Tom Aspinall: The UFC Doesn’t Want You To Know This! Jon Jones Wasn’t Living Like An Athlete!

id and at’s the sound of bills being paid on time but with the bemo
ard pay r bills could sound like this yes earn rewards for paying your
time e th rise to rewards with the bemo eclipse rise visa card
s apply e number one heavyweight in the world right now and i’m scared
what ab n jones i’d be an idiot otherwise but now that i understand fear and
it jus me so much in a way that nothing else can happen so i’ll be prepared
ed to d just don’t like what he’s doing because i can’t function knowing
a fight dn’t actually fight somebody john jones is officially retired
heavyw hampion of the ufc did you see this coming and do you have any idea
in the n i do yeah yeah tom you’re the only ever british heavyweight champion
advice give young men that are struggling to find that sense of purpose it
me an o t success i’ve been going since i was eight years old and i’ve been up
ts from ending injuries to financial struggles to mental struggles and at
ree kid e age of 25 and i had no money i mean my first pro fight i got 200
ssure t o be a young guy but having all this responsibility on me
ney fro ds to buy nappies for my kids so i could keep living on this dream
le and ency is massively underrated and in today’s day and age people just
ns but sessiveness of being 100 focused on something you win tom there’s
ront of ch contains something which represents a pivotal moment in
the st ind this it was the most devastating thing that happened in my whole
showing at interview which we recorded a while ago i wanted to call tom and get
to the at he’s now the ufc’s undisputed heavyweight champion of the world
o show a conversation i had with tom hours after the news was announced
ndisput yweight champion of the world and then i’m going to play the long
me and d several weeks ago right here in the studio enjoy quick one before
episod give me 30 seconds of your time two things i wanted to say the first
nk you tening and tuning into the show week after week means the world to
really eam that we absolutely never had and couldn’t have imagined
ce but y it’s a dream where we feel like we’re only just getting started
at we d please join the 24 of people that listen to this podcast regularly
is app a promise i’m going to make to you i’m going to do everything in
is show d as i can now and into the future we’re going to deliver the guests
speak we’re going to continue to keep doing all of the things you love
nk you you um did you see this coming
idn’t e t um when it happened i expected it so next week i’m going to
the we say it’s the biggest fight card of the year a fight card called
week a ew that i had some news coming on international fight week we got
s is go retire and they’re going to announce it on international fight week but
y annou um last night i don’t know what that reason is it took me by surprise
y annou last night what was your initial honest gut reaction when you
tiring ere you what was your first feeling when you heard that news
0 actua t night it was always like rumors of him retiring he’s putting
dia say t he’s retiring because mma especially at elite level is quite
ople li hear rumors a lot so i heard rumors from people close to him that he’s
that h living like an athlete um who’s fighting at the top level anymore
nterest he’s not in the gym and etc but i knew that there was going to be a
e ufc c oon whether he’s going to continue and um we got it last night for
it con last night so i am uh very happy to get this part of my career
arview now but but how did you feel because i think from the conversation we
ng to p a second it was clear to me that you wanted to have john jones on
ted to im what i really want is it is the undisputed title that’s really what i was
ime i w r really chasing one guy john jones was always just a bonus because
e of th e that he’s got and because of the name that he has and the
holds w ithin the sport like he’s so well respected i think that would have
for me on my resume but uh ultimately i was chasing the belt i was chasing
e heavy fighter in the world which uh i am and i can say that i am now
n not a nd he’s retired and that’s behind us but um ultimately the thing
y was w belt the fact that john’s left the sport obviously it would have
career- have that name financially it would have been great as well but
was ul y chasing was uh the heavyweight title
k about decision do you do you view it as a strategic dodge or do you view it
f closi hat chapter in his uh of his legacy
ntitled whatever he wants to be honest i’m not um he’s done way more in the
o he sh whatever he feels is right it as speaking as as just a fighter here
so pub
don’t my ego could take it
um but that’s honestly that’s
on’t ho ill will against him for it and i’m i’m happy to move on with my
s over you’ve got to remember i’ve not fought for nearly a year now
i’ve b lthy the whole time i’ve been in the gym the whole time i’ve been
i’m sup o do as a high level operating athlete at the elite level so i’m glad
us now in part i guess take this as a bit of a compliment that there was
essure to fight you and actually the route that he chose was to retire
you i at’s quite a compliment for someone of john jones stature
my ego ontrol of me um i could see why people would think that
like m en i’ve retired i’ll consider when i’ve retired myself which is
in the ouple of years at least um i’ll think about that kind of stuff
t’s jus we’ve got to focus on another fight we’ve got to get me active
back o e and doing what doing what i’m supposed to be doing because right
ing abo whole situation and being held up and frustrated for almost a year
hat i l ng i’ve been i’ve been held back for the whole time and it’s not
honest ou so my the the ego side of my brain is like yeah i’ve kind of
ting hi did say that i’ve said that the whole time that i’m going to
fightin ut i don’t kind of want to harp harp on about that really i want to
at behi nd move forward on my own path now i hear you and you know john
dictabl idual so there’s still a possibility that that retirement wasn’t a
d that t get a bit bored and end up you know deciding that he wants to come
is that ing that you would consider if that were to happen
he’s a n like jump the queue anytime he wants so you know this time a
we’ll h ther three or four contenders knocking on for a title shot i’m sure
like h s to step up and say listen i want to fight again they’re going to
tle sho m never going to count that out and i’m sure that maybe he’s you
in my c here there’s not that much footage out there on me
hing on the next few fights and he thinks you know what i can beat this
me back at him so mentally i’m never counting that out i think that the fight
always k up and come back around on me so that’s something that i would
t as i fore i think a lot of people get it confused over the last kind of 10
i was c john jones that was never the case i was chasing that the undisputed
ould if et the opportunity to put john jones on my resume of course i’ll i’ll
en arms not i’m content i’ll move forward and i’ll uh create my own legacy
t what nged overnight is there as a ufc fan is there anything that i’m
nges wh announces you as the undisputed does your contract change does
ing tha es other than the fact that you’ve now got a sort of a clear path
one bei ed you’re no longer chasing well i was on uh because i was an
as a ch in my own right as well so i i was already getting a lot of the uh
come w ng a champion stuff like pay-per-view points is something that you get
ion you et you know uh pay-per-view points is where you get a cut of the
okay so t want to go into the details of my contracts of course but you’ll get
know 6 pay-per-view you might get two dollars you might get five dollars per
0 peopl rent people have different um different perks in the contract so i i
that be was a i was a champion in my own right anyway but yeah not nothing
nges ju fact that there isn’t two belts anymore in the division which is great
e name guy in in the division and to me that is what that’s what separates
ports o her fight sports at least is that for example in boxing you can have
eight metimes different organization you got the wbo the wbc the ibo the ibf and
ones t on’t even know about and they all have different champions in each
s gener eaking the number one guy in the world is the ufc champion and
etired as two of us in the division which is a little bit of a strange
hat i w omfortable being in i think that there should be one guy in every
that j t john’s gone obviously we didn’t get to fight about it which i would
t least s one guy and uh i’m i’m happy with that moving forward
the nu e contender now you’re now being chased right you were doing a
ng in t trying to get that um unified but but who in your mind is the number
or thei weight title belt oh that’s uh that’s for i’m i’m more than happy
fantas would rather be the hunted as opposed to the hunter because i’ve been
e chasi ts i like just being the guy and everyone comes to me that’s
hat i’v lly fought a lot of the top 10 um one of the guys i’ve not fought is
ch guy a fight that i was look i was actually chasing that fight a few times
s ducki diving around himself a little bit so he is due a little bit of
look fo o that um a couple more guys down the rankings a brazilian guy
not fo ere’s a guy i’ve already beat called uh alexander volkov who’s
or hims well so who knows you never know in the heavyweight division
up-and guys who i’ve not mentioned as well so there’s some some good
ver the ouple of years for sure if i were to say myself it’d be great to
in uh i n or in the uk somewhere um as your next fight do you have any
ing nex hen you’ll be back in the octagon
t to ke so want to keep my job so there’s not much i can say to be honest
d this m going to be fighting hopefully twice this year that’s that’s
hink i’ ed enough time um now so um we’re looking for a quick we’re looking
ed quic t’s looking like it’s going to be you know pretty soon anyway um and
verythi well in the first one um i’m uninjured which is you know it’s easier
etting a fight with with a guy my size and coming out with no injuries but
that i like to fight at the end of the year as well that’d be perfect
to trai w are you flying out to vegas so i’m assuming you’re going to the
e and s training no so i’m i’m training constantly regardless if i’ve got
only th t changes for me is basically intensity in uh in the sessions but
to vega ell i am the heavyweight champion of the world so they’re going
ig show i’m gonna i’m gonna be showing my face there doing a little bit
i will se be doing a little bit of training you know just different
ith a n sor i’m going to be with till the end of my career which is
workin them out there and uh just doing bits for the ufc meeting fans and
raining eing around the scene and i don’t often to be honest i’m so
routine and goal focused that i don’t like to leave my home routine and
at ofte when i go to the us and do things like this i like to do as much in a
as pos o i can get back to my uh because i know what i know what i need to do
o win f nd uh that’s be at home and be my routine and and be focused so i
my rou o much and go overseas and do all this other stuff so i’ll be
ds with one in this trip as possible you’re um you’re a family man tom i got a
of that conversation that i’m about to play um your family very close to you
t’s the on been like with your your partner your your your kids your your
rents o last couple of hours since you’ve been crowned as the undisputed
it didn ly make much of a difference i think a lot of people said the same
family l it was like you were kind of the champion anyway because i think the
played last year or so it just didn’t a lot of people didn’t see him as the
ight ch anyway so i think a lot of people close to me like i told my kids this
ust lik othered at all didn’t make the slightest bit of difference i said
ng you your friends tell you at school you’ll know and they were like okay
at was e was no there was no great reaction to them what did you say to them
it’s m y oldest son because my my twins they’re a little bit too young to
hey’ve rned six so they don’t really get it but my oldest son’s nine almost
followi a little bit more so he kind of started thinking it’s cool now
was lik n i’m just letting you know john jones retired i’m the undisputed
ot you ere’s one and he was just like oh okay and i was like i’m just i
hered i letting you know so if your friends say anything you know and he was
hn’s pr watching this um he has undoubtedly had one of the greatest careers
he ufc e with the likes of khabib and many of the legends through history
