IN DEPTH | EPISODE 38 | PADDY HOLOHAN

Summary

Dave sits down Irish mma legend Paddy "the Hooligan" Holohan to discuss his career, life, politics and more.

Transcript (youtube_captions)

Okay, so I'm here with Irish MMA legend Paddy Holohan, the first fighter to win an Irish title in the UFC, the first coach to have fought in the UFC and then have a fighter coach a fighter in the UFC. So, he's a man of the people. I've really looked forward to seeing you for a long time. Thank you so much for being here. It's a pleasure. How are you? But to be the person you are now, you had to start somewhere. What what led you down the path of MMA? Um I'll say I told the story about 10 million times already. At the time we we gave birth and was pregnant and and I wanted to do something and then kind of I went to a martial arts club and and I really, really liked it. First day coming home, we said to my friend Dean, who's a black belt here and one of the kids coordinators now. It's probably about 18 years ago now. I'm going to do this for the rest of my life. And really, really took the jiu-jitsu straight away. Um and life was a bit mad at that time, you know what I mean? And and I just wanted some kind of like structure and and I had an idea. I didn't like anything. I just got obsessed with it, you know? And I just got involved in it. Anything I get really, really interested in, I get a little bit obsessed with it and I try to figure out as much as I can about it and then yeah, and the road just took its course. Yeah, and then obviously we we know your career that has gone through. But people talk about what was it like walking into the gym the first day cuz a lot of people talk to me and they're like they'd be very hesitant and but in clubs I find, especially here, I've been here today and me and Ron were saying that it's such a family oriented club and it's like it's so nice to be around. What advice would you give to someone if they wanted to go to an MMA gym but they do have the hes- hesitancy because I find it is a lot more accommodating and welcoming than people realize. Well, I think you find that when you're creating basically situations of like say adversity, that it people grow and they get a little bit easier to be able to deal with them adverse situations. So, that's what it is in a martial arts club you are putting yourselves putting them places at them positions and them situations have to be controlled, coordinated, looked after and then you realize that everyone is actually sound. Yeah, every now and again you get a tiny percentage of people obviously that in any group of people that that that that might not go the way but then you get people who come and and and maybe they don't figure out who they are in real life and the martial arts humbles them a little tiny bit and then they're allowed be themselves, you know. So, that's one of my favorite things in it is seeing people come in. The expectations and then realizing that oh my god, it's not actually what I thought at all. We have a camera out there and it like it's on the screen basically but I see people coming into the corridor and they call like the nervous first day moment they come in and they do a little circle in the corridor and then they're like and then it's sometimes they're wound down and they're like, "Yeah, all right." And they're like, "Yeah, yeah, I'm just it's my first day." And they'll just go on in and show them around and they'll be like, "Oh, this is actually okay." And I think like anything radiant we we feel the energy of a place. You go in and you you feel the energy and I love that about here because even this morning I came in there and the energy feels great today in here, you know. Like the teams are training, people upstairs are there's kids single sessions going on, there's people hitting pads, there's someone making a cup of tea, few kids training with their one of the strength and conditioning coaches and uh yeah, the yoga's going on upstairs and with two little girls with me it's a dream. It's a dream really is but to create that community within our community as well I always call it. Yeah, and you've done a fantastic job here. Like I said, we were only here for a few minutes and we could just feel the the feel of it. So, congratulations to you and what you've created but talk to us about the the amateur scene years ago compared to now. What was it like then cuz I spoke to like someone recently he Will Fleury, Brian Moore who would have been around and they said it was the wild west compared to now. Talk to us about the biggest kind of evolutions like technique-wise, safety. What was it like back then compared to now? What would your biggest takeaways be? Um I think it was Wild West is a great way of saying it, you know? But um I feel everybody fought everybody. So, you just fought who was next, basically. I didn't know you could really like say no to a fight. Like obviously no to uh like I don't want to fight now because maybe I'm going on holidays or something. I didn't know it was like no, I don't want to fight that guy. Can you get me somebody else? I didn't know that was a thing for like many, many fights in it, you know? So, it was like who's next? Oh, him. Oh, [ __ ] Then we move forward, you know what I mean? And then um that feeling in your belly of like like that nerves, that feeling that gets you out of bed in the morning. I love that. I love the idea of like like when you wake up rest of the world is doing its thing and you have this mission, you have this idea of what it's doing and there's not a lot of financial gain, obviously. It was zero financial gain in it at that time. But it was pro-it was moving forward. It was the feeling that something was happening. Um and we always had that feeling that the team that I was involved in, obviously, it was an incredible energy between all of us. We had all of that had that feeling. Um and I really do believe that there was something something bigger at work there, you know? Now that I'm older um I'm not like superstitious, you know what I mean? But but if you told me at that time there was something bigger at work here, I would have thought like you're crazy. But now I do believe maybe it was, you know what I mean? Because a lot of different people went all different ways and are playing different roles in their lives and their communities and in the sport