We've All Been Tricked

Ringkasan

Combat Confidential #020 - S3E5 - Alexander O’Sullivan We’ve All Been Tricked! In this interview, I sit down with a pro MMA fighter and absolute gentleman Alexander O'Sullivan, one of the most intelligent and insightful individuals I've had the privilege to speak to. Recognized…

Transkrip (youtube_captions)

Rogan says a fist from your mouth um you should bring it a bit closer to you yeah perfect that's one yeah perfect there you go all right so everyone welcome back uh check it out so today I have a very interesting character um so I was looking through your your fight record my God uh Mr Alexander oan everyone uh I think you have the most amateur fights of any Irish amateur is that correct y yeah 30 30 yeah that's insane yeah um I started young um and it just had a lot of experience the uh the omfs really helped because you have you know multiple up to four fights five fights even a week oh yeah so you're able to lash a good for in that way um so yeah managed to get through at the end yeah that's incredible that's incredible um so sorry you're the you're the head coach for CMAC and you're also signed to cage Warriors as well so that's awesome um so here we'll get right into it um that's what I got but just a few questions here just uh answer that's my mix them all up y um and then just like just answer them as uh it comes to you so perfect what one thing from home you can't leave without and from home or just one thing you carry on you all the time time well it's my phone yeah it's my phone all the time has to be done I mean I I think we're all a bit stuck into it at the moment I want to be less you know uh reliant on my phone but it's difficult you know sometimes you're going to the bathroom to clean your tea and you don't have your phone with you and you're like oh [ __ ] I better go back I better go back in and get it I can't I can't last 30 seconds to a minute without you know Tik Tok something no I'm I'm the same way I'm just saying it's it is bad yeah it's getting bad but you know it's a I'm really dependent like obviously everything you do comes from it you know everything all social media everything you need it all the time to keep tracks of everything even Maps I just use it to get out here oh yeah I'd be lost without it but AB that's the good side of it the bad side of it is like the addiction you know the the do man spikes constantly so everyone's worried about the you know the government putting that chip in your neck but we paid for it ourselves we yeah we have a thousand thousand quid of it in in our hands at all times apple or iPhone Apple Apple okay uh what is the last book you read or audio book uh the last book I read was the sil marilan um by J hin oh yeah um I finished it there towards the end of last year so I'm I'm reading um another one of his stories called the uh fall of gondin okay so I'm just a a huge Lord of the Rings buff so I read the Lord of the Rings a few times and the S Maran was always like the one that is harder to read it's a it's a tough slug but to be honest I really enjoyed it I'm just like I just love Middle Earth you know so and uh and I want to read new things but it's like a comfort thing so I just go back to talking again I know what to expect I nearly I know the stories so it's a like that I used to I used to be an Avid Reader like I I'd read constantly when I was younger but it's much harder now so I can only imagine for people that didn't really read i' say it's very difficult to get into a book because I struggle now sometimes I start to read I'm like I can't keep the attention span anymore you know I like to read it's just uh I'm confident I have like undiagnosed dyslexia so it's it's difficult you know I have to like re by the time I finish a book I've read it three times because you know keep rereading things yeah I've heard a lot of people like that as well for me that's not a problem I've always been like you know comfortable reading or enjoy reading but even for me it's the attention span I think it's hard to stay focused on something for that long now but like I still I still get through it you know I still get through it so I'm reading another uh talking book at the moment and I finished the Saran there just before Christmas so yeah right on uh um coffee or tea um I don't drink coffee at all I just don't like the flavor and but tea I'm a big tea fan iide a camp I wouldn't drink tea too much but when I'm in fight Camp tea becomes the kind of thing where it's like I can't eat food so I need to like replace it with like making a cup of tea you know putting the the flavoring the the low calorie flavorings into it and sit down and sip it you know so kind of it takes the place of a meal yeah okay especially during camp or when it's cold in the summer I won't drink as much tea but I don't drink coffee at all I just can't stand the for whatever reason most people are like it's required taste yeah yeah most people are like you know flat out on the coffees uh these days constantly same yeah most people are like you know most of the fs in the gym they'll have a coffee before a session or they'll feel they can't perform for me I just I just don't like the flavors never going into I basically uh like subsidize it with a monster you know or an instrument which is which is less healthy but uh I try to stay away from them as best as I can but that's my uh they are good though yeah that's my voice you know that's my uh I'll have a monster you know it's not it's not great but it has to be done yeah no I'm a monsters are great used to drink them a lot but I'm addicted addicted to Coke now like it's terrible cuz my wife will buy you know she she'll go buy one or two and then she'll come home or come back to the refrigerator to work for them when they're gone and I got to yeah it's bad um all right what would your favorite meal what would your favorite meal be uh favorite meal is probably yeah it's probably Chinese to be honest yeah yeah it's probably a Chinese I look forward to it I try to you know obviously limited but it's I I don't have it every week but if I was going for like if I was if I was feeling the takeaway that's my go too five in one yeah yeah the five in one so be uh roice uh chips chicken balls shredded chicken um sometimes you get noodles in the five and one sometimes it'll be um like a different form of chicken or something but generally it's the yeah sometimes it's noodles as well well yeah so and it comes in a nice tray it's all packed together on the plate it's lovely it's that's my go that's my go to fast field to honest right on uh sticking with the topic of food what's like the strangest or most exotic food you've ever eaten um I've I've yeah I've gone out and I've I've tried a bit like I was in um I was in Malta there um last October and I was eating octopus and squid and they're pretty I suppose that would be not too wild what's the worldest thing I've being um fish yeah some of the some of the octopus and squid like clams I've gone like that way I wouldn't be I I've never eaten like you know frogs or insects I haven't T anything like that yet you know I was only talking about eating frogs the other day with some um I think it was my daughter um like where I'm from in the states like you can get frog legs pretty easily yeah no I've never I've never had them yeah I've heard they're like like you know not work like it's like I don't it's it's like a gy chicken yeah yeah that's heard or sorry no no it's like a seafood mixed or seafood mixed with chicken that's what it is yeah yeah that's fair and should probably give it a wh at some point yeah so I never even thought it was odd until like so I just had this conversation the other day and then like I don't know for I I had alligator once when I was in Thailand that's that's wild yeah and that tasted like uh like it tastes like chicken but something about it it wasn't like you question yeah this isn't quite chicken yeah no I wouldn't have eaten too much myself I had rabbit in Malta as well oh rabbit's good I love rabbit so yeah I'm not I'm not too adventurous when it comes to you know yeah that's cool yeah no I I used to I generally personally I like to stick with the mammals four legs and fur um Birds yeah yeah was good sh yeah stay safe yeah uh what is something you are most proud of um at the moment you know I yeah I'm pretty proud of my achievements and in MMA on outside you know of I've done well I supp uh fighting and and building up all that record and being signed to cage Wars but I'm probably more proud of the the gym that I'm running at the