to him as watching this now
questi i don’t i don’t know if he will be watching this i’m not sure but if
‘s had ing career and i think he should enjoy the rest of his life i think
eels li done enough which he keeps saying that he does he will be at
ed me o dy else to tell him uh how good he’s done he should he’ll know it
e that ‘s enjoying his life he’s enjoying his family and he’s celebrating
it’s be ing tom uh congratulations i think uh i speak on behalf
nd real le all around the world when i say that um you’re the champion i think
at the ight division has really been longing for someone who wants to be
is um s the biggest fights someone who is willing to fight anybody but
just r eally relatable and i think sends a message to all of all of us that
very n uy from humble beginnings can reach the very top of the professional
lates t s and entertainment so thank you so much for
in uh he ufc especially the heavyweight level which we’ve never had before
ooting uh for so many reasons because of who you are but also because of
at you’ onducted yourself in and outside of the octagon so i’m gonna let you
play th view now that we recorded a little while ago but um yeah gonna be
r very osely and i’m gonna be ringside whatever you fight next i know there’s a
are goi urn out to support you so thank you so much tom thank you very much for
you’re as always because we know each other now and i know it’s difficult when
ersonal nytime a fight you gotta strap in be ready for anything because
mate at ghest level and anything can happen so thank you for having me
orward o seeing you there thank you
when yo a kid and i’d asked you what you want to be when you’re older
said t ll it depends on the age of course but i think if you would have
ge of b ne years old and above i would have said that i’m going to be ufc
eah as i kind of like went to a gym and i realized there’s people in this
and the have a regular job and they’re just showing up to the gym every day
few mon getting money for it like i was i was literally like this is what i
me back re do you where do you come from for someone that doesn’t know who
know yo y they don’t know tom aspinall’s origin where’d you come from
ace i w in salford which is like greater manchester and then i moved to a
reater ter a place called allerton there’s not a lot of stuff going on there
it’s j e a normal working class blue collar place do you know i mean a lot
ike the s working factories they are mechanics they plumbers
family context so my dad originally worked in it he got paid some
d then ded to start teaching grappling full-time which we’re talking
like 20 ago the grappling industry in the uk was non-existent
quite a budding but i wasn’t i wasn’t even like a budding prospect at
fights time but i was training and i was enjoying my training and my dad
e time ing me to help me do what i enjoy a little bit more well how how come
grappl ause he he’s been into like martial arts for as like a lifetime as
inspira r you to go to the gym the first time and start training or so it’s
cause i ke a bit of a blurred line as to where i started actually training
tarted g when i was young it was my dad’s thing more and i just used to go with
d some th my dad because i didn’t really have much else to do but i used to
he gym n i started training there were no like kids classes like now
nd of t and there’ll be an mma gym with kids classes on with 20 kids in the
n’t my en i started at eight nine years old like i used to go to the gym
40 yea uys rolling around on the floor with each other and i just used
re was er guy available otherwise i’d just be like kicking the football
omethin that like basically i’ve grown up in in gyms but when i actually
riously as probably when i was like 14 13 14 something like that and was there
ose ear s where you realized or someone said something to you that
ber tha d to you that you were better than normal people at this thing
instan e i said i used to train with adults even when i was a child
re even eing young that the adults were like taking it easy on me you know
ing me ition and letting me do certain things on them and they weren’t really
uh i re feeling like the adults are starting going harder on me do you if
es that ense like i remember i used to just have all my own way in training
a lot o ime were like my dad’s friends and his students and then they would
round t so they’d know me and they’d take it easy and stuff like that
like a of the couple of the guys who i trained with like i said i was
d and i er a couple of the guys like it became a lot more physical training
t more tive whereas before they were just like letting me do my thing and
ighting little bit more and then i remember thinking well i must be all right
ing i r realizing that people actually started trying against me and then
and loo they’d done a workout a little bit rather than just played with a kid
and wa i’m trying to figure out as well the the thing that encouraged you to
point b at that age you can end up playing football you can end up going and
ou can focusing on some drama class that you’re doing but there must have
kind o you in this habit i mean i definitely tried all that stuff i definitely
s like big rugby area so like rugby league we play up there and
in tha tle bit but i just never really was my thing you know i think
my brot heavily involved with martial arts and that’s just where i always felt
ee he’s n the gym i know it sounds really weird but i felt like when you’re
arts i ost like there can be 10 guys in the room and they can all be from
ds male one guy can be 12 years old the other guy can be 65 years old
he othe at college one guy’s black the other guy’s chinese it doesn’t matter
there none of that matters and everyone just respects each other
ess of ce gender age what the job is and none of that stuff matters
cts eac the same and i was always like drawn to that more than anything i was
felt m comfortable especially because i was a bit more of a shy kid
really s myself through martial arts and something else about martial arts is like
ividual it’s like always on you if you do well or not and i realized like the more
ore i g of it like mentally and physically like i would get better
hereas am sports especially rub because that’s a team sport i’ve done the most
games personally had had like an amazing game but the team had lost
next g trying as hard as me or sometimes vice versa sometimes they’d
terribl but the team had won and everyone would be really happy and i’d be like
and i t i could never shake that i’d always like want to i always liked
h being rge of like my own thing that mma in particular is very much that
not pu he work in like you will get exposed you will get your ego checked
y basis ‘re not doing what you need to do and i love that like it gives you a
ntabili just your everyday habits like your thought process what you’re putting in
recover e getting how many reps are you doing in the gym everything like
nted fo cly and i quite like that i quite love that actually um your mother
re does t into this picture you painted for me and who is she first of all
oman th ever walked the face of the earth i think she is such a lovely
s liter u know when someone says the term oh she’s not got oh they’ve not
he body hat literally applies to my mom but as far as so my last fight
in man my home my hometown that was the first fight that my mom’s ever been to
e numbe n the world i’m like bloody hell mom you’ve lived it this long
she ju s away from the mma side of things she is just uh a mom which is great
is real ly uh lovely person why was that the first fight she’d ever come to
and i y ‘t want her to come or no it’s not no it’s not i didn’t want her to i
en like ing so i would never like be like oh mom can you please come because
like fi even from like teammates fighting how scary it is for me to be in
ld neve drag along someone who loves me because it’s it’s horrendous to be
e it’s unpredictable sport that you just never know so i think my mom came
look mo ‘t want to tell you to come or not come but this is probably the
going t in manchester like i don’t know how many fights i’ve got left
r the n hat i would rather retire a little bit too early than a little bit
ve seen y people get late in the career and i don’t i don’t want to be like
ing i’m retire anytime soon but i’m just saying like most of my fights are in
n’t thi ll ever have a chance to see me fight live again so i think you
one an e came and apparently she enjoyed it as you’re talking about
al arts ayed in your life it got me thinking about about young men in general
n gener to be really struggling at the moment when we look at a lot
round l cidal ideation and purposelessness and um it made me as you were
damn i o do martial arts so if there is young men listening to this that are
lives way what advice would you give them in terms of martial arts or
cisions n later life decisions about you know something that they can
se of p that you so clearly found i mean let me first of all start by saying i
lost w it i think everybody should do it honestly because i think that
check ly because you constantly like every time you step onto a mat to
you’re hit in the face with reality constantly and if you haven’t been
ke you’ ing hit in the face with reality and if you’re not consistent
it you and harder each time so it creates a sense of like
e you’r t like
ear but ike you don’t want to miss because you don’t want to get hit with
u don’t o be inconsistent with your training because you don’t want to be
eality me you go if that makes sense makes perfect sense i just think that
massiv ture in your life and not only that not not to mention the stuff like
to sit d talk about crime rates or anything like that because i don’t know
but i k t in this country especially crime is pretty high right now so my
ith me airs charlie he does my social media and he’s also a close close
ell and similar age to me he’s 32 and he’s literally just started training
said t ike charlie i say this to everybody who’s not involved in martial arts
i’m not you need to be a world champion you need to train every
e a gen ea of how to defend yourself if it ever happens like you don’t need to
eed to fight you don’t need to be preparing to fight someone in a ring in
but i t erybody should be comfortable with the general idea of how to defend
need to r that be if you own a house if you have children if you have a
friend ever if you have somebody who you might need to protect who can’t
heir se omething that you might need to protect you need to have some kind
o prote in my that’s that’s my opinion um because fighting’s a scary thing
ke i’m ber one heavyweight in the world right now and i’m scared to fight
wouldn’ to be completely clueless because it must be so scary and i think that
recomm to anybody of any age to do some kind of martial arts
of thi said there which i’m most certainly going to ask you about the
d was a w martial arts brings the consequence of like a lack of discipline
ncrease onsequence and i was thinking as you’re saying that i was thinking oh
rue bec i if i’m a 18 year old guy and i’m sat on the sofa at home
my life nsequence of that is quite hard to see in the short term
is by d rtial arts the consequence becomes weekly and becomes you’re
ucking oken yeah so so that’s motivating to get you get your life together
thing y is i’m the number one in the world and even i’m scared to fight
ho yeah ody i don’t want to fight anybody i don’t i mean i want to fight
ve doin but i mean as far as like a a confrontation with somebody
ng i’m to do i don’t want to do that with anybody so you weren’t saying
to figh ticular person well yeah yeah i mean yeah i’m scared to fight
i think hat for for professional combat athletes across the board whether that’s
restlin hatever you’re into i think that’s like a very very uh taboo subject
e every nts to be this like big like i’m a friggin six foot five 115 kilo
flower d everything like tattoos the whole lot it’s pretty difficult to sit here
ared to anybody and like have that and be and be literally the number one
world b of the realization of the fear that i’ve got now that i understand
and wh oes for me it just fuels me so much to do what i do in mma we have
rrior p all it like someone who spars in the gym really really well and then
lights y don’t fight anywhere near what they do in the gym now generally
cause t ‘t understand fear properly and i think i’ve got in a place where
tand th fuels me in a way that nothing else can fuel me and i’m completely
i’m su rigued by this so i want to talk about this um this idea of fear but
at you’ on with fear yeah so have you always been fearful to fight people yeah and
