The Sound of Silence

Summary

Combat Confidential #025 - S3E10 - Liam Devaney The Sound of Silence This week I sit down with Liam Devaney, the current WKA Pro World K1 Champion. Liam takes us on a journey through his roots, sharing his story of how he got started in the world of combat sports. From his…

Transcript (youtube_captions)

[Music] yeah all right right on all right everyone welcome back uh today's episode bit different uh not in my usual Studio um down here in th Thurs thurles tles T tles okay let you say um anyway we're on site uh I got a new uh guest today um he's a pro uh Muay Thai K1 fighter yeah um fights out of th thorough thorus th thorus martial arts forgive me for butchering that um you got a fight coming up I believe in a couple weeks next week be next week I think it'll be two weeks since this has came out so yeah okay um check it out there's a there's a link down there for the the video definitely be putting it in there um but look welcome I I appreciate you uh giving me your time and your your Saturday I know it was late this morning yeah but uh you know here we are so we are going to get right into it here so uh like said just couple let me get to know you real quick first thing that comes to mind just uh spit it out coffee or tea coffee coffee yeah always yeah you ever drink tea unless I have a pack of biscuits yeah yeah what kind of biscuits chocolate hobnobs yeah yeah or cookies okay chocolate chip cookies you do do like herbal tea at all or no no no no sometimes sometimes I use like peppermint tea or whatever but very rarely that's what I min temperament every now and then cuz I don't drink or excuse me I don't drink tea either just coffee all day uh favorite pizza topping you can't say cheese anyway that doesn't count surely sure you can yeah chicken chicken chicken yeah okay yeah do uh a side question uh does pineapple belong on the pizza uh yeah yeah yeah me too yes I I I I work with some Italians and they will die on the hill that pineapple does not belong no my fiance is Italian and no she's not a fan of it but I love it I like the I like sweet and salty together exactly like uh pineapple pepperoni and jalapenos yes yeah and bacon That's Where It's At that's where it's at um if you get good news who's the first person you call uh depending on the news usually my fiance yeah yeah my fiance Sam then my parents maybe yeah yeah if you want say how long have you've been engaged uh we've been engaged two two years now it's I've been together like over 12 years oh excellent any you have a date or uh when we start going out or sorry for the wedding oh uh no we don't have a date yet or anything it's just my wife and I were like that as well I think we were engaged longer than we were like together yeah before we got engag yeah um I think we're together totally like five years six I should know this actually life is just mental it's hard to try to plan a wedding when you've got fights and everything else is all like 100% uh you have a favorite movie TV show uh favorite TV show if you're talking like series series break and bad or Game of Thrones but if you're talking like sitcoms then like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia yes yeah that's a great one that's the one yeah that is a good one that's the best I was literally only talking to a guy earlier about it but it's the best I will rerun that all day did you watch the uh uh the season when they were here in Ireland uh I think it's their most recent one at least the most no I need to still catch up on that now because she's not the biggest fan of them um so I need to kind of catch up on that in my spare time you know Danny DeVito I can't see him in any other role now it's just he plays that like disgusting dirt bag so well so now it's just like if I saw him in anything else it doesn't matter he's still Frank oh no he's always Frankl yeah but any of them are like I've even seen other movies with like Charlie he does all right character transitions a bit Yeah but I still just look at him as the Rat King like I mean I just can't Charlie's just Charlie the uh uh uh the priest um what's his name oh Hornsby yeah yeah yeah um I've seen him in other things and all I can see is just a crackhead for a priest yeah yeah it's it's quite rough he's actually a really good actor as well but if you're a fan of It's Always Sunny you're always just going to see Cricket like just always going to see him as like you said like a crackhead um do you prefer do you prefer to read or read books or watch movies um I don't know watch movies I suppose I used to read a lot um but I tend not to just what types of books would you read uh they were all kind of like just about kind of getting into your own mind and stuff like that you know like there was one a really good book actually it's by James Clear uh it's called Atomic habits um I finished that book in I think a day yeah and like this was only when I was getting into reading again like um but yeah I loved literally could not put it down and I I usually hate when people say that about books cuz like a book is just like words on a page but that book was awesome I loved it you know I I enjoy reading I prefer like non-fiction yeah um