorb the best energy from everybody and and put the negative away um my friends I know I’m voting for me there and they were just calling me moments ago and look at the phone and they were just calling me you know because they want to talk to me and I’m sure they want to congratulate me and say I’m sure what they’re going to say I’m sure they’re gonna say we knew you’re gonna become a champion one day we told you we told you this we talk about it and um it’s just been a long journey you know of many many people believing in me but especially especially myself and uh can you talk uh about the the love that Australia has had for you uh during this fight they’ve really adopted and take taken you in when you walked out Australia went wild for you um is have you felt that love throughout fight week if I have felt that before it’s just the the love that Australia has for you uh they’ve really kind of adopted you this this fight week yeah that’s that’s that was crazy you know because I’m I was probably one of the contenders for the like the 145 title itself and uh they knew it and they even like that they they were able to to have applaud me and share for me and many people walk towards me in the street and asked me for pictures and they they didn’t stop telling me how much good and luck they um they wish me and you know I I really love to be here you know and uh normally I have I have friends from here that uh there’s been a long time I didn’t see it was I was really happy to see them you know and uh it’s amazing it’s amazing to be here this is the first experience that I have flying this long and having my family here is makes it so special thanks Mike congratulations thank you yeah yeah um just towards right at the end there after Josh submitted you said something to him and I was just wondering what you said to him yeah um so this is a really important point for us right like I already said and uh when I finish the triangle I could see his expression the desperation of of like I I lose you know I lose I it’s like he he saw his opportunity go away but I just want to say to him no I told him no no hey no stop like stop that thinking that you have right now you’re a warrior you will overcome this you know you got this so the only thing that I can say to him you’re a Warrior brother we find the way to wake up to stand up every time we fall into the ground and I’m sure you will do that you know so stay strong and I’m sure we’ll see each other in the future again so just keep being strong brother what sort of bond do you make with someone when you’re in the cage fighting them even if you don’t like them it’s a very unique situation and um how do you feel towards a person once you’ve been in that situation with them can you repeat the question uh being in the Octagon fighting someone is a very unique it’s actually quite intimate situation so what can you say to the bond you build with someone once you’ve fought them I mean there is no match that it can be say you know only wishing the guy the best wishing uh everybody your opponent and the the best you know um I don’t really I’m the guy that uh likes to to attack my opponents uh in many ways only when I’m fighting you know I I like to make this uh sport as clean as possible out and in the cage you know we can can get to any direction you want you know it’s gonna have to it’s gonna be up to you how far you want to take it with me because I’m I’m able to do so as well but um I like to be an easy on my on my opponents friendly and whenever I have to talk is inside the cage and doing my job and that’s it you know I don’t see why talking or saying that much thank you and congratulations thank you hell yeah thank you guys I appreciate I appreciate all of you I guess well Islam obviously a very hard-fought Victory we can see the bumps and bruises on your eyes right there so uh what are the emotions and the assessment of your performance now that it’s over [Music] it doesn’t matter how I want today and now I’m not just Champion I’m best fighter in the world and you know I am very happy Alex how are people gonna call me not just champ best fighter in the world this is my dream and doesn’t matter how I won I’m very happy Alex was in here and he said he might have underestimated your striking but he thinks you might have also underestimated his wrestling so when you were in there wrestling with him was he better than you thought honestly I don’t have planned before the fight versus all fight runs because I know he’s a short I have a reach longer than him that’s why I planning to try to and I told all media I’m gonna try to knock him out I landed many good punch good needs but this guy is so strong and how he’s strong because he’s a best fighter in the world before not now before were you talking back to him in there too he said he was talking with you a lot when you when he had your back and when he was pushing you up against the fence you say you’re wrestling rapper improve let’s do something move if you if you can what did you make of the fans and attendance uh we couldn’t really hear when they read the judge’s scorecards When you entered they obviously weren’t in favor of you but they were especially loud here in Australia but of course the fans all waiting the I told when you remember when the official win I told them hey guys sorry but you guys all I’m gonna upset and they just upset now they don’t have best fighter in the world and what do you want