and stuff like that. And it's just mad to sit back and watch, you know? And just uh I'm happy I got what I wanted from the sport and uh and I'm still able to keep growing and like what's next? Yeah, no. I I Yes, you don't see the bigger picture when you go in the first and then like I said, as you get older, you see oh, this is what was happening all the time. But it it's it's good to enjoy the journey cuz a lot of fighters I find kind of want to get to the end goal and don't relish the journey. So, I think people should relish it as it goes through. But talk to us about your first pro fight. Like what was the emotions like going in? What how were you feeling? What was what was kind of going on in your mind leading up to it? Just like anything I think, you know, you're going in you're fighting the next guy who's in front of you. There was a lot of kind of like like MMA league and jiu-jitsu and stuff like that before. The MMA league was you get a good few fights there. It was kind of like the the version of like um the version of amateur at that time, you know what I mean? Which was great cuz you got people from all these people coming from kickboxing gyms and also you'd be looking at like that shots to see what maybe maybe maybe they're maybe they're into it and then obviously you had the jiu-jitsu scene where it would be a little bit smaller but basically you would be going in and just grappling as much as you can. I actually there's there's a clip on a on my phone and I'd kind of caught it the last few days I'd seen it and I'm like like shoulder choking somebody from guard. It's like it's cringey for me to watch it. I was a coach for him. Posture posture. You know what I mean? Where like I'm just like yeah I don't want to win. You know what I mean? That oneness, you know? So I think when you do walk out that that first time and um you feel like right thinking maybe I've been Shore Road. Conor fought the main event on that time. Uh I think Ring of Truth or Cage of Truth or something. It went from Cage of Truth cuz they actually got a cage. >> Yeah. We were Ring of Truth before but yeah it was a crazy time, you know? And then just all that like that will to win. I always wanted I just had that fire in me that that hooligan in me you know? That's where it came from. So on that day waking up in that mood I I loved it, you know? I loved the energy I loved maybe I didn't do as well in the gym as I probably did in in fights, you know? But I just went for it. I just went for it all the time. I'm just trying to separate you from from your consciousness or or in the way whatever which way I can in a way, you know? In the least violent way that you will ever attain. But that way I wouldn't say we said it was a violent person but I'm determined. I'm very determined redhead as my mother would say. So, uh Yeah, and I I think I determined and then training and getting after and being around the good good people people. Yeah, cuz I seen we we talked to Ken D'Avelyn and he told us a story that I can't I can't recall it, but he said the energy between the likes of you, Conor, Brian, and and then it was just a core group of people and like like I said, look at what everyone's gone on to do with D'Avelyn, yourself, uh Conor, Brian Moore, what he what he said separately, but there was a documentary I watched you in that I found out really really interesting, uh which is Fear. How did that come about and how did that make you feel? Cuz I I do what I do cuz I want to show the people behind the fire, because people MMA MMA sometimes doesn't have the best name in some aspects of to certain people, and I want to show what these guys do, what you do on a daily basis. Is the How what did it come about and how did you feel doing it? Did you want to show people the side of you outside the cage? I think like the opportunity just came to do it, um and a lot of it is about kind of like documenting uh now what what is going to happen, you know what I mean? Even say in in the role that I play now, it's like I want my kids to be able to look back and see like like like like my dad had it together, you know, my dad was like even maybe crazy sometimes, you know what I mean? He had little periods of that, but these little snippets are not our lives. It's the projection of all of them snippets together, you know? So, uh when I was doing that, I knew that we were doing something special as well. I know we're standing on the road and I said to Brian and all the guys like like in years to come we're going to be watching this and stuff like that. And I remember saying this at that time and and then it's just allowing people into your life I was always kind of like very open, uh very honest, maybe too honest sometimes and too open, maybe a little bit naive. I'm a little bit more understanding of how people can weaponize your words or weaponize you you are, but at the end of the day, that's who I am. Uh uh and that is a person. Uh you it's very important to stand in your own skin and your own shoes, you know what I mean? And I like to think I do that really really well. Um and I would I think it would be like hell on earth to have to live up to a certain persona or a certain person. So, when when I did like say come out and it kind of blew up, it was a real relief that the people like like accepted me for who I was, you know? Like I I could say it would be horrible to have to put on a character and then go back to being yourself. You know what I'm saying in a way? Like like I say say wrestling or something like that. That'd break my heart that would, you know? But to go out and be yourself and be accepted, that was a that was an incredible kind of feeling of like like I am I'm here. This is me, you know? So, uh the 10 hours and hour documentary is what you're talking about. It's me and Owen Roddy and it's a lot of you'll see old sparring footage and stuff like that. It's probably one of its first of its kind. So, if you haven't watched it, go and watch it. It's pretty cool. It's about 20 20 minutes long. Um but yeah, at the time something special was happening. Yeah, you'll see the the big double in the house in all Ireland but you're on the house in the States and the background of what it all was, you know? Laying in that foundation for like maybe the the embedded knowledge kind of stuff that comes out and that's basically people are fans, you