moment SE and everyone in it we've got a a good you know a nice Crow L down there good team some some top fighters and and just general good vies on there I'm I'm yeah I'm pretty proud of how I'm running it I feel like I'm um really growing into the into the uh role as a coach over the years now I've been doing it um and yeah I'm pretty proud of that I'm pretty proud of that I'm pretty proud I'm proud of c ma and that's probably my most proud thing at the moment awesome awesome uh dinner with anyone Dead or Alive who would it be um dead or Al it's a lot of food related questions I didn't I didn't I didn't plan that um yeah be interested in yeah I'd be interested that we bring back to talking again I'll be interested in talking to in talking to him like I say I'm a big uh big fan um that's cool and I'll be I always want to I always want like people always like like the question like talking Scholars like you know what he would meant by his Works what were the allegories and the metaphors and that kind of thing I think it be nice to actually like get him to say it to my face um that would be pretty cool yeah uh best piece of advice you've ever gotten best piece of voice um suppose just to keep just to keep uh that that one is kind of cliche but like the when you you know when you fall down get back up again all that stuff like it's anything along those kind of lines of voice it's really important you know the only way you're going to fail in life is if you stop you know you've just got to keep going yeah or you don't even start you don't even start that's worse yeah exactly like the fact that like fear you know fear don't have fear control you don't have fear hold your back um you know the the biggest things that you regr love for the things you didn't do all that kind of stuff it all to into the same vein I think go for it just just go for it you know you're going to regret it if you don't if you stop you're going to that's the only way you're going to let the fee actually get you you just have to keep going you know people ask me cuz I had a few losses as an amateur uh 20 and 10 as an amateur so like 10 losses like some people seem to think that that would be difficult to keep fighting with but like every time there was there was no other choice for me except to just get back into the gym and trying again like you know like like there was there was all have to do is get better you know like and that's you know it's simple when you think of it that way then you just have the next F and hopefully you fixed those things if you haven't then you need to work double down on them again and if you have then you move on to the next thing you need to fix even when you win it's the same you know there's it there's a good uh there's a good a big a good poem called if I think it's rard oh yeah I know that one yeah he's uh I've heard it I don't recall specifically one of the one of the lines in it is uh um basically I'm paraphrasing but it's basically uh if you can treat Victory and the feat if you can treat those two imposters just the same as in imposters as in Victory and defeat you kind of expect Victory to be feeling like like the the best feeling that's it you've won now you know but every time you just go back and it's the next day and you're still living normal life and now you need to fight again and train again and if you L it seems like the whole world's falling down around you but then all you just wake up and it's all the same everyone's still around is still the same the people that are close to you are still the same and then you just need to go back and train again so really there wasn't a massive shift in your life um generally you know unless it's a title fire some M you know big event generally you know you're just going to come out of it the same way so looking at Victory and the feat as rather than like two po offet as just like results that you need to take pretty much the same approach either way like even if you win you've got you've you've probably made a lot of mistakes you need to work on so yeah the man rard Kipling it's a good po if is a good pem basically about how to be a man like nowadays this would be like how to be a man we don't want like gender role or gender stereotypes but back in the day being a man was like you know strong fatherly leader figure and you know that's something that IPO to be on on there's a good characteristics for men to have yeah exactly exactly yeah without like having to be a toxic uh ma Mas that toxic masculinity there still you still need it's still very important I think that we have you know strong men as in like being able to step up and and be resilient as as as as important as uh speaking out and being uh comfortable in your emotions is and all that kind of stuff and it is important you need to be resilient as well you need to be able to get back up go um and uh and continue on even when things get hard cuz things are going to get hard so I like that I like all the quotes that kind of tie into that butell if you want to the pict the quot trout the trout the road guard King quot uh Victory and defeat uh from if in that's more yeah I'll take that one right on yeah all right last one here what's the best concert or gig that you've ever been to um I'm a big Floren and machine fan okay I went to uh I went to T them last year uh with my girlfriend and uh one of the ls in the gym as well yeah I saw them a couple years ago as well yeah yeah I'm a big fan they were they were deadly yeah she's class deadly and she's still gone strong as well after all this time putting out new music and all so I'll probably I definitely go see her again to be honest I think she might be performing again this year so where at um I'm not I'm not 100% sure I think it might be malood again I seen her in malood Castle last year and the treena so I like Malahide but I don't like getting there you have to make that long walk yeah getting there the trans it's horrible and then back again on the TRS yeah we had to two trains stuff but uh the performance is great Florance is really good green green day is playing there this year yeah I'm hoping to go see I've never seen them have I like a few of their songs right as well but I have never seen them all right uh let's get we'll jump right into this here so what is it about MMA or Jiu-Jitsu or Combat Sports in general what is it about it that kind of intrigued you and brought you into it um so I think that uh Combat Sports is for me I've I've like I'm I'm a history buff as well as well as like Lord of the Rings and that kind of thing like that probably like is what put me onto history because it's set as like a high fantasy yeah but uh I I love history and I love the middle medieval history so like I went to I went to Trinity uh college and I studied history for four years so mys my dissertation is on uh the evolution of gaic warfare Yeah so basically that's what I wanted to specializ in it's kill it's swords axes you know Warfare so I I got to write 10,000 words on that so like that that's something I enjoy doing I wanted to pick that I didn't chose history because I wanted to get a job over at chela because I was interested in it I knew I wanted to do MMA um so that was just so that I have a degree but basically I think that MMA is one of the closest things you'll get to like fighting full on fighting that you don't have to be in a war like it doesn't really like suit me to go and like shoot people from far away with drones I want to like hand to hand combat so that was one of the things that you know uh inspir inspires me in MMA it makes me feel like and I want to think like that cuz I I feel like what I was talking about before like the fear holds you back if you can kind of think to yourself like I'm doing this anyway and and you have to try and like I I try and embody like I'm a viking or something or like I'm a I'm a Warrior from a medieval warrior like before I go in like what would they have been thinking like how would they have so themselves up to fight they're going out to die like if I can't go out there and just just scrap you know with some other guy same weight is me and all then what who am I you know so I kind of H that inspires me just to get in there I Feel Like a Warrior I feel like it's hard to get that feeling in today's society like most of the time you're going around and you're like you're in a you're in a a form that is societally acceptable socially acceptable you can't yeah and of course that's that's really important we need to behave in a way that's societally acceptable this is why we function as a