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presenting the inter UFC middleweight

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is oh [ __ ] I know when it's all said and

done when I'm dead my name will be

remembered in history why does that

matter guys like us we're not meant to

fit in we're meant to stand out but I've

felt it it's addicting I need to do

something that's going to just tame the

Beast if not it's going to seep in other

ways I wouldn't want it to in my life

are you happy I think 2013 was my Great

Depression I wasn't able to fight and

then I just felt like I don't deserve it

this world one thing I've seen they'll

build you up and then tear you down

people naturally just want to see you

fail I had to take a hard look at myself

and I put that pressure on myself like

watch this I don't feel like I have

anything to hide I put things out there

that I probably shouldn't sometimes but

that's my way of being vulnerable when

I'm just like this is

me so without further Ado I'm Steven

Bartlett and this is the D of CEO I hope

nobody's listening but if you are then

please keep this to

yourself Israel yes thank you for being

here massive inspiration for me in so

many ways and I've watched your your

rise over the years with with ins

inspiration and um admiration for so

many reasons reason number one we have a

I guess a shared Heritage in the fact

that we're both from I'm Nigerian you're

Nigerian as well and sir and your story

as I read it it sounded so bizarrely

like my story in so many ways and then

the other I mean I could there's an

exhaustive list of reasons why you've

inspired me personally but then seeing

what you've done with yourself as a

brand as a marketeer again inspired me

in a completely different way and I'll

never forget and I played it for my

girlfriend last night entrance against

Robert Whitaker the first time the first

time and I'm like this guy is breaking

the rules yeah the entrance um for

me that was uh I felt like that was my

way of staying away from the fight in a

way cuz I know that night Robert was

just like stewing over the fight yeah he

was sleeping he wouldn't no not he

wasn't sleeping I'm sure he was just

worried about the fight thinking about

the fight just thinking about but for me

I was literally I fell asleep with my

phone in my hand watching my rehearsals

for that entrance like this is going to

look sick replay probably replayed it

like 60 times the night before and I

fell asleep with my phone in my hand

watching that just the rehearsals so

it's was like there was no paralysis

over analysis I was just like focused on

how sick that was going to look and it

was fun for me it was my way of

authentically expressing myself with my

roots and dancing and just being

creative so when it was time to show out

you know I showed out you know and it

was my show this time like you know um

when Robert and Kelvin gum's fight fell

out the morning of the fight before 2

34 um that was in that was in Melbourne

yeah R La arena in Melbourne as well I

wanted to do an entrance and and Dana

was like uhuh no allow no can't have it

this and that so when it was 243 I was

like look this is my show I'm doing this

entrance I don't give a [ __ ] what you

think and yeah I made sure I did that

and look how it turned out it was iconic

and you realize though because when I I

remember must have been 3:00 a.m. here

when I was watching that I'm thinking

this guy's put more pressure on himself

that he didn't need to put on himself he

has to win now exactly I love that I

like to gamble but I like to gamble at

the highest level I like to gamble with

like the biggest Stakes you know cuz I

feel like whenever I get that win over

that and I it just it just feels that

much better and I feel

like I don't know you just there a

feeling I I don't know how to describe

it but it's just cuz you know people are

watching that just like [ __ ] like

especially those who don't like me like

[ __ ] hope this [ __ ] gets dropped I

hope this guy gets knocked the [ __ ] out

you know it thinks he's the man walking

out dancing all that [ __ ] so you know

people naturally just want to see you

fail they're like this guy thinks he's

that good on a like that was 57,135

people in attendance and I put that

pressure on myself like watch this and

yeah for me there's something special

about just overcoming that that just

gives me that that

Rush speaking of entrances then you were

born in Nigeria um as I said I'm half

Nigerian and then you moved to New

Zealand what what was the reason why

your parents decided to take you out of

Nigeria and move you to another country

I think it was um initially better

recognized tesy education cuz you know I

mean when I'm in New Zealand I sometimes

I'll be you know talking to a cab driver

and you find out that he was a medical

doctor back in Sri Lanka or back in

India and then moved over to you know NZ

or the Western World for quote unquote

better life and their their

qualifications aren't recognized in the

Western World you know but they're a

surgeon or something crazy back home so

then they have they're forced to take

these um I guess milal jobs

or start up a new business and yeah they

wanted us to have better recognized test

education yeah worked out all right for

me but you were really smart anyway in

in Nigeria when you got when you got to

New Zealand you were smarter than the

class remember you saying that they

thought you were yeah but I was like the

I was in form one I remember like it was

um we're doing two times table and I was

just

like yeah I knew the song in my

head finished I remember when I everyone

was

like who like and I I'm I'm the runt of

our people trust me like I'm not the

smartest you know kid in the class back

in Nigeria so when that happened I was

just

like what's up with these kids like this

is easy this is light work I did four

one actually three times so I did it

first time when I was 10 years old in

Nigeria Bell's boarding school and then

when I moved to Ghana for about a year

and a bit I had to do no about yeah a

year and a bit I had to do primary six

and then form one again and then when I

moved to New Zealand I had to do form

one again then I SKT form two and then

went straight to form three cuz it was I

just kept they were like oh he's too

young you know he can't in each country

was like oh he's too young to be in form

one so yeah uh but I wasn't like I

wasn't the most academically gifted kid

I'm smart but I'm smart in different

ways yeah when um when I was reading

about your story The the other part that

really resonated with me was we we came

from Botswana and we moved to a place

called Plymouth in Dev and KL which is

like a Farmland it's like if you go yeah

4 hours into the the end of the country

that way where it's all cows and Fields

and all white people yeah that's where

we moved and we're the only black family

my mom's Nigerian yeah and um that

process of trying to figure out why I

was different to my CL classmates and

why we were poorer and all these I

always said I was I never realized I was

black till I left Nigeria yeah and it's

not that I didn't know my skin tone it's

just like I never knew like it was a

problem you know I never knew like

people would you know I guess

discriminate against me because of my

skin tone and it was weird for me it was

really weird for me to kind of like

almost like another type of culture

shock like uh the one I used was an

example was this kid who kept on riding

by my house in the weekend from school

and we just like Hur insult s you know

at me at my house in my house in the

weekend he took time out of his [ __ ]