but it's diff I feel like I have undiagnosed dyslexia so it's very I find it very difficult so even audio books are hard yeah I I do audio books sometimes now if I'm going on Long Journeys or whatever but uh no like I I don't I wouldn't I'd never read like fiction books because again if I want to look at fiction or whatever I'll just put on a movie like you know something with a I don't know big dinosaur or King Kong movies like that like that's yeah yeah yeah I prefer to actually see it when everyone says you can visualize what's on the page like I can't I can't I I don't even know what I'm doing tomorrow like so the internet has ruined our imagination yeah yeah um I'm just realizing I didn't prop I don't think I properly introduced you you just kind of jumped right in this sorry um everyone look this uh Pro uh Muay Thai K1 kickboxer yeah uh Liam de de de Dean Dean yeah deani yeah my accent will be a little bit different but deani yeah sorry U I apologize for that I didn't me I didn't even realize myself yeah um so I just say again thank you again for not wasting your time with me all good um all right we'll keep get back into it um hopefully I can re-edit this and make me not sound like a complete moreon um do you have a favorite app on your phone uh favorite app it's not probably just Instagram really yeah Instagram but I do try I try not to I don't spend an awful lot of time on Instagram anyway but it's usually following other Fighters following people that will actually help me in life um and then if I am just scrolling then I'll just scroll through the most the stupidest stuff ever but it's you know really good for scrolling through stupid stuff a good app for that is reddit reddit yeah oh I love Reddit yeah yeah same that's my favorite no I go on to Reddit a lot especially like when I need help with like games on the PS5 or whatever Reddit is the place to go heck yeah if you ever got a question for something Reddit really and there's a subreddit for everything it's better because other actual people answer you than yeah rather than getting a Google search or whatever like if you need a question about game you you've got a guide that's been playing it forever and he's just or developed it yeah it just feels like we're friends though it's weird like you don't even know these random commenters and they always have like weird names like tickle chicken and stuff but you know like yeah you just you're like friends with them straight away and you respect each other it's nice like okay I'm not telling anyone my handle because my my serri and Reddit is ridiculous so um your favorite board game favorite board game um I would say escape from CIT but I actually I I love it but I I also despise it it can be very frustrating what's that one I don't think I've heard of that one before uh escape from CIT you're basically so there's like one guy I think is up to like eight players maybe but one guy is the the prison guard and then all the other players are basically trying to get out yeah um but it can turn very nasty because if you're the prison guard you're basically like just right up like fast to fast just screwing your friends like there and then like cuz again he needs to try win but everyone usually like teams up against them um and yeah makes for a silent treatment for a couple of days after that's very cool I like that I to to check out I like War Games although like it's long though yeah is it oh you take at least like five six hours out of your day all right just just in case everything goes wrong like you you want to have time like I'm I'm me check that one out um favorite type of music uh heavy metal really yeah particular band uh I don't know kind of all of them really like a massive fan of like Slaughter to Prevail uh even corn um yeah I don't just any of them park by Drive I could stay going on and on and on but my playlist is a bit nuts I'll have like Slaughter to Prevail which is like super heavy and then straight after I'll have Natasha beningfield on written like just but yeah heavy metal mainly and then every now and again just bit aach there's a band called I Prevail I if you ever heard of them I well they're awesome as well oh yeah they're from well from Michigan that's where I'm from oh yeah so yeah they're Southfield specifically but uh what song is it now it's uh it's not gas something is it but I don't know but gasoline oh yeah yeah I love that song that was that was my walk out song for uh uh for some fights that I had that was my walkoff song great int to it yeah it makes you want to just run through a wall like it's awesome and and then um in the spirit of Taylor Swift because she's here this week this weekend uh they have um I think how they broke out kind of main stream they did a a cover for her or a cover of one of her songs it's actually pretty good so I recommend it it's a uh it was it blank space is the name check it out um I have heard it yeah I have heard their cover and it's it's actually really it's not bad it's pretty good it's a good song in general it's actually a good song it's just uh not good when Taylor sings it basically I wouldn't say that it's it is it is a lot of delivery because like there's uh um there's a