‘re not either lying to yourself or you’re a complete idiot yeah i think i
ing to an arena and the arena’s packed to the rims with 20 plus thousand
another er the other side of the arena waiting to fight you who’s trained for
nd you’ to meet them in the center of the octagon with millions of people
world w that you can get separated from your own consciousness and you’re
ither l yourself or you’re just a complete idiot
ing for rst time
ou guys walkouts and i’m just like
it’s h ever comment on someone being good or bad at something that it
rage to t i’ve clearly not demonstrated in my own life so so fear so you’ve
to you’ ys had fear when faced with an opponent but you also alluded to the
ork tha e done to overcome that fear or to put it into perspective i guess yeah
e the g ior and the guy who’s under the lights is can be two different
n it a r the years i’ve seen it so much um still see it now still see it all
ou trai is this is my personal opinion this is not facts but this is my
would s training aspect is probably around 80 physical and 20 mental the training
ht when e in that arena and you are you have got them bright lights beaming
can he crowd going crazy and you know that there’s millions of people
got th gloves on there’s another massive guy stood across from you with his
it com flips and becomes about 80 plus percent mental i remember somebody i
mber wh s it might have even been on a podcast or something saying look we spend
ring ph y because to be an mma fighter you have to dedicate a lot of time and i mean a
are him ally so that that can be you know i train around about between three and
ssibly physical training and that’s not to mention the stretching the eating
ysio th s the all the other stuff that comes with becoming a good athlete so
ting a ost of the 24 hours a day if you’re going to count sleeping as well which
of bei ofessional athlete is dedicated to me becoming the best version an
s possi you’re dedicating all that time to training physically how much are you
o menta ental aspect and if you would ask most fighters especially at the top
g top 1 in the world what do you think is the most important aspect the physical
side i arantee at least 50 of them guys would say the mental side now if you’re
d physi re spending this much time on the physical side but this much time on the
nothin h i could see a massive discrepancy in that and i wanted to
mental p so you’re in the mental gym too all the time and what is that
f visua n okay so talk me through this give me i want as much detail as
so i wo a hypnotherapist which i think is very important yeah i write stuff down
i can s ‘ll look at that a lot even stuff like i’m just a massive daydreamer
and i c see in my mind clearly this is something that’s programmed into
ars and lmost like mental see in mma we have a term i don’t know if this goes
t we ca rilling so like if there’s a technique if you’re practicing like i want
it rep you call it drilling you’re drilling a one-two drilling is
etition mentally drill situations so when you’re talking about the walkout
walkin entally i’ve walked out 10 000 times before i’ve actually physically
e time re physically i’ve been there so many times mentally that it feels quite
and the stantly tell myself that i’ve got to enjoy it because i’m completely
y i’m c o the end than the beginning now definitely i don’t know when i’m
ave no o retire right now but i’m definitely close to the end and the beginning
t we ha e walkout moments these fear moments have been stood in the cage with
od in t with me and we know that once these officials get out the ring and
e we ar to fight and someone is going to win or someone’s going to lose like
ecial m and you have to enjoy them because when i’m 60 years old and i
grandki i can i want to be telling them about these special moments in that
ay i’m really enjoying them and that’s something that mentally i try and
he mome enjoying it a lot and i feel like a lot of fighters they just
essed a e end result that they can’t even focus on enjoying themselves and
know f ersonally when i’m enjoying myself that’s when i do my best so i want
ant to you about a few things you said there you talked about visualization
ned fir writing things down what kind of things do you write down and like what
ole pro ere because i’m sure there’s people at home that would love to
these p s so that they can implement them in their own life and then also
lue tha brought to your life doing these kind of things you talk about
e think this like weird woo-woo kind of thing sitting there with crystals on
and me it’s not like that it’s as simple as getting a piece of paper
eek i w this and enjoy it that’s as simple as that that’s all i do this year
ts i wi y both of them and i will perform to my best and just reading it every
ten do that is it something you do at the start of the year or is it just
lly rea not it’s not something i i’m not the kind of guy who goes right
e year my uh visualization board or anything like that not that there’s
that t ust not what i do personally i just write when i feel like writing
and mo he time i’ve got it in my bedside table or i’ve got it somewhere that
ll pick i’ll read it a few times the same sentence i’ll put it down and
there recently that things are working for me because i’m in a really
h my ca at i’ve never really been before where um there’s a lot of politics
of nex with john jones yeah i think i said to you like off camera is like
ight go e fight work towards the fight fight fights over a little bit
ght wor ds that fight over blah blah whereas now i’m just kind of like a little
don’t at’s happening and i’m just like oh usually i’m used to like having
as to w eed to dedicate more time to this and how much what training partners
hat i n focus on but now i’m just in a little bit limbo where i don’t know
on and ed to really write down just to solidify that
ng beca hink when when you are in those kind of situations i know me personally
spiring like that everyone’s conspiring against me like oh this
for me tart thinking negatively but i think sometimes you just got to
s is go be all right like this is whatever’s happening right now i don’t
i don’ i can’t fix it personally because nothing to do with me but i know
k it’s o end up all right and it’s going to work out for me so a couple of
r just that down putting it in the thing next to my bed and uh sometimes when
eeling tressed i’ll just read it put it away and then that’s it yeah so any
maybe n e your phone upstairs could have a text message on it from dana white
o go ye ty much i am now like training i mean i’m always training anyway
ve part life but i could get a text at any moment telling me i’m going to
and tha be amazing um and it would be the biggest fight of all time yeah but
s going pen because they are giving it that it’s definitely in my opinion
ve figh e made at the moment in mma but i think as far as thirst from fans
t peopl to see the most um when i say that does it make you nervous
aid and said it was the biggest fight of all time i love it yeah yeah
to do y t’s what i want to be involved with yeah that’s that’s why we do this
i have lot of fights that nobody cared about in all honesty like i’ve had a
think don’t realize like they see me and other guys at the top of the
e trave e world we’re making money we’re winning titles we’re doing all
estly m my fights there was 100 people there and i came away with 100
y gave either way yeah that’s uh and that’s that’s the realization of it
tough s like a lot of kids not a lot of kids but a lot of parents if i
e stree kids involved in mma or whatever a lot of the time will say like
you go hat and in all honesty a lot of the time i’m like have a backup plan
ficult any money out of uh or any like i was saying i’m going to an event
t’s a l ow i was a amateur champion on the show it’s a great show do you know
l be th be a couple of thousand people there tomorrow and it’s a there’s
d like maybe 20 fights on so there’s 40 fighters fighting tomorrow night
uh i w ting to to my friend last night actually he said oh is there
the ca yeah there’s a couple of guys on and he said oh will let will
fc and got chatting about that and and how that looks and how it looks to
and i s want to be honest with you if one person out of the 40 can buy a house
very s d and that’s one in 40 decent level like it’s just so hard to make a
here is tely no career path to doing it really especially in this country like
r and t and i’m trying to i’m trying to raise as much awareness about mma as
s to be o look at guys like me and other guys and be like if he’s making
i can b s so hard in this country that’s why i’m doing as much as i can to try
as main as possible i mean even in the uk if i think there’s been what
ds of k t probably practiced mma over the last couple of years and how many of
the poi e they could buy a house from it you can name them like you conor
eah pad et leon edwards i mean there’s definitely guys who who have made a lot
and hav d living but honestly like i’ve been around gyms all my life
percent ple have never made more than five grand for a fight how much were
roughou amateur career because you were an amateur fighter up until the
ically of people you could fight yeah um i think you had nine amateur
hich at me was quite a lot i would always recommend get as much as much
an as a ur before you move on to pro but yeah so as an amateur i was obviously
y so i’ sell so the way it worked when i was fighting as an amateur at least
would s icket for 30 quid you would get a fiver of it so that the promoters
like a percentage thing going so of those nine amateur fights how much do you
her oh aybe making between 50 and 100 quid a fight okay so that’s nearly a
a gran at and then you went you had a professional run as well was it seven
ional m re i got to the i have no idea before i got to the ufc probably yeah
t it wa as seven so i remember my first pro fight i got 200 quid okay
led it g it i was absolutely smashing it then so so that’s yeah another so you
rand or ing there and then the ufc pays much better much better much better
an star ke a living from it yeah i mean they start off pretty good uh the
cky in t that i’ve got a fan friendly style so people want to see me fight
ghts pe nt to see a lot a lot of the people like who are not they’ve not got
ed eye nt to see two guys punching each other one guy unconscious that’s
rutalit and that’s the that’s the reality of it and my style generally
t well generally speaking don’t you hold the world record for
stest t o yeah yeah that fight ends yes yeah which is pretty crazy yeah i mean
uch a d ht because you’re knocking everyone out within two minutes on average
i prog rough contracts and money quite quickly because of my style but not
enerall ing you get in the ufc you get what’s called show money which is your
ich is at can you tell me usually it’s ten grand yeah dollars yeah and
tracts ferent but i’m just speaking generally people start off at ten and ten you get
y so ge speaking and this this varies amongst you know if someone’s got
big or ion sometimes they’ll sign in for more than that but i was
al show hink i either got 10 and 10 or 12 and 12 i can’t remember but generally
you get how money which is between 10 and 15k dollars and then you win bonus
money u so 10 and 10 12 and 12 15 for how long are you on that contract they
hts oka he thing is they can terminate that at any time so if you’re in like
ng it’s of a stinker even if you win they can just be like yeah we’re done
resting o if it’s four fights you’re getting 10 and 10 you could earn that’s
usually so it’d be like 10 and 10 12 and 12 14 and 14 16 and 16 something like
nd is y d make 80k from those first yeah but if you lose you’re just getting
yeah a rally speaking like if you go 10 and 10 you win you go 12 and 12 you win
t you l t one you go back to 12 and 12 does that make sense okay but if you
yle and c like you see i’m very lucky because i’m from the uk and people from the
ighters of the time and i’m very lucky that i’ve got that myself so i did
i think 12 if i remember rightly and then they re-signed me then because
round f so they re-signed me for a bigger contract then which is great and then
another ights and then you know you win a couple more in exciting fashion you
ger con you don’t have to stay for the four so after two fights you’ve got
that dr ly changes the money yes yeah like from still in the tens still
ah bigg 50s yeah yeah yeah because i thought it was 50 i thought that i
like ia who came in from uh what’s the organization he came in cage warriors
o came cage oh okay so he must have been i thought he was on 50.