day on a Saturday like go back to your

country black and and then drive by

again say oh you black this you blah

blah blah I was like I liter I was just

like did I do something to this kid I

know his name even I remember his name

not his last name but I was just like

what the [ __ ] like what did I do to this

kid to like did I did I do something and

then that Monday was it the Monday or

Tuesday the following week he pulls up

to me he like what a black boy and I was

having a bad day already and this is

after like lunchtime when it was about

to end and he pushed me and I remember

just wailing on him just threw him to

his C block beat his ass through his B

Block beat his ass and I just I was

crying the whole time just beating him

up and I wasn't a fighter back then but

I was just fed up and pissed off like

who the [ __ ] is this kid like first of

all you harass me all weekend and then

at school you're harassing me yeah he

never did that again after that yeah

what was your relationship like with

your race at that point cuz I I got to

be honest started like relaxing my hair

and I started I did and I was trying to

I was trying to be white I was trying to

be fit in like there was a point even

like I start to try and talk like the

Kiwi kids I try to like use the same

slang I still do but like just cuz I'm

part of the culture but like I really

try to like fit in fit in and I don't

what you mean about relax I was relaxing

my hair cuz I thought it was cool you

know it wasn't because I was trying to

fit in but there was bits and pieces

well I was just like man cuz everyone

just wants to belong you know especially

as kids you know you just want to be

part of a tribe or fit in but then yeah

when it took me a while to realize that

I wasn't meant to fit in like guys like

us we're not meant to fit in we meant to

stand out So eventually I had to kind of

stand it took me a while to kind of

learn how to stand 10 toes deep in my

own light but yeah I was there at one

point you know trying to fit in and

trying to make sure

almost like even during lunchtime if I

wanted to go to the TU shop right I

would take the long way I would like a

rat or Mouse I would Scurry along the

edges of the school so I don't get a

[ __ ] with and it would take longer twice

as long three times as long but at least

I didn't have to just walk through and

get [ __ ] with you know on the way to

the Talk Shop or something cuz I spent

most of my time in the library during

lunchtimes um I think in form three yeah

just cuz safe in the library what do you

mean by getting [ __ ] with what would

happen if you walk directly to the Tuck

Shop I know some I just throw an Apple

at you or you know something stupid like

someone might run up behind you in town

down trap you you know uh or trip you or

just chase you try to beat you up for

fun and I know kids are stupid you know

you I was in a boy school as well so you

know it's all these boys

with I know like just pent up emotions

and unresolve Trauma and don't know what

to do with the new found hormones and

it's just

like like little chimps and yeah see

that's s i I know yeah definitely so

it's like yeah uh we didn't know I for

me as just yeah as an adult now I I look

at it I'm just like man we didn't know

what the [ __ ] we were doing like who who

led us like who let us

outside you know but um it's all part of

the learning experience I feel it's all

part of growing pains like I know when I

have kids I know exactly what I'm going

to tell them uh how to handle themselves

if if you know what I mean what are you

gonna tell them well one of the ones is

hit hard hit first to be honest like I

don't care like this whole thing I

remember like you know oh don't don't

hit them first you you know like if they

touch you then you I'm like nah [ __ ] all

that cuz the first punch matters the

first punch matters so if someone like

you know is talking to me and pushing me

around pushing me around smack them like

they'll learn first like firsthand like

okay don't [ __ ] with that kid even if

you might win at least he's not going to

be a like make it not easy for them to

[ __ ] with you you know what I mean so

that's one thing I'm I'm definitely

going to teach my kids it's like to just

make sure you're [ __ ] unfuckable with

yeah when I look back at my early years

and you know having studied a bit of

childhood psychology I realized how like

formative and important those ear years

are and we we're basically as adults

like living out the stories we told

ourselves about ourselves as kids and

seeking validation from all the things

that childood traas and yeah what so

what what was left behind as you became

an ad lot a lot one thing okay I want to

go deep

definitely being a kid that moved from

Niger to New Zealand right and trying to

fit in I ended up being a people pleaser

as a kid I didn't realize that because

I'm trying to fit in I'm trying to

please everyone and then you don't

realize how that follows you into adult

life so there was times and it's still

once in a while You' be surprised it

rares its ugly head but I'm able to

identify that monster now and I'm just

like right I know what that is boom and

I kill it straight away so I've learned

that over years though but then that

people please are still still a part of

me you know cuz it was a way of

surviving you know I'll just make sure

these guys all cool don't [ __ ] with me I

you know and I just kind of appease them

yeah that's one thing definitely that

that was the result of just I guess

trying to fit in it's just people

pleasing and it's not it's not the best

way to live it's not the best way to

live because you can't make everyone

happy and someone's always going to find

something wrong with what you're doing

or how you're living or whatever so yeah

I it took me a long time but eventually

I got to the point where I just don't I

really don't care what anyone else

thinks apart from those who I give a

[ __ ] about I care what they think but

anyone else who is's not really I guess

I don't have any emotional attachment to

[ __ ] them like Bernie ma said [ __ ] them

yeah and when you say people pleasing to

be to be to be specific in the examples

of you being a people pleaser do you

mean on social media or like to the

publicated or you mean no no before

social media this is when I was a kid

like in high school people pleas IE in

the sense of like you know um son ask

you to do something you might not want

to do it but you'll do it just cuz you

just just sure you want to fit in cuz

that guy you know he you know I guess

he's one of the first 15 jocks who play

rugby or whatever and you just like oh

you know I I I'll do what he says just

cuz you want to get that it's almost

like clout or social currency you know

what I mean so yeah things like that but

um yeah it took me a long time like I

said to learn and realize those things

this is a lot of self-reflection years

of self-reflection and realizing because

a lot of people don't even realize

they're running on

old you know childhood trauma like a lot

of everyone is so you have to find a way

to sit down and just access that with

yourself through therapy is one of the

best ways and then you just work it's

like reverse engineering like where does

that come from you know why why am I

like that why am I why do I have that

attitude why do I think like that and

then yeah you and your therapist kind of

work that back and realize you know

where that comes from as I was reading

through your story and you know you sit

here as this unbelievable UFC champion

and then as I read through your story

there's all these little subtle hints of

what almost sounds a bit like impostor

syndrome at certain times like this guy

not believing that he's deserving of

what he's achieved and it's it really

sits in contradiction to the guy that

did that back flip coming out against

Rob wh so I'm like where did that come

from tell me about that

um I think some of just same thing

trauma childhood trauma some of that

stuff um I've dealt with it very well

now to the point where it's like there

was time s um I Ed an example when uh I

think who I I was speaking the Forbes

not long ago and we we dived into this a

little bit so when I when I beat Rob

right I wanted my gifts to myself I

bought myself a McLaren 720s nice

and I um the first day I got it I

remember I drove to the gym um this is

at Peak you know time at the gym maybe

six 5:30 p.m. or whatever and I didn't

park it at the front of the gym I parked

it at the back of the gym and I show my

teammates like my close close actual

teammates not the people that go to the

gym cuz sometimes a lot of people like

to be like I'm M Ro teammate it's like

no you just go to the same gym as me

doesn't mean we're teammates so I parked

it at the back of the gym and then after

my teammates finished working I was like

yo come check this out and I showed them

and I was like like [ __ ] look at this

[ __ ] like cuz they know how the work I

put in I work hard but then I'm like man

I'm not the I'm not the best student in

the gym so imagine if I can do this

imagine what they can do so I kind of

just just to share the share my joy and

then you

know unfortunately especially in New

Zealand there's this tall puppy syndrome

and is that green ey monster and I've

been that kid so it's easy for me to

recognize it on other people when you've

when you've had it with yourself um so

someone said something you know I must

be nice and I started to hear Rumblings

of I know it happens uh you for me it

was the same thing I was just like man I

didn't expect that from someone that I

cared about to to have that kind of

rhetoric like uh

and then I heard like you know maybe you

know like other people they're more

deserving people what I know yeah and

they kind of just piss having people

yeah at the gym because they work harder

than me right right right and like I

said I didn't if I wanted to flex I

would have parked it in the front of the

gym like you know look at my new Whip

and just to like Flex and just show off

or whatever but no I parked in the back

of the gym where only like seven people

saw it and the seven people that I

really give a [ __ ] about and I wanted

them to see like look look at this [ __ ]