your your next few fights to look like because obviously you were chasing this title and then after the title you’re chasing number one pound per pound what else is there to chase for you who else would you like to fight uh you know now I’m best fighter champion then I waiting call me and we saw a video of you on FaceTime with Habib what what did he tell you he’s so nervous and he said why you don’t do this this is if you come to and you will if you will was my corner I can do this but you didn’t come and we also saw a video of you in Charles backstage what did you just tell each other yeah Charles have a good fight I think this unknowns are not official or not I don’t know but if you see if he beat been you if you want to make this fight I will be ready you know it was because many things I come from other countries like more than 10 or 13 000 kilometers from my country I come with team and time is changing we come to the arena early morning you know many things but I don’t prepare myself for easy fight this is we fight for the you know not built we fight who is gonna be best fighter in the world that’s why it was hard fight then last one for me at the end of the fight he was on top of you we haven’t really seen many fighters on top of you punching you was that maybe were you tired or did he catch you off guard was his wrestling better well honestly last round he landed good punch and I don’t know I just go down like and and in on my mind I think I I want four three rounds and just I don’t want to do some like mistake that’s why I played a little bit there is foreign [Music] foreign foreign foreign apologies if you just answered this in Russian but when Alex was in here he said that he had heard from someone that you told your corner that you thought you lost and that you wanted a rematch with him is that true Alex said that he had heard you told a member of your team that you thought you lost and that you want to rematch him no this is not true I don’t say I’m a loser I know like in my mind when fight is finished I know minimum I want three rounds I don’t say I’m lose nothing how big of a learning experience is tonight for you going the five rounds you know getting hurt overcoming adversity just all these things you can take away moving forward this is my first five round it was crazy and big experience for me and I’m very happy because Fighters need to know like some hard fight because from the from the fight like easy fight from like one or two rounds you not improve a lot but from the five rounds I’m sure I improve a lot would you want to would you be down to for a rematch with Alex at some point you know he has to do his fight with yair but if he you know gets some wins and you’re still the champion would you want to do this again I’m never choose the opponent when then they call me I will be ready what did you say to Craig Jones I told him why you don’t teach him like escape from the triangle from the back ideally when would you want to fight again how many more times do you want to fight I just say I waiting for the call I’m a Champion best fighter in the world just waiting I never choose opponent give me a real contender do you think Alex is still the second best fighter in the world now behind you he’s gonna be second now thank you um foreign foreign week uh about wanting to knock Alex out uh is there a reason that you’ve wanted to Showcase your striking as much you know I always believe my Striker I have good skills I have like good coaches in my team coach Javier coach Muhammad and all my Corners you know the best in the world I know my skills that’s why I try to knock him out but this guy is so strong I landed many good punches many good needs but he still fighting you know I give him like big cut but these guys real champion and do you hear uh you know the the talk of uh khabib’s Protege khabib’s protozo do you hear that and do you feel like that this fight has helped you separate yourself from khabib and to be on your own path people always say this because we’re always training together and I want to be but I think Habib is a not just best fighter not the champion he’s a I don’t know he for me it’s the best guy in the world sorry just one more right here there are some people out there who do feel Alex won this fight including Nate Diaz who tweeted yeah right Islam goddess ass whooped after the decision what would you say to Nate and anyone else you thought you lost tonight honestly I don’t want to talk about this guy he’s a I don’t know what he said maybe he smokes something and watched the fight it’s on one more in front of you uh in a couple weeks from now Jon Jones will be returning at heavyweight and he was the number one pound per pound fighter before he went on his break if he wins the heavyweight championship of the world it will be a conversation between you and him for number one so why do you think you would deserve the number one spot over him if he wins the heavyweight title because you know why John Jones is a great fighter of course he is the best bat last time he won like Split Decision or he have always hard fight but I don’t know it’s I don’t think after this fight he’s gonna be best because I not just why I am best right now because I beat best fighter in the world that’s why I think I’m more deserve this and if somebody want to be blessed I’m ready coming um foreign foreign um there is the episode thank you guys best fighter in the world right now