string of albums called punk ghost pop yeah and they uh you know Punk heavy metal bands all play you know pop music and it makes that music tolerable yeah it's weird though cuz there's different types of cover like uh Disturbed actually do one of what is the name of the song disturbs version Sam You Know It uh sound of oh yeah D cover simonar D cover of it is just amazing yeah know I can't remember the lead singer name he's got a incredible voice yeah he's really good and I like the way that he actually just did a cover of the song he didn't exactly like try turn it metal leer but I think it kind shows his ability as as an artist like he's really showcase his voice and so good L of so good it wasn't just heavy metal like there was a String Band in there Orchestra Great it awesome like yeah I loved it um do you have a fight name a fight name uh Le just Le yeah just just Le yeah and then okay so speaking of songs again what's your walkout song uh Breathe by The Prodigy oh yeah yeah that's a good one it's uh yeah no it's an awesome song but uh the reason I actually use it um now my for my first couple of amateur fights I was just you know picking whatever song I was feeling that week but uh I always us Breed by the proy now cuz uh my mom and her mom so my grandmother uh it it reminds me of them which yeah goes to show like how how nuts my mom and my grandmother War but uh my mom actually knew the Prodigy really she she was actually like she she knew them and she was friends with them when when they were kind of coming up or whatever so that's pretty cool yeah it means a lot to me though it's cool it reminds me of them the whole time so that's good is uh family play a big part in your whole kind of career in general yeah yeah no just massive massive uh and I I hate to sound like that guy that like oh Family Means Everything when really I don't talk to him but I literally always talk to him like Sam is literally my best friend so like family means everything to me everything yeah no it's class uh all right look enough of that we kind of get right into the meter things s um so what was it initially that kind of inspired you to start you know training in Combat Sports um I wanted to lose weight yeah uh yeah so I was how T are you you're 6 6'2 63 on a good day but um no it was 117 kg I think um which is about 18 and a half Stone yeah and kind of stopped playing sports I played rugby beforehand and like G and Harland and all that but stopped playing sports for a couple years got quite heavy uh rer Sam heard of the beginners course starting in here and I was like look I'll go in and just get exercising again um yeah I say I started because of exercise but the first question I asked the coach when I walked in I didn't even tell him my name I just said when can I fight um so and then it just fell in love with it I've always liked to uh I won't say like fight the whole time but like I've always had quite a temper um so I was like right okay if I can just like output that temper into like training and like just start fighting competitively then you know something might change but I tell now I'm probably like one of the camest people ever like I just yeah I don't know it lets me let out all my frustrations and I basically am just never I'm just never stressed or angry or anything anymore so it's that's a a reoccurring theme I think with a lot of uh yeah you know competitors or people who do not even com sports with just difficult things in general yeah I I think it's obviously it's a lot to do with like the training as in you get to go out and you get to express yourself and if you're going in and you're competing and everything like that but I think the biggest thing for me is I I won't get angry at anyone or I don't need to act like I'm tough or anything like that because I just know for for the most part bar you're talking about other trained Professionals for the most part like I Could Just Kill you anyway so I just don't need to waste my time getting stressed about it if you know what I mean um for sure and it leads to less stress then because I'm just like no I'm I'm good man I'll see you later and then they kind of give up and you're like oh okay that was easy yeah when I think when you don't have a uh you don't when you don't have to prove something to someone yeah exactly I think that removes a lot of yeah stress yeah in you know kind of your day-to-day you know and definitely if if you feel if you don't have that confidence about you then um you know if you're dealt with you know some sort of Confrontation or you know a difficulty during the day then you know certainly you know could cause more stress in your life it could could cause you to you know be angry want to fight somebody again that's probably where bullies come from yeah if you're a bully it's probably because you just have your own insecurities or yeah or you need to prove something to someone prove that you're tough when I don't need to prove that I'm tough like again I'd never I'd never say to anyone that I can beat everyone and that like everyone that I fight is an easy win or anything like that um but in general like I know I know I can fight and I know I'm able to so if I need to then I