like [ __ ] if I can do this imagine what

you can do so when I heard that I didn't

drive it for a week I just I just felt

[ __ ] driving it I remember driving at

home and I just felt like [ __ ] I just

poed it in the garage and I just left it

there for a week I didn't drive it

because I felt like I I let those words

from that person I gave a [ __ ] about

seep into me and then it sat with me and

then I just felt like oh yeah mean I

don't deserve it you know you know other

people work harder than me at the gym

this and that r r ra but then it took

like I said about a week over that week

cuz I mean was a [ __ ] sick car I

literally didn't drive for a week and

got to the point that I realized during

that week that towards the end like well

that's subjective if they don't think I

deserve it that's their own opinion

that's subjective that's what they

believe I don't have to believe that and

like you said that is that that impostor

syndrome things start to creep in I was

like you know maybe they don't think I

deserve it but one thing no one can ever

take away from me is that I earned it

every [ __ ] thing I have I earned it

and I earned this [ __ ] Whip and I

have a right to drive this thing and

flex and once I got over that hurdle in

my head boom I was in that [ __ ] and I

was whipping it around but yeah it's

like that in aposta syndrome thing creep

crept in when I heard that from and it

was through the grapevine as well but

then I was from someone I really like I

I was like man why would he say that I

just I just and then people learn this

is over now it's a long time ago you

know this is wh it could fight but it's

something it said more about them than

it does about me you know what I mean it

it says more about them than it does

about me so I shouldn't have let that

affect me at all but I did because I

give a [ __ ] what that person thought

because they a close person to me and

unfortunately sometimes it's the ones

close to you that will hurt you with

that

yeah there's something really remarkably

sort of liberating and amazing to hear a

UFC champion talking about imposter

syndrome because it really does feel

like it feels like there's no and this

is I know this is an obvious

misconception it really doesn't feel

like someone with your swag and

confidence could feel those things um

you talked there about therapy as well

and when you spoke to to Joe Rogan about

therapy and about after your UFC debut

yeah that swell you went through I wrote

about this in my book because I I got

really compelled by the this really

bizarre thing that happened in my life

when my company joined the stock market

and I'm sat in my room in Manchester and

it it's wor 300 million and I'm figuring

out how much money that means I've got

and it feeling like the worst day of my

life and then when I you know heard you

talking a little bit about how you felt

after your UFC fight hiding in the

toilet when people are pestering you to

ask you questions and that annoying dude

sitting down next to you when you tried

to yeah after my UFC debut uh the

Afterparty it was after the fight it's

always like I said I get pulled in so

many different directions and it's just

like it was my first time in the UFC so

I I was my first time experiencing all

that

and it's like coffee it's a stimulant

coffee is a stimulant so after your UFC

debut and you sh like the way I did you

know I I I stole the show I came in

there and I stole the show and it was

just like

cameras this oh we need you to interview

this oh come talk to this person talk to

this

person and

then I didn't get time to myself till I

got back home and when I was back home

and I was in my own house and finally

away from all the noise and it's just

like and then I remember it's like

coffee you drink coffee you're you got

the coffee high and then you crash so

it's literally that like just lack of

the stimulant and I just crashed I was

like why am I sad I found myself being

really sad and I remember it's probably

on my old phone me documenting my

recovery cuz I was just like like video

diaries that is I was like why am I sad

like I made six figures in my UFC debut

that's including the bonus as well yeah

and I'm just like there's no need to be

sad I [ __ ] kill that [ __ ] and that's

when I started to kind of like take

therapy seriously because I like okay

this is not I'm not going to be one of

these bad statistics you know that you

hear about in the in in entertainment so

yeah I um

I had to I guess take take a take a hard

look at myself but then therapy help

with that because then you find the

right person who can kind of help

you I guess figure you out and all they

do is just ask you the right questions

and then show you I guess yourself yeah

can you because I heard you say that you

picked up tools from therapy that helped

you sort of navigate all of that

attention in this new position you were

in what were the tools oh so um it

wasn't until I fought brunon that I was

able to go back home and just kind of

like um I keep saying it's like I came

back from prison uh what do you call it

like weave back into society regular

life normally you know it was until that

was my fourth UFC fight but then each

fight after that same thing I go back

home and I just like have this crash and

I had to realize okay this this is

something that I can't have happen

constantly CU it's not healthy a tool I

can say that helped me

um one of the ones that helped was

charlamagne's book at the time shook

once anxiety playing tricks on me I read

that during the I finished reading that

actually during the um Brunson fight

that fight week I finished reading that

and that I I I got a lot of gems from

that book but from therapy one from

therapy from my own experience is

talking to myself the selft talk because

you have we all have negative selft talk

but looking in the mirror and talking to

yourself you know speaking to yourself

like you would to someone you're giving

advice to because when you look in the

mirr you humanize yourself and I start

to like you know just have a

conversation with myself even like like

G myself up if I want to Big myself up

things like that so that's a tool that I

feel like is really underrated it looks

crazy you know standing in front of the

mirror and talking to yourself but it's

a really powerful tool if you know how

to use it right Fighters don't talk much

about their mental health I think

Whitaker did the other day and you you

kind of thanked him and applauded him

for doing that for being yeah I mean I

put him in a dark place after that first

fight and I understand because guess

what he was trying to do the same thing

to me um my guy respect is um Tyson Fury

because he's he's

about that you know to ends like and how

dark he went he went to like the depths

of Hell in his own head and then he's

risen above it and he says like he

battles with every day I feel like look

there's your spectrum of physical health

is super healthy super ill if you do not

look after yourself and your physical

health you're going to get physically

ill same way if you don't look after

your mental health you're going to get

mentally ill so I feel like if you're

it's like someone saying like you know

oh I don't go to therapy [ __ ] all that

[ __ ] no it's like well do you take

vitamins do you go to the hospital it's

not something to be you know sh like H

whatever from it's I feel like you

should look after your mental health the

same way you look after your physical

health so once I learned how powerful

that was I'm always on top of it I slip

up obviously because I'm human and I get

ill but yeah I always make sure I'm I'm

on point though was that your hardest

moment with your mental health after

that UFC debut in your

recollection not my hardest I think 2013

was my Great Depression there was a time

in 2013 that life was just

[Music]

