Following UFC Vegas 70, tune in to the Post-Fight Press Conference to hear the athletes take questions from the media.
with your head imagine you’re still kind of processing it all yeah I got one can you lay out I guess the schedule I mean we just found out minutes ago did you just find out minutes ago or how did how did today go uh I just I just found out not even 10 minutes ago so I’m still trying to process that’s wild so no indication whatsoever that anything can be in Jeopardy you’re just going about your normal day and you found out when we did man I was peeing uh I had you saw it in the back and my Coach store man yelling for me and it was him Hunter and Son letting me know that that uh that I wasn’t gonna be able to fight I guess what’s the most disappointing part as I imagine it’s incredible sadness but is it just not getting to perform is it wasted cam I mean I’ll go what’s what’s the worst feeling right now well honestly I wouldn’t call it a wasted Camp because we weren’t training for this specific fight we’re in champ camp and uh the plan was to go back to work Monday either way so I guess that’s what we’re gonna have to do so it isn’t wasted the disappointment comes from me not getting the show off some of the that we’ve been doing they my team um they invested a lot of time in me and uh we got love um they they invested a lot of time in me and I wanted to be able to pay them back with a beautiful performance Well you certainly didn’t let anybody down so you got nothing to feel ashamed of there any chance to talk to Nikita or see him or anything like that yeah um I stepped in to see him and and just let him know it’s not him uh that like I’m been doing a lot of cussing and fussing to be honest with you but it ain’t got nothing to do with him I understand that you know happens like me and my brothers always said happens it’s just 7 00:02:21,659 –> 00:02:26,459 I guess last thing for me uh I know you’re still figuring it out but is there a plan moving forward I mean is it like hey book me ASAP is it you know give me some time off I mean what do you think you do from here um honestly I don’t know we I’m still trying to process what’s going on my coach is gonna he gonna do what he do best so I just leave that up to him we’re gonna figure it out we’ll be ready either way is that is that the fight that you want next you want that one back since he’s been the one that you’ve been training for is it just any other one that keeps moving you up if we’re talking about the fight I’ve been training for I want to Champion so I mean like I said I wasn’t specifically training for this fight we’re this is a pit stop on the road to a Destiny for me and it’s a little disappointing to get set back without anything that that’s in my control um and I honestly I really don’t like the fact that I got to sit up here and try to process what’s going on in front of everybody because I still ain’t I still don’t I still don’t know what’s going on but I’ll be ready to go when it’s time for me to go thanks Ryan well we appreciate you coming out um I just have one question obviously without being able to fight there’s no you know win bonus and has there been any talk about any kind of compensation have you thought about that or um I know what I was gonna make I know what I was I uh no the answer to your question in short uh I don’t I don’t know what’s going on like I said I’m gonna let my coach do what he do best there’s not too many people I trust more than everybody I’d have just brought in here with me and so I’m gonna let them do what they do best thank you foreign ah what’s up gang long time no see so everybody who got to finish all six finishes got 50 Grand tonight um go ahead John Morgan well I guess uh Main Event Fallout obviously unfortunate um I guess we know it’s illness what can you tell us about what happened and just how everything unfolded yeah um you know halfway through the show we found out that his stomach he was having stomach problems he wanted to fight really bad so doc worked with him tried to get some things uh taken care of before the fight didn’t work out and just had to pull him you know these things happen they don’t know what was wrong with him of some kind of a stomach virus that hit him could have been from cutting away who knows what it was but it happened and uh you know we’re talking to these guys now about uh do we do it in two weeks you know what you don’t want to do is have them cut weight again next week so you give them a couple weeks um and God knows what’s wrong with him so that would let him heal up and go from there if not if not you have a backup plan for Ryan obviously he was incredibly disappointed tonight you know we talked to him briefly if you can rebook that fight like you said in two weeks if not would you try to find him something else faster yeah 100 we’ll get him we’ll get him taken care of and get it figured out it’s what we do we’ve got a pretty impressive Main Event anyway Brendan Allen came in and made an absolute statement I guess uh what can you say about his performance especially with what he did against the guy he did it against two to one Underdog um you know took out a rank guy and made 50 Grand tonight you know so um yeah he had a really good night that guy’s got nothing to be bummed out about good night for him no question uh another one that was impressed with Tatiana Suarez I’m just curious what you think about seeing her back um and first of all just guess her performance tonight after that long away how she looked tonight she looked incredible especially with the time off everybody knows how I feel about that much time off plus the things that she battled uh personally physically um and then to come back and and not just you know De la Rosa is badass that’s that’s a legit comeback fight um she’s