I want to announce some new tour dates, especially a Canadian one. We will be in Vancouver, BC on September 14th at Stanley Park. Get your tickets early starting Wednesday, April 10th at 10:00 AM local time with presale code Rat King. General on sale starts Friday, April 12th at 10:00 AM local time. We also have tickets remaining in St. Louis, Missouri on April 19th and Halifax, Nova Scotia on August 11th. You can get tickets at theovon. Com/teouvon. Thank you to everyone for your support. If tickets are too expensive wherever you are, just wait. We'll come back around sometime. Don't outspend yourself. We love you and thank you. We are here at the Tunnel Bar, downtown Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at the Hilton Hotel. We are grateful to get to spend time today with a UFC legend, is lightweight competitor, former interim champion, and just a one-of-a-kind guy to cheer for and get to know. We're grateful to have him returning to the podcast. Today's guest is Mr. Dustin Poirier.

Shine that light on me. I'll sit and tell you my stories. Shine I know me, and I will find a song I'll be singing. I love this stuff. For the ass. How's Louisiana been treating you guys? Eaten some good food. I saw the Crawfish. Right now, it's a big Crawfish time.

Yeah, we had some Crawfish, man. We got some Crawfish the other day. Some of them, though, the size disparity, that's where it's tough to know. Do you get specifically the big ones from somebody you know, or how do you guys do it over there?

Pablito has his own.Oh, yeah.Yeah, he has his own farm.Is.

It open now?Yeah.

He's running it.Wow.Bring you however many sacs you need, man.

Not his Pit Stop, not his store.

His family owns Crawfish Ponds.Oh.

I didn't even know that.Yeah.Dang.Yeah, man. I'm going to have to get a hold of some of those. Dustin Poirier, welcome, bro.

Thanks, man. Good to be back.

Yeah, good to see you, dude. You guys just went skiing?

Yeah, we went up to Aspen with my wife and daughter. Spent four days up there, and it snowed the whole time. The weather was great, man.

Oh, that's nice.

Travel back wasn't as great. Got stuck in Oklahoma. We were going to Dallas, had to circle for 20 minutes in the air, then they didn't let us land. So we went to Oklahoma. We were running low on fuel. So we sat on the runway there. I was in that plane for six hours, and two of it was in the air. So I was Yeah. Yeah, that's-We made it, man.

That's alarming, bro. Yeah, something the other day, we landed real fast and then took off again. You ever had that happen? No. Yeah. What skiing you do out there? You ski, you snowboard? What's it like out there? What diamonds are you doing out there?

Dude, I'm doing the Bunny Sloves. Really? Yeah, I don't want to blow my back up. Yeah, my daughter, it's her second time skiing, so she's picking it up. My wife, this It was her first time. Last time we went, she snowboarded with me. I didn't ski this time. I didn't want to bust myself up. I did sledding, tubing, stuff like that, ice skating.

Yeah, because some people say snow is just gay water.

Hey, perspective. Could be.

Oh, I think, yeah. Because it's just like, if you look at it like it just as a flake, some of them bitches are...

Yeah, a little feminine. They're nice. Yeah.

Do you guys You have contracts in UFC where you can't do certain sports. Are there things that you guys are not allowed to do?

I've heard that in our contracts, I haven't seen it, but I've heard that in our contracts, there's something with extreme sports, maybe motocycles and things like that. But I just do everything normal. I don't know.

Yeah. It's interesting because you guys are one of those few sports where it's like... Yeah, because Sean Strickland is on his motorcycle every day, blatantly telling people he's going hundreds of miles an hour. Yeah.

And I believe him.

Yeah, I believe him, too. But, yeah, that's pretty wild. You guys are to say it'll just be totally free like that.

I had a motorcycle for a while when I lived in Florida, and I ended up selling it. I only had it for six months, maybe. No, never. But it just felt too dangerous, man. I was scared every time I was riding.

Oh, yeah, bro. But most organ donors are motorcyclists.

Yeah? Yeah. I just did my ID recently. I had to update it to the real ID, the new thing. And my wife was with me. She was like, No, don't say you're an organ donor. I'm like, why? I mean, I got the goods. You can have them if I can't use them. But she said, No, I'm telling you, if you get an accident and they go to the hospital and see it, that you're an organ donor, they're not going to work as hard on you because they want those organs. I'm like, oh, man, that's what I hear.

Conspiracies. Look that up, nick. I wonder if that's true or not. They'll never tell you, man. Dude, actually, while I'm thinking about it, if something ever happened to you, God forbid, can I have one of your hands? I won't do nothing weird with it, I promise. It's just for I keep it in a little cage or whatever.

I'll give you the left one.

Bet. Yeah. Thanks, dude. Now look, if it gets out at night and beats up a neighbor, that's all I'm saying.

We're like Adam's family, It. Yeah, it's like, It just fucking starts popping off, bro.

Or if it wakes up in the middle of the night, it starts cooking up a roux.

Bro, I tell you what, man, I'm part of the roux tank clan. Protect your neck.

What does it say, nick? There is an age limit organ myth, religion.

See, I never heard of this. My wife was with me at the DMV.

Oh, here's the myth right here. Doctors don't work as hard to save the lives of registered organ donors. Fact, if you are sick or injured, the first priority of your hospital care team is to save your life. Organ donation is only considered when all efforts to save a patient have been exhausted.

That second-hand market, man.

Yeah. Yeah, that second-hand market, bro. Oh, especially, dude, if they know it's you, probably.

My liver's taken probably a little bit of abuse, but heart and stuff is good.

Oh, dude. Yeah. They're going to get at least for Poirier's heart.

Oh, yeah.

They're going to cop 40, 50K on that. For sure.

Easy.

Easy. On the Etsy, you could probably get 60K. Yeah, man. That's easy, man.

Speaking of Etsy, speaking of stuff like that, eBay, we auction off the fight kits for the foundation. Somebody outbid everybody. So they had a bunch of real bidders and then didn't pay. So now I got to relist it. It just sucks because we listed the week after the fight when momentum and the fight's fresh. Now we got to relist it. I just hope it raises the same amount of money.

I think it will, man. We'll make sure to make a bid. How much did they... What did purchase price did they get it at?

Maybe 11,000 or 12,000, I think, which is good because we're trying to raise 50K for the food net in Lafayette. Okay, bet.

Yeah, that's a great... I think that's a great thing to have. According to the widely used, although somewhat hard to find credit for figures, a heart is worth around 1 million in the US on the black market. On the black market, wow. Livers come in second, worth around 557,000. Kidneys cost about 262,000 each. Human skin, if you want to do it all, Dustin, I don't know what type of-$10 an inch? $10 an inch, bro. Now look.

Hey, hey.

Hey, look, look.

Hey.

There's going to be a limited amount of that. That's all I'm saying. If it's me dying, bro. Stomac, 500. Eyeballs, 1,500 each, though. Wow, that's crazy. And this is off of the black market, nick, or is this-Is this 2024 prices? Yeah.

Yesterday's price.

They're saying It's from a cadaver broker, so it's not like, obviously no one's taking official stats here, but based on their research of cadaver brokers, those are the prices.

Okay. I have a cadaver in my nose. Really? Yeah, somebody's rib. Yeah, cartilage.

That's biblical, I think, isn't it?

Yeah.

I've done cocaine off a Bible. That's similar. It's not the same thing that you have going on. No. And we shouldn't have done it, bro.

Yeah, or you shouldn't have admitted it. Yeah.

That's too late. One or the other, dude. Did you see Did you see the new Roadhouse?