like that's spiraling bad it's early

2013 I remember at the time my girl left

me the business I was working with was

failing work was [ __ ] um I had my jaob

broken in 2012 and I wasn't able to

fight so I really had no

like not purpose but like something that

I was looking forward to you know there

was a time during that 2013 there was a

time where I was walking mly home one

time and I remember this is when I was

really broke and I remember just looking

in this dairy or like this corner store

and I was just

like I wish I could just go in there and

be like look just give me the money you

have I don't want to hurt you but just

give me and I remember just like it was

a fleeting thought and I was like man

and that made me empathize with people I

was like this is why some of them do it

they just have no other choice obviously

I'm not going to do it because I'm I'm

not an idiot but I realized like this is

why some people do what they do because

they have no choice they just want to

eat I was lucky enough that no matter

how bad it got I always have my parents

supporting me if I hit my dad dad can

you please just loow me a 100 bucks can

you just give me 200 books d d they

would always support me and I never went

to them often but whenever I need to

they were always there for me so I never

had to go to that point where I was and

I would have never anyway cuz I'm not

stupid you you refer to that moment as

your your Great Depression yeah 2013

what got you out of that Great

Depression to be honest once I had my

fight so then I fought in June I believe

that year finally after six or seven

months cuz I had to take time off after

the surgery fighting and then I realized

my purpose again like okay I know what I

want to do so I didn't fight for a long

time cuz it was yeah it was just really

it was dark times not you know something

you're passionate about something you I

what I moved to Oakland to do and it got

taken away from me so then I wasn't able

to do what I wanted to do and then once

I got it back it just kind of reated to

myself like I know who I am I know who

the [ __ ] I am so yeah there's something

really sort of telling about that that

your lowest moment was when you lost so

much you lost connection in terms of

your girlfriend and you lost orientation

and purpose and something to a for in

your life yeah and you see that in young

men I mean the the the single biggest

killer of men in this country under 45

is themselves yeah it's mad and it's

like how do we get young men to have a

sense of purpose and meaning in their

lives in the modern world how do we get

that back into them and it's funnily

enough I go to the gym around the corner

I could go to some Posh gym I go to the

gym like down there in the in the ends

it's like 15 pounds a month and it's all

black and Asian young men and when I'm

in the gym I'm looking around and I'm

sat there thinking like cuz now I'm on

the Dragon's Den they they come up to me

sometimes but before that I was thinking

like the probably the best thing I could

do to help um with suicide rates in this

country other than having these kind of

conversations is like put loads of

[ __ ] gemms in this country yeah oh

yeah you know what I mean 100% I feel

like what we were talking about earlier

about young men kids especially when

they become adolescents and they don't

know what to do with all this new

hormones they're just filling up their

bodies and stuff like that they need an

outlet even for me I've said after this

game's done after I'm done with this

fighting [ __ ] when I have a family at

least a couple of times a year I need to

do something that's going to feel like

I'm about to die I feel like I just need

to do something that's just going to

just I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie

so I need to do something that's going

to just like tame the Beast if not I

just feel like it's going to seep in

other ways I I wouldn't want it to in my

life you know so I need to find a way to

tame the Beast and I feel like this does

martial arts what there a quote make

Savage of the body and civilize the Mind

something like that you know what I mean

especially as young men honestly like

they want to like you know sometimes

people want to kind of like discredit um

athleticism or you know working out or

you're just a jock or this and that I

hate jocks I was never a jock in school

so I have a really really special place

in my heart for them but um yeah for me

I just feel like just being able to own

your masculinity in a way that's not not

toxic I'm not talking toxic masculinity

but just being able to just like work

work out and a place where you can be a

man and just like throw weights around

or I like I love rolling with my boys

like there's some I I love lifting even

during lockdown I was lifting on lot but

there's something to be said when I have

a guy like my teammate Brad Rell or

caros or blood diamond you know on my

back trying to choke me out and then you

know 3 two 1 go and I have to fight the

choke something Primal about that that

just activates this part of my brain

that I'm just like [ __ ] it just yeah it

gets me going quick one as the seasons

have begun to change so has my diet and

um right now I'm just going to be

completely honest with you I'm starting

to think a lot about slimming down a

little bit because over the last couple

of probably the last four or five months

my diet has been pretty bad um and it

started to show a little bit really over

the last two months I go to the gym

about 80% of the time so I track it with

10 of my friends in a WhatsApp group in

this tracker online that we all use

together we call it Fitness blockchain

and I'm currently at

81% um so 8 1% of the days I've done a

workout in the last 150 days right so

I'm going to the gym about six times a

week that's been a little bit impacted

by the DI of a live tour but I'm trying

to stick to it and so one of the things

I'm doing now to reduce my calorie

intake and trying to get back to being

nutritionally complete in all I eat is

I'm having the hu protein shake thank

you hu for making a product that I

actually like The Salted Caramel is my

favorite I've got the banana one here

which is the one my girlfriend likes but

for me salted caramel is

the one do you do you worry about that

when when all is said and done like

you're you're going to have these crazy

moments of having like 60,000 people in

this Arena and coming out doing these

like I'm ready for it yeah and then

ready for it the high of that the

adrenaline high of that when that's all

when you're you know when you're done

with this game you said you know when

you lose the Love of the Game or

whatever it is did you do you P do you

Ponder what that moment would be like

for you a little bit but I I'm I'm ready

for it in the sense that I'm not

attached to this I've already I know I'm

more than fighting fighting there's more

to life than fighting so I'm not like

one of these guys who is attached like

you know I don't even know where my belt

is right now to be honest I really don't

know I'm not attached to it I know I'm

the [ __ ] Champ I know who I am I know

who I am and I'm a champ without the

belt it's just a fancy TI I've said that

from the jump

but I'm not attached to it to the sense

that it's my identity that this is all I

am so when it's all said and done and

I'm you know I'm not the UFC middlewood

champ anymore I'm retired I'm not going

to be like who who am I I know who I am

without the belt so that's the that's

the blessing in that but a lot of people

don't a lot of people like you see them

walk around with the belt constantly and

they just they attached to that like

that's who they are so when it's gone

and it's said and done that's why a lot

of people who are supposed to be retired

still end up

talking to the media and finding their

way to get their um name in the in this

you know in the spotlight because they

they're addicted to that it's addicting

trust me I've been there I've felt it

it's addicting attention that's that's a

social currency now attention even at

the highest level Fame clout this is all

these are these are tangible things I've

seen it I've seen it one it do to people

man funny story I saw this um when I was

in New York I fought Brunson right that

week I saw this YouTube video of a guy

in Times Square in New York he was there

regular easy didn't you know just

walking around didn't get bothered and

then he went there at night time hide

Entourage hide camera people dressed

apart that clip people are like stting

to like who's this guy fake famous dude

exactly fake famous guy and they're like

oh and then the camera guy ask him so

how do you know uh David and someone be

like U I heard his last album it was

pretty good I heard a single on the

radio or I saw him in spider people just

lie through their teeth you know and

just say whatever they think he is and

it's like you know you obviously don't

know the guy you can just say oh I don't

know who he is you know and I've had

that so when that day that that that

week in in New York I was doing a shoot

for my brand engage in Times Square I

had Jeff and like three other cameras on

me so there's like four cameras on me he

sees people starting to gather around

like oh who's this guy and then some

people recognize me they start taking

pictures and then before I knew it I

started finding people who didn't even

know me yeah and they're just like I

just want to take a picture have you

ever had someone come up to you had this

when we went to the podcast Awards Y and

they go hi um who are you and I go oh um

dragon from Dragon then they go brao

okay

oh

man the worst one I remember was um I've

used this story a few times but uh I was

at this bar in Auckland and there was a

a table of like four Dudes and two

chicks and I could tell one of the chick

was like the center of attention so when

I came in the guys were just like no

[ __ ] way stop in what the [ __ ] they

were just showing me love and all that

and I could see I could feel her energy

and I could see her from the corner of

my eye just

like and then she came up she's like

excuse me but who you I just like H

don't worry baby it's all good I was

talking to one of the guys taking photos

and I then she came back again trying to

talk to me I was just like and then she

came forc me this time he like excuse me

why is everyone giving a [ __ ] who are

you I don't know who you are and I was

like baby I don't know who you are I

just F her off I was like I don't care

you don't know who I am you know but

like the fact that she wanted to let me

know that she didn't know who I was like

it was going to hurt my feelings I was

and I was just like baby I don't know

who you are and I remember her face Ji

she's not used to being treated like

that exactly so I'm like I don't care I

I forget who I am all the time you know

but the fact that she thought like it

would actually hurt my feelings for her

not know who I'm like who the [ __ ] are

you you know how how how have you made

sense with all this this noise when you

you walk through places [ __ ] the noise

but the the fame like what's your

relationship relationship with it I was

thinking about this the other night and

I was talking to one of my friends and I

was thinking for me it's kind of just

this thing that's happening outside of

me and I'm observing it like a spectator

I like that

perspective there's no book on this [ __ ]