can but you very rarely ever ever need to ever you know it's walk away kids it's easier for sure espe like on the street like it's so many variables that can happen you got hard concrete you know someone who knows someone could have some underlying issue and it's not worth it it really isn't and it's not not at all and then training like this defin it gives you that that knowledge of that at least um but then uh you kind of have the the confidence to not even need to like said prove yourself to you know someone exactly and even little things of even uh how to walk away in the proper way as in if someone is getting quite angry at you it's quite stupid to turn around and walk away because they could do anything behind your back but at least you kind of know to back up and kind of keep them in your keep distance yeah keep them in your view or whatever and once you have enough distance then honestly like the easiest way to avoid a fight is run if if you need to says he's going to run away yeah exactly there's no reason that you don't need anyone else no you you don't need to like it's pointless it's pointless honestly as you've been training how many years you've been training uh so I think I've been training six six and a half years now yeah it's been entirely like kickboxing uh yeah yeah just kickboxing and Muay Thai uh I did Jiu-Jitsu for a bit as well um I was getting decent at it like obviously I was still at like um white belt level but I was at a decent white belt level but then since turning professional like in K1 and myai it's uh it's just it's quite hard to do the two of them and not even time wise um because I mean I could always find the time like I I never like using time as an excuse but it's if I've got a fight coming up in a few weeks and I don't know someone rolls my ankle weird when they're trying to submit me or my arm gets Jarred in an arm bar yeah it's not worth it no and I definitely don't want to pull out of a cable one fight because I decided to roll around like that Ed you know the promoter wouldn't be happy like absolutely not but yeah just full whack K1 just full time what what is it I guess specifically about kickboxing that's kind of really grabbed your attention um I don't know I'm trying to I'm trying to find words that make me sound not evil um I I just no look I just enjoy I I enjoy hitting people but I enjoy the adrenaline of getting hit back and I just like the I like the chaos of everything the the rush of being in kind of like a life of the life or death situation almost yeah no I love it like everyone always says like fight or flight and everything but I think it was Mike Tyson that said it um you always have fight or flight and even when you're walking out to the ring or in the leadup to a fight in training you think okay uh maybe I can pull out like oh I'm too nervous I need to pull out blah blah blah and even on the walk out you think like oh hopefully someone trips me off and I don't need to get in there or whatever but it's so sweet then cuz when you get in and when the bell rings all that nerves just go out the window because you don't have the option of flight anymore all you can do is fight and it's just it's so weird it feels like just you and this other person um and no one else in the world exists and it's basically he's trying to kill me like that's that's what I Envision I always Envision like I don't en Envision like losing on points or anything like that I'm like this guy is literally trying to kill me so I better make sure he doesn't and hopefully you I won't say literally kill him but stop him before he stops me basically I like Wars I like Wars just a good solid hard fight gets the adrenaline pump um so you mentioned your fiance yeah um how do you how do you balance like a fulltime profal fighting career and you know kind of like you know your personal life like yeah or I should say your life outside of here yeah uh I think I balance it quite well um she's super understanding um I mean like we're together like I said like 12 and a half years like we're together since I'm 14 um I'm 26 now so we've essentially grown up together um she was with me before I started any of this she was with me when I was uh heavy when I was um like unfit or whatever and we've kind of been through everything so like she's really she's she makes my life very easy to put it simply um and she's very understanding of it but even though she's understanding of it and I know well that she she wouldn't mind or be upset if I was literally gone all the time but I don't like being gone all the time um and I have uh we have a little daughter at home uh Remy as well and again doing this full-time is great because uh I essentially get to choose my own hours in a way um so I always make sure that like I I do actually have days off where I'm just just chilling with uh yeah her and my daughter basically and yeah I find balancing it easy enough actually to be honest if you have a partner I think that is fully on board yeah I think it it makes it a lot easier oh she's like one of like my biggest supporters like awesome and she she never lies to me as well which is good as in that's good really good CU you need people like that around you