June 28, 2025

MMA Veteran Guest #4: Nate "The Rock" Quarry

MMA Veteran Guest #4: Nate "The Rock" Quarry
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This week, YFB interviews UFC veteran, participant in Season 1 of the Ultimate Fighter, and author of Zombie Cage Fighter, Nate Quarry!

All links for Nate can be accessed via the blog page below:

https://yourfavoriteblockhead.com/2025/06/28/yfb-mma-fighter-4-nate-the-rock-quarry/

WEBVTT

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Hello, Blockhead Nation. This is Brian, the host of your

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favorite Blockhead podcast. And if you are a listener of

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struggle digging car seat buckles out from under your kiddos,

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wrestling with the straps, or just trying to get out

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the door without losing your mind. This is where I

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see the link in the blog today, or you can

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go to bucklebuddy dot co to get your solution for

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your car seat hassle today with buckle Buddy again. That

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discout code is Blockhead ten. Make sure you use that

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at checkout. Now, all that being said, the little redhair

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girl's giving me the go ahead, So what do you say?

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We go ahead and start the show? Shall we broadcasting live?

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Good afternoon Blockhead Nation, and thank you for stopping by.

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Once again, you are listening to are possibly watching if

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technology works with us, your Favorite Blockhead the only podcast

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in the podcasting world that can somehow incorporate the Peanuts

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comic strip one minute and then be talking about MMA

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and Warriors inside the Octagon the next. I am your host.

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My name is Brian Little, and as we start this podcast,

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let me just remind you this is a listener supported

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podcast for listeners just like you. The listens and the

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downlogs are always the most helpful on app or Spotify

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to move along that algorithm. But if you want to

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help further, you need to go to the description and

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go to the blog. Your Favorite Blockhead dot com slash

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blog has all the links for today's show, including for

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my very special guest. You don't need to search anywhere

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to find this guy. Everything you need is in the blog,

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from his social media to his current projects. It's all there.

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You don't have any excuses Blockhead Nation. Now that being said,

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this interview has been four years in the making. Ever

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since I first started podcasting, I have wanted to talk

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to this man, and finally I get to speak with him.

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I give you Blockhead Nation, the One, the Only, the Rock,

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Nate Quarry Nate. Thank you so much for your time, sir,

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and welcome to the blockad.

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Hour, My pleasure. Thank you for inviting me on.

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This is quite a pleasure for me, sir. And again,

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I know you've gone through these questions many times, but

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it's for the Blockhead Nation that may not know your journey.

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I followed it for years. But to catch people up

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that are listening in. You were on the original season

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of The Ultimate Fighter. You were the very first one

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chosen by Randy Couture. So if you can for the

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listeners that need to be caught up, can we walk

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them through a couple of the bright spots just from

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the season one of The Ultimate Fighter. Unfortunately, your injury

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that led to you having to be a coach alongside Randy,

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but maybe the positive impact that you had from season

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one of The Ultimate Fighter.

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Let's hear it, sir, geez boy. Every one of my

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stories can last for hours, so I'll give you the

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abridged version my origin story. I was raised in an

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oppressive doomsday cult as one of Joe's witnesses. I was

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not allowed to particpate in sports at all as a child.

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In my early twenties, I became aware of the UFC

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and I was just miserable. I just hated my life.

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But that was all that I had been raised with,

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that was all that I knew. And I said to myself, well,

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I would rather die at this upcoming army again and

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than continue to live this miserable life, and decided to

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finally do something that I enjoy. So I found a

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gym that was teaching Brazilian jiu jitsu and kickboxing, started training,

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took my first fight at twenty six. At thirty, I

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quit my job. I was a sign hanger, a journeyman, signhanger,

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the shop foreman, so I kind of ran the show

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there except for my direct boss, and just wasn't happy.

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Once again, quit my job. Called up my coach, Robert

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Fallace at the time, said Hey, I'm done work. I'm

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a full time fighter. Now find me fights. And the

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most that i'd made at that point was around five

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hundred dollars for a fight. I was thirty years old,

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I had a two year old two year old or

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three year old daughter. I was a single father. I

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had a mortgage. I had three thousand dollars in the

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bank that I had saved, and I figured we could

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live on about one thousand dollars a month. So the

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worst case scenario was after three years, after three months

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I couldn't make it. Well, I'd go get another job,

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but I was going to take my shot, and the

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worst case scenario is I'd fail miserably, and then in

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my sixties i'd know, well, you know, at least I

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took my shot rather than wondering for the rest of

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my life. And it was insanely difficult. It was always

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difficult for me to find fights. I had frankly, I

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had poor management that was not the best at finding

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me fights. And then I was also in this limbo

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where I was too good for the small shows, not

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good enough, not well known enough for the big shows.