e been t he might have been like a different time though yeah maybe he was i
ay it v rom person to person but from my experience i came in is
12 and an’t remember exactly and when does the big the big like six
egin so a good contract because i took the title fight on two weeks notice
f a pos here where like i could kind of like save the card because there was
e card y pulled out they asked me to step in so you know i was in a position
nd of l ded me a little bit then so um but to answer the question everyone’s
but wi money aspect it’s like when you start becoming popular and winning
ople wa ee you basically that’s it’s just as much about do people want to
t’s tha e a bit it’s not just about winning fights winning fights is extremely
ou gott people want to see you so that was against serve sergey pavlovich
at was the end of 2023 yes november and that was your first six-figure
took th ive fight on short notice yes it was your biggest payday it was my
the tim a bigger one in my last fight oh but it was your biggest payday up
far by how much far by it more than double more than double okay and that
yday ye the reason why that’s so surprising and interesting is because you
at poin he interim heavyweight title yeah so i’m thinking about those kids back in
they i want to get a life-threatening six-figure because that’s what
yday th journey that you went on is from the age of what seven years old
ight so like that yeah till you were 30 years old yeah so 23 years for you to
yday fr avyweight ufc title it’s a long time it’s a lot of work yeah it’s a
eah i w king about your story arc and if you were to like paint it on a graph
h am i n thinking it’s like slow flat and then quite sudden yeah there’s a lot
there’ ‘s a lot of that gone on they say don’t they something like it takes
an over uccess or whatever yeah and that’s exactly what i’m dealing with yeah
e you s been going since i was eight years old and the stuff that i’ve gone
e is un ble i’m a massive believer in like just outlasting people like just
d outla eople a lot of the time overtakes anything else like there’s so many
it is d my dad as well he’s like i’ve wanted to quit and he’s just reminded
i have couple of times uh with mma and uh it’s been like tom i think you
k about ecause you’ve been spending your whole life doing it like don’t quit
mean l re’s been a lot of that from my dad and uh i think a lot of other
t been ah you’ve done enough now you tried your best just leave it at
lways b know my dad’s always believed in me uh and my mum as well not
a lot e people around me as well to be honest i’m very lucky in that regard
pushed continue which is great when was the first time you quit i’ve
times be honest a lot of different reasons reasons injuries yeah tough very
deal wi ries as a professional athlete not getting regular fights
ow i’m was complaining to you a minute ago about i’m not going to fight
going t fight that the thirst from the fans is there that the ufc want me to
lt i go fend we’ve got to unify this there’s there’s millions of dollars at
going t soon i don’t know when it’s going to be but at one point nobody
r not a d no money and that that i think the toughest time for me was
id when 23 my wife was pregnant when she was 22 when we were 22 i am first
when i we found out that she was pregnant again and which i’m very happy
on’t wa eem like it’s a negative thing and that we’re having twins and
erythin at and i had no money and i mean i didn’t have any money at all
on thi of me becoming this global superstar with these millions of pounds
h these and traveling i’m living on that dream
in gre nchester it’s raining outside i can’t afford to put fuel in my car
kids up crying do you know what i mean that that’s that’s what i was on and i
the ti n’t i don’t want to say like i’m some big masculine guy or anything
bit de ted if that’s right i felt like i’m here with this wife and kids
ng noth e and that was really tough for me mentally at that time where
onna pr or all these people like i got to do something else because and
k that around me were like tom’s living in a dream world he needs to
d earn ney for his family and kids i don’t think people because
people me who actually believed believed in the dream as well which is
the pre felt like people felt like that a little bit even if they weren’t
t i thi me was the the toughest time for me i think is when just after
m away g every day i’m i’m barely spending any time at the home when i am
me i’m ely exhausted from training the kids have me up all the time they’re
t happy ot no money i train all this time go to fight then it gets cancelled
u know mean that was really really tough to deal with at the time
ental h erspective how how were you during that season of life not great
hink fi all i mean everybody’s different but having three kids at the
tough i think i was well i wouldn’t change it for the world i absolutely love
kids t the most important thing in my life um i wouldn’t change it for the
ow look k at me like seven years ago having three children i don’t know how i
y reall like i think that’s really young and like i was very underdeveloped
at kind ponsibility and raise children and a family in a house and have a wife and
er off und like it was really really tough at the time so i think i was just
be hon h you actually it’s funny you should say because i’ve been having
recent a couple of friends he’s like my friend now is having twins he just
me what ike and i said to be honest with you i’m going to be really honest
elf as person it was the hardest thing i’ve ever done i can’t even remember
i can’t e it was so difficult and it wasn’t just the twins it was also
in fac reer is not going anywhere the stress i was under just trying to be
ing all esponsibility on me but like i said i absolutely wouldn’t change it
literal ed me into the person that i am today and i’m really really proud
ut at t it was very tough for me mentally was there was there a hardest
lect on e sometimes when we think back to our lives we can remember like
where ng happened we went to put petrol in the car or or when we we were
started dark things to us it was there a rock bottom in that period of life
like a how um lucky i was to have like three beautiful children and and
e dream was on but i think i just hated owing anybody money like i felt like
o peopl sking them for money like that was like my worst nightmare and i had to
lot of ff my dad i had to borrow some money off friends just to put fuel in
he gym iving in what i thought at the time was like a make-believe i didn’t think it was a make-believe
feel l people on the outside thought what is he doing like what is this
eeds to ook after his family like i felt i felt that a lot and a lot of
t been wn psyche to be honest with you a lot of it i don’t think came from
i reme ke having to borrow money from friends to like put fuel in my car buy
and st e that just so i can like keep living on this dream of having a fight
g 600 q being able to give him 20 quid back like that was i thought it was
put a pressure on the relationship because i mean bloody hell relationships
hout tw ther child yeah um and everything else that makes life and relationships
uite re e that you know being in a relationship’s not easy yeah in any
y regar in a relationship and sharing your life with somebody isn’t easy
id but w what we got through it i’m really strong and i’m really uh happy
t that uilt i try and be the best dad that i can be like that’s more important
to me u just spending time and making my kids um as good as i can and i’m aware
s a par can’t control as such what your kids you can’t mold a kid into what
ou can’ ike because i got three kids and they’re all completely different
up exa e same but they’re all completely different and you can never say
‘s goin and this is who he’s going to be and how he’s going to be
to hop bring some kind of positive outlook on their life and and
a posi perience on this earth is uh what i’m looking to do your your
ied to yeah did she understand oh she understands more than anybody
h if it for her my dad my mom a couple of friends around i would have been
een a m olute mess yeah she was very understanding because i know that most women
n putti pressure on big time yeah she was it’s because when we met i’ve
i was was 19 also the same age um that was my dream from the beginning
board w t um and she’s kept me she stopped me from quitting a lot of times
me fro ing so many times yeah there’s this sport’s tough and like i said
otball mple i know a little bit about football
assroot as a kid then you go to an academy and then you can get signed at
13 and laying for the under 13s and professional club and there’s a place
d obvio otball’s a tough game they can cut you off like that as well
s a car h of what you’re going to do and where you’re going to go whereas
ing in k for 95 of it um and i’m very lucky to have people like my wife my
d dad a people around me who believe in me as well yeah i mean we started
because t that kind of graph of your career where it’s kind of flat relative to
and the all of a sudden and even when you think about the financials it’s like
d then you get all the right forces behind you in terms of like
ing and omeone drops out here you get the interim shot you win then things
s it’s markable to me that it’s happened in such a short period of time
long yo en doing this because yeah when i looked down and i saw that this
u got t t you’re kind of a new face on the scene to some degree relative to
guys y initely definitely i think the new generation is definitely coming in
the old the old champions are kind of they’re at the back end of the career
or um n which is that’s progression that’s that’s great quick one i want to
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there’s lack box in front of me which um contains something which represents
your c eah what is in the box we’ll remove the belt i mean it’s not i’ll be
t that g interesting it probably stinks as well probably smell it from over
n it’s ctually it’s not too bad this is uh this is a knee pad okay i what is
e knee did you bring that so first of all i’ve had a knee problem for a long
knee pr hen we were talking about the things that we’ve just been talking about
gles an w that i was never kind of like one two fights away from getting to the
train t the knee problems then i got to the ufc i’m training i fight i win oh
right i g like i’m doing pretty well here like i can fight with one knee
hen i g w contract and then i fight they offer me another fight i don’t
he ufc this role i’ve still got this bad knee i’m training with one leg and
h one l train one leg for a long time yeah pretty much i never kicked with the
the kn or anything like that anyway this kept going and going i was fighting
he most ating thing that happened in my whole career was my knee just give out
home fa he auto arena in london in what was a title eliminator fight so if
have wo fight we would have got a title shot next so it’s a massive fight with
ions an nly did i lose the fight because of the injury uh losing the fight is
go in have a good fight i show off all my training but i get knocked out for
hough i g to be sad that i’ve lost the fight i am relatively satisfied that i
a go c short like i can live with that whereas with the knee i went in there
t away e was down i couldn’t walk i had surgery and then i was unsure
as goin over or not and that was a massive massive turning point in um
in my but in my life um that really really gave me a chance to think and
e out w mportant and what isn’t and uh that all came because of one of the biggest
happene life but one of the most important things as well and one of the
rowth f t knee injury than i’ve got from anything else in my life i think
emerge that at the time i was doing a lot of things wrong in my personal