big she’s strong she’s a good wrestler um her ground game is awesome you know um and uh you know she’s she’s a true fighter she came in to beat Tatiana tonight and and you know once she got that choke on too look how long she fought that choke impressive too so um this was a this is a real fight for Tatiana coming back so it just shows you know uh where she really is plus she’s shooting a HBO documentary right now so I mean you just couldn’t have a better story than that and the fact that she came in and fought somebody real like a legit really badass woman tonight so big deal for her here’s what how do you get you 150 Grand if she won 50 Grand yeah so we kind of consider ation right because I mean it’s just at 1 15. she says she wins tonight at 1 25 so I mean do you see that as like hey we see her as a top Contender do you feel like she’s got to work her way up from 15 again like how do you see your path yeah I don’t know I mean that’s up to the media we’ll see where she ends up in the rankings and um you know get a couple more fights under her belt and we’ll see what happens there’s no doubt I mean she’s she’s one of the best in the world there was a lot of talk on the internet and a lot of hype about her coming back tonight A lot of people were excited to see her um you know see how she was going to handle adversity again and and she came out looking awesome I mean I pulled her back into my room after the fight and you guys remember when she was on her back she was on De la Rosa’s back and literally didn’t even put her hooks in and De la Rosa was bent over and it was almost like she was staying in the same position like her hooks were in I was like what the was that what were you doing and she broke it down telling me what she’s doing she’s just incredibly talented a couple outside tonight I want to ask you what can you tell us about the ultimate fighter Conor McGregor uh you know big excitement what can you tell us about what’s happening so far yeah it’s been good um we uh we had our first three fights um I think on Friday and uh actually just upstairs with Chandler and he’s telling me how much he loves this show and how into helping his guys he is he’s like you know I figured I was going to come out here and you know you know we’d go through the motions and whatever he says I’m Blown Away by how into this I am and how much I I really care about these guys and I said this is what happens every season man it’s it’s fascinating you know every year that we do this first of all different things happen every season and the fact that that these coaches become so invested in their guys it’s fun man it’s it’s good it’s good to be back I love it I’m going to uh I’m going to Boston uh the week of St Patty’s Day and doing looking for a fight it’d be the first time I’ve done that in a while and then obviously I’m excited for the contender series to come back to all these all these things that we do to find and build Talent are a lot of fun lastly for me I got to ask you about the big uh title fight cut out Jon Jones is back I just kind of what’s your early thoughts are and maybe what the early Trends are for how successful this fight is going to be yeah um it’s big I mean again just like I told you in uh in Perth you know we’re looking at we had Perth you know last year we had a sellout every single event right now Perth the Jon Jones fight in Miami are all trending to be MSG type Gates so it’s a really good start to the beginning of the year hey Dana yep that’s what are your thoughts on narulaev he kicked off the car tonight um the fighter from Tajikistan there’s a video that came out like at like 2 30 in the morning over there there was a whole stadium just full of his fans it seems like there’s a whole country behind this guy is is that someone that you would like to get behind that’s fun when that happens man I mean that that when when these guys come over here and fight in Vegas and they come from you know these places uh all throughout Europe and when that kind of stuff happens it’s it’s fun it’s exciting and um yeah I mean I don’t even know what to say other than it’s it’s cool to watch on on social media when that stuff happens or when they come home after a big win it’s cool to see there’s a report last week that the winner of Jon Jones versus Cyril Khan is going to fight Stipe next is is that I I have no idea I mean we’re we’re just we’re heading into the week of the fight I have no clue is there a backup Fighter for the main event is there a backup Fighter for the main event yes we always have backups for those kind of fights can you reveal who that is I’m not gonna I’m not gonna say it but yeah we got we gotta back up and then finally for me uh with the contender series and the Tut and tough coming back are they going to run concurrently um or is that’s a good question or is that the canary state is going to go after that’s a good question I don’t know the answer to that right now what’s the date that that it’s going to run uh yeah and are they both going to be on Tuesday like are they going to be like back to back or is it there that’s a great question that sounds like some we need to figure out doesn’t it it’s a great question thank you all right I don’t think we saw you last weekend but Aaron blanchfield seemed to get uh one of the year’s biggest results so far beating Jessica and Raj I was just curious what you thought of her performance yeah I was blown away I mean she looked incredible um she came out and and you know first of all let me start with this Jessica and Raj taking that fight on short notice she’s an absolute stud um number one um and not to take anything away from Aaron she came out and did exactly what she needed to do she went right after her she wasn’t afraid of her she wasn’t afraid of her power um she stood in the pocket