No, I haven't, but I will watch. I've been traveling so much, man. Yeah? Yeah.

You guys have been busy since your fight. I saw you in LA. Every week.

Yeah. I was shooting some stuff out there. Last week, Aspen, the week before, Carolina. This week in Indiana, I think, for Anthony Pettus.

Oh, he's fighting?

He's got his own promotion, and I'm a guest appearance there, so that'll be cool. Connecticut, the weekend after.

And are you cornering somebody over there?

No, just watching fights.Dane.Yeah..

That's busy, man. You didn't see the movie, but you'll see it, though? Yeah, I watch it.

I just haven't had time to really...

What movie would you be in, you think? You think you would ever be... I know you were out in LA. You were doing a movie, right?

Yeah, we were filming a commercial for movie Monkey Man. I don't know a whole lot about it, but it looks pretty good. Yeah? Yeah.

Do you think that's something you think about for yourself, or is it just a fun thing that happened? I know Connor's in this movie, Connor McGregor. Do you think about that for yourself?

I'd like to. It's something different. It's exciting because I've never done it before. It's a new challenge. It keeps me busy. I got to be busy, man. That's my thing. I got to be busy. If I'm not getting ready to fight somebody, and I've said this a thousand times, I have to have some obstacle in front of me. So if I'm trying to do movies or grow my businesses, I just need to be in action.

Yeah, that's how you feel? Have to. You just know if you get complacent or if you... Why?

I'm like, it's honestly, bro, I'm a danger to myself when I have nothing, no goal circled on my calendar. I'm a danger to myself, man. Yeah? Yeah. I beat myself up mentally. I'm home, I drink. It's just not good. I have to have some battle.

Yeah.

And I've always been like that. But as I'm getting older, I'm recognizing. Oh, you can see it more.

Yeah.

So I set goals, so I stay busy.

Oh, that's interesting.

Yeah.

Because I know in the last... I know whenever you came off of the Gechi fight, you were in a tough spot, I guess, at times.

Oh, big time, man. That was probably one of the lowest points of my life. Mentally, I really felt down.

Did you feel like so... Because now you're in a place that feels different.

Yeah. Back in the wind column, everything feels like it's in the motion like it should be. I just felt out of sync with life after that last fight.

Yeah. Do you think that it's like... Because I'll a lot of times determine how I feel about myself based on what is happening in my career or in my social life sometimes or how I think people are perceiving me. Do you notice for yourself was any of that about... Did you feel like you were depressed? Did you feel like it was... Were you able to get any perspective on what made you feel bad?

No, I don't think I pinpointed what really brought me down. Obviously, getting kicked in the head wasn't good. Sorry.

I didn't want to laugh, but God just made me laugh right there.

It was just a lot of things. I think I might have texted you after as well, after that fight. I worked so hard to build myself up and be successful and have a career, and fighting is tough, and I feel like I've got myself to a point where I'm respected by my peers in fighting and stuff like that. And I feel like when I got home from that loss, it was like the world is just going to throw me away. Remember when I text you that? That's how I felt. It's like I worked so hard, and one night, you feel like, boom, Everybody's throwing you away now. Everything I've done before that feels like it doesn't matter. It just sucks. It was like a bad place to be in myself. Waking up every morning, I was just not happy.

I wonder what makes us feel like that because I can totally relate to that, man. If it doesn't go good, then I'm not worth anything. Right. I just feel-Is that what it felt like?

Yeah. And in fighting, they say you're only as good as your last fight. And then that's where the world thinks about you. Your last performance, getting knocked out. And after I built myself up so long, so many crazy fights and the struggle and the grind to get there, it just feels like, boom, now everybody's looking at me like that and just throwing me away. Damn. But that's why I put my nose to the grindstone this last one, and went out there and touched that guy up. Yeah.

And What it is? When you start... Because I think so many people can relate to that, man. I mean, I totally can. I remember we were texting about it. Yeah, I would pin so many of my... Who I feel like I am on how I do. But then I'll start feeling like, how did you notice when it got too hectic? What did you do to start to turn that around?

My wife really helped me out through this last one, putting things in perspective. We were saying, you feel like the fight is your life, but it's just something I do. I'm a father, a husband, a friend, a business owner, a son, a brother. That's who I am. Fighting is just something I do. So if you put in perspective like that, and I switched my mindset of everything's an experience. I'm thankful I got to experience that fight week and the downs and the ups of fight week. And losing sucks, but I got to fly home in a different perspective, looking back, because losing sucks, especially when you work so hard and fightings, everything's into it. I put myself into this for real.

Oh, yeah. I remember sitting in your green room after we were all sitting in there. Oh, yeah. And literally, it felt like we were at a funeral in a weird way, but you were right there. It just felt like everybody felt-I told everybody that in there.

I said, This ain't a funeral.

You You're going around trying to boost people's heads. You're like, Hey, I'm still- You put on a black suit and stuff.

I'm still here.

I don't even know where you got it. We're all singing, I can still hear mama praying.

Somebody stood up and was like, he was a good man. I'm like, I'm right here, bro. I'm right here.

Yeah, I think that was somebody trying to flirt with your wife at the event, too. I don't know. That might have been Sabah, your buddy.

Yeah, the demon. Yeah, it could have been him, bro. It could have been the demon.

He definitely He loves to meet a lady.

But you know what? Taking that last loss would really switch my mindset, man, is I know who I am. Losing, you find out who you are. Losing sucks, but in those moments, when you're down, it's a great time to experience you. Because when you're winning, you can get this momentum. When everything's going good, you can get in that groove where you're just on cruise control. But when you lose and the phone stops ringing and you're at home, laying in bed, going to sleep by yourself and everything, the dust settles, that's when you experience yourself, who you really are. I think that's important.

Was that tough? Yeah, that's scary because every moment of a silent thing, if something like that happens to me, I have something that's not good or feels like it's not good. I don't get the outcome that I want. Any silence I hear after that, it feels like the phone is a ring of an even it's just silence. It's just normal silence. But in my In my head, I feel like, Oh, the phone isn't ringing.

That's when reality really sets in. When you're around a bunch of people after a loss and you're talking and everybody's keeping you busy, your mind's busy, but then you go back to your house and you're by yourself and you look in the mirror and it's just you That's when it's real. That's when the phone's not ringing.

How rough did it get? Was there moments where you were like, Okay, I got to get some help? What help did you get?

I started doing therapy. I went to speak to therapist. There were some nights where I just got up and left my house. I couldn't be here. I just got up and left my house and went to get a hotel room. Got in my truck and just left. I don't know why. I don't have any reason why. I just felt like I had to. It was crazy, man. I was going through it.

Yeah? Yeah. Do you think it was just that you were feeling... Was some of it medical or CTE-related, do you think? Do you have any perspective on what it was? Or do you think it was just...

It was just-I mean, it could have been all of that. I definitely have head trauma. I have 50 fights. Yeah, and you're from freaking Youngsville. From Lafayette.

Yeah. Sorry. But yeah, we all have head trauma. Look, bro, you're born in-Louisiana. Yeah, you come out with head trauma, bro. That's on the report.

Yeah, I'm sure. It could have been all... I don't know. I just wasn't in a good spot, but I'm good now. That's what matters.

And what about medication or something? I was off in an indepresence for a while because I was trying to not take them. And then I was like, I just can't do this right now. Life's too much. I'm going to get on them. I guess I'm back on right now. But did you ever try any medication, or is that something that a lot of UFC fighters do? What is that like?