yeah as in if I'm messing around or like of course like she lives with me so if she knows that I'm fighting and she sees me grabbing a cookie like you know all of a sudden she turns into the fighter like she's snatching that out my mouth like but uh no yeah she's yeah she's awesome she's awesome that's good how how old's your daughter uh she is almost two she's two in November yeah so she's running around just being crazy was what's your birthday uh 6th of November yeah my uh oldest was born at the end of nove yes end of November and then my youngest was end of October that's cool oh no nice nice um and my youngest she's about to be two as well oh sweet yeah you know what it's like then yeah it's it's awesome yeah yeah it's tons of fun but it's also just like why are you I've often found Remy like trying to eat eat chili flakes and I'm like how did you even find them or where did you get them from and she's just like oh I eat I'm like don't eat them that's not a good idea do do they come in uh to the gym with you uh yeah they do sometimes um now my fiance she doesn't train or anything like that but uh they have been in here um and they do come in and like I said they're super supportive of it but it's also kind of like like this is Dad's work so like with again like I said I'm I love spending time with them and everything like that but also at the same time I don't know if not right now I don't I wouldn't exactly want my daughter watching me train because not that I'm a different person but you know I'm not I'm not the kind of fun fun dad you know you're seeing me probably swearing quite a lot probably you know loud pads and everything uh probably getting shouted at by others to kind of continue pushing and everything like that so I don't not right now it's not that it's a bad environment at all definitely isn't um but I think I want to wa older maybe little bit older like bit more comprehension about what's going on yeah like she hasn't been to one of my fights either well she was actually when she was really young but sure when she was that young she didn't even know what way it was up or down like so but uh yeah I think probably in the next year now I'm probably going to start bringing her in just by myself just when the gym is empty just you know on the mats just tipping away or whatever maybe show her a thing or two and then if she likes it then she can stay coming in if not then I'll let her chill at home with Elmo or whatever she wants to do like whatever makes her happy you know sorry so you figure when she gets a bit old would you like would you like it if your daughter had said that you or she wants to train as well uh oh yeah if she came up to me and she said it then yeah I'd love it like I think it'd be awesome but uh I again I just don't want to push it on her and I don't want her to feel like she she has to do it yeah do you know I I just want her to come up to me and say that she wants to do it because she wants to do it not because she needs to live up to any sort of expectation from me do you know but uh I suppose as a as as a girl too there's probably a bit different expect like if you had a boy he might maybe feel a bit of pressure too not that you're putting it on them but just no of course they would feel a little bit of pressure now saying that even though she even though I'd completely leave it up to her whether she wants to train or not I would still at least make sure to do like some bit of like I don't know even if I ran her through like a a six weeks beginner course just so she knows how to defend herself CU i' want her to know that and then everything else outside of that if she wants that as a hobby then fine but I i' make sure to uh let her know how to shut someone down kick boxing Muay Thai that's probably the way to go if a girl knows anything it's you know Muay Thai for sure those elbows and then maybe a little bit of Jiu-Jitsu yeah yeah um there's there's loads and again like just the way the world is nowadays like I mean you can never be scary yeah scary to think about things sometimes you can never be too safe and like we were just saying earlier like it doesn't doesn't mean that you need to purposely go out and like just stri away just elbow someone cuz they annoyed you but it's like when you feel like your life is threatened at least you can do one or two things and then get out of there yeah even if you don't have to do anything physical it's uh the confidence yeah yeah the confidence Alone um you know will help you you know just I think keep your W even I think even range even range it just knowing your range that if someone is getting close that you kind of know when to back up cuz a lot of the times like I know people would be getting angry or talking about like an alation or whatever and they say all of a sudden like they were right in front of me but with us like we kind of I kind of know my range like if you step forward I know that I need to step back like you know I want to keep that range I keep it I call it teep range you know if you can stay at the end of my tee then we're all good if you come past that well then then now now I know that there's probably going to be trouble like whenever I think I think