mixed it up with her and went right after her so I I mean you couldn’t ask for a bigger stud than andraj to come out and do what you did you couldn’t ask for a better badass performance by Aaron I mean it’s just when you think about how that stuff works you know and you gotta you gotta put yourself in Aaron’s mind right mindset most of these kids like they focus we’ve seen it in the past with Big Time Fighters not just people that are on the undercard or whatever Big Time Fighters Aaron’s coming into her first Main Event right and her opponent falls out that’s a total mind to begin with okay then you tell her oh it’s Jessica and Raj right so you think about how mentally tough and mentally stable somebody has to be the weak leading into a fight and and that all happens to her then she walks into this place like a gangster and goes right after andraj I mean it’s just it literally doesn’t get any the storyline doesn’t get any better than that and it and it shows you who Aaron really is and what she’s made of and what she’s capable of she got a big boost in the rankings how far away is she from a title shot yeah I mean she she put herself you go in and you beat somebody like andraj a lot of questions about people and the way that you answer those questions is in who you fight and how you handle yourself and how I mean you call them tests could she have scored any higher on her test than she did no and she showed the world where she’s at and what she’s capable of and yeah she’s she’s probably really close and in recent years we’ve seen like World MMA kind of maybe overtake American MMA with pockets coming up like Russia and the UK and Australia and New Zealand but what does it say about the future of American MMA when you’ve got Aaron blanchfield right there uh almost for a title shot looking like a gangster like you said and Bo nickel as well coming through making his debut next weekend how bright is the future for American MMA yeah the the it’s funny because every year I sit up here in front of you guys to say you know oh wait till next year or wait till next year wait till next year and it literally always come becomes true if you look at where the sport is headed right now and uh the amount of talent globally and you know we have two mexican-born Champions now which you know I’ve been working at for years um and now we’re opening the pi down there which is going to take it to a whole nother level and again all these other parts of the world that you mentioned it just it’s funny because to us the people that are that are in it every day the UFC seems so massive this this thing’s only only like you know 30 years old but realistically when me and the Fertitta started you know we’re like 22 years old this sport is still a baby it’s still there’s so much more room for growth that’s why for years I used to hear all the stupid from people about um oh the UFC has peaked the sport is peaked peaked we haven’t even scratched the surface of how big this thing is going to get in the next 10 years forget about 20 25 years from now you know it’s uh it’s fascinating and uh I’m not sure if it was a yes or no I think I saw a report that Jon Jones was like 250 pounds how big are you expecting him to kind of weigh in I don’t know you know he and I have have talked and text but uh I haven’t asked him any of that listen Jon Jones is a guy that’s been in the sport forever look at he’s the greatest of all time uh you know he’s done the move up the heavyweight the right way is taking his time and you know just didn’t pack on a bunch of weight you know in a short amount of time this has been years in the making so he knows what he’s doing pretty sure thanks taina thank you Dean I can’t remember if we’ve heard from you after the makachev volkanovsky fight um what your thoughts on that were and is a rematch possibly in the works on that one you know what my thoughts are on that when you make a super fight could you possibly have a better result than we did on that fight right when the entire world is arguing over who won that’s a super fight and it delivers right the only thing that could possibly be better than that is the guy who’s fighting for the interim title comes out looking incredible too so now you got yair versus volkanovsky right um we’ll see what happens with Islam and where he ends up fighting next you have to do yair you have to do that fight I mean the guy came out and absolutely dominated a stud that night and uh and then you have the rematch after they both fight again you could not have a better result makes sense so definitely yeah you’re first not before giving I mean listen I I don’t know we didn’t we didn’t make any fights yet there are a lot of different things um that play out in making these fights you know timing injuries personal stuff whatever it might be but yeah to me the fight that makes sense is you make yair versus volkanovsky Islam versus somebody whenever that happens and um and then you do the rematch so much talk is about next week is just Jones and gone Jones and guns I feel like a lot of people are overlooking chefchenko fighting Grasso right what are your thoughts on that fight and what do you expect out of that one I agree these things happen sometimes but what also makes the the the fight so exciting and and so big is the actual card the card is stacked with great fights this isn’t just Jones and Cyril um people are just excited because Jones is coming back um but yeah the whole card is is badass and obviously Valentina versus grazo is an incredible card and and if Valentina beats her I mean it’s just like this woman is absolutely amazing and and um she’s so sweet talented and so low-key she doesn’t get the attention she deserves all the time but this time we actually we actually made two posters there’s the Jon Jones poster and