know? And it's entertainment when it gets to that stage. So, it's me entertained. People do. I think I think Head and Heart was one of the qualities you described as a normal job. That's why you wanted to do MMA. You said doing a 9-5 in an office would be Head and Heart. That was one of the biggest takeaways uh that I took from that this is your life. This is who you are. You just said that about being yourself and I say that to fighters now. Don't try and be someone else cuz people will gravitate to you naturally. Like you said, how exhausting would it be to try and be two It's hard enough to be one person in today's day and age, never mind two people. But one of the one of the biggest career highlights obviously the first person to win on Irish soil. You'll see talk to us about that. Talk to us about just walking out to the Irish crowd. What that meant to you and and the reception because I just watched a couple of clips from the fans there over the past couple of days just to see and it looked incredible. Just from your perspective, tell me how that felt. It was madness. Yeah, it's a bit of a a bit of a weight on your shoulders cuz you knew exactly what was happening. And that the same again. It's like something bigger was at work. Like when you look at what happened on that day and stuff like that, it It like something was bigger at work, you know? Um and in that moment is like like history has its eyes on you now, you know what I mean? In a way and like you're going to jump and then the next person's going to jump and is everyone going to make it, you know what I mean? On to that next little level. And that was a big kind of like moment. I remember going into the the the the the the the the the three arena at the time and and I was trying to walk and stuff like that and just just feeling the energy of the walls. It was like that. Felt like that you were attached to the room and then nearly like I've spoken about this before like I've nearly out-of-body experience, you know? And then and on that day, I can imagine that that was an awful lot for uh Joseph Duffy at the time, you know, at that time, you know, because you've got to watch your first fight in the uh the Apex or even in the arena in America and it's like Yeah. I'll be there. He walked into what what could have been a main event, you know what I mean? Um and I remember when I got to finish the fight feeling that was relief fall out of my body and I did the Robbie Keane cartwheel cuz Robbie Keane comes from my area and um at that time I just wanted to be able to represent Ireland and you would have been people would realize that. Um and yeah, a few crazy things happened after that. So even Robbie Keane had messaged me and said, "I've seen you at the end of the main event. That's That's mental." You know, like as a kid growing up he was one of the footballers in the house in the estate and then um yeah, it was just strange or you were to sit back and watch it all unveil in front of the crowd then, you know? So uh and then just to walk off into the night, you know, and just realize like that wow, then I'll definitely be thinking about that on my deathbed, you know? That'll be a time that goes past and um even my own kids like they don't really realize, but I think they've seen a few things now, fights and they'll be like, "Is that you?" You know what I mean? Yeah, but where are your beard? You know what I mean? It's That's mental and stuff like that. So it's a it's a beautiful thing to see because it's just But if But if you don't jump in them moments, it's very easy to be like, "Oh yeah, but what if?" What if? That's the main thing. "Go for it." is what I say to people. "But what if we fail? What if we look stupid?" Whatever. What if you sit with this thought for the rest of your life thinking that you never did it? And And then no one will know how afraid you were or how secure you were or how intact you were because you didn't fail. You know what I mean? Excuse my language, but [ __ ] it. You're all right. You're all right. This is This is a This is PG, so But no, I I I like that as well. Cuz like I said, you don't want to be sitting on your deathbed going, "What if if like There's so many things I've done in life you failed." Probably same to say as failure is a lesson to to improve or maybe that wasn't for you. And and especially if you're a fighter at those moments like that moment when I watched that clip the other day. I couldn't even feel it watching that on a little phone. And I could just feel cuz you could hear the people around shouting. And I was like, "Oh, I can only imagine what that felt like." But obviously, your career came to an end in a way that was quite sad. How did that feel as a fighter? Cuz you really could like like you could have kept going on and on. And how how did that feel for that to come up in the manner that it did? It's just God has a plan. This is how it goes, you know what I mean? Unfortunately. Something in the back of my mind that I was worried about. And then fighting as well at the time. People used to be like, "But you're not worried?" And I'm like, "Yeah, but like at that stage I was like burning the boats." You know what I mean? The boats are gone. And And people do People think like think about death and sort of that. Death is coming for everybody. One day death will come for everybody. Um There's a few things that people don't think about in these times as well. They don't they think about like So people say like, "Where do you go after you die?" What about the question of where were you before you were born? You know? And maybe that would help you get back to that. Or is after death? Is there existence after death? You know? So maybe not life cuz life is what we think of it and what we we understand it to be. But like do does does it still exist? The energy, the the personality, the spirit, the soul that I am? Does that still exist after death, you know? So I've got to be able to look into a lot of this stuff because I've been able to push it forward where like like fighting, you know? Anything can happen. And And especially in my situation a little bit, maybe a little bit more edgy, you know? But like listen, it was my body, it's my soul, it's my life, and I feel like I should have been able to do move forward with it, you know? Because uh as I said, death comes for everybody, and and people die