of uh chelon and V Sila when they were doing the fighter don't get close I can't really get close awesome um Do You Believe hold on do you do you believe maybe had some Ed editing this out um what uh personal qualities do you think uh from either yourself or your family kind of helped you helped contribute to your overall success or career as a finer [Music] um not TR I suppose uh just being honest yeah yeah just honesty really just you know being honest with myself as far as trying and like did I really push myself yes or no um could I have done more yes or no um and again just I suppose even like the family part of it like honesty goes a long way just in general if I just go like look straight up now I'm going to I'm going to be gone for a few hours like you know training or whatever she's understanding um if I take a loss like again her honesty helps a lot because she doesn't go oh well you did your best like she just goes look you you up here like you know so yeah honestly I would think how about your parents like certainly they they maybe had some apprehensions when you told them you wanted to you know start yeah small bit like my my mom didn't really like it she she was super supportive of us and like she never once said like not to do it or anything like that but again when we started fighting I think she went to one or two of the amateur fights and then just realized that that was she kind of enjoyed them and then when we went professional and stuff started getting more dangerous and everything like she's just like no no way because again like my mother like she's super like super super strong at her and she's the type of mother that she doesn't exactly yeah basically like and I just know if I'm in in the ring or whatever she she gets frustrated because she can't help but saying that now I know exactly where she's coming from because I'll get into a ring and I'll fight no problem and I I don't care at all like um but when my brother fights I I am literally like on strapped down to the seat like I've been given out to multiple times by officials like I've stood on judges tables I've nearly climbed through the ropes not trying to attack the person but literally just being like that's my brother like and I'm kind of like my brother I've hit I've hit my brother in the middle of fights like I've actually started slapping them on the leg like telling them like to to come on or whatever and it it looks bad now when we look back on it but again it's it's that kind of pent of energy where even though I know damn well he can handle him myself I'm just like oh you know get away from it's weird like um is as as your mom she's kind of come around to things now obviously yeah no no she she loves it now um she hasn't been to the last few fights again like she's still not super comfortable watching it but you know again she's still massively supportive but she's just not into she's not into fighting in general I me like she wouldn't be watching like the UFC or boxing or anything like that so I suppose seeing her son's do is is even stranger for her um you ever watched fights together yeah yeah we've watched our fights back um and it's hilarious because I remember watching one of my fights with her and I was standing in literally like as close as me and you are and she was screaming saying oh my God no no don't lose and I'm like ma'am this was two days ago you know I won you know I'm safe and she's like oh no I can't I'm like this is in the past like I'm all good I'm here like but uh yeah no we do we we always watch back uh generally on like a Sunday do like a little bit of like a I suppose a family get together where we all kind of watch the fight back and just that's cool chill out really yeah that's cool I'm happy to hear you have you know such good family support you know kind of doing this because uh doing me doing this like I've for the most part everyone has you know kind of that support from their family but I met a couple folks who been more of a challenge I'll say yeah you you know and it's all you know they're reasonable um concerns you especially for parents yeah you know spouses and everything of course you know no one wants uh you know their partner or you know their kid to get hurt yeah so yeah but that's also that I'm uh I'm happy yeah and the other cool thing is you sharing this with your brother yeah yeah literally walked in the gym the same day and we basically walk in at the same time every other day is it just you two or do you have sisters or other brothers oh no there's there's seven kids in our family yeah yeah so it' be my brother that's Sam he's the one that's fighting and then there's me then I have my sister I have another brother um so Sam me my sister Tia who's in Australia at the minute um who I seriously Miss which I didn't really how much I would uh then we have James um then we have Archie then we have Ryan and then the youngest we have Audrey so two girls and five boys right on but yeah big family yeah it's a very big family I'm I'm an only child so oh really yeah probably should have mentioned that before I just started listing up I have a lot of cousins that I grew up with so sweet yeah there like 10 of us yeah cousins