then there’s the Valentina poster so um she deserves her own poster yeah yeah going back to tough there was a a lot of talk going into before this started people are saying that Conor made when he made the jump he brought three guys with him and he replaced three guys that were on the card or already decided can you clear up what that story is All About I have no idea who gives a he’s glad he’s back right huh no it’s not even that it’s like these stories that come out of these things uh what did I hear heard something earlier tonight too it’s like this stuff is when we’re working on all this stuff you know what I mean and you’re trying to get guys to commit to coach and you know to take to do the coaching commitment especially when you live in Ireland you know what I mean yeah Connor’s going to get some things that he wants uh nobody lost an opportunity here if there were guys that were booked to do that we’ll do something with them you know it’s not just like hey see you later pal good luck to you uh you know have a good life we’ll figure it out we’ll take care of these guys and last one on tough I know you’re always this has been your your baby until the contender series came around are you the kind do you watch the show as it’s going so you can kind of feel as it’s going or do you like to wait until it’s sort of already in post-production so you could Discover it like the rest of us you’re talking about The Ultimate Fighter The Ultimate Fighter yeah so what happens with the ultimate fighter is as it’s being edited um they shoot the episodes over to me and I watch the episodes when when they’re done to see if I have any edits to make on it or changes that I want and uh I mean that’s that’s what we do with basically everything that goes out of this building or the building next door um I I approved before it goes out I literally watch everything from promos to you know you know the 30th Anniversary stuff fight lore stuff that goes on Fight Pass everything that that goes on here I watched before it goes out have you seen you know obviously the tough one of the great things about is that the characters that show themselves the personalities have you seen anything already that’s that leads that we’re going to see some great personalities come out of this this season 100 I mean at the uh the fights that happen here the other day there was a lot of cool that happened yeah I I love it um the one thing about this show that that continues to make it relevant um is the best always rise to the top you know and even the format on powerslap right now the same thing is happening me and Craig peligian did the ultimate Surfer show and the guy who won the show won the world Open of Surfing the guy won he beat all the best Surfers in the world in that competition this formula Works no matter how you do it that was that kind of makes me I there’s an event I believe that’s happening the same night as a power slap um that’s in the future I believe unless I’m wrong how is that going to work out is the the UFC going to finish before powerslap or you guys going to run that concurrent yeah UFC will finish and then um powerslap will begin the the UFC fights over at the uh the Virgin and then the the power slap fight is here thank you hey Dana hey buddy just one question for me um we really kind of needed a breakout star in Canada since GSP coming Mike Malott wins on the contender series he’s 2-0 in the UFC what were your thoughts on his performance and are we going to see the UFC come to Canada this year yes yes yes and yes uh the the uh obviously huge to have you know uh rising stars that are Canadian um and guys that are actually legit and can really fight and uh there’s no doubt both of those guys that fought tonight are um uh malat looked incredible and yes we’re working on getting back to Canada ASAP this is going to be the year that you know the whole covet thing um it’s going to take us a few years to get back and hit every place that we need to hit but the great part of it is is that all these places are chomping at the bit to get a UFC event back there and Canada is and always has been a very important Market to us so um we’re working on it yeah we’ll be there soon good have a great weekend you guys I heard that uh popcorn how are you good how are you that’s the question I mean obviously uh we know the journey you’ve talked about it plenty but you know you come in and get the performance that you had tonight how are you feeling right now um I’m um I’m really happy um I’m really proud of myself just because of um what I had to you know really get through to get here you know um I think that was the hardest part I mean I didn’t I tried you know when we had the um interviews here in the beginning of the week I try to really stay away from it just because I had to really focus you know and emotions are hard to deal with when you’re like you know gonna go in a still cage and like fight somebody and they’re gonna try to knock you out but you know it was really hard and um I’m just really proud of myself because I I got here and I did the and I got the job done I got a you know um a guillotine um which I haven’t done since the on The Ultimate Fighter so um I’m just really excited that I was able to perform the way I performed and you know obviously I’m gonna I need to improve on some things that’s me I could have a perfect performance in everybody else’s eyes but you know I’m always going to critique myself not saying that that performance was perfect but I’m in everybody else’s eyes I’m just saying if I had a perfect performance if I had done that in the first 30 seconds I probably would have still found something that I could improve on you know but that’s why I believe I’m going to be the champion can you talk about walking in the night you know you talk about trying