I'm not sure. We're such tough guys fighting. We don't really talk about that in the locker room or in the gym. We don't talk about like, I'm feeling down. Just shut the hell up and work. We got work to do. You got to fight to win. We don't sit around and hold hands and talk about I'm not feeling well today.

Yeah, you're right. That's a good point. It would be nice if we opened up because I'm sure a lot of people are going through it and not talking about it, but I've never been shied away from telling people how I feel and stuff like that.

So I don't care. I will talk about it. Yeah.

I feel like you try to share when you can about what's going on. And I think that's one thing that's so interesting about what the past year of your life has been like, is that you were in a space where things You were so tough and you were having a tough time, and then you get a victory, and some of that goes away, but some of it may still stick around. So then you get some better perspective as to what that's like.

Yeah. It's just the highs and lows. Losing is the lowest of the low. Then you win on paper view, knock a guy out, and you're back on the mountaintop. It's just what a roller coaster this is, fighting. I'm thankful for it all, though. It's given me and my family everything we have. So I'm thankful for it, the good and the bad. But I wouldn't recommend anybody seek as a career. Really? No. Be a doc. Go to school. Yeah, go to school. Go to college or something. Yeah.

Maybe that's the movie you could be in, man. It'll be like, yeah, Madea goes to the swamp or something. I'm trying to think of a good since Jelen Hall and Connor had a movie, what would be a good Poirier movie? Fried green cauliflower ears, maybe.

That's a good one. That's a good one.

Dustin goes to 10th grade, we could do. I don't know. That's too crazy.

We could just do a movie about me trying to get my GED.

There's some scenes where it's like you hear a choir just, I can still give mama pray.

I can do it, man.

That'd be awesome, dude.

I can get one.

Who would play you in a movie, I wonder? You ever think about that?

Because Dustin- I like Jean-Claude Van Damme. Does that shoot too high?

No, I just think, I don't know if he can do the stuff. You can I think he's getting older. Yeah, he is.

But I'm a prime, like bloodsport, Jean-Claude Van Damme.

Oh, yeah, that would be sick. Because one day they could make a movie about you. I mean, it could be like- If I get this fucking gold belt, we're going to have to make a movie.

Yeah.

I remember coming over your house when you had the belt. Yeah. Does it ever feel like you didn't have it? Because you're still interim champion. It's not like champion is not in it.

And I beat a current champion at the time who was the title holder when we fought. I feel like it was a world Championship, but people's opinions is what it is.

Now that you have a win, and it's a good place, and it silences some of that self-critic in our head and some of that even fictional critique from other people that some of it may be there and some of it may not. Do you feel like, do I want to risk that again? Do you think about that at all?

Yeah, I do. Where am I at if it doesn't go my way, which is likely. It's fighting. I know I can beat anybody in the world. I believe in my skills. But the margin for error out there is one mistake, you wake up asking what happened. You think you're going to the school bus stop. You wake up like, I'm late for school.

No, you dropped out. Sorry, that's too many Dustin's not in school jokes. But no, that's some of the best stuff about your story is that you didn't even finish high school.

Never finished ninth grade. Yeah.

Yeah, man, I love you and your wife's story, man. It's all of it's so hilarious to me, dude. There's so many funny moments you guys have been through together over the years.

Yeah, dude. I mean, been together a long time. Been living together since we were 18. She was there for the whole A fighting journey. It's been fun, man. I've said this before, but I don't think I would be a successful fighter without her. Oh, yeah? Yeah. Because even this last loss, I put her through so much stuff after that loss, and she was still there for me every day, right by my side, telling me I'm the best in the world. Oh, wow. Yeah.

Yeah, man, it's so important having that, huh?

For sure. And when I was younger, dude, I would have been cutting up, running the streets, but I had a mortgage and a wife at home. So I was home every night and at the gym the next day. So that-Right.

It's like a blessing you don't even realize, probably.

Yeah. Because I had to be home.

Yeah.

Because if you didn't have to be-Oh, I would have been drinking and partying, and I didn't do that. Right.

Damn, that's true, man. It's so many little things that are blessings that you can't see until you get some more perspective sometimes. Yeah, dude, there's that picture of you at the prom. Did they have that when Dustin's in that white- That was her.

So I was living by myself I had my own place at 17 years old, and she was living with her mom then.

Yeah, that was him rolling.

That was her senior prom.

That shit is so good because everybody remembers There was a dude that wore that to their prom, and there was only one type of dude that rolled up like that, bro. That's so cool. Wow, bro. Look at that. Wow. That's wild, huh? What a journey you all been on. Yeah, man. You used to fight people at the police station out here because it would be- So, yeah, I have fought somebody in the yard or the grass of the police station.

My place I had when I was 17 was directly across from Lafayette Police Department. Yeah. This is a crazy story. But one time we went out to a bar. My brother was playing his guitar there or something. And a guy I was with, I didn't really know him well. He was a friend's friend, and he stole somebody's purse at the bar. And then he got caught and called out for it. And we were with him. And I'm like, oh. Then we started walking back to my house, and we just got into it and fought.

Was it fun, like those street fights? Is that more fun? Or you like having a referee in there?

I'd rather a referee, especially nowadays, Man, people are shooting and stabbing.

Yeah, that's not fair. No. Yeah, because now you're in a space now where you can run it back, man. You can feel like you can do it again. You can If you wanted to, you could retire on a high note. People can retire whenever they want.

When I was 18, bro, I told my wife, We made an agreement. I wouldn't fight past 35. At 18, I had no idea what 35 looked like. But now I'm 35. I'm like, Oh, shit. It's here. I still feel good. I don't want to stop. So we'll see. I still feel good, and I compete with these young guys. I do it every day in the gym. I got bumps and bruises I carry from so many years of fighting. Had a couple of surgeries, but I feel good.

So what do you think? What does it look like for you? Are they pushing you? I know you talked about fighting Hamzaat.

Islam.

Islam. What do you think is going to happen?

We'll see, man. I think this next pay-per-view, UFC 300, is going to have- Might be an announcement? No, it's in two weeks. Max Holloway is fighting Gechi.

Oh, yeah. I'm going to go to it.

Are you going? No, I'm doing a viewing party in Connecticut.

Okay, great. Where's that at? Just so people can come check you out.

At the Mohegan Sun. At the Mohegan Sun. But there's Two huge title fights on that card. I mean, not title fights, two huge light wave fights.

Oh, yeah. This could have a lot to do with you guys.

Harmon versus Charles, and then Gechi versus Holloway. So that's some big fights in the division. We'll see what happens after that.

Wow. Yeah, because-But I've fought three of those four guys already, and two of them, I fought twice. Yeah. I know, huh?

Yeah, I fought Max twice, I fought Justin twice, and fought Charles once.

Do you have what outcome Which one would you prefer, do you think?

I don't really have a... I think people are looking past Max a little bit. I think Max can beat Justin. Of course, Justin could win. But Max is tough. His rhythm, his range, and his technique on the feet. Unless Justin wrestles a little bit, I think Max can pick him apart and stay on the outside. But that's what makes fighting so fun. We don't know until we watch it. And Charles and Arman, that can go either way. Both great grapplers. I would think Charles would have an advantage standing up, but we got to see.

Yeah, because now if Max went... I'm just wondering, where do you- Because I got two wins over Max.

My last loss was to Justin. If Max beats him, Does he stay at 55 or does he go back to 45?

What do you think? If you think, do you feel like you have a certain amount of fights left in you? What is that yet? Does it start to feel like... That's an interesting thought. Do you start to feel like, Oh, I think I might have one or two left in there. Or do you think you would get a definite feeling from yourself when you're like...