so I've always said like [ __ ] the fame

but I love the perks I love the perks of

Fame but I just I don't like being

famous you know what I mean have you

seen free Britney yeah yeah yeah yeah

brother there was a bit in that that was

one of my like I was getting anxiety

watching the first half of that there

was a bit she was driving and then she

ran through these red lights and the

guys were like look at her she's crazy

I'm like yeah cuz you're [ __ ] chasing

her you're chasing her she's trying to

get the [ __ ] away from you and you're

calling her

crazy man that whole thing just the way

she when she was trying to buy gas and

everyone was just on

her H I even cringe thinking about it

because I'm just like I would hate I

would have I would have hate to be in

that position especially like to be with

your family like your family doing that

to you that's crazy but yeah um Fame

it's not it's not no one's supposed to

be famous it's not a thing especially

with all these gadgets now we're not

supposed to have these we're not

supposed to have um people who don't do

[ __ ] with their lives have such a loud

voice and droves being able to tell us

because back in the day I saw this quote

on

Instagram um yes uh maybe last week or

this week about like you know back in

the day before social media you only

heard from doers you heard from people

who are actually doing [ __ ] you rarely

heard from complainers but now

complainers are the ones you hear from

the most because they finally have a

voice and they they can be anonymous and

hide behind their their anonymity so

yeah they're the ones who have the big

the big voice now and the doers are just

doing so people start to eventually

believe the complainers it's a weird

Paradox shift now in this day and AG so

like I said you have to be able to sift

through the noise and I have my ways of

doing that and I guess you'd also only

hear if you go back even further from

people in your tribe exactly we only was

that we're only supposed to have like

certain amount of people we associate

with as as the human animal but then

like social media and the connectivity

we have now has just made us connected

to the whole world made the world a

small place that you can just even

confirmation bias that's another thing

we have to be careful about like and I I

make sure cuz I follow certain people on

Instagram that I don't necessarily agree

with but I follow them just to like hear

the other side I want to know amen just

to like cuz I don't want to be

surrounded by Yes Men or people like oh

I only follow you know cuz this tells me

what I need to know what I want to hear

exactly so now I I follow certain people

just cuz I'm like uh they make me feel a

certain way but I'm like they're not

wrong though you know and it's just

different ideas it's not wrong or right

so different ideologies but I'm just

like you know what I'll tap into that

just so I can at least be aware of the

other side what they're thinking yeah

and that kind of brings me to what I

heard you say about Rogan when you

defended him because Rogan's one of

those people for me as well like I can

listen to his shows and his his his

podcast and stuff and I don't have to

agree with everything but there's a I

don't have to agree with his guest what

it means but there's a diversity of

opinion so I can and I feel like people

these days as we've all observed they

don't want to hear anything outside of

their own it's it's either left or right

and it's the other side is wrong and if

and there's nothing in the middle and if

you say one thing that represents the

other side like they in a box away but

that's the thing I'm I'm like the this

whole [ __ ] situation we have with

over now and what we're doing in society

it's strange times man cuz people adj

just the human animal is weird it's a

weird [ __ ] Spees cuz individually we

can be smart but when we in droves just

just just dummies just a bunch of

dummies and droves sometimes I'm like

how can a smart person have this idea

about this when you know what's really

happening you really it's like if you if

you really step away from it like you

said just remove yourself from situation

look at it from a third person as some

Observer just watch it and just be like

I know what that is but then somehow the

smartest people I know sometimes just

have the weirdest way of looking at the

world and I try not to hold it against

them because I'm like I know you you're

a smart person but maybe the way you

were brought up or your own childhood

trauma again can kind of skew the way

you look at the world so I never hold it

against them I just kind of

like it's not personal it's not about me

it's about them so just observe but yeah

it's weird man very weird very strange

and they're just I guess trying to fit

in too they're trying to be part of a

tribe exactly tribe yeah so it's like

more mentality even with um I remember

when Andrew Schultz said recently he's

like on one of his podcasts he said he

regrets getting the vaccine and yeah he

said he wishes he never did what like

people I find this really strange that

people like people don't want to get

duped people don't want to get duped

people hate feeling like they go had M

and if people if someone felt like oh

you know they they got duped they kind

of want to get people into their tribe

so can they can you know we've got you

on our side I'm I don't care what side

you're on I literally don't care whether

you want to do this or you do that all I

care about is how you treat people how

you treat the people around you the

people you interact with but nah this

damn age like I find people asking me

the strangest questions like and then

they'll base their how they treat you

based on that response like are you

vaccinated that was one of the weirdest

one I was like why do you care yeah what

does that do for you well we need to

decide who you are one decision we want

to know what box to put you in I'm just

like why so I like to [ __ ] with people

and just like ah maybe am maybe I'm not

we'll find out but then they just like

no but we need to know but you're yeah

we need yeah who side are you on exactly

I'm like why do you care yeah and this

is the thing with division as well I've

said like divide and conquer that's the

easiest way to break a you know a nation

or a group of people just divide them

and separate them make them think that

one is on the other side and this and

that and make them fight amongst each

other this how they've done it for years

for centuries the oligarchs or the

Illuminati or whatever you want to call

it they divide and conquer this is how

they get it done so why do you think

like they're not doing that right now in

so many different ways so many different

ways I I consider myself to be someone

that sits in the middle so like

sometimes I agree I don't I don't [ __ ]

with politics at all I don't so you know

Nigerian parents my dad used to have CNN

or BBC on the Telly all the [ __ ] time

constantly just on repeat but I just

don't watch the news I I literally don't

listen to it um you know in New Zealand

we used to have um like an update with

this whole Co [ __ ] on Mondays I believe

around 5:00 p.m I never once was like on

a Monday like

o when oh [ __ ] okay but everyone else is

just like oh has have they made the

announcement yeah I'm just

like I get the I get it new secondhand

I'm like what do they say oh cool are we

allowed to cuz I just the rules didn't

apply to me that's how I feel I just I

really and I it's my ego talking I'm not

talking the rules of the law I'm just

talking like no matter what they say I

can do or I can't do like example we

were locked down for three months last

year in

August during that time there was things

we weren't allowed to do like

train I

trained

allegedly yeah but I found ways like I

just felt like the rules didn't apply to

me cuz I mean in the beginning of the

pandemic trust me I was scared I was I

didn't know what this [ __ ] [ __ ] would

it felt like The Purge but then

eventually after all the [ __ ] after

a year and two years I kind of like okay

like everyone else we we just knew what

was going on there's some kind of

other I guess agenda behind it that we

have no [ __ ] idea about I'm not going

to act like I [ __ ] know but I just

know this doesn't make sense to me it

does not make sense to me that I don't

want to get too deep into all that [ __ ]