essiona like i had a lot of people around me that shouldn’t have been there
aining s and training with people that i shouldn’t have really been training
ving a festyle in terms of diet and my recovery i wasn’t 100 focused and i
t becau ything was going so well and i’m a little bit
i didn’ to change anything because i’m like well it’s going well i don’t want
nd i kn there was a lot of things wrong i knew that there were people that
en surr myself with i knew that there were training sessions that were just
lly and were um toxic people around me that shouldn’t have been there
ded to i didn’t want to change everything because it was all going so well
you tal like a rock bottom moment when you sat on the floor of the ufc octagon in
your l n the air and there’s 25 000 people who are there for you um start leaving
bad fe t’s a really bad feeling so that really made me like reassess um
isions was making at the time and the tom aspinall before and after that
ifferen e i feel like i completely rebuilt myself not only physically
can lo e physically in fights before and see a physical change just in
e and t i’m moving around obviously i had one leg before and i’ve got two legs
tter bu lly the growth has been enormous is that i completely cut out anything
n my li hing that wasn’t anything or anyone that wasn’t serving me to become
ith my to becoming the best heavyweight in the world i completely cut off
i was rstitious i think but why why did you why was it so important for you to
at tha cular moment as an athlete i needed to and not only as an athlete as as a as
eally s n because i was on this like fast track it’s like i got in the ufc and
ght fig t but and every time it’s like more and more popular more interviews
e more ore this and i didn’t really have time to like assess really what
n’t hav to like start cutting people off and start changing this and tweaking
st didn it because i was on this like i was just going and going and going and
next m ‘m sat on the couch for six months with this big cut on my leg i can’t
io and ll the rest of it and um yeah i just feel like as an athlete and a man
ime to wn and really assess my life and be like this isn’t working it needs to
ually t est point where i was pretty close to throwing in the towel then to be
becaus at point i’d not made like mega money or anything but i’ve made enough
mfortab i bought a house at that time i’d made some decent money but nothing
but i’v enough money to then i don’t know be living my life to an all right
or howe g um i was like well i’m financially comfortable now i’ve had some
‘ve had uccess i was i think i was just outside the top five at that time
top ten ow i’ve gone way further than a lot of people have done maybe i’ll
there w e an element of you that wondered if the public would ever want to
course eah of course yeah definitely because i didn’t have an actual fight i
ought i the injury or something so i think like a lot of people thought
really o be in there with that opponent i felt because especially my
e curti was like running through everybody um and i felt like a lot of
m just want to fight so i felt like very insecure about myself at the time
hen i c k i really had like a chip on my shoulder and i still got it that
nt to p everybody that like i am the best heavyweight in the world you got
ofa did ad things people are saying i tried not to but i always do
yeah b ink i think it’s quite healthy in a way though as well i think it
t as we hat people started quitting on me and stuff and a lot of people even
ke yeah ow you’ve got a lot of ways to make money now like you’ve already done
know yo od you’re good on the mic and stuff you can maybe be a pundit and stuff
e i was eah maybe i can maybe i can just like you know be a pundit and you
in ther main evented a couple of times and stuff i’ve been fought almost
h maybe e i can just do that but then i started reading these negative
like ac i want to fight like what what is this well where am i going i’m
ar peop speak like talk to me and and put regular thoughts in my mind and i’m
n so i’ n elite special athlete and i always have that belief in myself
r and i want to be regular and i can’t let regular people tell me how to uh how
as almo he point where i were i was letting regular people tell me how to
e the k like online haters spurred me to be like nah i’ve got i’ve got to come
itle th o chance this is going to be the end of me did it knock your confidence
gh even the nature of the loss and it’s your first and only loss in the ufc
beat th in a rematch um did it knock your confidence at all even though it was
o becau s really particular that so there was two things that i really wanted
ht so i o a guy called uh curtis blades that’s when he injured my knee in 15
ds yeah at the beginning of the fight so i wanted to fight curtis again that
ortant s that i fight him again because i can’t function as a human being
ned for t and didn’t actually fight somebody if i would have lost at
ok myse he mirror and be like i try my best that’s all i can do but and i
ished b and the other thing was that the injury happened at the auto arena
rom the ws that that is like a prestigious like if you’re if you’re a ufc
english nt to fight at the o2 especially the headline the o2 that’s an
ence an ldn’t then never fight at the auto arena again i had to fight at the
the tw s i wanted to fight blades again and i wanted to fight at the o2 just so
just t m two things off and then move forward and uh i did both of them and i won
y with hn jones yeah how do you feel about him i’m sick of talking about him
because what people want to talk yeah yeah i mean a lot of people now they
does is bout john and it’s not the case i don’t want to talk about john but
sk me a you know what i mean everybody like i said before it’s what it’s
most a ted fights in ufc history me and john jones so obviously that’s the
want t about that’s what people are interested in so um
legend sport to answer the the way i feel about him personally is quite
tuff th done in the ufc he will be absolutely immortal forever he will always
d i rea as a mixed martial arts fan really really respect what he’s done
u fearf ighting him oh absolutely absolutely i mean i’d be an idiot
the be ne of the best to ever put a pair of ufc gloves on and i think
ss of w s done outside the octagon and for anyone watching who doesn’t know
hese le ues that he’s got and that’s not that’s nothing to do with me i
t any o i don’t know him personally um i think inside the octagon he is 100
ple to it what do you admire about john jones in terms of his fighting
y smart ely smart the way he goes about his business in the octagon but also
side th on and the match-ups that he’s chose for himself
very sm way that he’s chose guys who he matches up stylistically really
e well e prime i think it’s genius i think it’s absolute genius are you
oided p hat would might have beaten i’m not saying that i’m saying that he’s
l he ch y very wisely the right opponents at the right time which is super
your qu yeah i’m probably i’m saying that so what about his you admire that
hting i he’s so one of the smartest fighters to ever fight in really yeah
like i’ gle so okay okay um he
in way ng fighters fight his style if that makes sense so he will
oppone sing with kind of like different things that they like he will always
uits hi y well and he will force his opponent to fight that way if that makes
yeah li know i guess it’s kind of difficult if you’re uneducated on it but
d he wi r come out of that and risk fighting in somebody else’s style ever
force e ys to fight his style which is really really difficult to do in
erspect d of saw that against uh stipe i thought because yeah but stipe is
ith a m miles on the clock you have to remember that but you are right you’re
t uh fr ng it up close because i was sat really like i was almost in
t the o stipe was more than offbeat in that fight in terms of
way fro rime what is it what is what is it that john jones is doing there
se grea tes who have their own really clearly defined style then you see them
g with nes and suddenly they’re like their style seems to have vanished or
r he’s omething to keep them out like on the back foot and outside of their
they ca really get into the rhythm so they play his game yeah what is it he’s
it wel of all he john jones is a light heavyweight yeah so he’s now moved up to
fights ight but traditionally it’s a light heavyweight for a light heavyweight
in ter ingspan and and leg length and when you’re that much taller and this is
anythin it but most of the guys he’s fought are from middleweight coming up
he tall and keeps people at the end of his reach so well like his distant
is one best ever he does that really well and then when he’s moved up to
ught a surrogant who no disrespect to him doesn’t have a ground game yeah
he best ers ever in in mma and a 42 year old stipe so he’s chose
what he ut he just uses his distance management and his timing is incredible
s the a es that he’s got is honestly like from from somebody who’s studied
ike i s ht years old it’s like it’s it’s almost like beautiful for me to watch
s diffe chniques under that much pressure against elite competition it’s
‘s got edible set of skills in that regard because he can kick he can punch
he can e he can i think in today’s mixed martial arts everybody has to do all
body ha almost elite in everything the thing that he does really well is he
his ter de the octagon like everybody can do all all the stuff that you just
lbow kn tle grapple choke arm bar whatever but he does it all on his terms and
hat is te of the elite and like i say all of us all of us and when i say us i’m
rofessi a fighter who’s had one fight to john jones all of us everything in between
ing rea l you have to be able to to be able to swim but he just does it
is oppo not expecting it and that is unbelievable so you must be thinking
that oh tely absolutely it’s difficult because i don’t want to over obsess
ere’s n act with my name and his name signed yeah but in the back of my mind when
rse i’m ng about that kind of stuff but i think what i bring to the table is
anyone ver fought i’m close to my prime i don’t think i’ve reached it quite
ill got a year or so before i get there and i think i’m just really i don’t
letical ed because i’m deaf i’ve definitely put a lot of work into it but i think
athlet or a big guy i think i’m like i don’t want to sound like i’m
pet but st being real i think that i’m like head and shoulders above any
nd my n that my decision making i think that’s the difference is like a lot
heavywe t a pair of gloves on them they can knock anybody out that goes without
e guys decision making is elite like elite elites the best some of the best in
it here lot of cameras around me and look you in the face and tell you
onest t believe that i’m also almost in my prime i’m hungry and i bring all
technic ibutes to the table which somebody like for example
s 11 12 older than me and a million miles on the clock doesn’t bring so when
hting s d they hear that you’ve got the world record for the lowest average time
hing ju two minutes on average your fights last before you knock the guy
o be th right so tom’s strategy here is he’s going to storm
w that nd and knock him out and john jones is going to be thinking the same
to be ght he’s going to try and finish me quick that’s his game there’s
ecord t s that’s his game yeah i love that like if people think that’s all i
like i ing a bit of a mystery i absolutely love that like there’s so much
e not h opportunity to show yet and i had i absolutely love it you know when
e the f t i’ve not been into the later rounds or maybe i’ve not got the
ther gu got or look that’s not my problem that’s the problem of my opponents
h what owing i never ever go out there to finish the fight quick it just
n’t act n issue for me that’s the issue for the guy standing across the