to avoid the emotions and everything I mean did it feel different tonight um you know I just I had a tough Camp you know um my back was kind of bad during the camp so like a couple weeks I had to like one week I had to completely take off then another week I had to really actually just like go light and I don’t go light like everybody knows me who who’s trained with me I don’t go light so it you know it kind of messes with your head when you have to fight somebody and you can’t prepare the way you want to prepare but um I just took it one day at a time you know and um I focused on what I could you know just like I always do like when I hurt my knee I focus on what I could do and that was work the other leg and I had two arms so um just working around things that you know and making things happen for myself when you were having those back issues was there any talk of like wavy we’re gonna have to pull out of this fight you know I went through my mind but I was like I could not I cannot do that you know um I was like I will get better and once I get better you know then I I just need to be able to step in the cage that’s all to me you know I knew I could make it happen no matter what I just needed to be healthy and um you know like even with the Nunez fight you know Nina Nuna is like I wasn’t healthy going into that fight but I still made it happen you know what I mean so um like I said just focusing on the things that I can control and making things happen last week for me I guess it’s a unique position right because before you had the time off I think a lot of people you know dubbed you as a future title Contender you come back you’re impressive but it’s at 125 right so where do you think you stand at 115 what do you think you deserve I guess at this point I mean do you feel like you should re-enter the rankings do you feel like you know you got to have a fight at straw weight before you can be considered I guess what do you see the bathroom here yeah I think they should give me a really good opponent you know a good opponent um I have shall wait and then you you know I’ll earn it you know I don’t I’ve never been given anything in my life I’ve always earned it and I don’t mind doing that because I think you know that builds character you know you got to work for the things that you get in your life and um I don’t mind doing that because that’s how my mom raised me and my grandma raised me to be um so yeah I’m excited for whoever you know I like I said before you know I Montana is tough and I was really honored to share the cage with her because she’s you know she has a lot of fights and she accepts really difficult fights and um you know um I just I really respect you know respect her for um getting in the cage with me I respect anybody who gets in the cage with me regardless of what they say about me you know I think you know maybe she said a couple things that maybe I didn’t like but I was like you know whatever you know I did take it to heart a little bit but then I was like maybe it’s gonna you know build her up or whatever make her feel a little bit better you know um or whatever maybe I just I try not to say things personally but you know I am a woman and I you know sometimes we get a little chip in the shoulder when someone says something about us I think anybody does you know you don’t have to be a woman for that but um but yeah so um you know I think she said that maybe because everybody was so small that you know I could only wrestle him because they were small well she’s 125 pounder and I wrestled her and not only that but I championed with people much bigger than her at practice and I can take them down so Tatiana I’m going out that same question like if you have your choice would you want to fight like a former champion in your next fight like a like a rose or do you want like a like a top container like a manual emo maybe like fight Carla again like what like what do you want I don’t think anybody wants to see me fight Carla again let’s be real like it’s like I would catch a case twice no we’re not doing that um not saying that she hasn’t improved but I just think that you saw the first fight I don’t even think that there would be a anything different about a second fight with Carla so let’s let’s just not do that one but um I mean yeah I would love to like I said I have said that I want to I want to fight all the best people um I’m not scared to fight the best people because that means I’m the best you know so I would love to fight somebody like rose she’s an amazing Striker she’s amazing martial artist you know she too has you know overcome a lot of things in her life and I respect her as a person um so when I say that I want to fight them it’s really not disrespect to like you know I’m not trying to be disrespectful I just think that um I want to fight all the great people you know what I mean and um it’s out of respect that I want to do that you know I feel like it’s an honor to share a cage with somebody so um yeah I’m just I’m just excited I would love to fight somebody like rose or whoever they give me really you know I don’t I’m not um I sure I’ve told I’ve told multiple people you know I would I would go down the entire roster if I could you know like I wouldn’t mind doing that like and I’m not saying that just like I just think it’s fun to fight you know and so I I love the whole media I love everything about it because it’s just fun I mean I love I love this lifestyle and I think the most the thing that I love the most is just that like I can display it you know I do it all the time at practice um but now I can display it how much pressure did you put on yourself tonight and uh I guess what like what was the mind frame like going in like that you walk in the cage like what was the mind frame like um you know there was