every day, unfortunately. Um and and then sometimes fortunately as well, because we know people who have suffered over time and stuff like that. People be like, "Listen, they're out of their peace now, you know?" And that kind of stuff. So, I just hope that all the decisions I made in my life that that God was somewhere in there somewhere agreeing with me along, and and maybe that was his plan to be like, "Right, like you've learned the lessons that you need from this road or that is taking the courage, the the the the humility, all of this kind of stuff, you know what I mean? And now I have a new plan for you, and I need you to move on now." And and at the time it's not easy to accept that stuff, but when you look back, you realize, you know what I mean? But I could have went anywhere with that, but I got this big surge of energy after that happened as well, like where um just like I like what am I going to do what am I going to do now? You know, rather than like that dip, that like sitting on a bar stool like moping and feeling sorry for myself, you know? Like that's just not in me. Yeah, no. And you're right, too, because I always say to fighters after a loss is like it's how you come back. Like it's always your resilience, and that's what you're talking about, right? So, that happened to you, your resilience. So, and I says, "Energy, and I can go out and do this." And we'll get onto obviously the gym and the book. Cuz I seen you put up about your book it's about a year or 2 years ago um that someone from Mexico wrote you and was like, "I read your book." How did the the the book come about writing it? And how does it feel that there's you're not just renowned in Ireland, because like that you're probably one of the most loved renowned coaches and personalities in Ireland, in my opinion. Well, to me, yeah, or anyways. Um but the for these people worldwide to write, cuz I remember you saying, "This is mental. Some lad mess or maybe Brazil it was." You were like, "He's reading my book." How did the book come about? And how does it feel for people to reach out to you and tell you that your story has meant something to them? And that's a big thing of the book was it was actually um Paul Foran he sat me down with Richie Beckett, and the idea was like, "You should do a book basically." Richie Barrett wanted to to to to write an autobiography and we sat down and yeah, we just sat and we kicked off straight away basically. The idea was a few of the stories that I'd been telling kind of like the the the political road was opening up at that same time and writing a book is tough. It's not easy. But my main reason was for it for people who are going to write autobiographies and all that, don't do it for money. It's no money. No money, lots of hours, lots of reading, lots of going over it, correcting, changing and then trying to make sure that everything's right because sort of people in there as well, you know what I mean? And you want to make sure that the story is told right and as correct as you can. But and I think you can get it in pretty close but it's very hard to get it you need to make it needs to be a book too, you know what I mean in a way? So um yeah, I wanted people to be able to say maybe in in places like like young men in my area and women in my own area and maybe social settings like we said a group very working class and maybe I don't know people who had if someone was in prison or somebody was was suffering in their life at that time and that would find their way and they would read that book and that would I got my wish with that because I've had people all over this planet send me saying like, "I read your book. I just found it by chance. I found it by distance. My brother gave me this or I was on holidays and my dad had the book you know and just different ways of how people have read it and they've felt they felt they've seen the story, you know what I mean? They just think like I'm and I could I could write another book, I'm pretty sure, you know? Like I could write another book, I'm pretty sure. Um we we we we got one of my good friends, Father Martin basically. Yeah, he's been the priest of my school but he's one of my friends and not like I'm not going to go to church kind of spiritual stuff like that. I mean really have my own relationship with God. I found a lot more in the last little years of it and but even him some of the stuff he he I said to him basically, he's like like that's like that's very interesting, you know what I mean? But um with the with the book when when I wrote it he was like, "Oh, I don't know about this. I don't know about this." You know what I mean? But then even after I had like released the book and it happened and he was like, yes, like you're coming into your creative part of your life now, you know, in these years now with things cuz I'm speaking for me about other stuff and like like would this be a cool screenplay? Would this you know just I'm very I'm 27. I'm sport old but I'm life young. Yeah, no, exactly. And and I find I'm I'm I'm a little bit older and I find now my creativity has come with doing stuff like this and to be able to articulate and write down things that I think and stuff like that is very good. But when you get a message from someone from another country, does that just like hit you and go like that's a good feeling when you get a message like that that you've potentially changed someone's life or made them feel something. How does that make you feel as a human being cuz you are a man of the people? I like helping people. So I would say I'm a like a helper soul if you must, you know what I mean? So in a like in this realm of like like helping people I feel really good with energy. You can feel someone and be like, are you okay? And they'll be like, yeah, yeah, no, actually I'm not. And I get that, you know what I mean? And then I try to help people where they are. Sometimes helping people is showing them how to help themselves. You know, you can't force somebody into being happy. You can't If somebody goes around talking about how how bad their life was, how bad their relationship was, how bad it It's very hard to say like, well, you need to leave that in the past, you know what I mean? Uh there's a great saying, there's no future in the past. And you need to find that. No matter what you've came through, it's probably been sent to