are nearly cooler cuz when you get sick of them you can just go to your own house yeah yeah um where was I or where were we at is there like a specific time or did you have like a specific moment that maybe like in kind of your whole career that maybe you've learned something kind of really important um yeah there was one fight which I ended up losing um and it was my first it was my first shot like an Irish title Pro title and ended up losing in the first round and what I learned is now I know I'll never get that rematch because he's gone off to MMA but who's that that was against some I think I watched this fight yeah I don't even need to mention his name I don't like him but uh the what I learned in that is you can't you can't go in angry you have to even though you're going to get stressed and you may get angry in the ring you can't you can't be angry at the person for any reason outside of you know the competition yeah like if you're competing with them yeah of course like people say that like don't get angry in a fight like I mean that's a lot of lies you're going to get at least some bit angry but you're angry with a purpose as in I need to win this fight I got to beat this guy not angry because you just don't like him or he said something if you go in with emotions too much like it just doesn't work Dustin porier against Conor McGregor their first fight was a great example of that McGregor P him off so much that Dustin went in and angry really got yeah and he just wasn't able to and then like I mean look what happened to the next two fights then Dustin was a lot more calmer yeah and just went in just done his job so uh yeah but the lesson I've learned is basically don't go in too pissed okay be be be happy be chill be respectful and uh yeah just be relaxed not even be calm it's just kind of be in control yeah yeah be in control exactly exactly don't just don't Lose Yourself um and just you know start swinging for the fenes or anything like that because when you do Lose Yourself it's almost like you learn or you unlearn everything you have learned so all of a sudden your job isn't straight anymore it's like and your chin isn't down anymore you're just just swinging shots and you know almost as if you were fighting in the street like so yeah definitely definitely keep calm realize what your purpose is in there you have one thing to do and that is to win the fight and that's what you need to work towards you don't need to work towards I don't know getting payback on this guy or making him feel it or any like just like I mean if you punch him he's going to feel it like like he knows what's happening so just yeah go in and chill do your job shut up basically um do you have anything that you do in your free time that kind of helps contribute to kind of like your overall uh progression um I mean not training really just just training obviously but obviously that's going to Aid in my progression but um I don't know I like to play the PlayStation I like to chill yeah like I like to again because I'm in here so much um and I'm either training myself or coaching others which love every second of it but also I like to zone out because again if I go home and got my fiance and my daughter again love every second of it um but then sometimes just chilling out playing the player session where it feels like nothing else exists it's it's good to kind of kind of disassociate from yeah from you know it's such an intense sport in general and then on top of that it's your career um it's probably good to be able to to separate it completely people sometimes say it and I don't know I think it's quite a good way to explain it but like I I always need to try to remember like who leam is you know not not like who's leam the fatter who's leam the fighter who's Le the the spouse or fiance like who is just Le sometimes it's nice to actually just remember who you are just as a person not not what you mean to this person or what you're doing here or sometimes it's just remember who you actually are and you know uh I don't know I suppose spend time with yourself that makes sense yeah absolutely absolutely yeah like uh I think just a lot of people in en these days probably get so wrapped up into everything they don't take that time for you know spending time with themselves you know that that is important as much as it is important to you know contribute to your house or of course career and everything but yeah everyone kind of needs that uh that self time basically yeah just remembering who you are which again going back to earlier what we were saying about uh not wanting to get into altercations and everything like yes of course martial arts helps this but what helps it the most is just know who you are if you know yourself then well then you don't need to prove I don't know why do you need to make anyone else happy like do you know like you the only people that you need to make happy are the ones that make you happy because you make them happy you know you don't need to try impress some random guy on the internet like you know you don't his opinion doesn't matter like so who cares I actually was wearing a t-shirt earlier on I changed it but it literally says who cares across