a rage of emotions you know at first I was like super like I was getting nervous this like fluctuates you know you get nervous and you’re like nah it’s fine it’s good I’m like wait is that normal should I not be nervous and then you’re like wait should I be you know what I mean so At first I felt like a little nervous and it’s so weird when I get in the cage I like my nerves just completely go away it’s the weirdest thing and I have like these crazy crazy talks with myself and I’m like by myself and I’m walking back and forth pacing like a tiger um and I’m just like you know having these conversations with myself and then I get out there and I’m I’m good you know I’m like ah so it’s okay you know I think for me um you know growing up you know I put a lot of pressure on myself growing up you know I was a wrestler and stuff and I competed a lot and I wanted to be an Olympic champion from a very young age and I think when you put a goal like that in your mind you have to put a lot of pressure on yourself throughout your life and I think for me when I put pressure on myself I excel you know um I feel like you know it really makes you better you know so every single day no matter what it is whether it’s strength and conditioning whether it’s a run I put pressure on myself so that when I get in the Octagon I don’t that pressure is more comfortable to me there seemed like there was Zero ring rust whatsoever but like when you walk like that first round was there any rust [Music] um yeah I was just um I was like because in in all my fights you know I’m like really Relentless but sometimes because I’m so relentless I’ve missed opportunities to do certain things um and I kind of wanted to do a little bit more like I kind of want to just have a little bit more fun you know and um so I think because I wanted to have so much fun and get like it was in my mind that I wanted a 50 000 bonus you know I was like thinking to myself okay how can I get a Sulu stretch how could I get a um you know how can I get a twister like I was practicing twister yesterday that was the first time I’ve ever done it it was like innate I’m like guys don’t be surprised if I ever get one because I think I’m a natural okay that was good now everybody’s gonna be watching for the Twister damn it I should have said nothing but I just gotta be quiet now they’re gonna have to be like watch out for this Mission watch out for that submission um but yeah no I’m just um I was so focused on the 50k that uh I don’t even remember the question I’m just written at this point I’m so sorry you did get the 50k so yeah how does that make you feel I’m really happy uh I’m really happy you know um like I said you know it was three years off and um along the way you know um it was really hard because you know when you haven’t fought in that lung and you don’t have an income you know it gets really tough you know and you have to dedicate yourself full time and so you know luckily the UFC would find me sponsorships along the way that would help me just a little bit just to get by you know what I mean and um I’m really grateful for that because you know I wasn’t active and they still helped me in in that way I’m sure if I had reached out to Dana and ask them he probably would have helped me out but I just want to do that you know so um because I guess I I’m okay with not having much you know I don’t need much I just need the people that I love and to do what I love finally uh Dana revealed that there’s an HBO documentary following you around filming you um I mean how how cool is that it’s so amazing because um you know my brother opened up a wrestling Academy and um it’s called Legacy wrestling center it’s in Covina California shout out um but um you know my brothers you know he’s changing lives you know and I’m really proud of him because you know he left his regular job and he pursued this you know he couldn’t he could have just worked a regular job but that’s not his passion his passion is coaching and he took the chance on himself and he made the center and now he’s gonna be changing lives young lives and I’m really proud of him but um I don’t even know where I was going with it what was the question HBO documentary oh yeah so um so my brother started this and um you know now he has that Center and um along the way you know he can inspire people but the doctor documentaries obviously on my journey but it’s also on women’s wrestling and the growth of women’s wrestling and um you know I’m very fortunate for wrestling because it’s helped me a lot it’s helped me build who I am um and um I’m just really grateful for the sport you know um and I’m glad that my brother can actually do the same thing for other girls and um and also boys but um yeah I’m really excited about the documentary and um I guess the point of me speaking about my brother was just that he followed his passion I’m really proud of him for that and um yeah I’m really excited about this documentary just have one on that you know I think it came up in media day and a lot of people were saying you know we’re staying at home they considered you like the the female version of khabib when it came to wrestling you’re talking about women’s wrestling who are some of the role models out there that people should be paying attention to when they are thinking about women’s wrestling so that they can say that you you remind me of so-and-so who are some of these names out there that people should pay attention for uh for the women’s restroom women’s wrestling um you know we have Helen Morales who I also shared she’s an Olympic uh gold medalist um meant uh to I don’t know how to say to Myra men’s is stuck um you know um Adeline Gray Victoria Anthony um those are the people from you know when I was there um Clarissa Chun I looked up to Sarah McMahon and Patricia