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So the guys in the small shows didn't want to

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fight me, and the guys in the big shows weren't

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going to take a chance on potentially losing to a

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nobody that wouldn't help their career either. So I was

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just about on my way out. And then I had

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fought in Richmond, Virginia. I had a title out there.

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My father died the day before my fight, actually, and

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I took all of the emotion i'd been building up

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from watching him slowly deteriorate over the past few months,

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took that out on my opponent, snapped his arm in

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the first round, and Joe Silva, the matchmaker for the UFC,

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came up to the ring and said, all right, I've

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got my eye on you. And then a few years later,

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they were doing casting for this show, The Ultimate Fighter,

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and they were having a hard time finding anybody, and

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I happened to be down in Vegas. I had kind

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of made this switch from being a fighter to flipping houses.

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I came up in construction, That's what I knew, and

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so I'd buy a house, do their pairs, and flip it.

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And the market was just exploding at that time. So

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I was doing okay, but then I get the call, Hey,

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come try out for this. They did a week of

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shooting and so I was out there with guys like

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Dennis Kang, Josh Kusschek was there. This is some of

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the other guys that made the show, some guys that

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didn't well. Then a while later they called me up

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and said, okay, we're going to do this show. Come

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on down, and we started filming for the Ultimate Fight

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or Season one, and none of us knew what to expect,

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had any idea how big it was going to be.

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It was going to fail. I was not a fan

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of reality shows, so I didn't know what to expect

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at all, and throughout it it was it's when like,

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for example, when they chose the team captains. It was

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the day that Chuck and Randy chose their teams. Yes,

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I was the first person that Randy chose. We had

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a history together up in Portland. I had cornered him

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many times, he cornered me. We trained together for quite

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a while, so he knew my skill set in my mindset,

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felt that I was a good fit for his team.

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We get back to the house and it's like, okay,

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well we've got our team of eight guys here, who's

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going to be the team captain, and I'm thinking to myself,

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I'm gonna vote for alex Caro. Alexis. The last thing

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I want to do is be in charge of these idiots.

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And of course alex Carolexis says, well, Nate was big first.

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I think he should be a team captain. Stephan Bonner

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was already hammered by this time. It was mid afternoon.

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Training was done for the day and Stephan starts getting

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really loud and mad, and I should be a team captain.

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I'm the biggest and the strongest. He just started going

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off and I just looked at him. I said, Stephan,

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when you speak that loud, I can't hear a word

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you say. And he just shut down. I said, guys,

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if you really want me to be the team captain,

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still be it. I I will do that. Here's my

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commitment to you. I want to win this. I'm going

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to do everything I can to win it. But I'm

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not going to be sneaky. Am I going to try

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and play some mind games. I'm going to give you

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the best that I've got and I expect the same

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from you. Now, let's get out there and do what

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we can and see who's going to win, and it

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was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

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It was a ridiculous experience to go through as the

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cast of the very first season. Some people's lives were

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relatively destroyed afterwards. Jason Thacker had a really hard time afterwards.

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Other guys. Our season was so good. Half of the

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guys were good enough to stay in the UFC. Bobby

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Southworth who did not get a contract into the UFC,

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and I think that was more because I think Dana

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didn't like him so much. But Bobby went on to

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be a champion in Strikeforce. He was a great fighter.

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Right over fifty percent of us did really well in

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MMA and continued on with our journey. And here I

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am now, good God, close to twenty years later, and

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it really is just amazing how I can look back

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at my life and I can pick out these days

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where it's, Oh, I made this decision instead of that one.

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I decided to quit my job in April of two

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thousand and two. If I hadn't done that, I wouldn't

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have been available to go fight in Richmond. I wouldn't

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have been on the Ultimate Fighter. I would have stayed

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in my job. It was a good job, but it

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just wasn't rewarding for me. I felt like I had

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more than I'd be doing with my life, and even

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getting my title shot in the UFC, than having my

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back surgery and then my comeback fight against Petezel. That's

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another day that made everything else possible in my life.

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And somebody had con had mentioned to me a while

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back about the level of self confidence that I carry

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myself with, and I pointed out, well, self confidence is

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a big part of that is when you've gone through

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things and you know who you are and you know

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what to expect from yourself, you're going to believe in yourself.

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But more than anything, the way that I was raised

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was just a feeling of just worthlessness. I had no

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value whatsoever. I was an odd duck in school, at

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church where I was supposed to be, that was supposed

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to be my family. So I just didn't feel like

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I belonged anywhere. So my two choices were to believe

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everyone else that thought I was just worthless, or believe

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in myself and try to make something in my life.