get you strong for where you're heading or where you're going, you know? If you want a flower spray for rain. If you want strength, pray for hard times. Um and that's the kind of thing you're getting and then when you get it, if you can't see that you need to you need to try find that, you know, you need to try find like what was that lesson? What was this? And people get the lessons but they keep on running away. Oh, it was just a lesson and they move on but they don't take the lesson out of it. People win, say for in sport, and they just move on. People lose and they probably get the the growth in them lost moments that they game, because they realized that like like they got checked and then they they need to move. They need to figure this in analysis and move on. Yeah? If you win, you could be standing there in the middle of the cage and he puts up your hand rather than your hands. That little moment can change everything, whether you're going to go on this like spiral probably downhill into darkness or you just go up and you just move on to the next one, but you don't elaborate with the whole kind of situation was, you know? So, uh it's very important to to understand that. I think within yourself um yeah. Yeah. And I think I said that fight as well. I think Gary Rooney was one who said to me obviously you have good relationship with Gary. He said he looks at his face even when he wins, cuz he says it's like there's always something you're going to find. I think quite a lot of two or I won. Let's go on to the next one. So, >> That's life deals them. Yeah. Well, uh talk to us about obviously we'll we'll talk a little bit about politics of it, opening the gym and how does it feel now for you to be a coach? Obviously, I know a lot of your fighters on the scene. Was that an easy transition for you? Cuz you would have coached in SBG, I would have presumed. So, when you knew you were going to get your own gym and you were going to be the the head coach, how did that feel to to bring through this next generation of fighters? Cuz you've got quite a few. Well, I just I've always been coaching. I've always been coaching. I coached I coached football. I coached everything down to even as kids. I've done all like my FAW badges. I've done a lot of I've done a lot of uh real people talk about CLA now, the constraints led approach basically, uh which a lot of people go on about in sport and all like, which is in every other sport with like like basketball, football. I've done my rugby badges. I've done uh teaching kids with disabilities, all this kind of stuff. I was very lucky to be able to do some really really good uh qualification courses. Um and um I don't leisure management and and yeah, I always wanted to be a coach. And then when in the team, I always wanted to coach as well. I always was second in corner and for hundreds probably of corners basically um uh persuaded John and persuaded other people as well. Uh and learned always learning people saying, "Why do you drive to the north? Why are you?" Because I want to learn. Like this is like an apprenticeship, you know? I have a chance to learn here how it works. People's emotions are all different ins and outs and There's my fighters will tell you as well, there's always a story of like something will pop up. For example, I was supposed to fight one time in Beirut and the fight was canceled because a war broke out. And then your other guy was heading out to fight the boy and I was like, "Oh no, no, no, I've been here before." Fight went because cuz a war broke out. It's like You need to grab that little bit of experience and give it back to somebody and then uh it's a bit crazy, you know what I mean? So, um as a coach Well, that that's always been my kind of role is to and then to create an environment that people can can grow in. I think that's an important part as a coach um and you can't like you can't flog people to train. It's one of the hardest sports in the world. You might train as hard of and like harder than anything and still might not work out for you for circumstances, you know what I mean? But when you do see coming in, you see coming in and they have that little bit of a like a They have a personality. They have a little bit of a You know what I mean? And that's that's great. And then all of a sudden they have a work ethic. That's that That person could probably go anywhere. They had certain capabilities. Your whole country's full of uh gyms basically and make it to a very, very high level. Um because they have the both of it. You have Then you get a guy that comes in and then it's sometimes the course being really, really good is part of it cuz nobody wants to fight you then. You know? So, but if you're really, really good and you have a personality, people are like, "Well, they will win or they will lose." We get a little bump up off them, you know what I mean? So, I think there's a lot of that in the in today's sport rather than like fighting who's next, you know? Uh there's guys in the island I don't think that they're fighting each other. Maybe they should fight each other. Now, I get it if the two of them are sizzling up at the same time and they're both going at them. Let them go. Let them move out of the country. Let them do that. But if the both of them can't fight fights in the world, or they're struggling, or trying to find just the right fight, you know? I don't know about that, you know? So. Yeah, and you talked about it just earlier that it was just who's next, who's next. And obviously I've experienced it matchmaking and it's from talking to you and I know this from back then it was just like you talk to fight. You went like Kieran Brady versus Georgie Grozer. What a fight that was to me for you or you know what I'm saying? Like they they they were two of the hottest things going. Do you know what I'm saying? And that's why I love dealing with you is because I'm like does this person unless it's like a mismatch. But I always look for even yours like yeah yeah tell them yeah like I tried to get Georgie Master against so many people and it was just no no no and I was like Paddy I I don't think this is going to happen unfortunately. But one of the things I I like to ask those because obviously you have the technical side and I know what potentially your answer is going to be. Do coaches need to have that personal side because