society but it's nice to break that sometimes and let that kind of animalistic more like Savage uh instinctual s out and it's hard to bring that out except it's completely encouraged when you're fighting what I mean that's what you want you don't want to be thinking am we doing something that like people would be you don't want to be like feeling judged in there you just want to be as free as you can and to express yourself in a in a pretty barbaric way I suppose but it's all safe and the reals and everyone's medically tested not so I don't see it as like a really dangerous thing like I don't see it as like blood sport you know like that's some that like the way it's it's it's not uh 100% legal even or because of the uh the the politicians in the doll don't see it but it is it is regulated well you know it is fairly safe but you still get to experience what that feeling is that um that Primal inst think kind of you really get the nerves going in ways that you wouldn't get otherwise you know and then I think it helps you in life in general because it makes other things less stressful when you've already done MMA for yeah and then one more thing then about BJJ and MMA and stuff is that the fact that it's extremely uh it's evolving all the time so it's really interesting to kind kind of keep track of it look at used to box I have about 30 boxing fights and I love boxing as well but at the same time I think that I'd be bored kind of going up to the gym every day and just using my hands you know just hitting the bag there's only so many like sping rounds pad rounds bag rounds that you can do before it gets a bit boring you know so I like the idea that I'm I have to go up there and work my hands one day but the next class is going to be wrestling like so we did boxing last night tonight's wrestling in the gym so now I have oh no sorry that was it was wrestling last night it's it's uh K one tonight so now I get to use kicks and these and teach kicks and these and sweeps and and and toy Flinch rather than wrestling that we did last night and boxing that we did on Monday so that really keeps me intrigued and uh motivated to teach and to coach and to train and to perform myself and to learn so you like the diversity 100% And the way it's constantly evolving there's just new new moves like every and and stuff that we you know would have mean t only a few years ago as like no that's wrong like that that will you you'll lose if you do that now it's like that move might be uh the key to the key to winning you know it really really does changes all the time like there's one inju Jitsu at the moment that seems to be coming uh to the Forefront called R close guard and like this this would have been something that like no like no one would ever have want to be in you know like it's a position that it's i' never even considered but now there's people pulling out finishes in like ADCC trials from reverse CL guard illustrate that as that work so if you're in Clos guard you're you're sitting down and you've got your legs locked so imagine you're upside down now right so it's it's an awkward position you can see like this is not a this is not a position that people would have wanted to be in before so it's almost like a standing Mount yeah exactly yeah it's like it's it's it's yeah yeah it's like in reverse because guard and mount are the same they just like switched it was on top but yeah it's a yeah it's a strange position U but it's be it's coming to the Forefront we see it we seen it being years more and more so that's something that know you need to like look at and think about the usefulness the efficacy for MMA especially for ay um and then you know maybe Implement that Maybe not maybe it's not wor it but this is what keeps me interested this is what keeps me um intrigued and and wanting to be and motivated to always be coaching and training and that kind of thing what uh what what discipline did you start with um so I actually started with jodo okay that was my first combat sport when I was KN it's good it's a good base it's a good base yeah like like that it's a nice way to it's nice segue into the sport as well some people probably don't want to go in there and start getting punched around straight away so you're not getting hit in Judo but it's fairly uh it's fairly uh tough it's a tough sport as well like you're going to get hopped off the M um and it's like some of the lads like some of the strongest guys You' know like some of the most athletic and uh well-built guys are going to do Joo you know jodo is really strong you need to be your base needs to be really strong like your your center of gravity has to be uh nice and low and so it's always hard to take J go down and they always feel a lot stronger than you think so uh that's why I started I said I did y out until blue belt for about five years and did some competitions in the meantime then when I was about 11 or 12 I start boxing so I did J on boxing at the same time um for my early teens had about like I said about 30 boxing fights and a lot of J J matches as well and so that's when I decided when I was 15 16 I got involved in like K1 okay so I wanted to start using my kicks um because I at this stage I was planning on doing MMA so yeah 15 16 I started doing K1 so I had six K1 fights and I went six and I on K1 what what was it though that that young of an age where you kind of like you knew MMA was what you wanted to do um well I kind of got involved with it like was my M brought me up to do Judo and it was actually the Judo coach one of the Judo coaches in the Judo gym was he ended up setting up an MMA gym well not an MMA yeah an MMA gym and a ji- gym kind of okay so that kind of uh how was how we got involved in that and then I was too young it was kind of I think was there no kids class at the time maybe you know so I had to do boxing in another gym that kind of thing but I kind of knew I wanted to do MMA gotta and that kind of stuff um so yeah that that that's how started my early team before I started own MMA basically J boxing as my base yeah up um you know what about MMA is a common misconception that you think you know maybe hold on let me say it again uh what is it what's a common misconception about Comet Sports um I think that a common misconception is that and this this is definitely changing now but I think a common misconception is that you need to be a specific type of uh like individual probably like you know tattooed bearded man and like I am aat yeah hyper aggressive I actually am like pretty stereotypical MMA but not really as well because uh I'm like and people that know me would know I'm like I'm a nerd you know what I mean at the end of the day like I like MMA but I like it in a like a way like it's it's it is a very like a lot of people maybe don't to MMA are going to view it as like hyper aggressive like you know just go in there and swing like like oh I see red I just smash you know like that's not going to work it's not going to work in modern MMA like modern MMA is extremely it's a skill extremely skilled it's extremely tactical and strategic and there's a serious amount of moves and and sequences that you need to learn to perform well in modern MMA like there really is um so like I SP the biggest Mis exception is that we're not like me heads that like if you're if you're a good MMA for you have you have to be smart intelligent have to yeah again you don't have to be academically intelligent that's completely different but you need to be like smart enough to often times to you you come across people who you know would be very well educated you know and they are you know they're professional fighters and yeah know that's one thing I've noticed as well is that um instead like the people who come in who are kind of you like the meat head or the you know um I'm trying to say you know maybe they're a bit hyper aggressive or whatever those people tend to get weeded out yeah you know because you need to have that kind of intellectual intelligence to comprehend what's going on and to know you know that you're you're constantly learning and it's not uh it's not something that you just you know have or you don't yeah like it's not it's not that you need to be intellectual like like some people are intuitive Learners so like they if I say to some you know some of the in the gym like if I ask them like a particular technique or like a position you know a position they might not know the particular move or position but they'll know if I show it or even if I like did it on them once they kind of know which way to move to escape without