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And I chose the latter.

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Sure, absolutely, I think I'm so glad you brought that

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up because also for my listeners. This is a man who,

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prior to going into the UFC, was part of Jehovo's

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Witness and you went in detail on that one on

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the MMA History podcast. I'm giving them a quick shout out,

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but there's one thing I'd like to back up on

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and just kind of clarify for my listeners without Nate

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Core for Chris Leban and head into audiobook and you's

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a pull him out of his stupor and get him back.

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You have a relationship with Chris Leban since Team Quest,

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since The Ultimate Fighter, even into every almost every chapter

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of his books. I feel like we've we've got to

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just address your relationship with him at that time. I'm

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not sure where you currently stand, but can you walk

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my Blockhead Nation listeners through your relationship with Chris.

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I've known Leban now for I guess over twenty years.

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We met when he started in a Team Quest and

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he was just a guy running through life with his

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hair on fire, and it made him a very exciting fighter,

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incredibly tough. He's got so many highlight knockouts where if

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you're a betman, you'd be like, oh, Chris is done

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for He's out. Nobody can take the Oh my god,

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he knocked him out and Levin has gotten got his

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hand raid again. He was just always there, always try

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and fight and willing to make something of himself. And

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a lot of us in the fighting world it's you

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men would rather fight in a cage and go to

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therapy kind of thing, And so a lot of us are.

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We're working through our demons as we're stepping into the cage.

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We're trying to find our value, myself included. When you're

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told that you're worthless your whole life, and then you

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find yourself surrounded, you're standing in the cage and there's

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someone who's just knocked out at your feet and they're

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chanting your name. That does a lot to help boost

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one's ego and realize, well, maybe I'm not as worthless

243
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as they said that I was. And I think Leban

244
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was really finding that to be the case with him. Unfortunately,

245
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his demons got the better of him too often. There

246
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were times he was in a really dark place with

247
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drugs and alcohol. I did my best what I could

248
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to try and help him as much as I could,

249
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as much as he would let me. I think ultimately

250
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it was Leeban finding his own path and I don't

251
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know if he had reached rock bottom or not, but

252
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I do know that now he is just doing incredibly well.

253
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Has his own gym. He is a judge and a referee.

254
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I see his posts on Instagram all the time where

255
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he's doing a phenomenal job coaching. And Chris was always

256
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such a great coach. He was so good at breaking

257
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down techniques, helping to relate to the other fighters because

258
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he's been someone who's been through it and done all that.

259
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I wish nothing but the best for him, and I'm

260
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so proud of him and his success. He just got engaged.

261
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He's got a son. I know having a child will

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really help someone if they have the right mental attitude

263
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and they start to realize, Okay, do I want to

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continue on this legacy of my childhood or do I

265
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want to break the cycle here and do something better

266
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with my life and my child life. That's what I

267
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did for mine, and I think that that's what Chris

268
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is doing for his as well. And I'm just so

269
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happy for him and proud of everything that he's done,

270
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and I can't wait to see how much further he

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continues to go.

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Agreed Again, I know that was just sharing from the

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audio book because you were mentioned so many times and

274
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it was usually in such a positive light. But you

275
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know you have to go through the journey with Chris

276
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on that. If y'all haven't heard The Crippler by Chris Leaving,

277
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go to audible right now and find that book. I

278
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have to share it because it will take you in

279
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more depth and what we just talked about here. But

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before we hit recordinate, I mentioned to you that when

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I first started podcasting, I was tuning into You're Welcome

282
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with Chaill's Son, and I still say to this day

283
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that you and Chale had some of the best chemistry

284
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that I ever heard, and it made me go, I

285
00:15:48.440 --> 00:15:50.720
want to have an interview like that. I want something

286
00:15:50.759 --> 00:15:54.480
similar where chall is leading the charge. But you went

287
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into detail with your life and your mm A career

288
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and many other things too. I think it might have

289
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been the ALLI that you were currently involved with. It

290
00:16:02.279 --> 00:16:05.240
was just so much, But that very first episode just

291
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brought it home from me. So I thank you for

292
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that interview, But can you walk my listeners through just

293
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your experience, because I understand Jail at the beginning had

294
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to go at a rented building where he had to

295
00:16:17.159 --> 00:16:19.840
rent out his time and go in that small area.

296
00:16:19.919 --> 00:16:22.000
And then he's evolved a lot since he's been doing

297
00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:24.679
his podcast. But can you walk me through the experience

298
00:16:24.679 --> 00:16:27.120
of when you first went and sat down with Chail

299
00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:27.919
on You're Welcome?