ause i ver been in a fight where i’m trying to finish really i’m just trying
my thin hat comes and see what’s what like and the fact that people are
do and e just because they don’t know because they’ve not seen it with
think do it which to me is a humongous advantage humongous advantage
exampl own for his film study like he loves watching his opponent and seeing
g the p that they bring up and like good luck with doing that with me mate
isn’t re and i think that’s also part of the reason why he’s not quick
ts or t on anything yeah the money’s a factor of course yeah he’s right at
er and t want to retire i don’t know i don’t know how john’s mind works but
e it’s curity of his that there isn’t any footage out there of me that you can
an thre ur minutes and that is just a humongous advantage for me massive
the fig uick yeah yeah yeah yeah there’s so much of my game that i’ve not
showing m very excited to surprise some of these guys when i when i do show it
many t u must have played over in your head you were talking about drilling
yeah ta e about that yeah i’ve definitely replay like played it a lot
all opp even even even guys in the in the division right now who have
ts of f at the moment i think about that a lot like i think about how i
and me with them so so if you’re playing that over in your head run me
u’re pl ell it’s top secret is that really the case that there’s a particular
e repla your head yeah absolutely absolutely but there’s there’s one thing
e this nailed on guaranteed and this goes for any human being in the world and
d time e again even though sometimes i don’t believe that it can happen but now
human n the face as hard as i can and it lands they will be unconscious i know it
roved a lite level multiple times so i need one and that’s it well i wanted to
got jac who i won’t punch you jack yeah it’s not not today
unch po ted yeah i i have had it tested um there are guys that have more punch
e machi probably in real life as well whatever but i think i don’t want to
don’t w ple to watch it and know my secrets but i punch people when they’re
d they’ one they’re the ones that hurt okay i disguise it in a certain way
on my y channel and stuff about me explaining techniques and and doing different
got so called a school platform which i know you had alex homosey on the
is our in school and i show different techniques and stuff like that but
game if akes sense i’ll show a generalization of what to do and strategy and
nd not personal game and what i do for my style i’ll never show it because
r only my coaches to know and when you think about your routine for those six
ice can ve to like an average person about the health routine that you
nto eli e shape what are the tips and tricks you’ve learned that you could
eone th t necessarily a fight but well something that i’m learning as i’m
t older m not saying i’m old by any chance by any stretch of the imagination
older a getting more i’ve been training a long time even though i’m not um
i can ely feel more on my body than i used to especially being a bigger guy
ry more es but i think that if you’re training for example four hours a day
ng at l lf of that time recovering is what i’m aiming to do so however
to you that’s stretching breathing exercises sauna swimming steam room jacuzzi
there’s e you google recovery from exercise there’ll be a million things
i like and do 50 of my training the easiest way i can say is if i’m
i try two hours worth of recovery um and i think that has helped me a lot
ively m y underrated and as a heavyweight i can kind of eat what i want really
ell i d ve a the smaller weights they all have to be under a certain weight
s like hing you know i made people they do extreme diets and then cut a lot of
week an nd get you know squeeze as much as they can to get under this
y weigh n they put the weight back on i just have to be over 93 kilos and
m but b n’t your nutrition have an impact on your performance of course of
s kind i’m getting to is like it is so important what you put in your body
ze that i was maybe 28 years old 27 28 years old um and it needs to be
n going o writing stuff down like write down what you eat in a day
hing fo ext day and write how you feel like that’s what i did a lot is like
point w ke i will eat similar things at similar times
know h ody functions on that and i know that if i’m doing an intense session
le bit rbs before and after and what kind of carbs is something that i’ve
feel b nd after and again it’s just a lot of every person’s body is
d never o sit here and i’m not a nutrition expert and and start going on
eed to ause that’s not my expertise but i know from a personal point of
hings d experimenting taking this out and adding this in and then writing
el and hat every day has been massive for me what about sleep you mentioned
like to a lot i’m just a big napper like if i if i train in the morning i’m
ight af that takes a lot of discipline you know like it takes a lot of
o be li coming home from training i’m going to shower eat and sleep and
the wa at like it takes so especially like with kids like if i’m coming
ne a tw session in the morning i’m coming home the kids are excited to see
to pla e xbox and the one wants to play outside this one wants a snack
to play e and then it’s just madness and then one of them spilled a drink
this o n one wants this on the tv it’s just a constant thing for me to then
i’m go bed i’ll be up in an hour and a half you know what i mean like
pline a that’s it but all these little increments they just pay off massively
out ket this podcast and ketones a brand called ketone iq sent me their
and it my desk when i got to the office i picked it up it sat on my desk
ks then y i tried it and honestly i have not looked back ever since
rywhere hen i travel all around the world it’s in my hotel room my team will
i did cast recording today that i’ve just finished i had a shot of ketone
the ca i fall in love with a product i called the ceo and asked if i could
million nto their company so i’m now an investor in the company as well as them
or i fi o easy to drop into deep focused work when i’ve had one of these
try on ee the impact it has on you your focus your productivity and your
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a free ith your second shipment that’s ketone.com/steven i’m excited for you i am
ations en the ones we avoid but what if you had the right question to
ry sing t on the diary of a ceo has left behind a question in this diary and
igned t enge to connect and to go deeper with the next guest and these are all
i have my hand on one side you’ve got the question that was asked the name
rote it the other side if you scan that you can watch the person who came
it 51 q s split across three different levels the warm-up level the open-up
level s ecide how deep the conversation goes and people play these
in boar at work in bedrooms alone at night and on first dates and everywhere
a link conversation cards in the description below and you can get yours
u menti term earlier on that we didn’t go into which was
r someo doesn’t know what hypnotherapy is can you give me like a broad
and how le that it’s played in your life and any evidence you might have
ly work so i’m going like quite hard on the hypnotherapy now i actually spoke
t yeste m going to start doing uh twice a week um a few different reasons
l and p onal i had a situation recently uh with my kid where my kid
it rea ked off my anxiety massively and since then i’m struggling to relax a
n than usually as struggling to switch off so i think that for me personally again
here a ch about hypnotherapy because it’s not my expertise at all but for me
s my an own a lot so it helps with that um it also helps with sleep it also
ng just ore tranquil place in general and when you add that those qualities into
anxiety anxiety-filled sport i think that’s just a massive advantage not
r stuff e talked about like life and and just general stressiness as well
esn’t k thing about the hypnotherapy that you do they might think that
in back day it wasn’t swinging the thing in front of your face and then
they t you’re a dog and you bark yeah yeah you used to be on tv when i was
but it that is it it’s what is it any people are going to start thinking
like s woo-woo thing where you start like going unconscious and doing all
hat it’ essentially you’re just in a room the way that i do at least i’m in a
king to completely relaxed lay down or sat up doesn’t matter usually with my eyes
it’ll t through a story of like you’re going to a place you’re walking down
set the kind of thing and i used to think i need to listen and focus in on
ing lik d to put myself exactly where you know follow the story quote-unquote
‘s tell to follow it and i actually spoke to him about it and i was like
ike lis that long because it goes on like 45 minutes i’m struggling to like
t you’r ng me down for that long and he’s like listen don’t worry you can
hatever nt you don’t have to follow what i’m telling you he said because your
tening time it’s saying it’s the same when a couple of times i was like
ake bec was tired most of the time i did after training as well so i’m tired
ay awak said look i’m fighting to stay awake i’m like getting really tired he’s
ll asle n’t matter your subconscious is still listening so it doesn’t
on and of the time i’m just there i’m just like chilling out i’m listening
but i’ drifting off with my own thoughts and i don’t know how again i’m not
hypnot t or anything like that but i only know from my own personal perspective
to like y and positive thinking and just generally being in a better place
ieve in ot i think it really helps me
y have n on with your anxiety um it’s something that i’ve always kind of
ink it’ ncommon to deal with it and i think that a lot of people think it
n like m a little bit ocd and i think that ocd and anxiety goes hand in hand
nd it u be a lot worse to be honest i used to i struggled with it uh when i was
truggle t now but uh it used to be a lot worse when i was younger and how
h at on at one point it was like i couldn’t sit in a room unless the room was
to loo unless the curtains were closed the right way the drawers were shut
g was f orward the tv was on a certain angle like i couldn’t rest
f like think like something bad is going to happen unless all that’s
er a wh ind of grew out of that a little bit and got a hold on it but it
ometime and keep it at bay does it come out at certain moments when certain
yeah it t gets worse um again like i said i’ve been through something quite
where m as in hospital and that’s a whole nother story of its own but
e reall rned about like my son’s health really um and that was a big traumatic
noticed that my ocd starts to come back and i want to do certain certain
my anx creeping up and just got to really try and keep it at bay and
that s ur your anxiety is always been something in the background in your
up in c situations yeah so i mean i’m in an anxiety fueled sport
ally th lot going on because of that but it’s just something i think
h it i hink i’m i don’t think i’m uncommon to anybody else i think
ys it’s more accepted to be like talking about it and stuff um it’s super
s very ry common very very common i think social media doesn’t help with
like i or myself it’s like i have a thing now i’ve only done for the last
ere soc ia has gone from my life when i’ve got a fight date because there is no
nking a opponent all day and i’m also scrolling and reading all comments
ot i ju t deal with it and for the next fight i’m actually gonna uh
g camp h okay where only people who are actually involved in my training camp
d when ersonal life i’m talking about my wife my mom and dad
it i’m to be involved like i don’t want to have any outside noise coming in at
g okay ‘s doing okay now yeah yeah yeah thankfully everything’s good
pective t it honestly unbelievably um yeah i mean it wasn’t really