me having to explain it if you know the way so like some people are like intelligent when it comes to like their body mechanics or their intuitively um like they're in they're in touch with their how they should move so makes it really easy to impart knowledge to them and they learn very quickly so it look you don't have to be intellectually intelligent but you do need to have the the ability to learn and to to like uh store these uh Concepts and systems that you are essential for modern MMA but whether you store them like in your head as like a checklist like I actually have like books at home that have like positions and and and stuff or whether you don't bother with that at all but like you're in your head you know what to do intuitively because you've done it in the gym in from every position people have different ways of storing that knowledge and they have different ways of going about it but you do need to have that knowledge whichever way you do it so we're not out here just swinging and seeing red but like people have different ways of approaching it and that's fine that's that's completely like normal and people have different ways of of learning things and that's something as a coach that you need to that I need to take on board and approach different students differently as well you know cool so is there like a uh is there like a specific type of learner that excuse me is there like a specific type of person that you find to be maybe like an ideal learner or someone who would know kind of fit the the category of someone who would you know kind of take up the sport um I think that like uh this the sport can be accessible to everyone of course but uh if if the if the if you're especially if you're trying to learn a little bit older if you have previously done any sports like especially to a highest level that's going to really help and like I was saying earlier that's just the ability to like that's just like handle coordination and like dexterity and Agility and that kind of stuff it's just going to allow you to actually deal deal the moves you know it's hard to teach when you know it's hard to learn when what's holding your back isn't your like uh ability to understand the concept but your actual physical ability can't allow you to do it properly like if you're too stiff or you're just you're don't you don't have the agility or the flexibility to deal with certain thing that's going to hold your back so if you already have a bit a bit of a sports bace doesn't even have to be MMA or Combat Sports but a sports bace in general that's going to help you to improve quicker not that it can't be done you're just going to have to incorporate a lot of stre like stretching and getting used to activity but uh I think the most important thing for actually learning and improving and as as a shield and like what would make the best sh CU like I said there's different ways to learn some people are going to go home and write down which I told him like uh like we have Jake no in the gym he's really like he'll watch tape like he'll watch his own fights over and over again to see what he's done wrong and come with new things and that's absolutely great like that's that's how he learns and he's really focused and that's really important and then other people like don't even like watching themselves and they're still they're still great fighs like I don't know if ke goes over much of his fights um he's obviously got his PR on in two weeks so that's a big one but like I don't know if he watches much tape on his on his previous fights but like that like he's just in the gym all the time learning constantly rolling with him and training with him he's picking up the movements and he does the right thing you know he's he's been training the sports so long that he's able to pick up the the right ways to move intuitively and my sister's the same Co she's not like a big academic she she actually dropped their skill after the junior set so she's not like a she's the opposite of me so I went to college and all and have a degree she didn't even finish secondary school but in the S but she she's a little bit better than me at learning like new techniques I think because she's just a little bit more intuitive like she's a big quicker like at picking up the movements she's like you know good body mechanic uh control or knowledge or whatever so that's just the different kinds of intelligence but aside from all that aside from like the different ways that you do learn and which one's better cuz I think all of them are are useful and work in their own ways and you've just got to make it work for you I think the most important thing is kind of just being coachable and being able to continue to learn and this is true to to myself so being coachable is that's definitely critical you know yeah that's the most important 100% for sure I think it's I think it stands from like a lack of ego or trying to control your ego cuz uh what what what always brings like comes to my mind is like uh you like you you'll get you'll get some Lads like that you know they might be amateur Fighters or or even you know Pro Fighters or amateur Fighters whatever and they'll be you know they're good Fighters and they'll be like yeah that's it now that's me this is my sty that works like if they're showing something new um they' be like no I don't really like to look at that you know what I'm not going to I'm not going to play with that cuz I don't do that you know and this is work for me and that that's that's fine I think to an extent but then you've got the likes of like and this is what shows me that this is the way to to be is like the looks of vul and stuff like and the other the other top like Lads like he'll come out and he's already the pound for pound number one and he'll have a new skill like he'll do a new thing in the fight that's like better because he's actually like even though he's the pound p number one he's sitting back in the gym and he's listening to his coach and he's taking everything on board like he's not thinking no I know more than you I'm the pound p number one John me like his coach is telling him you need to we need to do this to beat Islam you're gonna have to get really good accounter wrestling or whatever and he's already the p number one fedway uh champion of the world and he's like yeah absolutely I'm going to deal with this I'm going to add this to my game I'm going to but he's going to drop that ego and allow him to take on new things cuz like that like it does it does it does hurt like if say say you're trying to learn something completely new like I'm already a pro for with 32 my fights and if I Tred to learn something new I am going to suck at it and some sometimes that's like put you in a vulnerable position where you're like I'm the my Pro fire I'm not supposed to suck at this thing you know what I mean I'm supposed to be good at fighting so then that kind of puts you off one to learn it but you have to drop that you have to be like no I need to get good at this thing if this thing is if my coach thinks that this is what I need to learn then this is what I need to learn so I need to like learn it I need to like even though I'm already good at all the other things I need to learn this new thing or I need to continue to learn and improve like you see you see all the time like from the top Lads like literally like Max is coming out there Max Hollow like he's already like one of the the top dogs and he's coming out there and he's TR this new Spin and back kick that ably won him the fight because he brought Gate's nose in the first round and like he didn't really use a spin back kick ever before so his coach said right gatei dips down off off Jabs he dips down he tries to cover his head and his body at the same time what's on there he's going to dip into your Spin and back kick when you send them that way when you send them to the to the close H so Holloway you know straight away that that's that's what he goes and adds this new technique to his AR you know because it there's a there's a there's an idea be like there's a concept where like the more you the older you get and the more fights you have you know like you can't teach an all dog new tricks like Max has so many fights he's not even that old but he seems old because he's had so many fights I think he's been in the OC since he was 20 yeah he should be he's he's a hardcore by that old concept of like Hy All Dog New Tricks he should be coming out there and doing exactly the same thing that he's done for his last few fights but he's coming out there with new