I think so. I don't even put a number on it. Even this last one, how I feel in the warm-up room, how I feel walking through the tunnel, walking into the crowd, getting into the octagon, how I feel then, I felt good. I felt like it wasn't time to stop. Maybe next time, if I feel like that again, then it's not time to stop. I don't want to put a number. I just put on the way I feel.

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Because that's a space where, honestly, I think a lot of people can relate to in their lives. God, I don't feel great right here. There's something in my life that's not perfect or that's not the way I wish it to be. That's not my will. And how to get ready then for something still that's important.

We were talking about earlier, I think just having a name, having a date to circle on my calendar put me in the right direction mentally. I knew I had something to work towards. It was a big challenge. It's a fight. It's what I've been doing my whole life. That put me back on the track where I needed to be. Obviously, practice of mindfulness and speaking to therapy and talking to my wife and stuff like that was helping along the way. But whenever I got the name and the date for this next fight, everything clicked into, All right, this is what I need to be doing. It really drowned it out, all the idleness of sitting at home or overth. I had such a big challenge in front of me that that's all I focused on Everything else, blinders. That's how fighting is for me.

Is that part of the reason why you also took that fight, you think? Because you're like, I need a goal right now.

I was in the spot. It just happened they called where I was in the spot of my life, and mentally in a A place where whatever name they called with, I would say, yes, I just needed a challenge because I needed to be at war with something else besides myself because I was fighting myself every day. Yeah.

Man, that's fascinating. Yeah. So many times I'll sit around fighting myself instead of picking up, putting something on the calendar that is something I could be a goal, be something I could try and conquer, a challenge. Man.

If I'm not at war with something, I'm at war with myself.

Me too, bro. That's Crazy.

Yeah, man.

Sometimes I don't even realize it. I'm sitting there, I'm pitching and hitting against, but I don't even know what's going on. Yeah.

And definitely down on the judge's scorecards.

Yeah.

I'm not winning the decision. Yeah.

Bro, I'll be the judge, dude, and I'll be giving myself shit.

I'll be the judge and the jury.

I was like, This guy sucks. He's guilty. Yeah, guilty, man. God, that's the same way I am, man.

But it's good, too, Because that mindset and having that work problem, if you focus it on something, you could really go far.

It's that same-It's a gift and a curse.

Yes.

But recognize it, having some ability to see it is also a gift because when you're just in it and you're just a victim of all that and you just keep doing it, you're reactive only, that's when it feels like it can feel catastrophic sometimes. For sure. But then also it can feel that's the same stuff that just gives you unending motivation. Right. Do you know for yourself, do you have a fight that you want or you don't know yet?

I want to fight for the belt. That's what I want. You do. That's the last thing I have to do in this sport is be the Undisputable World champion. After I do that, anything you can do in the sport I've done. I have 30 fights in the UFC. Been fighting a long time before the UFC. That's the last thing I have to do. But also, I don't want to attach myself to it too much to where if it doesn't happen or if I never get another title shot, that I judge my life's work on that. I don't want to leave it like that. So I'm just really practicing, trying to be content in the place and space that I'm in.

Yeah, dude. I felt like when you won that fight, it's interesting how much I was in that bar. Me and my comedian friend Amir, we're in this bar in Australia, we're watching. And I'm holding on to some guy, and they don't even know. Everybody's just... People were on their edge of their seat. There was like, some guy left his wife right there in it. People were like, there was just so much going on, man. But it felt like you almost felt the whole planet. It felt like take an exhale. It felt like things were possible. That's what was craziest about it, I think. Somebody had a great tweet. It was like, Dustin for humanity. I was like, Man, that's exactly how it felt.

It was like-The underdog came through again, man. Yes.

I think it made everybody just feel like, Oh, there's still things that can happen in the world that a guy stands a fighting chance.

For sure. Yeah. Dude, I missed a bounce back. Every time I take a L, I come back. I come back, and it's a challenge to myself every time because I've never lost two fights in a row, getting knocked out by Gechi, jumping right back in camp, unsure the future. I was in a bad place. What if I lose this fight? Where am I going to be at then? But to get my hand raised and put on a performance like that, it's just like, fuck, man, hard work pays off.

Yeah. Dude, that strut after. What did Trump say to you after the fight?

I couldn't hear what he was saying. I was talking to Dana, and then somebody sitting next to Dana was telling me they bet 200K on me or something like that, and I was trying to get my 20% from her. That's what I was talking about.

You're just walking around collecting. Like, Hey.

Always be closing.

The work is done, man.

We got to collect here. It looks like I'm talking to Trump, but I'm talking to somebody, Dana, and somebody sitting next to him.

Oh, I see. Yeah. You're doing good. You're great. You're phenomenal. Vice President. Yeah, that's unbelievable, man. God. What is that? How soon after you say you end up knocking someone out, what's the appropriate amount of time before you have to go over there and check on him?

Well, I guess everyone's different, but he was sitting down for a while, and the rough was waiting for us to get in the middle. So I helped him walk to middle, talk to him a little bit. It just depends how bad it is and how much they're moving. You never know.

Man, that's so wild. Yeah, because I guess, can you tell how... Because you haven't been knocked out or gotten knocked unconscious, you know what it's like. I mean, you guys have that throughout your careers because nobody's around as knockouts as much as you guys. Do you start to gage how well a guy is after it thing?

See, I've been in the corner of so many guys who have been knocked out, and I've been around fights for so long. So I see when people go back to the locker room and they don't even remember what happened, they keep asking the same questions over and over again. That's when you know it's serious. Wow. Yeah. So I didn't go to his locker room and speak to him after. So I don't know where he was, but he seemed like he shook back pretty quick in there. He was talking pretty clear. Yeah.

Has Dana and Sean, have they offered you a title match yet?

No. Okay. No. I don't know what's next, but I think we're going to hear soon.

You think that?

Yeah, I know.

That seems interesting. News alert. Breaking news.

Yeah.

What about boxing? You see this stuff Do you start to think as you get further in your career that there's a lot of people fighting, going to boxing? Tyson Pedro just went to boxing. Did he? Yeah.

Wow.

He just started. There's guys that will fight in the Jake Paul, in that world. Do you see yourself ever doing something like that? Would you ever count something like that out?

I'm 35, and I have, I think, five fights, six fights left on my current contract with UFC. I don't know if I'm ever going to fight that out. Am I going to fight six more times and become a free agent? I don't know, but I would love to box.

So even if you were to go to boxing, does that UFC have to have a part in that fight?

Well, if you're still in the contract, if I fight whatever's left on my contract, then I'm a free agent that can do whatever I want.

But if not, and there's not an equal parting, then even if you were to go do boxing, like Tyron Woodley went and boxed?

He was out of hiscontract.Oh, he was out of his contract. Oh, he was out of his contract. I think the only person who's ever done that is Connor, where UFC was co-promoted it and got a cut of it. Against Mayweather? Yeah, against Mayweather. But it was such a big fight. Everybody won. That makes sense. Other than that, I don't think the UFC would let anybody do that.

Yeah, Because it would open up a can of worms. I think it would just open up a crazy can of worms. We're now Dana. It doesn't seem like help promote a lot of that.

Yeah. And he's built the UFC. The brand is so strong now. I don't know if they want to give any other brands the rub by co-promoting and stuff like That's what I'm saying. I'm not going to say that. And we fight mixed martial arts. Boxing is a part of mixed martial arts, but it's a whole different thing, man.