going i too many details but uh spent a stay in hospital um
we was e what it was at first and yeah massively absolutely like nothing
if as you’ve got your health and you know your family’s health like
good sp ink because it’s just a horrible place to be in is this the son that
diagnos his is my so one of my twins has autism yeah yeah this is
ay tell ut your son that was received the autism diagnosis and the sort of
on the think this is really really important because i’ve done this
h and i many dms from parents who have an autistic child asking me to talk
ject be hey just don’t feel like the information’s out there and they there’s
s that el i think one of them that i see in my dms expressed is a bit of guilt
h is an sting one but also just a lack of people talking about the experience so
n the j from when that child was born and um the path to the diagnosis
much d s possible because like you say i think parents need details and
ut abou d now for me recently like i say i’ve been through something
her one kids and the nhs has been absolutely nothing short of unbelievable
ergency ion where we need an emergency treatment and my kid got 24 hours a day
there emergency going on and it was unbelievable we came away me and my wife
o lucky e in this country because my wife isn’t from this country as well
y being e are so lucky to live here in a place where you can get free
mergenc straight away so i’m not trying to throw the nhs under the bus at all
s an em it’s amazing that being said as far as the autistic community
and i now if that’s from the nhs from the government i don’t know who
as in a o five my twins are nearly six they’re coming up to six um so i was in a
were bo they were born just before the lockdown then covid hit everything like
hit as and then my kids got in in a place where you know we had a child before
t kids estones we’ve got twins so they’re hitting the milestones at different
tart to like maybe maybe two years the kids are maybe two years old we start to
is a f beyond the other one in in terms of speech in terms of how responsive
ye cont in terms of look we could see something’s different
s a dad kind of like in denial as to right this is lockdown’s fault this
d he’s the house he’s been around me my wife and his two brothers
nts whe overnment would let us and that’s it for like two years he’s not in
e’s not other kids and that kind of went on for a bit i was kind of like
bout it hough now looking back i could clearly see that things weren’t moving
becaus got this twin and the twins like you know he’s moving at a different
t there nt of my face um but i’m just like in this denial he’ll catch up
n’s fau government’s keeping us all locked inside blah blah paddy mcginnis funny
rom uh like from a similar area don’t know paddy at all never met him um but
um and about autism and i don’t know why one day me and my wife we sat down
ram and elieve has three autistic children all of his all of his three children
autism ay i’m watching this documentary and he’s he’s talking about all the
because massive spectrum autism there’s there’s a million different things
‘s talk ut this one kid he does this this is this is the way that
self in articular kid and in my mind i’m thinking my son does do that a little
alking different kid who also is diagnosed with autism the way that the
and i’ ing anyway he’s going through talking about his different children
w he li y child ticks a lot of these boxes
t i don ow nothing about autism at the time and obviously that is the worst
do and ng through these symptoms being like wow this is when i don’t know
need to d try and get help so anyway we make a doctor’s appointment at the gp
ete mes difficult to get an appointment we go in they put us on a waiting list
goes b he child isn’t developing at the speed of his twin we can see this
ied abo ‘s going on and um we don’t know what to do like we are literally
ut what g on how to progress this child
going t like we know nothing about autism me and my wife at the time
ut it w know it’s just so such an we talk about anxiety like you don’t know
uture i to look like and how to help him or her on how to progress as a human
of the nxiety that you can ever have you’ve brought this kid to this earth
point t the right direction of where to go on how to
rough l it’s it’s a really really difficult thing anyway
of spor how paddy mcginnis is the host me and me and paddy are chatting a
fter th whatever and i said look paddy if you don’t mind me asking
bout um i said i’m trying to get my kid diagnosed i’ve been on the waiting
at shou o so anyway he gives me the number to the to the specialist i call
o in fo ting long story short paid for the diagnosis
sed and child is in a mainstream school he has a one-to-one
he’s ge he help he needs he’s doing really well he’s progressing
oing to e don’t know we’re dealing with it day to day and now i am completely
son in financial situation i have the ability to do that is to go
et that w there is so many people so so many people who and i mean i get
s about dreds of people stopping me on the street about it because i’ve
about a ho they are going to the gp they’re going for assessments and they
sis the a three four five year waiting list and these kids are getting sent to
and the re just regressing and regressing and regressing because they don’t have
rents o ids have zero direction and they don’t know what to do and we’re
pot wit this country where like i said we’ve got this amazing nhs i don’t know
t’s hol is or the government but and i don’t know what’s causing autism there’s a
there a ccinations about diet about things that they’re watching on tv about
play wi know there’s a load of different theories on it me personally i don’t
iously a specialist with that but i know that autism is getting bigger and
ere’s m more people trying to get diagnosed there’s more and more people
nd the st isn’t there the help especially in schools like i’m so lucky that
ng one- teacher every day he goes in he enjoys school and he progresses a little
t we’re osition where we’ve had help as parents that we know what kind
ere to e him in sometimes now there’s so many parents out there who’ve been
our fiv even year waiting list their kids are just getting worse and worse and
lty to e parents life are then getting worse and worse and worse and they have
tion of to go and what to do and it’s a serious serious crisis that we’ve got
the mom re are in this country there are 700 000 autistic adults and children
ly 2.5 us population has been diagnosed with autism and it is four times more
girls re was a 787 percent rise in the number of autism diagnosis over the last
um whi n one hand awareness being at least higher so people are going and getting
e think might be other factors that are actually increasing the amount of
istic w someone that doesn’t understand autism and the process that
parent as an autistic child is the diagnosis so critical is it because
onal su nd guidance and you can access that support if you have a diagnosis
notion my kid is diagnosed autistic or not doesn’t matter that was
l thing t matter he’s still my kid i’m still going to love him i’m
e him t whatever he needs to in life now i completely respect anybody who’s
hundre nt respect from from me and i’m sure everybody else but the biggest
rsonall professional athlete it’s like i know that for this many hours a
the gy raining when i’m not in the gym i need to be recovering when i’m not
o be ea e right things and i have this process of things that make me
ow i wo y life if you don’t have a diagnosis of autism the only way i can
i’ve b re is you just kind of like treading water you’re just stuck in one
nd and lly knowing how to do them steps and progress your family life in your
the wa i look at it personally i’m speaking 100 for myself but if you’ve
first you’re not getting any funding which like i said i’m in a financial
n’t nee unding but there’s a lot of people out there who do need funding and
outlets e child help in school help for the parents help for the
hool se oys you know there’s a whole host of things that can help autistic children
and wit at diagnosis if you don’t if you’re a parent and you don’t have that for your child
perienc els like you’re treading water i feel like i needed a process of
he step we have to take to help my child progress and i think that it’s
s not a other number on the statistics that you’ve read out it’s not about
me say e got an autistic child or whatever it’s about the help that your
ight no finitely don’t have enough help in this country i had one of my best
ed with um been one of my best friends for a long time he’s actually also
y um fo any many years and he spoke to me about the sense of relief that he
got hi osis but also it was kind of like like you’re describing there was
direct understanding like someone turned the lights on yeah with the
le to m ter decisions and it’s not held him back in any way if anything
ite abs it’s helped him to understand himself but i think for some of us who
ven’t b ough that we either don’t can’t relate but but also we have no no idea
onal so no idea until you just said it just then yeah that there’s additional
hools a f like that to kids who have that diagnosis so it’s critically
o glad u share that with us because hopefully there’s some people watching
ut also s that can get together and that are presumably getting together to
mean it ugh thing for me to talk about because i’m completely aware that there
hing th thinking who is this knucklehead talking about like autism diagnosis
ment ne go through but it’s also an experience that i’ve lived and it’s also
i’m sti ng and that i’m fully aware just from my local area and my circle of
around there is a shit ton of people who are in the same boat as i am
h i fee mely lucky and grateful that i’ve got the help and that we are
now tha ‘s a lot of people who don’t and that are struggling so i want to try
people an thank you for doing that and that’s um there’s a lot of my audience
very gr for that there’s something sat next to me on the table here which is
very v vy i know this is just a replica but you do have the real one at home
um you ught me the replica instead of the real thing um is because the real
f money ntly apparently apparently so i i heard rumors online that the
costs 00 grand yeah and you have to sign a contract when you receive
ou lose n you have to personally pay if it goes missing i’m paying for
t will n’t happen but it’s in a very safe spot so it won’t it won’t go
na ask re you keep it because there’s people listening but um it’s just
s aroun ve actually never seen one before so i’m not too sure i know this bit
ide yea ese these little um these stones whatever they are uh you get one of
so the l i think on the real one the diamonds and this is a is it a ruby or
you ge y when you defend it so i defended it once so i got one and then
s up th you do it oh so if you defend it one two three four five six seven
be all rubies yeah okay what what does that say there it says ufc 304
mmed tw rsonal one has my like my name on it and the proper details but
eplica n you won that interim heavyweight championship and then you woke up the
u feel y well i woke up about three days later
sorry i sleep for about three days after uh because i was very excited
pretty i won it in weird circumstances so that fight i took on really
ally wa shape for that fight at all um i actually just come back off a
wasn’t y best shape when i when i answered that call um was there any
o no bu ‘s definitely an anti-climax a little bit to um like being
ssful b you still feel the same like as you you still have the same um
as you ore like money fame and titles doesn’t change much in terms of what
brain pinion maybe it does change for some people but uh for me i still
gles as before it doesn’t change anything in that regard i think when you’re