but like it literally didn't make sense

to me the common sense was just not

commoning it was not common enough so I

was just like okay this is there's

something going on here that I'm not

[ __ ] with but I'm going to live my

life the best way I know how in the

lines of what I can

allegedly I hear you when you said at

the start about the cartwheel you said

you know you just wanted to be

authentically yourself and this kind of

links to what we're saying now when I

when I was I joined BBC 1 as a dragon I

started thinking about how I defend

myself from the ability been canceled

either for the people that I speak to

here yeah and one of the ways that I

kind of concluded with my team was well

if I'm always myself and I don't ever

try and convince the press that I'm a

good

guy bro this is where this is the this

is the Trap that a guy like John joose

fell into cuz he was always like the

pastor's son he was always like you know

um after a fight I want to thank Jesus

you know I want to be sponsored by Nike

and you know all kids you know I want to

be SE kids look up I want to be a good

role model

ra [ __ ] them kids [ __ ] all that [ __ ] you

know what I mean I'm like bro people

trying to say that oh you know my kid

looks up to you I'm like raise your own

damn kids raise your own damn kids you

know like one thing after my UFC debut

some gu so at my Afterparty I had this

shirt right said good [ __ ] from engage

classic sold still big seller and some

guy oh straight up it was the beautiful

shirt like and also was like a a play on

a famous designer brand GC like

yeah so we we sld those we still sell

them heaps but um this guy came up to me

and he was interviewing me at my own

after party and I could see he was

trying to set me up so then he's like oh

so what do you yeah so what do you think

a t-shirt like that sends what kind of

messages it send I'm like what do you

mean and he he thought he [ __ ] with

the he [ __ ] with the wrong one this

son so he's like what do you think that

kind of shirt sends as a message to say

for example a young a young kid who

looks up to you and I was just like oh

really oh so what does that kid look

look up to me for he's like well for

being in your position as a what a

fighter right yes so that kid just saw

what I did about a few hours ago when I

beat the [ __ ] out of that guy and he saw

where I was take him he's like no no no

I was like stay there and I can see him

trying to find a way out so that kid

just watched me beat this [ __ ] guy to

a pulp in his own blood as he spat blood

at me and I beat him in his own blood

till the referee dragged me off him yeah

oh really so what do you think is doing

more damage to the kid is is is me doing

that and as and the kid looking up to me

for that or me wear in the Shir that

just says good [ __ ] it's this whole

[ __ ] culture of like stupid language

games you can say that word and that's a

bad word and this and that so and then I

I can't remember how I flamed him but I

flamed him there was a bit of an

audience as well I flamed him badly he

never released the the interview

obviously because he had like the S but

he thought he had me but he didn't

realize he [ __ ] with the wrong one and

I just turn him I was like I

think me doing my

job it does more damage to the kid for

watching than me wearing a shirt that

says good [ __ ] you know what I mean and

I hate that the fact that we're playing

these because even when I do I don't do

New Zealand media anymore cuz they're

too [ __ ] stupid for me and too like I

did this morning show one time and I was

talking I said something ask oh that's a

swear swear JW swi I'm like what the

[ __ ] do this high school I'm like I'm an

adult I know you I've seen you at

[ __ ] Pon Social Club drunk up your

face I know what you do in the bathroom

you know what I mean so I'm just like

don't try and act like you're holier

than th now and like oh you put that in

the sweat J it's like this wh what what

what game are we playing you're playing

this stupid game it's like oh we can say

these words but we can't say these words

like you're an adult when the cameras go

off I know how the [ __ ] you speak I know

how you talk you know and it's like why

we pretending we don't speak the way we

do because of what because we're on TV

it's just it Buggles me sometimes and I

start to like what are we playing it's

like it's it's it's so stupid as adults

we're adults like we we we talk this is

how this is language we curse we swear

but then when the TV comes oh you want

to be proper and you know you must you

be you know prestigious and speak I'm

like nah [ __ ] all that [ __ ] man like

let's let's speak the way we normally

speak and be authentically ourselves so

that's like Charlamagne say something he

says Speak Your Truth so no one can no

one can use your truth against you amen

amen bro like trust me like I I'm able

to get away with a lot of things I get

away with because I never said I'm a

saint I know myself I am a [ __ ] demon

sometimes trust there's no good people

there's no bad people people are just

capable of great good and great evil you

know what I mean but I just try to do

more good than bad but I have done some

bad things in my time cuz I'm a human

being you know what I mean so when

people try and I guess put you in a box

like oh he's a good guy or he's this I'm

like there's no good people there's no

bad people we're just people and we're

capable of great good and great evil

that's it amen yeah I I in my head when

you were saying that and you looked me

in the eyes and went I'm I've been a

demon sometimes I just had this image of

Nigerian so that side is yeah yeah no

but that's the thing so when I started

this podcast I know I was going to be on

BBC 1 at 9:00 p.m. on this very prig a

show I was like by the way I used to

shoplift pizzas to feed myself when I

was broke I did this I did this I did

this and you can there exactly right and

you could almost in my head when you

said that I could I was imagining the

Press here just packing up their

suitcases and [ __ ] off and being like

we've got we can't use him bro TR we

can't use this guy because he's not

tried to he's not tried to tell us that

he's he's not built this big hill of

moral perfection so we got to go find

you know we got go find they can't [ __ ]

with me cuz you know why if like there's

a reason I've stayed off TMZ I've never

been on TMZ KN and wood never will for

the wrong reasons

but I mean one day if something happens

I just happen to be on TMZ for the wrong

reason i' be like whoopsie my bad I made

a mistake but guess what I never told

you I was perfect exactly normal I'm

human being and so I'm just like that

that that's my power is being vulnerable

with my faults you know I'm not going to

say I've done this I've done that buty I

just know I'm not I'm not perfect I'm a

human being I make mistakes and it's

okay to make mistakes the difference

between me and some people is that I

actually learn from my mistakes and I

don't make the same mistakes over and

over and over again in the public eye

like some people dungs that's one that's

a classic example obviously the same

[ __ ] mistake we had a guest come on

this podcast in December and um she said

that she was making the point about

everyone having the same 24 hours in the

day this was kind of the quote she used

and it became the number one story in

this country for three days it trended

number one on Twitter it was on hundreds

of newspaper articles written about it

because I think maybe her brand is one

that is trying to be a role model so so

she was a it was the number one trending

topic in our country for three days the

story that she said everyone has the

same hours in the day oh right exactly

so I came out and said by the way loads

of my guests say that all the time why

are you attacking that and then my next

press event right I I wore a shirt that

said 24 hours on it everyone clapped I

didn't get canceled and I said am I

canceled I wore a shirt and all the PS

are there I said 20 24 hours in the

shirt and this is what I'm this is my

that was my attempt again to say by the

way I'm not perfect and if you want to

cancel me please do it now so I can get

with my life yeah I'm still waiting

they've tried they've tried me they they

keep trying me I'm just like look it's

hard to cancel someone when they

actually don't give a

[ __ ] I'm like I fight people for money

that's what I do for a job I beat people

up for a shitload of money if you really

want to take my political views or my

moral views into consideration and say

this and that that's on you I'm like

this is I'm not I never said I'm a saint

I'm not a [ __ ] politician I don't

everyone I don't feel like I have

anything to hide like I said I put

everything not everything but like I put

things out there that I probably

shouldn't sometimes but that's my way of

being vulnerable to the point where I'm

just like this is me take it or leave it

but I feel like me doing that attracts

the people who can re relate who can

resonate and I feel like they gravitate

towards me you don't talk about your

relationships your romantic

relationships never I keep that away nah

is it because protecting the person or

prot or look this world one thing I've

seen is they'll build you up right

they'll build you up and then tear you

down like free Britney um Miley Cyrus

Justin Bieber all these people I've seen

it happen so many times so and also this

world just takes they just take take

when I have kids you'll never know the

world would never know their face I

don't I'm even contemplating if I still

give them my last name because I don't

want to put that pressure on them

because uh even my my

siblings sometimes they hate it as well

where it's like you know oh oh this is

um this is d this is Israel's brother or

El is um it's Deborah this is Israel's

sister or Stalin the sister and they're

like oh my name's Deborah you know like

I don't want to put that on them same

thing on my relationships that's certain

things I protect cuz I value them so I

keep them safe because the world do just

try and take take take and that's one

that's one thing everyone wants to like

know what's he doing who's he with

apparently I'm gay as well because of my

nails and my pearl necklaces and all

that stuff so I'm just like let him talk

it's

fun but have you found it difficult

because of the success and the meteoric

rise and the money and the increased

attention to to navigate being good in

that department and also your obsession

with becoming the man you are today

which did feel like an obsession when I

was reading about your story sleeping in

the gym yeah like how does one do that

and also balance out having personal

life that's regular I'm I'm a human

being and I have feelings you know so

I'm an empath as well I'm yeah I'm born

on the cusp so I'm like I say I'm a

cancer Leo I'm hard and soft like a semi

chub you know introvert extrovert

exactly my guy so a lot of people don't

realize that about myself like when it's

time to like go in my in my in my crab

hole I just find my way I'm like right

Leave Me This I love my friends because

my close friends I can we can do this

for hours and just yawn and talk [ __ ]