stuff like a lot of the top Lads are coming out there with new techniques all the time you kind of have to evolve because to evolve exactly you know you'll get someone who will just you know if you're the same way every fight they'll pick that apart exactly 100% you've got Islam like he's you know he's seen as a as one of the best wrestlers in the UFC in he years and he knocked V out with a head kick you know Max has seen as one of the best druggers and he couldn't really connect to V you couldn't really hit him so you've got the restler knocking V out with a head kick and that's because the likes of Islam it is really cable and is and his he goes home he goes back to dagistan or back to AKA and his gym and kabib is there telling them you need to not uh V out this time his counter wrestling is actually very good we can't rely on that you need to have a good left kick and Islam go back to the gym and learns and trains and focuses on that kick and knocks vul out whereas like that there would have been a thought or a concept before like no Islam Islam tells vog or it tells kabib what to do now you know like no I'm going to go out and take V you know what I mean he's uh these guys at the top and you see it like all the way they're really cachable they're really their egos are not that big that they that they need to that they question like what they need to do what they're being taught exactly they they they can see it like they come out with new stuff every time you know and that's what inspires me to to be better and to be different every time like even when I'm like oh that's working really well for me now you can't be complacent it was actually Kieran Davin said to me a quote before if you're not moving forward you're moving back and this probably isn't like the case in all of life but it is an MMA like if you're literally staying the same and that's good enough in most things it's not good enough in MMA like I said say people are going to do reverse CLA guard techniques on you you're going to be like what is going on yeah if if you're not experienced with that then you're you're not going to have a clue and they're going to take complete advantage of that yeah so you need you need to be evolving all the time in the sport and that's that's what makes it so and makes it so difficult as well but it's it's it's a Keeps Us interested you know right on man um okay so in your life who has been most influential to you um I don't know I don't know he he's been most influential like in my life like I have a close relationship with my grandparents and my granddad I really look up to him I play chess with him every week so he's uh oh really yeah since I was a young since I was a young uh child he taught me how to play chess and we play chess every week sometimes multiple times a week I'll go out to him especially now that he's old he's just gone 80 so I know I don't have that much time left 80 is the new 60 yeah that's true that's true that's true and he seems healthy he seems fine but I know that I keep that in mind that I need to spend as much time yeah for sure and doing doing things with him because it won't be there forever you know so he's inspired me I just think he's like a like a a good example he's just a good man in general you know he's like worked he worked his whole life and gave the opportunity for my M to be able to have a have a life and then raise me and he's always looked after me and my siblings and that kind of thing um yeah he's he's just he's just a kill guy he's a good example of like that resilient does he come to your fights no he doesn't actually he's not he's not a huge MMA fan he'd prefer if I played rugby um I used to play rugby a little bit as well when I was younger when I was in my teens Rugby's like 10 men fighting each other I love rugby as well like I'm I ended up being just too small for her you know I'm 58 I just cannot like survive in a normal in a modern rugby game I mean even the scrum half are close to 64 like him you know so no I enjoy watching rug I have no idea what's going on yeah I do enjoy watching yeah no it's good so he's he's a big rby fan so he prefer was doing that but at the same time that's what I'm saying about him being like a kill guy like you know he he might not he doesn't know anything about he probably thinks that it's like actually stupid like but like he's always going to say to me like how's it going fight well done like gentlemen I'm so happy that he did well but at the end of the day all he wants to do is me to just be happy and safe like you know so he's he's he's a big inspiration for me I just feel like especially in today's world he's like 80 my grandmother's 77 or whatever and they stayed together and they seem happy that's like see is rare is in today's so it's becoming rarer um in in Irish culture I I feel like it's they're they've been together that long and they still like each other yeah you know cuz with the culture you know divorce really isn't a thing especially with with the older generation exactly but um to be together and still yeah like each other is it's a huge achievement it's a hug achievement exactly like she's a she had she has a knee problem so just yesterday she got knee surgery like a knee replacement so now like you know he's dressing because she won't be there to like you know he has to look after her now and he barely knows how to cook because he's from the the all times like he was born in 1944 or whatever so where do they live they live in in Don down there so that's where I head down to there a bit but they be uh good inspiration in my life and good raw models very good very good U what what did they do what like what was their kind of career um so it was interesting in that my grandmother was actually like a uh like a she was probably more intellectual than him but she came from the time where once they got married she had to drop her job she she had a good she had a good job job in the Civil Service and he was a like a wood click I think at this time or maybe in the post office he had two jobs post office in wood clck out in the Docks but like she earned more I think at one at one point and she had she had to drop the job when they got married J to the the stay at the time so that was a that was a like a bit of a m when you think about like not too long ago like you know a woman would have to give up her career and now it's like totally different now we forget it wasn't near like that but uh she uh yeah she she obviously became the sentiment of it I kind of like that she she has to look after the kids well it's like uh no it's that it's optional or that it would be optional and then like you know cuz my wife and I we're dealing with an issue now of like kids being in crush and after school and everything and you know it's we want them to be home but we want them to be in there and it's just like you know we don't even have the option because we both have to work no that's that's that's I'm forunate that I get to work from home yeah yeah but you know like I'm I'm still working so I can't dedicate you know time to them but um yeah know like I think the sentiment of it uh you know that there's kind of that option in that you know um one person generally you know the man is you know kind of providing and taking care of you know the outside of the house and you know and I like the sentiment um but you know we do know I agree it's it's it's a big big issue at the moment I think been tricked as a society into into um you know both parents working you know what I mean and that that's the part I don't like you know what I me I age I agree like the the thing is that like like I was saying I think my grandmother actually earned more so if there was like an option there for one of them to be able to go back into the home it probably should have been my Grandad not that he would have done that at the time yeah but like uh it was just the fact that there was no option like she had to leave her job as a woman who got married that wasn't that's not great but at the same time like you say been tricked into thinking that both parents need to work now we can't even raise our own kids exactly yeah that exactly that's the it's heavy look you know it's it's a big is a big problem they have to go the crash like sure cuz single parent like working just isn't enough to cover the the bills the cost of living so for me days yeah I'm on on 26 in the summer it doesn't seem like too long ago and like the thought of like having kids was like just completely alien to me but like at 26 now I need to nearly start thinking about it and it's