i don’t t’s like young people they think that rich people have no problems
rue it’ it’s just so far from the truth you know that yeah well you know
more p but it’s just a different set of problems than some of the other
‘s it i t one point as we spoke about in detail a big problem was of mine
my rent couldn’t pay fuel to put in a car that’s gone but there’s more
a role m that money won’t fix you know what i mean are you at all concerned
your ti come you want to retire relatively early so you don’t get any
have t beyond your time are you at all concerned about what you do next
people son fury sort of really struggle i i am a little bit to be honest
aid oth um just because it takes up so much of my time it takes up so much
time th not actually actually physically training like i’m not in the gym
other owards it i even stuff like breathing exercises i would class as
stretc ting right sleep like i would class this all as part of my training
e not g what will my life look like i don’t know i don’t know and that’s
ke abou e and i’m aware that i’m on the second half of my career now
w does and i don’t know if anything can ever replace that in all honesty
y side gs so are you having to think now because what’s the average
r retir ean most people don’t even get there but if you do really really
t until ‘re really really lucky you might do stipe’s age 40 yeah yeah
er guys o go longer i don’t know why that is but yeah generally the
lly 40 how do you think about financial longevity and are you investing
got pe at help you yeah i do i’m looking to um invest all the time actually
y been um
at kind ff like a lot of my uh not a lot but a few of my sponsorships i
ares in ss as well as a sponsorship and also i want to do more stuff i
rt of m ‘m always like even though i’m retired from fighting i will never be
be ret om mma if that makes sense i’ve definitely made mistakes
before ely but i’m learning and i definitely think there’s a place
the fu educate people on mma however that looks whether it’s punditry
ts whet s i don’t know so something somewhere i definitely think
me kind ight to somebody where people can um hopefully learn something from
think more than capable of doing all of that i’d love to see you
i’ve se of the stuff you’re doing with school as well so
i’ve al hey’ve i don’t know why but they’re giving my own show now on tnt
ing dow s so this is uh this is a start i’m just getting the foot in the door
that i’ ing on full-time now because i’m obviously really busy with other
‘m done what i want to do what does your dad think of all of this he’s
figure r in your life what this whole john jones situation you went in the
sits in of me here you must have like blown his mind i don’t think so
that h his firm belief he believed in me way before i believed in myself
think t s is also his dream as well but i don’t think for any of us and
und sup gant but it’s the truth i don’t think any of us are surprised by it
e way u s like written for us to do it i don’t know i i can’t explain it
like i ke we were both expecting to be here and uh this is where we are and
e’re go be till till i’m done did he ever tell you you were going to be
y just ttle he was never like you’re gonna be that but it was like look if
this i you’re gonna go if you if you keep being dedicated to training
r life nd keep focused you can be heavyweight champion in the world and i think
ause i’ like a smaller town a blue collar town for sure a working class town
shut d much from a young age by not just parents but other people
communi listen maybe don’t maybe don’t don’t think you’re going to be a
ause yo t maybe maybe try and be a bit more realistic and do something a bit
‘re goi e a hollywood actor you go for it like you you go 100 at that and
ing wav where you’re going and i think that that is not told to especially the
enough that like i say i’m from a very very blue collar humble town and
aren’t ople who’ve done anything of great magnitude in in terms of sport and
think a that not not all of it of course but i think a lot of it comes from the
aybe do be don’t aim for that aim for something a bit lower and that that
aged in nion always your first option should be the highest of the high and
er then ad you change the goalposts a little bit but the first thing
you ca ou special yes



think i ly physically gifted
eticism ‘s something that i have worked on a lot as well it’s not i didn’t
his i’v itely worked a lot over the years of it but i think that aside i
ft ment d this this has been
people me through the years like i said there’s been a lot of people
think t a gift to
ly well massive pressure under massive pressure and i don’t think
n honed for sure by my dad and the other people around me definitely but i
a god- ift or whoever universe-given gift or whoever you believe in
extreme under the highest pressure situations possible
l the f n though i feel the fear because i accept the fear
i thin s not the first time you’ve said that
hat som ld me
ently i t it was funny so when you feel that fit is there something you
there l antra or a system well i i always say that i used to have two fights
ng my o i used to be fighting myself i used to be trying to block out
like bu now what i just i just took it on board and accepted that this this
like y e’s so many examples over the years i like to give this example
ually h to one of my close friends so he’s putting a wardrobe up and the
e a rea vy wardrobe fell on his kid who was like not even walking at the time
skinny e he’s a small slight guy he was on his own and he he pulled the
d right en anyway everything was fine the kid was fine everything
es late nt to move the wardrobe to another part of the room and realized
ck it u here’s only one thing that’s made him pick that wardrobe up and it’s
kid is to get crushed under that really heavy wardrobe and when he actually
rdrobe out that there was no way he could have done it he had to he had to
came an him move the wardrobe across the room there was no way that he could
t the f there’s so many situations like if you’re running for your life
you’re g way quicker than you would if you were just running down the street
g becau fear fuels you in ways that you nothing else will and i have accepted
board d it to help me because there’s someone that’s watched your fights
in pers e of the things that i remember about you more so than other fighters
lm you the ring yeah and i don’t i’m like does he just know he’s like
s there ing he’s doing because you kind of look how i look when i get to
n’t hav six foot five guy that’s trying to kill me oh it’s all it’s all by
y by de ah um so one of my one of my absolute heroes in the sport of mma
george pierre he’s one of the best fighters to ever lace up the gloves
e’s one best humans as well i’m lucky enough to have met him a few times
iscussi h him and he’s someone i’ve studied a lot both inside and outside
the ye and thing with gsp is he like me has always admitted how scared he was
g that tched countless interviews and podcasts with him and how he talks
and he method and he actually told me about the method where i’m not
d’s cal i don’t i don’t even know if there’s any scientific evidence behind
him an worked for me on multiple occasions where if you physically present
hat eve ntally you don’t feel like that like on fight day for example the last
oing is g in all honesty i’m not in a smiley mood but when you smile you feel
enjoy y you’re confident so i will walk around fake smiling with my head held
rs back here’s nothing bothering me in the world not because there isn’t
me beca st me on fight day there’s a lot of stuff bothering me i have to get
f milli people and have a fight with someone and it’s highly likely that i’m
ed from consciousness in front of millions of people the last thing i want to
ith a s my face with my shoulders back with my head up high being friendly
and bei good moon and being relaxed that’s the last thing i feel but i
nd like ll day in every situation that i can possibly be in and sooner or
not my ill actually start to follow my body’s lead and it’s unbelievable it’s
y that n happen and like you say you’ll see me i’m stood there in the octagon
death m ent is looking at me across the octagon like he wants to kill me
k like the queue for a sandwich by design by design i do it the same with
gon the million people throwing beer on me shouting in my face booing me
in my ying that i’m going to die literally while i’m walking to fight
and i ke i’ve just what what woke up and taking the dog for a walk
f your es it sooner or later your mind will start to follow and like i
bro sci ing probably but this is something that i’ve experienced a lot myself
least t d to to george as well that uh it can be done we have a closing
odcast he last guest leaves a question for the next guest not knowing
o be le t for this question is hilarious as far as i’m concerned and
who lef uestion right the question is it’s weird saying this to you
harder a good question who’s left that can you can you figure it out from
this w last guest i told you i was in america oh mr beast mr beast
harder a good question it’s a good question i like to think i work as hard as
f every oks herself in the mirror i think everybody could work a bit harder
like sl much is the reason that i don’t i think that’s the only thing
ause ev g when i’m awake everything’s geared towards me being the best that
maybe sleep a little bit too much well sleep makes you work harder it does
ht that i thought that that’s uh that’s still working hard as far as i’m
you so m you are such an incredible inspiration for so many reasons
cause y o remarkably down to earth but at the same time able to confidently
i by t really really admire respect that you think you’re special and i think
onchala that sometimes people come with because they’re trying to be like
t i rea pect people that say no no i think i’m special and to be able to say
lity bu with such a track record to justify that claim is tremendously inspiring
ou come s you say like a blue collar area you come from a normal place
that h committed himself to something despite the any short-term or medium-term
e becau loved it and you believed in yourself and i think that for for
hould b nce enough that we we all have a chance at least something it might
avyweig pion of the world because you acknowledge you have physical gifts that
idn’t i born with but um but we can all do something with that obsession
h a sup group of people around us with the right mentality
nt to i te um the objective reality that we’re going through but
o much of everything you’ve said about your child with autism and the work
h harde nd to reduce the diagnosis times in the nhs at the moment which
there na really appreciate um and we are all behind you as a nation
hank yo be the first ever to do to unify the belts in such a way um as a british
that b hing listen if anybody can do it and i just said about the special thing
al and u said i am from the most regular background that you can come from and
i’m no g i’m special that in the fact that like i’m better than anybody
eve tha dy can be special and i think more people need to believe it you know
that m ple if they work hard enough and don’t quit on themselves they can
and uh we’ll leave it at that amen thank you so much thank you two things i
irst th a huge thank you for listening and tuning into the show
ns the o all of us and this really is a dream that we absolutely never had
magined g to this place but secondly it’s a dream where we feel like we’re
tarted you enjoy what we do here please join the 24 of people that listen
ularly low us on this app here’s a promise i’m going to make to you i’m
ing in r to make this show as good as i can now and into the future we’re
e guest you want me to speak to and we’re going to continue to keep doing
ou love this show thank you