and make fun of each other and just show

each other love but then we can spend

the next three hours just sitting in the

same room being on my phone or watching

TV or listen to a podcast and not say a

damn word and just enjoy each other's

space I love that I love that feeling

but um yeah I'm a person who who feels a

lot

so I like to protect that I like to keep

that really guarded cuz like I said the

world will take that away from you man

and I feel like people ruin things

people especially like this this this is

not supposed to happen the world I'm

being under a microscope and everyone

watching what I'm doing so certain I

just I feel like I just have to really

protect cuz I don't want the world to

take that away from me cuz they just

take take my cat died um maybe two years

ago the morning she died right I was I

think I was feeling gas up in the

afternoon and some guy came up while I'm

feeling gas and goes brother bro can you

talk to my cousin real quick he's a big

fan I'm just like man bro my cat just

died this morning man I'm not kny the

mood and I remember the look on his face

it's like oh all good all good whatever

and I was like give me the phone I was

said hello and this is as I'm filling

gas actively and I was like what the f

hold up bro no phones like what what if

I spontaneously C but they don't care

they just want to have their moment they

want to take they want to take they want

to take so that's why if I'm having

dinner with my family if I'm on a date

if I'm in the intimate moment people

start to like bro I don't want to be

that guy but I'm like but you're being

that guy you're being that guy you say

you don't want to be that guy but you're

being that guy that's people say I'm not

a racist I got oh yeah bro man I hate to

be that guy but can I I'm like but

you're being that guy you hate to be

that guy boy you're doing it right now

and it's like I'll be having lunch with

you and within 10 minutes we'll get Stu

probably like six times with you I'm

probably if we if we at lunch in London

we probably not even have a chance to

talk but they don't care they just want

to get their picture and put on their

[ __ ] social media with [ __ ] 20

followers like look champ like whatever

I'm just like no let me have my moment

I'm I'm and I've learned this I okay my

experience with this and I always bring

this up whenever I see him on on on TV

or here is raps most deaf I see most

deaf in common in Auckland Airport and

they're having a conversation by the by

the back Carousel and I I want to fight

in Adela and I'm coming back home I have

my trophy and I was like yo I want to

get a picture and I pull up to him I'm

like hey what's up most big fan he's

like hey brother just no photos today

man I was like yeah oh good no wor it's

easy now remember I was a bit sad but I

understood I understood cuz they were in

a bidd in the middle of a conversation

actively talking I should have had the

etiquette to realize like just they

talking leave them alone but this is the

thing no one I feel like it's learned

behavior as well this one thing because

everyone thinks that you're a biggest

fan it's the same rhetoric I I know the

lines they're going to say each time but

like it's a learn beh havior I don't

know I think it's maybe from TV or

Disney or whatever people feel like when

when you meet someone you really you're

a fan of you yell at them to let them

know how much of a fan you are and you

show them by just shaking and I honestly

think it's learn Behavior because I'm

sometimes I'm I'm like there's no need

for all this I'll be at like a three I'm

chilling at a two or three at a park and

so no [ __ ] way oh my God ah I'm just

like okay like after the Whitaker fight

the first one I remember after that

whole the fight after the Afterparty on

the way back to the uh back to New

Zealand I remember at the airport I put

out a story just saying like look if you

see me at the airport or traveling just

approach me lightly cuz if you come at

me with all this energy I'll walk away I

put that on my story just cuz I was like

I'll walk away cuz my capacity to deal

with with high energy right now was

just how are you feeling I was just

drained I was drained so I was just I

just want to go home and chill so I

remember at the airport I just I was

before at the hotel I put at before I

went to the airport I just put that out

there on the store just to be like look

don't come at me with all this [ __ ] CU

it's too much for me to deal with right

now so if you come at me just like hey

what's up bro big fan can I take a photo

that's cool and I remember that fight

week the week before the fight week I

realized and I had an epiphany I

realized I don't have to match

everyone's energy

because that was a problem I used to

like if you're a fan you meet me I feel

hey even if I met like I said my cat

just died then I'd have to like raise my

level up hey what's up bro hey do the

whole song and dance and all that [ __ ]

but I'm like N I don't have to match

everyone's energy cuz guess what hard

pill to swallow I'm not excited to meet

you as much as you are to meet me it's

just a hard pill to swallow and it's

just my everyday life I'm not excited to

meet you as you are to meet me and

that's okay because this is my life this

is how I deal with things so once I once

I kind of like go over that hump I was

like I don't have to match everyone's

energy so if someone comes at me at a 10

I don't have to raise my level up I

could I'm just chilling I'm listening to

a podcast I can just pause and be like

hey what's up man how you doing and if

they feel like that's a [ __ ]

interaction cool that's their

prerogative I don't care but if I'm if

you met me last night like [ __ ] I'm

in the streets in London last night I'm

showing love to everyone I'm dancing I'm

talking to people I'm I'm Mr you know Mr

area boy but that's a time and place I'm

taking pictures and you know all that

kind of stuff there's a time and place

if you catch me at the right time and

place [ __ ] yeah I'll show you love but I

hate when people get entitled and think

they just I want to take I want to take

so that's why I keep yeah quick one as

you might know crafted are one of the

sponsors of this podcast and they make

really meaningful pieces of jewelry this

lion piece they've made I wear all the

time along with the little time piece

the sandtimer that I wear often and the

line piece you might have seen Conor

McGregor has a similar piece which was

custom made for him for me it represents

courage and if you walk through my house

the house that I'm in right now if you

walk six feet in that direction you'll

see a huge lion portrait if you go

upstairs you'll see a lion portrait if

you look behind me on the Shelf near the

top there you'll see a lion as well the

reason my house and my life is

surrounded by lions is because they

represent courage calmness and that

tenacity that I've applied to my

business success to my professional life

and everything in between for me the

lion has always been an animal that can

be almost a bit of a contradiction they

are so loving and so caring of their own

and can be powerful and courageous when

necessary in order to achieve what they

want to achieve so if you like me are a

big fan of Courage bravery ambition

while also being calm and composed check

out this line piece and let me know if

you get it and you keep your boys and

your the people you came up with close

right tell me about the import how how

much you realized the importance of that

as you've risen to this place you know

to keep the day ones around you and

stuff like that I mean you you'll know

this it's Lonely at the Top you know but

it's not if you bring the right people

with you the people that came up with

you the people that you know love you

for you you know the people that know

you from before you had money before you

were famous you know so um I like to

have them around to keep me grounded to

keep me grounded and just make sure I'm

I'm solid cuz they knew me before any of

this [ __ ] happens and you know it's hard

cuz sometimes you I've I have fallen

into the Trap of having people who just

agree with me yes man you know and even

my boy chance I'm glad like I have him

around cuz sometimes I'm crazy I don't

always have the best ideas and I'll have

an idea he'll be like nah like okay cool

I just needed someone to tell me no but

I'll put it out there boy if he's like

nah we're not doing that I'm okay cool

cuz then it just helps me but if I have

people around me who was like okay sure

then eventually it just makes me more

powerful I just to think like oh yeah

you know I'm the [ __ ] I can say whatever

I want and that's not that's not healthy

man I don't think that's healthy for the

ego you know

yeah well I just like having people like

that around me because I feel like yeah

they keep me grinding and just remind me

where I come from you know they're and

there's so many stories man each of my

friends in my group chat I've known each

of them over 10 years but well over 10

years man then we all have stories we

can kind of share from back in the day

that just just remind me where I come

from from yeah and the other thing that

happens is when you reach what the

heights you've reached in your

profession is we talked about it then

you have this other um this other

attention which is from women that might

want you for the wrong reasons yeah my

mom always warns me about this have a

baby

bu my mom's trying to tell me like you

know when are you going to settle down

when are you going to find a nice [ __ ]