there's ups and downs and highs and lows that like don't want to fight those down that you can throw the arm around your shoulder because a lot of coaches are just technique driven. Do you know what I'm saying? They don't have that personal side. You seem to do. Do you think it's essential for a coach to have that to have the person grow as a fighter and a person? Well, I think that's what it's all about basically is is growing people into better people having an area where people turn like a tour space is what they call it to grow no matter what level it is. The most important people in your gym are just the average citizens. They're just the average people who basically come with the trainer. They're they're the ones who enable it for everybody. They're they they're the parents of their kids, the people who who literally are the life of your gym, you know? Um and then you have people who will rise out of that and there's a little small percent of it and they will be the people who want to go on and they want to fight and they want to have bigger aspirations and stuff like that. And I think you can have that as well. But I don't think I think if you if you put say everybody together who's all chasing the goal at the same time that can be I reckon that's a bit of mad energy at times, you know what I mean? Because like you're getting a little and I'm getting a little and everyone starts kind of fighting each other where if you can separate everybody into like their own things and they can train together and they can train with other gyms and spar and everybody builds together and the whole village moves together, I I think that's a great way for it, you know what I mean? Um that's what I try to create. I do feel that a coach has to have the obviously technical ability, the your ability of like of what's going on. And there's some great coaches out there, you know? There's some really, really good coaches out there. And there's all different kind of approaches. My approach is that like I'll handle your war. I'll be here for all of the sessions. I will create the sessions. I'll make them around your fight. I'll break your fighters down. I'll tell the future sometimes in your in your game plans. You'll be like, "How did you know that?" It's like just watching this for a long time, looking at what their opponent's personality sometimes you can tell a lot from as well. Will will they will they will they break when it gets hard? Are they tough, you know? Um these are a lot of things that have to be there, you know? And you have to be the one saying sometimes the stuff that people don't want to hear, you know? You have to be the one saying like this is very important now, you know? Like and but you need to not care about winning either. So it's that thing cuz you get too stiff and you're too uh well, what if I lose? You have to fight not to lose. You have to fight like to win, you know? You can't fight not to lose. Yeah. >> about energy it does, you know? And then and then you're not enjoying it. You see him turn around the corner and he just comes out and he's skipping. Whoa, you know? The energy gets them up. But you're like, "My job's kind of done there now." You just have to go and let him at it for now. Yeah, no. I I like I see you at at nearly every show that I'm at, whether it's novices thing and you you always you always come out of your way to say hello to me or whatever and shake my hand and I really appreciate it. Um politics, we'll just touch basically on politics. I can see why you got into it cuz you're a man of people. You've talked about in the sense you're helping people. Is that is that why you got in for us average citizens now, especially there's a lot going on with the protests um as well and it's hard for the average citizens just to live the cost of living. Did you get into try and help people? Like just the average like I said, you and Robbie Keane from the same area. The average people that might not have these opportunities if they get buried under like cuz people are getting quite quickly forgotten about in in some of these areas. If you keep people fighting for resources, they'll just fight each other and that's what happens, you know? It's been the old divide and conquer for a long time or divide and rule. Um and that's what has all Reason why I get into it, basically, politics was I kind of got like about 7 8 years ago kind of fed up of like like why is this happening? Why did That's That's ridiculous. And you can see easy ways. And then you're just told, "That's just the way it is, like, you know?" And it was the homeless business that that got me, basically, in intrigued in politics. Because they realized, "If we are not solving this If we solve this situation tomorrow, homelessness goes away tomorrow, a lot of people are going to be out of jobs. So, we're not to create an industry here. And then you create the so many of them. You look at the amount of NGOs in this country, the amount of government-funded things. Do we create graduates or do we create people who are undergraduates and then go into work in an NGO? And then they have to stay They can't speak their mind. This country has no problem like canceling you or whatever it is. And And to be straight, we are led We are led by the weakest among us when it comes to it. We're led by people who are proven lawyers who have turned on their their their their their heels, no matter what has happened. You will You will get me on air and talking about like a backwards idea of sovereignty. Then the next sentence they'll be talking about sovereignty in another country and how it's so important. And And we are not to listen to this stuff. Um a lot of this stuff gets gets hidden, gets under investigations and lessons being learned. And I am learning still in this in this But I feel that I'm I'm playing a role and I'm moving forward in as he said in another place that maybe I was prepared for this. And And I will always be honest. I'll be I'll keep my integrity. People go, "But you can't fix that." But what I can do is I can I can have a place where my kids will always look back and go, "My dad never rolled over. My dad never Or my granddad Or my great-granddad. He never rolled over. That paddy who'll have the bird, you know?" You know what I mean? But I know that they I'll put stuff on public record. When I put stuff on public record, I