Do you think it would be something like when you think about that, is it something that's interesting? Or do you feel like, I just like mixed martial arts? Because you're great on your... Even with BDS, I can't remember, but he-BSD. Bsd. It felt like he didn't... They didn't want to have you on the feet that much. It felt like It wasn't a preference of his just watching.

Every time we went to the ground, I took myself down. I never got taken down once by him. I was jumping guillotines, ended up on my back. I never got taken out. But we worked wrestling really hard at camp. We thought he was going to be diving for my legs. He just seemed a little bit slow on the feet. If you stand in front of me, he didn't have great head movement in his fights, the videos we watched. If you stand in front of me, I'm going to get you. Something's going to land that's going to hurt you, especially over five rounds. That's why I asked the UFC for it to be 25-minute fight. I didn't want to do three rounds because if this guy pushes me against the fence and I lose one round, I think the better fighter wins over the long run. So I asked them for five rounds, and they gave it to us.

What is that What are those moments like when you're just up against the fence and it just feels like two neighbors just having an issue about something?

Bro, fighting is like when you're not touching each other, when you're wear it off, fainting and throwing punches. It's chaotic. But when you get to the fence or you get on the ground and you're pummeling and stuff like that, that's when reality sets in where you get a moment of clarity. Like, oh, shit, this is happening. Oh, damn, I'm against the fence. He's kneeing me. But you don't have You have time to think when you're fighting. If you're scrambling on the ground or throwing combinations and blocking kicks and firing punches back, it's chaotic. You're not thinking, you're just reacting. But whenever you get to the fence and a guy is clenching you and you have time to think, you're like, oh, shit. That's when it sets in. This is happening. Wow.

Yeah, because you almost have moments. There's times where you see the fighters look around or they'll just be locked in a moment and they'll just engage with somebody almost.

Yeah, it's surreal. When that moment of clarity sets in, when the fight slows down a little bit, it's pretty crazy, man, because then you can hear the crowd. Sometimes I can hear the commentators. I'll hear Joe Rogan through the fence talking. It's crazy.

If boxing... Who would you fight if you had to do a celebrity box match? Do you have any thoughts on it ever? Biden, maybe.

Oh, Dude. Yeah, he already lost that one. The bell might wobble him when it starts. You ready? Fight. He's like, Oh, shit.

Yeah, I think even if they let him use 12-year-old kids as smelling salts, though, I think he might bounce That's what I'm going to say. I'm not going to say I'm not going to get a box back. Or fight Hunter Biden.

Oh, that would be a good one. Coked up?

Sure. Yeah.

That would be a good one.

I'd hate to fight all coked up.

Yeah.

It'll be the worst. I'm trying to think of something else I was going to ask you about.

They should do Trump Biden. They should do him. Yeah. That'll be a good one. That'll be a pay-per-view blockbuster.

Yeah. I wonder who would actually... Well, Trump would probably win, I think, from pushing him over. I don't know if Trump does this.

He has like that- Seems a little bit more pep in his stuff.

Yeah, he might have a little bit more.

I'd bet the money line on that one, Trump.

Can you bet on yourself legally?

I used to be able to. Ever since maybe a year ago, they put in that rule, we can't. So I completely stopped. But I still bet on boxing and football and stuff.

Can anyone in your house that could be-Sorry to cut you off.

I bet on myself a bunch of times coming up. When I first started fighting in Vegas, oh, yeah.

Really? What's the most that you ever bet on yourself, you think?

Not much. Maybe 500, a thousand, maybe.

That's a lot, though, when you're coming up. Yeah, that was a lot. That's a lot, dude. I don't know if I've ever laid $1,000 on somebody. Maybe I have. I can't get in one of my accounts, so I haven't been able to bet on you in a long time.

That last one would have been a good one.

I know.

I think by knockout, I was plus 370. Oh, God.

I got to fucking figure out. I think they stole my money. But I don't even know what company was. But yeah. What do you think, man? I was going to say this. A lot of people are talking about aliens all the time, and I'm talking about Joe Rogan. But if they attack us, and we have to send five UFC fighters to save the planet, you get to go, and you have to pick four to go with you. What do you think you got?

Current fighters are just all time?

Let's say current just to keep it. Yeah.

John Jones, for sure. Oh, yeah. John Jones, for sure.

Why? Because of the length?

He's the best at doing it. Right. Yeah. And he's big. And he's big. Yeah. So we got that. Maybe get a small person. We need a 125 or something. Maybe the champ, Pantosia. So we got a big guy. We got a small guy.

Pantosia speaks Spanish, too. And I don't know what aliens speak, but- That's good to have some diversity on our side.

You got a champ. Maybe toss a girl in there, too. Yeah. Because you never know.

Yeah. Who's the new girl that just came over from PFL? Yeah.

Kayla Harrison. Kayla Harrison. Toss her on the team, too. Yeah.

Okay. So you got Kayla Harrison, John Jones, Pantosias.

Pantosia.

Pantosias, sorry. All right.

Damn. Do we need another big guy, you think? How big are these aliens?

Well, I'll say this. A lot of them, they're lateral movement struggles, but they can blink and order Starbucks. So it's a lot of mental game. You might need a...

I'd bring Gechi. You I'd bring Gachee. Yeah, you guys are warriors. He can go on the front line like the Wrecking Ball. We'll send him over first.

Yeah, there you go. They asked for somebody else, but you just tell him it was him. He just fucking goes. They want you over there, bud. He would go anyway, man. One of the best things I ever saw was one of the first UFC fights ever went to. He's in the backstage and literally just walking around, almost like he wanted to fight anybody. He's like, I'm ready to fight anybody.

He was fighting that night? No, he wasn't.

That was a crazy part. But it was just showing up, showing I'm ready. It seems like there's a lot of... Because you just get so few chances to show your shine in your sport.

Well, every time we go out there, it's the Super Bowl. It's not like we have... We trained three, four months to prepare for this moment. It could be 15 or 25 minutes. The whole world's watching. There's no redos. There's no finger-pointing. My teammates weren't picking up the slack or whatever. It's all you. And if you lose, it's It's going to be a while until you get that opportunity again. So every one's a Super Bowl. Every fight is the biggest fight. It's exciting, but it's scary at the same time.

Yeah. I think that's what makes it so appealing to so many people. I mean, the sport's growing so much since you've been in it. Have you felt that as a competitor?

A hundred %. Really? Yeah, big time. Not as a competitor, but as a fan of the sport and just watching it grow in the new fan base. Because when I first started, it was older. Older men watching this, now kids and even grandmothers are talking about fighting at the grocery store. If I go get some groceries right now, I'm going to run into somebody. Back in the day, it was just like old dudes with beards talking about MMA. Now it's such a big sport. Everybody's kids are talking about it. Soccer moms are talking about it. It's cool to see the growth, but it's just crazy, the different wave of fans that come in with that.

Did you feel the growth, being in the ring and stuff? Has the size of venues that you guys have been in changed and stuff, too, over the years? What's that been like?

The crowd's... Well, when I first started fighting in Vegas, it was at the Palms. I don't even know, 1,500, 2,000. Really?

And that was the UFC fight night?

That was WEC. Ufc, they did big events, like 10,000, or They go to the MGM or the Mandalay, they might have like 18,000. It was big, but they would only do pay-per-views every few months. Now there's a fight every week. That's another thing that was cool at the beginning of fighting, too. When I first got to the UFC, you win a big fight, that win, that high, lasted for months because that's how long it was until the next event.

Oh, so you got to be the real- Everybody's still talking about that last card.

Now you went on a Saturday. By the time you fly back home, it's fight week again for somebody. So the focus of the media and everything switches to the new guys coming up. So I've noticed that big time.