it and that's just me to a te I just I care about kind of I I care about stuff that I need to care about anything else I just I don't care that's fair and that's smart you know you got a lot going on and excuse me um you got a lot going on so to be able to kind of compartmentalize things and to know what needs to take your energy and what doesn't is yeah yeah it's pretty smart thing that I think a lot of people don't learn until either it's too late or it's already late in life so the fact that you've you know seem to have kind of nailed it at you know in your 20s here yeah you know good on you there yeah sound um so last question here um simple enough uh how has Combat Sports ultimately changed your life um uh I think it's given me a purpose as in it's kind of reminded me of again who who I am and I usually haar when people say this but like what I'm what I'm meant to do um to help me stay at a lock Hammer it's giv me like an outlet for my stress it's giving me the opportunity to work for myself which is awesome um it's given me the opportunity to spend more time at home with my fiance on a door which I mean you just can't be um there's money will come and go but like time will never get back so I think it's taught me an awful lot of time is the most important thing no matter what you're doing uh who you're doing it with but it it's the time it's not it doesn't need to be a fancy trip to to hear and go do this and let's go get a private jet and like let's get a nice honestly like just spending time with someone and yeah time I don't know I don't even know if I answered the question but yeah it's taught me it's it's taught me to value my time um and that that's helped with everything else again if I value my time and I know what I need to put my time into well then again like I said it allows me to focus on what I need to and what I do care about and everything else I say I don't don't care of course like I'm not like an evil person but it what's going on Uptown right now has no impact on me so yeah I don't care that that's good like like I just said earlier like uh that is something I think a lot of people learn way too late in life yeah you know to to not sweat the small things that kind of stuff and like the fact that you got it nailed so early I think is it's awesome yeah I think this just helps to be honest I I think I genuinely like this this sport has made my life way way better um and again it hasn't made it better because of Any like opportunities or any like big fights or any belts or anything like that it's it's actually nothing to do with that it's just it's just made it better because I can actually just I can just be me um like we'll train and we'll be like the fighters and everything like that and like hipad super hard and you know learn techniques and everything else but like the minute training is done like all the guys in here like I've met some of my best friends in here my coach is like a second dad to me um and yeah you can just be an idiot with him after training and you don't need to I don't need to impress my coach by you know being like Oh well I'm going to go home and eat a salad and all this like he's just he's he's my best friend and then when the bell goes and we you start hitting pads again he's my Coach and he's awesome at it and he pushes me when he needs to but yeah I don't know it's just it's cool I love this place it's awesome it's awesome um look I I I appreciate your time um you thanks for inviting me down here ni um and I look forward to watching your fight coming up y in the past coming up July 6th it will be where it's in it's in London London it's in York Hall in London for the WKA K1 World title yeah okay cool um if I can find a video for it I would be linking it below so everyone check that out perfect unless I lose then just don't no I won't lose I won't lose um what's the best way for people to reach out to you uh Instagram yeah probably Instagram just lean. drrs um that's probably the easiest way to get me um and yeah that's that's basically it R sir I appreciate it again thank you very much um can I shout out sponsors yeah yeah sorry go yes please please cuz usually I he like you know when someone just randomly shoves it down your show uh yeah no so I just want to uh just give a quick shout out to all the people that are helping me so we have Wall hygiene which is like my main sponsor um helping me out loads um we've got oh my God who else do I have oh my God Jon who Jonathan Lowry H Jonathan Lowry help uh hazes Hotel uh Bush and Brier and we also have uh ambition nutrition as well for all your supplement needs and use code lean d10 for 10% off don't don't use Sam's don't use Sam's use mine but yeah I think that's I'll get all the links for you and I'll I'll throw everything down below and it all be there yeah usually I forget them you see most like cuz sometimes I'm just yeah like I said trace the deals with this so yeah I think that's good though I think that's all right right on again uh thanks very much I appreciate it uh so until next time and if you're ever up in double let me know y'll do I'll come we can come hang out or something like that perfect fight now come watch and awesome sweet man oh