have put stuff on public record that people would have been like, "That's crazy. That's madness." And now them people will kind of look away from me because they don't even want to get into that conversation. I have pushed the phone access that's safe. I have said stuff about uh during COVID with PCR tests and and then you have this new wage thing of like like you're far right, you're far left. I had a I had a a guy come up to me the other day and it was like you're not um far right, but you're kind of starting to sound a little bit and you mightn't know it just yet. So, I said to him, "What is this? Is this asymptomatic far right?" You know what I mean? Like and some people are like like a double pissing the garden and they will call it right and believe in right and left. They don't believe in all of this stuff. Uh the reason why is because something can happen and this side agrees with it and you agree with them. And then it changes and then it it's on this side, but now you're on this side, so you can't actually disagree with because now this side will call you say you're on this side and this side will say you're on this side. And it's like there's no sides. The only side there is is common sense and the people working together. And this country deserves it. Ireland has never invaded anybody. We have helped build the world. We need to focus. We need to get five the 10 issues and we need to lock into that. What happens is we all shift. You have a conversation with somebody and you need to be talking about about housing, about say immigration, about government corruption and spending, expenditure. Like why what's happening here? Um the oil the oil off the coast that we just gave away. There's a great thing about Norway. If you look at Norway basically, Norway went from a fishery to like a very very rich country and they don't have the problem problems that we have, you know? So, um if money could solve housing all these crises crises are maintained. This is what I feel. Like the homeless crisis that got me in the politics and we go back around to the start of this. If you solve the All of this money has gone into homeless services, but it's just got worse. All of this money has gone into housing and privatizing of housing and it's just got worse. So, the the then you have the the hospital crisis. Do you know what I mean? You have the You have all of these and these goes back into history. We go back to mother baby homes and all. You will see there was switches made there for profit and it's more profitable to move people there and do this this way and so there's history on it. It's not going to change until ordinary people stand up and take take the helm. And I can do that. Of course you can. You bring 100 euro to your local council and you run for your area. And well well at least I tried you can say. But you need to keep your issues with dealing with these issues and we'll have that conversation and some people should have conversations about like I don't know say 5G towers and stuff like that. And I don't I'm not like wait well look that's mental. I'm like I that not now we have no means to change this right now. And if that is the case and someone presents the evidence and they're not so crazy well look listen to them then, you know? But now it's like no, that sounds crazy we're not listening to you and if you say anything you just crazy you off into the corner. And that makes me very suspicious, you know? Yeah and I've seen that shirt years. There's a lot of things you would have said a couple of years ago and now people are turning around and they're looking at them. This whole left and right thing what I don't like is this is something that's only popped up in the last two or three years and it is a division because if you would have said that to me I'd say I'd sit somewhere in the middle. I agree with some from this side but I don't even like saying the left and right because like I said we're all people. There's right and wrong. That's all there is really. That's That's a great way of looking at it. >> There's right and wrong and like I said there is the corruption of Leo Varadkar. I I'm not going to say it now cuz I if I'm wrong you get called out on it but I think he said something about immigration years ago which completely changed to the to to now. So what people were saying was happening now and he was saying no that's not the case they're not economic migrants. Whereas if you go back he was talking about coming over with the black briefs from the UK saying they were from certain places and it's mad to see how it flip flop but no I I think you're doing a really good thing like I'll always get behind you. I'll always share your stuff and I think it's cuz it's you're so people like they they gravitate towards you cuz you're are of the people and and I think that's why you do get the support that you do. But look, I'm going to let you go, but I'm going to ask you one or two more >> just elaborate on just what you said there, you are right on the idea of the flicking back and forward and they they see the immigration situation that has happened in Ireland as well is a huge way to dividing and distract as well, but it is a real thing. It's an absolute real thing and it was created it's another business like the homeless business. So billions of euro is now being put into centers basically that are exempt under So they they change of use basically if you change a factory, you get to change the use. But it's only last until the 31st of December 2028, which is 12 months away from the 2030 election. So all of this planning runs out. So all of these centers basically planning changes and they will have no planning on them. And now we're talking about super centers. I've been asking this question for a long long time. What what are you going to do when the planning runs out? How are you going to just liquidate? Where are all them people going to go? What's going to happen here? So they already must have known that. Hold on, we'll just exempt all the planning laws and we'll build these big new super centers. But who's going to run the super centers now? People are going to be appointed them contracts to run them and they're going to make billions and billions of euro. So if you are saying like hold on, I think they're creating a big business here. Same with the homeless business. They're like give