Yeah, it's a blessing and a curse because also then if you don't get the win, it's like that goes away pretty quick, too.

Because somebody's getting fucked up the next Saturday.

Yeah. You're almost hoping somebody gets really fucked up so that people forget quicker.

Yeah. I hope somebody gets kicked in the head. That way, they're talking about that one.

Yeah, I remember that because I remember Dominic Reyes. No. Dominic Cruz also got a head-to-head kick that win.

Cheeto.

That was against Chido, huh?

Yeah. Cheeto is a cool dude, man.

Yeah. Cheeto is a neat guy, man. It was powerful to see him go against Sean to stay in there.

Dude, he took some damage.

Man, he did.

That knee? I had to rewatch it because I was doing media right after the fight, so I missed it, but I went home and watched it.

It made my throat hurt for some reason.

He's never been finished, bro.

Never. Yeah. I think he wanted to stand on that. It was amazing how Sean was just like... Oh, my God, bro.

Pes dispenser.

Bro, I feel like, yeah. I feel like you-That ain't good for you. Somebody just opened up a pecan.

Yeah, cracked a pecan right there.

Remember that sound, bro? Oh, yeah. You guys had pecan trees in your yard growing up?

Yeah. I used to gather them up and go sell them. That was beer money. Was it? Oh, yeah.

Yeah, bro. When I was growing up, dude, a sack of pecans was something nice, dude.

I don't even know what they're going for now. But I used to have the tools where it rolls on the ground and picks them up.

Yeah, dude. We used to go pick them up. My buddy Robert, he was... His parents thought he was haunted or whatever because he had some... His mom was a nurse or whatever, but his dad was out of work. But we would go over to his house. They had a couple of bacon trees. We go pick them up. Sometimes you get them maybe a little too early.

Yeah, they're green. They're bitter.

Yeah, you still have it, but you wish you hadn't had it. Yeah.

Sometimes you got to shake the tree to make them fall, too. Really?

Damn.

You never threw like, sticks up in the tree to make them fall?

We throw sticks, but I wasn't over there just fucking shaking that bitch, dude.

Oh, yeah. Climb up, get on a brand, shake them down.

Like, or somebody over there. You can shake it. He's on retreat. He's on retreat. Those bitches up, man.

Like Louisiana, we're the only people that call them Poocons. Everywhere is pecan. You've traveled a lot.

Yeah, I hear pecan a lot.

You hear a pecan outside of-No, that's true.

I don't. Oh, look at this right here.

About to shake that bad boy.

Oh, yeah. Mr. Wetherall, look at this thing.

I don't know what's going on here, man. This dude, it looks like he's-Look at that. Shorty Look at all the pecans falling. Bro. Twerk team.

Shorty getting wicked, huh?

Shaking him branches, boy.

Damn. They need to do a Mr. Wetherall remix to this, then. Look at that. That thing shake what your mama gave you. You know what I mean? Bro, that's crazy. I wonder how many it says they got. Did it say? That's unbelievable. I mean, it's thousands of pecans falling.

Because you know the green thing that goes around them? When they're ready, it opens up.

It looks like-And then it has a shell in there. Right.

But if you shake that when they're open like that, bro, they'll all fall.

Bro, the pecans were so good. Sometimes you would get them at the right exact time, and it would be a little bit sweet.

Yeah.

Oh, that was so nice, bro. I loved having that.

I like them fresh like that. Yeah.

Get you a little snack. They were pretty good. What we got in the news? Nick? Drake gifted Sexy Red, Aiden Ross, Jay Cole, and 21 Savage, a heart chain. But many people did not think it looked like a Oh, wow.

It's a scrotum.

Yeah, bro. That's a different set of-That's a bean bag right there.

It's got veins on it and everything.

Damn, he gave that to people to wear on their neck? Dude, I'm not wearing some mixed guys nuts on my neck. Okay, I don't care even if it matches with a belt I have.

You ever see the big trucks with the balls hanging off the back on the toe? That's what that looks like, well.

Is that some an ownership thing? If you send somebody's nuts to somebody? That to me seems like I wouldn't... If somebody sent me their nuts, even if it was a hero of mine, even if it was damn Trying to think of somebody. Willy Nelson or whatever. If that dude sends me a golden nut. I ain't wearing them, bitches, dude. I love him, but I'm not wearing them, bitches.

What if Lance Armstrong sent you one nut? Would you wear that?

I wear it, maybe it's just an earring. Yeah. Especially if I'm biking, I wear that bitch.

Just One. Solo.

Bro, having One Nut has to be cool. It's almost like mistletoe, I feel like. I feel like at that point.

Yeah.

I think having One Nut has got to be a unique thing. Two Nuts. I don't want more than two. I know that.

Yeah, not two is a perfect amount.

Yeah, it really is, huh? Yeah.

It's your balance.

Yeah, you almost can juggle it, but you can't. It's a reminder. Yeah. This episode is sponsored by Blue Chew. If you have had sex before, then you know what I'm talking about, baby, it's sex. Sometimes you want to get that pump, baby. You want to feel that Johnson climbing, baby, looking for the moon. Blue Chew can help you. God, I'll chew on a wiener up or you know me. Blue Chew is a unique online service that delivers the same active ingredients as Viagra's Cialis, but in chewable tablets and at a fraction of the cost. You can take them anytime, day or night. You can eat half of one. Save you a little bit for later. It's great. I've had them. Blue Chew's tablets are made in the USA and prepared and shipped direct to your door in a discrete package. Blue Chew wants to help you have better sex. Discover your options at bluechew. Com. Chew it and do it. We've got a special deal for our listeners. Try Bluechew free when you use our promo code, Theo, at checkout. Just pay $5 shipping. That's B-L-U-E-C-H-E-W. Com, promo code Theo, to receive your first month free.

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I'll keep committing to things, and then there's too many things. Then I realized, man, you never really have any time for yourself. That's an issue that I've been dealing with. Putting me first sometimes is important, and sometimes I need somebody else to discuss that with, to reflect, and help me make a plan for myself. That's where therapy comes in for me. Betterhelp can help you find therapy. If you're thinking of starting therapy, give Betterhelp a try. It's entirely online. It's designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule. Just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with licensed therapist, and you can switch therapists at any time, and I can encourage you to do so. So many times we stay with a therapist for no reason, just because we're afraid to say, I want to try someone different. Find your social sweet spot with Betterhelp. Visit betterhelp. Com/theo today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelphelp. Com/thheo. We thank A Better Help for supporting this podcast. What else we got in the news, nick? Governor DeSantis enacted a social media ban for children under 14. It's supposed to go into effect January first, and kids 14 to 16 need their parents' permission.

My wife was just talking about that.

Really? Yeah. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed one of the country's most restrictive social media bills in the law Monday, banning children under the age of 14 from having accounts and requiring children aged 14 to 16 have parental consent to hold one. What do you think about that? You guys have a child, D. What's that like for you? Do you think about this stuff and the effects it could have on your kid? For sure, man.

Yeah, we do. She's not on social media or anything like that, but she does have an iPad. We give her on the weekends. She can use Friday night, Saturday night. When she's out of school, she's on it. Or if we're traveling, she'll watch movies and play games on her iPad. But I don't think it's good. Being at At age 14, high school, your friends and who's popular at school, it affects you. I don't know, it's hard to put into words, but it's a big deal, man. Think about how tough it was without this. Now you have this, and you see the bullying and stuff like that on there. I don't think a kid can handle all that.