just settle yeah she wants me to be with

a Nigerian woman she doesn't like I

Don't Settle yeah I don't settle so for

me that that's something I guess you

just you just have to take it by case-by

casee basis yeah Case by case bases cuz

you do find people who just some people

play the long game put it that way I've

had people play the long game with me

even recently it's just like yeah you

know they there's love there and all

that kind of stuff but they play a long

game because they see the value and it's

not just what you it's just what you

bring to the table and they get entitled

you know and I feel like that's that's

not the way you want to be when you have

someone you know that's that you're

romantically in love with or involved

with it's like you don't want to be

competing with them or have them feel

entitled to what you have I'm like yo

you just got here I beam made it the

[ __ ] you talking about what do you bring

to the table I bought the [ __ ] table

what values are you looking for do you

look for in in that kind of person kind

I just like someone who's caring who

gives a [ __ ] who really cares like and

who wants nothing from me that's the

thing it's hard to find but someone who

needs nothing I even for me I don't even

celebrate my birthday and I'm hard to

buy gifts for cuz I'm not really a

material I love material things

obviously but nice watch yeah thank you

I'm sure you know we work

yeah now but yeah like I'm not a

material person but I do like material

things but it's hard to buy gifts for me

because I found this as well with my

rich friends when I was coming up it was

hard to buy gifts for them when someone

you they able to buy whatever they want

so but in that in that I just look for

someone who's who's who's caring someone

who really gives a [ __ ] that's the main

thing do you give a [ __ ] about me yeah

and you're going to have a family one

day of course no that's my that's

definitely one of my main goals after

this I don't want to be that Dad that's

like you know I wake up see my kids for

like 30 minutes before I go to work and

then when I finish work I see them like

for hour hour and a half maybe while I'm

tired no I'm going to make sure I'm

there from the ages of zero to five or

six I'm going to be like what do you

want to do today

like literally what do you want to and I

feel honestly [ __ ] school I don't know

why we still even have this whole

[ __ ] this this outdated concept of

school to just build workers cuz we know

what the [ __ ] school was made for why we

pretending we know school was created to

create workers do you still know I don't

what the [ __ ] is X no [ __ ] idea bro

I'm still waiting still I I'm like when

have I in my life as an adult known what

the [ __ ] X is no [ __ ] idea a lot of

useless information gonna passed on to

me in school and I sucked at school

because I was [ __ ] at memorizing same I

didn't really learn anything dropouts as

we do cheers drop out my man school

doesn't teach you much

honestly teaches you the basics I

understand maths yes english

comprehension all that kind of stuff but

when you come to like social studies and

algebra and calculus I'm like are you

going to use those in the real world so

FK School my plan is right when I have

kids I'm I'm going to have a tutor

that's going to teach them from the age

at home from the from the time like say

maybe 900 a.m. to midday or 100 p.m. and

they'll have an hour of homework and the

rest of the day we'll just go on

adventures doing [ __ ] but then they're

going to do gymnastics compulsory

because I want to make sure they know

their body the foundation of athleticism

gymnastics and Jiu-Jitsu so that way

they're involved with other kids and not

socially awkward you don't want toise

some [ __ ] bum kids who you know don't

have any social skills but yeah you I

want to make sure that they have those

kind of skills by interacting with other

kids through gymnastics or through

Jiu-Jitsu or other like activities and

they'll do that every day or every

whatever day of days of the week it is

but school going there clocking in

sitting down watching a teacher write

some [ __ ] on the board and write no

one's teaching they just literally some

of these people just there to catch a

paycheck and I've seen it I was in

school you just see them they oh they

write the [ __ ] on the board whatever

copy this copy exactly copy this I

didn't even know what cuz we were doing

these when I was in in high school NCA

credits and I I remember just like

towards the end of the year what's all

this credits credits credits not to

repeat the whole year well I didn't know

what it I was like credit well NCA

credits what's all this credit [ __ ]

Credit Credit Credit Credit I did not

care I didn't understand I just didn't

fathom it but then eventually when I go

to Grass I was like oh this sucks it's a

[ __ ] system and then they'll give you

the D and then you'll feel like you're a

d as a human you identify

one of the worst ones I remember was in

in boarding school in Nigeria I was I

was bottom three in the class and of

course they have to announce it the

bottom three and you have to stand in

front of the school they announce

it just like these are the bottom three

of stand with your head down yep that's

us that's yeah we we the ones I was the

lowest yes thank you okay now go on take

your seats okay yes thank you oh the

worst man and it's just ating but it's

like it's I don't know if it's meant to

motivate you or what but it didn't do

[ __ ] and like I said you a lot of people

start like if I see that now even like

young people they have to tie the

selfworth I have a friend in med school

who literally like when it gets crunch

time they just like I need to get these

grades I need they get the grades up and

they just identify themselves if I don't

get this I'm useless this is it I failed

I'm like you're 23 calm the [ __ ] down

it's not that deep it is obviously it's

your career but I'm like there's more to

life there's way more to life this than

than just this idea of who you think you

are cuz when I was [ __ ] 18 I thought

I was going to be married and have kids

at

23 boy was I wrong damn I'm like I the

[ __ ] who who let me buy a house now I'm

like why I don't know who let me do that

I shouldn't should have never given

these [ __ ] money first of all I didn't

think they gave it to you you I took all

that I'm a bankr yeah

like yeah I don't know what I was

thinking back then I thought like this I

thought I knew what I wanted so when I

was 18 I was like I'm going to have kids

when I'm 23 24 [ __ ] hell jeez

Anda what when you look forward at your

your you I mean youve reached the top of

your game um how do you how do you keep

yourself you know what is the thing

that's driving you now what is the thing

you're aiming for now what's that North

Star that's getting you out of

bed is it legac out people talk about

Legacy and Legacy yeah big thing Legacy

is for me definitely the Legacy I want

to live why does that matter I think I

want to be immortal I don't know if it's

my ego or I'm selfish or what it is but

I I just know look I did the prefix I is

royalty where we're from you know I from

the from the EUR tribe you know that's

that has some Royal Blood tied to it

Adis but now worldwide the name Adis is

sonon for greatness forever synonymous

with greatness and I'm going to make

sure that is I'm going to make sure if

you have that name I this you're proud

to be like yep I'm tied to that

bloodline I understand

because I don't know I don't know what

it is is it my ego why is it that

[ __ ] King King Tut wanted to be

buried in his tomb with all his gold

even though he's not going to be there

to exact to enjoy it I don't know I

don't know but I know when it's all said

and done when I'm

dead my name will be remembered in

history was that Troy line and that's

why no one will remember your name or

whatever it was but like I want to make

sure that my name will be remembered and

revered throughout history as one of

the one of the best in this game but

also just as a person I just just just a

GC just a good [ __ ] just a happy dude

who was who was enjoying life and just I

don't know making [ __ ] happened but it's

more about the feeling though I want

people to remember my name and just

remember the feeling I gave them you

know what I mean like those who were

alive to or not alive or around to watch

Jordan's um reign in the NBA I mean I'm

sure when they hear Jordan they can just

I remember that time I was at that game

or I remember that time I watched that

that game live and they remember the

feeling I want those like when they

remember my name to be like I was there

243 I remember how I was in the in the