you're you're you're you're this direction, you're that direction. >> Yeah. That needs to stop. That's just an observation and if you make an observation and you're wrong, okay, sorry about that, I was wrong. Yeah. But we don't do that now. But now we're looking for the perfect people. Like in 1992, I heard that you said this or you said that, you know what I mean? And then but in 1992, look at what was going on in our country. We still had like Magdalene Laundries. We still had and the same parties were the ones Yeah. >> who were overseeing this happening. Oh, but don't we look at that, don't let that get in the way, you know? And it's like I'm sick of that. I'd rather die free and speaking my mind and taking a risk that maybe sometimes I'm wrong. There's times where I've spoken, maybe I've I just wasn't naive. Like, surely they don't mean that. Surely they don't like They don't They don't want to take me up like that. I don't mean that. We're actually going to take you up like that. That's exactly how we're going to take you up. And now I'm a little bit more smarter to understand that, you know? So, I know when my kids look back they'll be like Yeah, Dad had a hat on, you know what I mean? He was He was me granddad or whatever, great-granddad. That's what we need to be looking at now and um that comes from us all. Exactly. There was I'm going to just one point to what you said there, like I think there's one family that's made quarter of a billion off the the immigration. I think it's from CD something like two years Yeah, yeah, yeah. And a quarter of a billion or something off the past couple of years. Imagine what that would do for everyone. Quarter of a billion of taxpayers' money. The government spends money like it's their money. They raised the wages. Like, we're going to raise the minimum wage. And I get it. But the businesses take that up. Yeah. >> Yeah. But they give themselves a pat on the back. They gave 40 million to Ukraine. They give themselves a pat on the back. That's our money, you know? Uh right now the fuel cost The fuel cost is going on in them. The men and women are writing what they're standing for. There's like 60% of a liter of of every liter is getting taken by the government. And we have surplus. We have bank accounts full of it. And there was a time like this in the country before and it was They called it famine, but it was actually the the genocide. They were storing food, they were holding food, but the people were dying, the people were suffering. And now we are hearing it again. We are storing money, holding it for a rainy day. It's raining, yeah? Let's go, you know? We Uh the idea of not digging our own oil and all and stuff like this for cuz the Green Party were involved. It goes deep. It could go for days. And I don't want to blabber on here, you know? But uh but I really do think the only way we fix this is if the industries um have a huge stake in the seats in a in in in in Leinster House. And the councils are ran by the people who are in the community who have proven integrity, and they won. You might get it right the first time, but there's many different groups I realize when I'm like, these people are earning These are like Batman. They're well organized. You understand what I'm talking about. But then sometimes they think when when you went to the council, oh it's all much more complicated. It's not. It's not. It's made more complicated. >> Made more complicated. It's like like you said, if if you said something wrong you'd hold your hands up, whereas now certain people or members of the government will try and I've made a mistake, but I'm going to blame you for this mistake. It's it's your fault, not not our fault. But I know we're under a bit of time here, so I'm going to let you go, but I'm going to ask you just one or two questions. What's your biggest What was your biggest moment as a fighter, and what was your favorite fight as a fighter? Um probably UFC Dublin. I like I like Boston as well. Boston was a great I had a great performance there as well. I was very lucky I didn't get the finish there to be honest, but being in Boston, and all being that they didn't take it out of Ireland, but still felt like Ireland, and that was a really really special one, you know what I mean? Like that. And even UFC Dublin, the one that didn't go my way, you know? I got to say Okay, put on me shoulders, I'll go over there, I'll have a go at it, you know what I mean? And then and I went down, and the people still caught me even though I fell, and it was that was really amazing feeling, you know, to be like wow, like standing here in the wind and hearing what I'm trying to say, and and then I was able to muster up a really really good kind of like how I was feeling that way, you know? So, yeah. And if someone says in years to come with all said and done you're finished coaching, and you're sitting there, you're relaxing, and someone says, "Paddy Holohan, what is a word or a phrase you would like people to associate with your name and you as a person?" They'd probably say patience. Patience. They're trying to get me to be patient in there. Patience basically, or the idea of like uh that that's what I'm trying to get people to to be to be able to be see it, to be able to to be patient in there. But I don't think I'll ever stop coaching. I'll always be having my my son's tragedy to learn and my neighbor's sons and I'll always be involved. I love watching people grow from all the way up. It's a it's a sensational thing to watch. It's like planting a tree. Yeah, well, one of the things I always remember is head position. That's all I hear from you when I'm in the corner. I can I want to hear you on the UCE and say I'm usually sitting just across the kitchen table. But look, on on terms of politics, I'd probably maybe would like to do something with you in a longer version and and probably go into that. But for now, this was a bit about you and your life as a person. Thank you so much for your time. Is there anything you want to say before we we No, thank you so much. Yeah, got to plant a few flowers in the community now with a few of the the great women up that way as well. Yeah, so I'm going to bring the kids along as well. So yeah, it's a good day. We're blessed. Thank God. Perfect. Thank you so much, Paddy. >> Thank you so much. Cheers. >> Have a good day, all right? Legend.