Yeah, I agree. I mean, well, they have so many kids that have had taken their lives, had a lot of issues with online bullying. And as a parent, the scary thing as a parent, you don't even know it's happening sometimes, I think. So that's probably one of the things I think would probably be good if they had.

But also, like raising a kid, all of her friends are going to be on social media when they get that age. And she might be the weird one out if we don't let her. It's a weird place to be in.

I think a lot of parents don't set controls on their kid's social media. They just think the kid isn't going to get into stuff. But I think, I don't have any children. But it would seem like as a parent, you got to make those choices because your child is not really going to... They're going to make some of them, but you got to really look out for your kid in every space. That's crazy because somebody could get to your child through social media. It's just so wild.

Just the stuff they're exposed to, man, the internet's a wild place.

It's horrible, dude.Yeah..

She has kids YouTube. We have the parental settings and stuff on that. She can go on YouTube on our stuff. But I don't want her seeing... Even some stuff on YouTube is crazy.

What else did I see? I saw that kid still hitting home runs. You see that kid, Big Al? Remember him, Big Al? No. The children's... He was a child, an Italian child, I I think he's... Remember, he hits... What did he call it? This guy would hit home runs all the time.

Hi, my name is Alfred Delia.

At home, they call me Big Al, and I hit dingers.

Hi, my name is Alfred Delia. At home, they call me Big Al, and I hit dingers.

And he grew up.

It's him as an adult?

Yeah, he's still hitting dingers. Dingers. That's got to be heavy for kids. I think kids, yeah, because if something happens to you when you're a kid and it goes big on social media, then you're that kid forever. If you're the kid that like, yells a slur or something, or calls somebody a G-A-Y or something when they're on dental gas or whatever, and then that's who you are forever. You can run for mayor years later on that.

That dental gas will get you.

Oh, God. That shit is fun, huh? You ever get any good gas, any good stuff to huff out there?

I whip it back in the day, not the dental gas. Back when I used to work at a restaurant, we used to crack them whippets.

Dude, the whip cream whenever they finally put it on dessert, that shit was just dribbling out of.

It was dribbling out of my lungs.

Yeah, bro. There was nothing left. There was no cream left for your dessert. What's the number one fight that you would make outside of your division? Is there a fight that...

I really want to see the 145-pound champ, Tuporia. I want to see him fight Max. You do? Yeah, because Volk was the only guy Max couldn't beat at 45. He's pretty much cleaned out the division. Now there's a new young blood, great striker, good grappler. I think that would be an incredible fight, man. Max versus Teporea.

Yeah, that's wild because who just called him out, too? Sugar Sean just called him out.

That would be a good one, too. Yeah, that would be a good one.

Do Max and Sugar Sean, are they in the same?

No. Max is 45. Sean is 135.

Okay, wow.

But Sean's pretty tall, pretty decent size for the division, but Max is a lot thicker than him.

But Sean might move up out of his division.

I don't know. I'm not sure. Yeah. He was talking about it.

Do you think about that for any more of your fights? Are you happy in your division?

I'm happy. A lot of people wanted me to go up to 170, but dude, this morning, I weighed myself. When I woke up, I was 173. I can't fight at 170 pounds. Those guys are going to rehydrate and be 190 for fight night. At the top, at the highest level, a guy with 20 pounds on you on fight night in grappling positions and side control, half guard, it's just that weight really matters when guys are not to use it.

What about this guy? You ever heard him? Blood Diamond is his name? Yeah. He's out of Sonia's friend? Yeah.

I think I've seen him fight, but I don't know much about him.

I wonder if there ever be a fight for the real, the less.

He's a 55?

No. What is he? He's 17. If you ever go up just to put an end to the-I would fight a one-seventy if it was a really big fight, but I'm not trying to make a run in the welterweight division, man.

Those guys are huge.

Yeah.

I used to get a lot heavier, though. The last couple of years, I've been walking around a lot lighter. Really? Yeah. Outside of training camp, I've been eating clean. Before, I would get in shape during camp, and then after the fight, eat pizza every day and enjoy life. But the older I got, the easier it is for me to just eat healthy and be all right. I don't need to eat all that crazy stuff.

Right. You just start caring about you. You just start having more of a general care about yourself. What else? Oh, yeah. I saw this right here. Furious parents offered version of school class photo without complex needs pupils. You can pay more money. If your school has special needs kids or whatever, they'll take them out of the photos at school. I mean, that's crazy to me, dude. It's just everything you got to pay for. Now, soon they're going to make it. They're going to start. Every kid is on crutches in the picture, right? If you pay a little bit more, then a couple of kids come off crutsches, then somebody gets... Every kid loses body hair or whatever. I feel like you're going to have to keep paying to get an actual picture of your child.

Yeah. No, I didn't see that.

But yeah, everybody's going to start in a wheelchair, and the more you pay, then you finally get- Get the crutsches from the wheelchair.

Yeah. A boot, no crutsches.

Yeah, we keep moving.

Just an arm brace. Shoulder sling, the more you pay.

Yeah, That's ridiculous. What do you feel like, man? Do you feel like you're getting towards the end of your career? Do you feel like you're just figuring it out? Do you feel like it's up to you? Do you feel like it's up to the UFC? What does it feel like?

It's definitely up to me. My wife, my coaches, they want me to keep going. My wife wants me to stop, but my coaches, no, I still have it. I'm just taking it one fight at a time. I still feel good. Like I said, my wife wants me to stop, though. My daughter wants me to stop, too.

Oh, she does? Yeah. What did she say? Because at a certain point, it turns on for your kid what's going on.

She's old enough now. She knows that I fight. She knows what it is, and she wants me to be home. When I do camps, I'm gone for eight weeks. They'll come out for two weeks. We try not to do more than two weeks apart. So I'll do the first two weeks, and they'll meet me, and I'll do the last two weeks. But she doesn't want me to fight anymore. She She doesn't want to see me come home with stitches. Since she was a baby, she's been pulling stitches out of my face and stuff after fights.

That's insane. It's almost like on a lady and the Tramp when the kids meet at the spaghetti or something a little bit. It's a different version of that. Where the help is meet or whatever. What's your favorite business you have? You got involved in some businesses outside of work, man. What's that been like for you? Becoming more of a business guy. Is that enough of a thing to entertain you enough outside of the sport and to keep you busy enough? Has that started to tip the scales enough? I think that's another thing that happens in people's lives who also have the opportunity to get into businesses. At a certain point, the business can start to become something that still appeases them and makes them feel busy, like you like to stay busy.

Yeah, but it's about balance. I can't do too much of the business because it takes away from the fighting, and fighting is still my main thing. But the business stuff keeps me busy. It's fun. It's new. I'm learning a lot. I have the Hot Sauce, I have a Bourbon, I have a liquor store in Lafayette. Hopwater, I'm a partner with them. Just have a lot of stuff going on outside of fighting that keeps me busy. That's good, man. Like I said, I have to be busy. I have to be busy. But it's balanced. It's balanced.

So right now, you train right now?

Yeah, I'm going to go box tonight. And this Friday, I'm going to do jiu-jitsu, but I'm still training. Okay.

Five-mile frot. What do you all do? Five-mile Sundays?

Five-mile Sundays.

Yeah. Five-mile is fun, huh?

Yeah, I do it fast. Like At the end of my training camp, I do 24 hours fast, and then finish my fast with the run. Then I'll break my fast.

For run, Madonna or whatever? No. That's not it. No.

It's similar.

Somebody was doing that at this vape shop.

It is rolling down right now.

It's got to be. This fucking guy wouldn't shut up about it.

A mirror, probably.