it's pretty scary you know was pretty scary like I was 30 30 when I had my first so you got some time that would be my that would be my go but four years is like you know 4 years is like I need to I need to in my mind I need to be settled I need to be like now that this is what and up until recently I hadn't even talked about it so you know I it if I could give you any advice it would be don't put yourself on like a on a like a timer you know what I mean it happens when it happens you know and that's true it I I I have friends in their 40s that have had their first kid yeah you know and the the way difference is like your energy level you know like you know I'm from the states and we damn near have kids when we're kids still you know um you it's like some of my friends that I know that have had kids in their when they're you know their early 20s or whatever um almost that's I feel like that's the ideal time to have them cuz you have all the energy that the kids would have and then in your 30s when things start to slow down you as a person start to slow down a bit then you know everything's I dare say easier but you know what I mean but U I don't know it's yeah it's it's a bit of a like you say more energy when you're younger but you're less financially stable and less mentally mature to to raise children exactly so it's it puts me like I say it puts me in a little bit of like a a quandry you know I'd be thinking about it a little bit now only recently like um I wouldn't I wouldn't I wouldn't worry about it yeah no I'm not exactly worrying about it but like you say there there's issues you know there's like the uh the way both parents need to work now and then like your kids straight away into crash and all it's basically the government the state that raises them yeah um for for a lot of it at this point and then do you have the energy after two work in there or after about years of work then to look at you know to give them the energy it's going to be harder it is it seems like it it seems like a modern problem that we don't have a solution to yet you know so um like you were saying it's an interesting uh concept that it was easier or perhaps a better structure to society when there was a single parent out working and one that stayed home you know it's hard to against that but then at the same time I know there's a lot of women that if you talk to that would say that no being in the home doesn't fulfill me I need I want to be out there I don't even know if I want kids yeah 100% like you know my wife she doesn't she wouldn't want to work or excuse me be a full-time stay home I wouldn't want to be a full-time stay home Dad um you know but also to not have the option not have the option exactly the part that's the problem that's the problem like that yours might both of yours might not have have gone along with that but if you had the option it would be better yeah yeah that's what we need to fix in society we'll get there one day a AI will fix it yeah hopefully all right what do we got here um now you're only 26 nearly yeah when's your birthday August when what day 14th okay um what is in your 20 nearly 26 years what is the B biggest excuse me what is the biggest risk you've taken biggest risk I think the biggest risk yeah definitely the biggest risk I've taken would be being my own coach in MMA I feel like that was something that I really had to think like is this going to work you don't see it very often so I had to be I had to make myself into a way that I could be accountable I had to be really accountable for myself so like like even even if I staying or if I tried to stay fully logical to myself and be like oh you're doing the right thing and all emotions come into it you know so like in stressful situations before fights you're going to make bad decisions and you're supposed to have a coach there to say to you no you're making a bad decision and and to look to even just for like am I doing the right thing reassurance you know to have a figure there telling you're doing the right thing or to do this so I did not have that from like a young age fairly young age in my career and to just be my own coach like to turn pro and for young cage Wars and just have my shield and slash teammates um and friends as in my corner I think was a bit of a risk for me it was like without the guidance of like someone I could [ __ ] up you know I could but then I just to put it on myself I was like then that I like that nearly like it's on me I need to stay accountable for for myself I need to not have I need to be like clear and uh self-aware so now when I'm doing something when I'm not doing things right without having someone else to tell me that I'm not theing things right I need to be able to be on top of it as well as to say to my teammates and my friends to hold me accountable as well and they do but that was something I think that was like a risk you know and maybe like I think it's paying off I think it's gr I think I'm learning and I'm like it and it's it's going good so I'm going to continue that way but yeah I think to to to jump out there on my own just TR myself into like say C War for example just just with my own uh um as my as my own coach basically was a bit of a bit of a risk but uh it it seems to be paying off like that not just on my own like my M's very involved in the gym and she has uh she she helps like I talk to her a lot but uh she wouldn't be like big onto like the actual MMA cou s of it anymore she actually has to MMA for St yeah there one thing I was going to bring up like say you two have actually competed together yeah with the IMs yeah the IMs yeah I think yeah we're probably like the only mother and son that actually compete in the same so that's it that that's a big deal and she is very experienced and like she knows a lot sport like come to her for like like stuff like questions like you know what do you think about this match up or like what you think about she'd have a bit of an Insight like um a good Insight so like come to her but I'm still like my like when it comes to especially like the technical stuff and that kind of thing I'm like my own coach so that was that was a bit of a risk and it still is but I think it's gone it's gone well um and just being clear in myself and uh is is what's most important but uh not having someone to to tell me that I'm doing the right thing or to just like you know when you're feeling like oh this is a lot of stress like I'm about to have a fight I'm like cutting the amount of weight like like I said I'm not just on my own I have a a good management team in Showtime uh that I've gotten close to like I didn't know much about them when they first contacted me must be nearly three years ago now yeah and we've had a good relationship with them the whole time they've never uh they've always been bang on like Anthony P actually seems like a lovely guy like I met him in par there in Manchester last year and I was talking to him all these teams just bang on his uh manager like or the person that runs the the showtime team Damian is is kill as well met him and like everything like I can come to him for advice as well and we we talk B and we've got other in the gym that have started to work with them as well so we have this management team that I can come to for advice when it comes to like matching and fighting and building my career and 's career so I'm not just out here on my own um and then even look I had a nutritionist there yanuk Yanik mcge um it was a a top class he has some of the uh top uh Lads in the top Lads in the country and outside the country on his uh on his nutrition uh plan so uh I'm not just here flowing completely by myself I think I'm doing the right things I have gas my TR conditioning coach now as well uh down here down there three days a week he's he's top class as well so I'm finding these people to complement my the gym and what I'm building on my own career that helped me but like I say the risk was originally just at the start just myself going at it as a fighter boy myself but I've brought in people now and have been bringing in people and I'm going to bring in more you know as we go that I think we're forming a great team so like yeah it's not as much as a risk anymore but at the start I think it was was there ever a time where you kind of like this isn't working out not a time where I don't I thought it was it wasn't working out but like there was time A lot of times where I was questioning would it work out you know what I mean there was never a time when I was like oh this is maybe not working there's been some tough