Miranda when I was 12 years old I walked up to Sarah McMahon and Patricia Miranda they were at a booth and I was like I want to be an Olympic gold medalist and um you know I didn’t get to do that but here I am and I’m living my second my second dream and I’m very fortunate because sometimes people aren’t even fortunate to have one dream and I have two now I have two and I’ve had the pleasure of living both of them have you ever had any young ladies come up to you and say that they want to be an MMA fighter now because of you um I think yeah a couple a couple yeah but um I think a lot of times it’s a little you know I think they don’t really express it but you know they look up to me and I don’t realize it but but I’m very um fortunate to be able to inspire people um along the way and that’s actually what I was gonna say about the Legacy thing my brother opened everything his low his um motto is his like slogan is what will be your legacy and for me um I want to inspire as many people along the way in my journey and um the fact that HBO is obviously documenting that and it’s going to reach more people I’m very very blessed to have that opportunity to be able to do that because life is hard you know and um it’s good to have some inspiration that will help you along the way that’s awesome congrats on Victory thank you thanks guys uh on the victory I mean probably one of your best performances to date I guess how are you feeling right now after that win I’m good man I’m a little tired yeah right now I feel great I’m super blessed to be here super blessed to be in the position I’m in and uh super happy now it’s the job’s done I did what I needed to do there was time to rest and go see my kids now I’m just waiting to hear how my promotion is doing which it seems to be very good I got a lot of good feedback since and uh honestly that’s where my focus is right now is my kids and how my how’s my promotion doing you know I’m uh sad that I couldn’t be there but obviously uh this is what uh my journey is mostly focused on I know I have great people running my promotion and doing the things that they need to do there so I don’t have to stress about it and so I can get my job done and luckily I did just that and uh yeah I’m happy that’ll be good obviously bumped up to the main event I mean I guess it really didn’t change anything in terms of like it’s still a three-round fight same opponents I mean with that stuff that was going on did it impact you at all or did you just not even think about it how did it affect you uh honestly at times I just push the the thought away and then other times it excited me to be honest uh I was hoping they’d come in and tell me I got like a little bonus and we could do five rounds if need be because I trained for for five rounds like I’ve done five rounds before it’s nothing new uh for me I’ve done it I’ve done two or three of those full five rounds I’ve been scheduled for I think four or five so uh it’s nothing new but hey come show me the money and I’m I’m with it I love it so uh obviously first round comes out you know more striking than anything else you’re able to stuff a takedown I guess how is it playing out versus your expectations did you think this was gonna be more of a grappling based fight or did you want it to play out on the feet as much as it did my ego says just go out and jump guard see what’s up um that’s my ego right but uh my intelligence and my skill says uh let’s test him where he’s not so so good at but uh honestly I felt like he would get me down at some point my my coaches my team my brother right there Tuco they told me he’s not gonna get you down he’s not going to get you down and uh on the way he gets you down is if I want to go down and that’s exactly what happened and as soon as I felt him uh I knew he had nothing for me um But ultimately this one this one kind of sucks a little bit because like I think he’s a really good guy like he’s got two kids like me obviously we have a little language barrier but I’ve got people that speak Portuguese so uh but ultimately I really like this guy I have a lot of respect for this man um he seems like a very good guy he’s a very good fighter and um he didn’t hide behind his rankings uh at the end of the day I don’t know what happened you know for my fight in October to when they said that fight landed or whatever I don’t know how it worked out that’s above my pay grade either way we still stepped in there tonight he still didn’t hide behind his number and I have a lot of respect for that and I have a lot of respect for him as a man as well so uh hats off to Andre for sure when he did take you down he hit the sweep immediately I’m just curious did that like mentally do something for you there did things click at that moment like I’m I’m going to be able to beat him here there’s still two points for me no um I think it was just reassured what you know my my circle has been telling me like I think uh sometimes I’ve lacked obviously I’ve talked about it with the sports psychologist and lacking mentally and I think uh good self-talk using like a cookie jar method of things that I’ve done in the past that I know I can do and I think when that happened it just reassures like yeah I’m really that good I’m that damn good and uh it just opens me up to be more of myself show more of me and when I’m aware and I’m in the moment and I’m present and I’m Brendan Allen I’m good enough I’m damn good enough and uh no matter what happens I feel like that’s really my thing right now as long as I’m Brendan Allen no matter if I win or lose I can take it take my hat off and look in the mirror and be uh proud of what I’ve done win or lose as long as I’m myself they’re going to be damn good to beat me so uh ultimately at this moment again I’m just very happy it’s awesome well so last thing