Yeah, it could have been a mirror. But yeah, this guy got fucking vaping. I'm like, Dude, if you vape enough fucking watermelon, that counts as eating. If you do 200 puffs, dude, that counts as eating. March 10th, to April ninth. What other avenue can we go down here, Dustin? Is there something else that you want to think about?

How have you been doing, man?

I I've been doing pretty good, dude. I think I still... Yeah, everything has been fun. I think sometimes I get busy with work, and it feels like I don't even know what I'm doing. You're just almost going through the motion sometimes. It's like that feels tough. It just feels like a challenge, I guess. Am I doing anything that means anything, or am I just showing up to work each day?

Like clocking in.

Yeah. Even though it's your own job and things you want to be doing, it still sometimes feels like that. What else? Yeah, I still have a lot of trouble feeling proud of myself. I think about that stuff a lot. I talked about that with people on the podcast, just what it's like to... It's just so hard for me to... People are always like, Man, you should take a moment and just feel happy. It's like, I always want to... There's always a It's a part of me that's trying to figure out the next thing. It's really hard to just feel good about something. I don't know what that's about. What else outside of that?

Your show is going good in Louisiana?

Yeah, dude. We had fun. That was some of my best shows, man. I know you guys came out to the last one at UNO, and that was awesome. We still have a lot of people that talk about that you were there. I ran into a guy at the gym the other day. He's like, Yeah, you brought out dust, and that was awesome. But we had some great shows this weekend. Nice. I just got a cyber truck, too.Oh.

You were telling me that?Yeah. You got it? Yeah. How is it?

It's wild, bro. I mean, for one, You feel like you work at lows a little because it feels like you're supposed to be delivering something to somebody, but you never drop it off. What do you put back then? I don't know. No, it's just the whole car feels a little bit like an appliance. Yeah. So it It feels like sometimes somebody's just going to open up the back and just put a TV dinner in. It just has this... Or just put a load of laundry in there, just press a button. It has an appliance feel, but then it makes this sound when you go fast, and it literally feels like you're going into the future. Nice. Some people don't know what it is. There was a guy who, I don't know if he was homeless or not, but he just seemed really homeless. He He was like, What is it? What is it? Then he just started yelling at it and just cracked a beer open. I was like, God. I feel a little bit like Because people look over at it. And then, well, first I thought the windows were tented, right? And they're not.

I'm like, Elon, fucking, how much to tent these windows? Probably like a 112 bucks, bro. I ordered this bitch four years.

I got a buddy that'll do it for you.

Yeah. Oh, You got a buddy here who'll do it? Oh, yeah. Yeah, bro. I got to pull up on somebody, bro. Get some of that swamp dog in the song, man, bro. Just get it a little bit brakish. Yeah, sure. So that's interesting. I think I was a little I've been embarrassed at first because everybody looks at it, and you don't want to be the center of attention sometimes. I'm in there just being alive and shit. You're like, Oh, everybody can see in here. I thought nobody I could see in. Because people would be at stoplights just recording a lot of times, and I'd be like, I'm safe in here. And then I'm not. And so that was dumb. But what's it like? It definitely feels like the future, some.

It looks like the future. Yeah. They have big tires on them, right?

Yeah. The tires feel like... They almost feel like they're from some vehicle out of a sci-fi movie or something. It's got a sci-fi feel to it.

I've only seen once, one in person in Miami. You did?

Yeah. What was it? At first, I was like, I don't know how I feel about it, but it's growing on me for sure.

It looks strange to me. It's cool. It's different.

Yeah, I was surprised. I ordered it four years ago, and I got home. My buddy John Shahidi is close with Elon, and they just got me an early four of it. Four years? Yeah, I ordered it four years ago, I think. When did that order go out? Tesla.

I didn't even know about them four years ago.

They started taking orders. Yeah, Tesla can be 2019. I'll put that $100 down on that site because you got to think, even if a million people put in, that's a hundred million bucks they made right there.

It's a lot of trucks to make.

Earnings call in October. I said demand was off the charts. Over one million people have paid $100. There you go.Fundable deposit for the cyber truck. So there's news we're going to hear, Dustin. That's what I'm feeling out of you, or is that-We'll see. Okay, that's fair, man. Cool, bro. You're going to be... People can come and see you with Anthony Pettus.

Yeah. In Indiana, next weekend, Anthony Pettus has his own fight promotion. They're doing a big event up there. I'll be watching fights with the fans, signing autographs, hanging out.

Okay.

And also, UFC 300. I'll be at the Mohegan Sun doing a viewing party. There's a big sports book there, so we're going to be watching the fights.

Okay, bet. Oh, nice, man. And then are you going to go see Tiago fight this week?

Yeah, Tiago is fighting Perry. Mike Perry, huh? Yeah, in LA. I want to go to it. I'm just not sure yet.

Yeah. God, that's going to be wild.

Yeah, it's going to be insane, bro.

Is this Tiago's first bare-knuckle fight?

No, he was a champion.

Oh, he was? I got to get up on game, man.

Yeah. Have you ever been to a bare-knuckle event? No. It's different.

I don't know if I'm ready.

Like the bone on bone. It's rough. It's rough.

Oh, yeah. There's got to be. There he is right there. Oh, my God. There's a lot of organ donors in there.

Tiago is so tough, man. He's a vet. Legend of the game. Great coach as well.

The nicest guy. If you didn't tell me that he was a... I would not even think it.

Yeah. He's solid, man.

Wow.

I think that last fight, though, he came to the gym the next week. His hand looked like a balloon, like a glove, doctor glove that you blow up or something. It was just puffy. He broke his fingers and knuckles.

That's wild. That's going to be a war, man. Isn't it so amazing how Mike Perry has found such a home in this sport?

This is perfect for him, man. He's the face of bare-knuckle fighting now. So wild. His style and his grit, just how crazy he is. This is perfect for him.

Yeah. It's amazing how it all things evolve where there is a space for everybody.

Yeah. He found his spot for sure.

Wasn't Jora Mirshardt just in this, too?

No, he's still in the UFC.

Oh, he is?

Yeah. That was Luke Rockhold.

Oh, yeah. Rockhold is fighting this week or something, or you just fought.

No, I think he's fighting karate, combat versus Joe Schilling.

Oh, those are interesting. I haven't been in one of those. You've been in one of those?

No, I've never been in one. It's pretty much just like MMA, except But they might only grapple for a couple of seconds if it goes to the ground. So it's just like kickboxing with small gloves. Yeah, there you go. That'll be interesting. That's going to be a good one, man. Yeah.

Dustin Poirier, man. Good to see you, bro. Thank you so much for just the fight you over the years, giving us all like just... Yeah, man, it just been so fun to be along for some of your journey. Yeah, just give us inspiration, man. You give so much inspiration to us no matter your outcome, I I think these days. There's a lot of times I want to give up, and I'll just think of how you are, and I don't do it. So I just want to say thank you on behalf of, I know, not just myself, man.

Thank you, man.

So we appreciate you, bro. Excited to see what happens next, bro. Yeah, everybody. In all facets, baby.

Yeah, we'll see what happens this coming weekend or two weeks away at UFC 300. I think that's going to shake the division up a little bit, and then we'll see what's next.

Let's go.

Strappy Gilmore.

I will fucking punch somebody's fucking step husband out. Dustin Poirier, thank you so much, bro. I'm in.

Now, I'm just floating on the breeze, and I feel I'm falling like these leaves. I must be cornerstone. Oh, but when I reach that ground, I'll share this peace of mind I found. I can feel it in my bones. The But it's going to take.