times to kind of like process and like to like thoughts you know coming off off losses or things you know in the gym or things aren't going right that you're like there like I say there's that emotional um when you're emotional it's hard to think straight so it's always important the stoic triangle the Marcus book where it's like uh react don't or respond don't react so the react is like the emotional thing that's the thing that happens straight away where something happens and you're like angry or sad or and and you deal with something straight away that would be reacting to situation so the the idea is to not do that always wait always wait let the let emotions will go down then respond and the respond is that tactical response what's the actual correct MTH rather than the MTH that feels best right now because of your emotions so I try to stick to that as as much as I can always wait when something's gone Something's Happened wait to respond unless you need to respond immediately obviously but if you have time take it that's that's a that's a a little bit of my advice um you that that's it's good to know like you took a big risk and you know it's it's paying off and you know there there's times where maybe you were I don't say doubting but maybe uh yeah doub I'm just question on being being anxious like you know yeah yeah you know those are a lot of people might uh you know quit at you know at just feeling that yeah um but you know just to to persevere through and to continue on then I think it's great um so going to my last question here um you know like where do you see yourself you know rephrase this I have the question in front of me I should just read it right um you know so like where do you see yourself and your career um you know in just a few years and what on let me back up again um so you're 26 you're still quite young yeah um you know you're competing with u cage Warriors right I I cage Warriors CL those two names always just click um U I go to say one I say the other all the time uh cage Warriors um you know so like in a few years you know how do you see your career progressing you know like do you long term you know where do you see yourself you I I can't talk for now um five years where do you see yourself and then you know kind of at the end of your your career how do you see how do how do you see yourself yeah so like the the current trajectory is like um fairly straightforward like the reason I'm in cage Warriors or why I've signed with cage Warriors is to get to the UFC basically like you know I I I'd love to like just obviously make money from the sport yeah and like um live this life like be able to support myself for um you know nice period of time through MMA that's kind of the goal um and there's other organizations out there that can offer good money but for whatever reason I've just always had this gil on me to like test myself at the highest level and I think that's the UFC um and I think CWI is like the really a really high level when it comes to especially European MMA but it's also the feat to the UFC it's the it's the one we see time and time again as who win a cage Warriors belt move on to the UFC um so that that's my that's my goal and I like to think that it's it's doable you know I like to think that it's I have the skills and the determination and the the work ethic to do it and I've been slightly held up like my last fight was a year ago on Sunday um that was my cage War's debut I was supposed to fight down in October and a week out from me I got pulled out because they found I had a hole in my hair oh [ __ ] so that that's what I'm dealing with Excuse me sorry yeah so that would be like we talking about earlier that would be a time of dealt and a time where I need to be resilient because I had done a h training camp uh and was prepared to fight in the in Dublin what is it what were you diagnosed with so they basically found when I did when I did a brain scan they found like a small amount of blood in the brain like so a clot or like a stroke So when you say that that sounds awful like that they had a stroke but I basically did like but that that's the that's the clinical term but it was like non malignant or whatever like I didn't know it was it okay so then I was just contined ready to fight um they were saying that I might still be able to fight like if it doesn't seem to be showing any negativity but then they did test on me cuz I thought it was coming from my heart and then they found they had a little hole in the heart so it probably did come from that so then I was told that I couldn't fight obviously in thing and that I need to take time off to stay on blood ters and stuff like that in case I uh had another stroke basically um so then they kept me on them up until April and then they were talking about doing the surgery and they decided eventually there this is just now all happening like right now so this is what I can't say for sure what my next move is or how soon it will be but I'm hoping that I'm going to be fighting on C War soon enough because I thought i' need surgery to close it but they were saying that the risks for the surgery compared to like the stroke that didn't really have any negative effects um aren't really weighed up that well so my best case scenario would just be to stay on blood tenners and just live the rest of my life and not get the surgery but I can't fight on blood tennis yeah I just about to say I don't know if you could yeah you get one cut yeah you can't so I have to then take it into my own hands as like the doctors are telling me as a 25y old man I have the agency to say this is what I'm going to do so now all I need to do as far as I know is get cleared by by the BR scan again that there's nothing new happened and I'll be ready to go would you have to come off the ters or I'm off them I came off them there as soon as they said to me that they weren't going to do the surgery and like for me I want to fight again you know so like I don't want to just hang around okay um especially being in 25 like uh like you say I'm still pretty young but like I'm not really young so like I'd love to get obviously I missed I missed two fights basically I missed the uh the uh October card and then I missed the April card that just went so I'm hoping to get on one as soon as I'm able to as soon as I get cleared did they kind of give a uh say like a reason like a did they give a um like any stipulations to like when they what might prompt them want to do a surgery um if it happens again if if there's there's a new thing definitely yeah yeah so as long as it's this if this this is a once off kind of 10 and the hole is small and doesn't seem to be causing any problems I'll be fine but if it happens again I will so there's a good recovery time on it there we're talking about like 6 months to a year and all okay so that's another reason why I was like I really that then be 27 and so but I'm fighting again so I'm hoping now like that like probably shouldn't even be saying so much medical stuff I don't know if I'm supposed to BU whatever I'm hoping that everything just goes kind of fllying now I get an MRI in the very near future hopefully but gets past and then I I recently got diagnosed with like low PL accounts CU they they've done Lads of tests on me since then yeah so I need to like keep make sure that they stay up before I fight so there's a few still play that I need to have but as long as I at here by now I think I'm good to go so I'm hopefully fighting in C Wars again in the near future maybe by the end of the summer or so maybe maybe I think there's an October doubling card so that would be a great that would be my Tet get most lik the October D Card okay and so that could be me back fighting then and like I say then it'll be three fights in and looking to go to the UFC that's that's the plan we've got other Lads like ke's about to go pro Trevor was supposed to go pro there as well from seac but he didn't uh he didn't manage to uh Go Pro because his opponent P so we have a few LS right in the cusp as well so as a as a career trajectory goes I'd love to end up in the UFC as a like a coach trajectory I'd love to bring seak up to where we have a lot of pro Fighters and we were one of the biggest teams in Ireland and that kind of thing um I think it's I think it's double I think there's like space there um that like we can we can fit into as one of the bigger teams awesome yeah so wow that that's that's uh that's a lot to you know kind of take in and have to to deal with um you know cuz you're like said or you know you're still quite