for me I know you’re focus on the family and the promotion right now but in the cage you rattled off a couple different names it all made sense to you I mean you’ve got plenty of options there is there any one of them that means more than anything else or does the opponent not really matter to you at this point at this point I’m not really trying to chase anything obviously I’m a super competitive guy obviously I really like Sean and uh Chris I think they’re very good guys like we talked for 40 minutes the other day at the pi in the cafeteria um that’s just business and obviously there’s a lot of eyes if I fight Strickland again especially coming off my win and he’s fought the champion before so I feel like that really sets a statement but um I understand how the business Works a little bit so I’m okay with fighting someone new and that’s why I gave the two names of jerkus and Jack I feel like me and Jack were supposed to line up a couple times and uh it didn’t happen obviously they were super short notices both of them when they asked me uh one of them I was hurt the other when I was hurt and not training at all so I can’t gamble two two two things against me so um Again full Camp I’ll fight any man on this planet I’m not hiding behind nothing full Camp I’m a dangerous guy so uh we can run it whenever with whoever I don’t care who it is uh I’m the best in the damn world and uh I’m gonna keep showing that Brendan hey Brendan nice to meet you you got that top 15 ranking man how does that feel yeah we’ll see who knows they might put me at 14 yeah they hate me uh yeah I don’t know I feel like I should be 10 or 11 based on how the rankings are going to be I don’t know I don’t really care uh it’s cool it’s good to show my kids obviously they’re real little but uh I’m about to get bougie like I don’t know nobody to go who are you no it feels good it’s a it’s a check off the off the list it’s something that I’ve put a lot of effort a lot of time a lot of sacrifices I’ve sacrificed a lot in my life and my personal life to to achieve goals that not many humans can do um at the end of the day that’s how I look at this there’s not many men there’s not many women that can do what we’re out here doing there’s a lot of people that want to do what we’re doing but they can’t do what we’re doing especially at this level and um hate is going to hate but what’s up do you feel like this went over my knees with your your submission went over him just kind of smunch you as the best Grappler in in the middleweight division I’m not one I am him uh yeah I mean I don’t like to be uh I am cocky around my friends and I’d like to joke and I like to mess around but at the end of the day I don’t think I’m nothing special one day my kids are going to be able to watch this and see this and what kind of man am I to pull some of the stuff that all these other guys do and sell their souls to the devil for the money and stuff like that all that will come as long as I’m doing what I need to be doing um I’m just me I ain’t nothing special I I’m just an ordinary guy I was blessed with certain things that allow me to do this I can’t do what you’re doing maybe you could do what I’m doing maybe not I don’t know but I can’t do what you’re doing so I feel like every person has their Niche I just happen to find mine and this is what it is I don’t know I don’t I’m not really a super intelligent person but uh I do what I do and it provides for my my family and my kids and that’s all I’m supposed to do as a man I feel there was a lot of hype behind him um you know you you talk to like you know you like him as an athlete but how did it feel to Halt that momentum that he had man I thought guys that were undefeated I thought guys that had this hype knockout hype submission hype this and that I’ve put my time in um again when people ask me like oh do you want to fight up of course I want to fight up I freaking fought 11 times in UFC or no what 11 times in UFC 12 under the zoo for Banner so yeah I’m not one of these guys that just come in here got the win and oh I’m in the top now like I put my time in I’ve had to put my time in I fought the best guys that I could get at the time I’m not one of these guys that like I said just just come in and I’m there and it just happened for the hype or whatever just a lucky win um but I’m not scared of anyone I’ll fight anyone whatever names comes across that makes sense to my team that is what it is I’ve never said no to an opponent on a full Camp ever ever so uh that’ll never change at the end of the day that’s how I was raised that’s how I brought up that’s where I come from and uh my dad probably disowned me if I said no to another man uh with a full you know a full opportunity so uh I ain’t no 337 00:59:37,19 –> 00:59:40,920 um and then finally I just kind of talk about like this like tonight like it just kind of feels like it’s the perfect night for you man it’s like your first Main Event your promotion is doing really well just take it all in yeah the Motions hit a little bit every now and then um yeah it was a short notice management I need a poster you know a new poster uh I wish they would have came with that money that you know that made event money but uh they still got a Bonus so that’s a that’s a positive right uh super blessed about that it took me 10 fights to get my first bonus so now we’re on a whole different thing and uh at the end of the day I’m just uh super happy I’m trying to take it all in and uh I’m I think I’m hitting my stride I feel I’m hitting my stride I feel like I’m coming into my own and I I found myself um I feel like I found myself in fighting uh in my personal life as well like I feel like I’m in a very good good spot in my life at the moment and uh yeah I’m just very happy very blessed to be here congrats thank you foreign