young and that's a lot of heavy stuff to uh to kind of have to um um yeah and that's like that's the like the thing of kind of doing it on my own it's just kind of have to do it on my own like I say I have a close family with me and friends and all that stuff and they and they're great but I'm kind of making all these choices on on my own you know I don't have someone saying like this is the right moal for you or anything like you know I just have to do it so like like I say hopefully everything goes well and I'm back fighting and I'm just putting that behind me that that was one of those times when I had to be resilient you know when I when I was pulled out because of and I felt fine like they told me no you have a bit of blood in the brain and you have a hole in your heart you can't fight this could be terrible and all but I was like no no no I feel great like but obviously I couldn't fight so um well look that that that goes to show the Irish government um how yeah how well regulated it's being or it trying to say how um we're self-regulating yeah exactly you know the safety standards are really high they're higher in they are in most uh most most countries that's because of the unfortunate occurrence we had there in 2017 or 2016 yeah when we had a [ __ ] unfortunately pass away but look since then as unfortunate as that is the regulations are really really learned from that mistake that lack of uh of um oversight yeah you know so yeah no it is um It's relatively safe you can't you know obviously you can't say it's 100% safe but like it definitely isn't uh a lot of the the medical screenings that have to be taking uh taking place beforehand yeah 100% it's all it's really it's really detailed like it's really you have to do a lot like and especially in oil so that's how they ended up picking up this thing like a lot of people have said to me like a know it's a blessing that they did pick it up it could have been worse you know whatever just the way I was obviously ready to fight and felt F and I was obviously disappointed it was hard to see that but since coming out there at the end of the day it's only been 6 months or so and I've been still trying in a way like I haven't been sping cuz I was on those uh blue teners SPN but like I can still grapple a lot and I've done like four grappling tournaments in that time right um so I haven't been like not active I just haven't been able to do MMA so hopefully now the MMA uh return is coming soon is so 10 years 15 years now you're multiple world champion different several different promotions um you know you know you're coming to a time where maybe you want to consider retirement how do you I guess what would be your plan on you know trying to get back or what what do you plan on doing that yeah so like I have the I have the history degree there as like on the back burner that's nice to have as well if things don't go if things don't pan out or even if I'm just retiring because you should write uh Lord of the Rings fanction yeah you know I honestly like I I don't I'll probably WR uh I probably will end up down some stuff on history um on medieval history especially in Ireland that's why I specialized in in my team in college and I'll I'll probably end up maybe doing a Masters or something and doing that that could be done in my 40s that's something that I always keep in mind is that I only have a limited time period when I'm in my physical prime to do MMA but I can be like 40 50 60 even maybe 70 depending on how well I still be young enough to have another career basically yeah exactly and do history if I wanted it but at the same time if I end up becoming Like A Champion of cage Warriors and even onto the UFC or uh like I'm sure seac will be doing pretty well um and I'm hoping that we can you know perhaps I might not need to uh end up using my degree I could always do it as a passion but not for money because hopefully things go well um CX going to be buing I'll be I'll be bu in my own career hopefully as well and we have other Lots there like I'd love to even open up like multiple uh gyms perhaps like you know even I'd love a gym like a brad franchising yeah start franchising I'd love one like you know in Spain or something that' be lovely like you know imagine you can go over there you could go between the home gym and all and then go to Sunny span and Coach there that's doable with the with the with the sport because I Warehouse put some put some beds upstairs yeah exactly that would be that would be the dream and I see other dreams they own it so it's there's a blueprint and L there for like we just need to you know stay Trucking on doing well and and showing people that we we're good and and then it will all build from there I think that um that's a that's a like a a real possibility one of the things that I I often kind of think about in MMA and I think that maybe some MMA fors are who are coming up don't there appreciate enough it's that like MMA and the ability to do MMA or to or boxing and all is a skill and it's a skill that's acquired over time because you can't just learn it in like a few minutes so it's similar enough to do on a trade as in like you were going to like once you're a qualified electrician you can kind of move all over the world because you're an electrician and you'll get a job anywhere almost they they'll have people will Hur you to do to do your job once you have the skills and MMA is pretty similar like if you have the skills to teach and to do MMA you can you you can then charge people to learn that trade so like once once you've picked up a certain amount of of knowledge you'll be and it comes over time and it's worth the effort to put in that you can't you if you do things TR you'll probably be able to make a career of or at least make a living of it if you can teach it correctly or if you can perform correctly because it's a skill that only a certain amount of people have like not many people really do MMA for like 10 years to pick up the knowledge to teach it so if you have that background you have that experience you can you can open up a gym and thing and you another country and people will come to it because you know what you know how to teach it heck yeah so that's why I say some of the other Liv in the gym like that I've been training a long time um and and learning and know that the intelligent and good co good guys and good coaches and Caris Michel they'll be able to open up jyes and they can deal it under the C franchise hopefully in the future that would be ideal but even not they can deal with themselves um so it's not like you're just wasting your time training if you're not becoming a USC Champion either there's like other ways to make money of this you know passion of hers absolutely than than becoming UFC champion as well not that that's not what I think that we should all aim for that to be honest I think that's the only way you're going to you know shield for the stars and fall on the moon buz like that that's another call for for us today sh shield for the stars and fall on the moon like the moon would be pretty good too but uh let's hit the Stars first cuz like I think if you aim for the mil then they Fallen much lower so aim for the Stars first land on a starlink satellite or something yeah yeah like d Troy really put because that's the only way you're going to work hard enough is if you're goals are testing you like if your goal is achievable like too achievable you won't actually push yourself that much cuz you know you're whereas you really push yourself to your limits if the goal is really high and then in in the meantime if you don't end up reaching that goal you're going to have push yourself so hard you're going to brought yourself on so much that you're probably going to end up at it uh with with a lot of accomplishments anyway you know that that's that's the that's my mission anyway so yeah so that's why I haven't been fighting now for the last uh basically a year now it's been since my last fight just a few hiccups there the medical stuff but still train in a way like can still man I I hope I hope it uh hope that gets you know everything get kind of gets cleared up and that you stay safe um you know and I certainly love to see you back in Action you know another Dublin uh cage Warriors event that'd be great the um but look man here I I appreciate you coming out I appreciate uh you know come to talk to me um I had a good time uh and you know I learned quite a bit about you yeah um so yeah like again thanks again man I appreciate it than much problem yeah yeah [Music] n [Music] [Music]