300
00:16:28.759 --> 00:16:33.720
Oh so again, all of my stories they have this long, long,

301
00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:37.440
long version of them, or the version. I've known Chail

302
00:16:37.480 --> 00:16:40.320
the same thing over twenty years now. I was at

303
00:16:40.360 --> 00:16:43.720
his first fight against Trevor Praanley the roseland Theater here

304
00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:50.399
in Portland. I am so fascinated with Jail in general

305
00:16:50.399 --> 00:16:52.840
and the things that he's been able to do. There

306
00:16:52.919 --> 00:16:55.240
is not another fighter alive that he is able to

307
00:16:55.279 --> 00:17:00.240
work across the board with so many different organizations hate

308
00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:03.279
each other. And yet you'll see Jail on bellatour one

309
00:17:03.360 --> 00:17:06.519
night and then the next, and then he's off to

310
00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:08.920
some other place and he's at a wrestling in some place.

311
00:17:10.039 --> 00:17:12.720
Every time somebody at all meet zat and they'll say, oh,

312
00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:14.960
I just met Jail here. We we live a few

313
00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:17.279
miles away from each other, and like, oh my god,

314
00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:20.319
he's just the nicest guy. He's just so wonderful And

315
00:17:21.799 --> 00:17:24.920
like all friendships, all relationships, we had our ups and downs,

316
00:17:24.920 --> 00:17:27.839
and there was a time period where I was leaving

317
00:17:27.880 --> 00:17:30.119
team quest. I felt that that was what was best

318
00:17:30.119 --> 00:17:31.680
for me, That's what I felt was best for the

319
00:17:31.680 --> 00:17:35.000
rest of the team. Actually, they were complaining all the

320
00:17:35.039 --> 00:17:37.920
time that they weren't getting the coaching and training that

321
00:17:37.960 --> 00:17:39.880
they need. They were just paying money and then beating

322
00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:42.400
the hell out of each other. Well, I'm not that guy.

323
00:17:42.839 --> 00:17:46.000
If I have a problem with something, sure, I'm gonna

324
00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:49.359
say it right or wrong. If I don't, if I

325
00:17:49.359 --> 00:17:51.200
don't care for you, if I don't care what happens

326
00:17:51.240 --> 00:17:53.599
with your life, I'll keep my mouth shut. But if

327
00:17:53.640 --> 00:17:56.079
I see people that I think can be doing better

328
00:17:56.119 --> 00:17:59.440
and and honestly think that we can help each other,

329
00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:02.200
then I'll say something. So I told him, I'm not

330
00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:05.039
going to sit around here after practice every day and

331
00:18:05.480 --> 00:18:07.559
whine and bitch and complain that we're not getting what

332
00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:10.519
we need. We're all grown men. I'm best friends with

333
00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:13.200
the coach here, Robert Flawless, and I've known Matt Lindland

334
00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:15.559
for years. Randy go Tour had left now by this time,

335
00:18:15.559 --> 00:18:18.079
he gone to Vegas. So I said, well, how about

336
00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:20.759
I go talk to Robert and Matt and we'll work

337
00:18:20.759 --> 00:18:22.440
things out. So I wrote down a list all the

338
00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:27.359
complaints that everybody had sat down with Fallless and he said, well,

339
00:18:27.480 --> 00:18:29.759
you know, these are some great points. I don't want

340
00:18:29.759 --> 00:18:31.960
to respond right now, but let's let me think about

341
00:18:31.960 --> 00:18:33.079
it and i'll get back to you. And then a

342
00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:35.119
couple of weeks later he goes, well, you know, until

343
00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:37.480
we get this resolved, you're no longer welcome to train

344
00:18:37.519 --> 00:18:41.920
a team Quest. I thought, all right, so I remember that,

345
00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:44.759
I get a text and now I'm out of that.

346
00:18:45.400 --> 00:18:50.039
I literally helped form I was the first FEMI Pro

347
00:18:50.160 --> 00:18:53.039
or pro fighter on the team that wasn't named Dan Henderson,

348
00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:55.960
Brandy Gotor, Matt Linland because I went up to Randy

349
00:18:55.960 --> 00:18:58.000
and said, hey, I'm working my off here. I want

350
00:18:58.039 --> 00:19:00.319
to fight for you guys. And Randy said, we don't

351
00:19:00.319 --> 00:19:02.279
have a team. It's just us three, and I said, well,

352
00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:03.680
you should form a team and I want to be

353
00:19:03.720 --> 00:19:05.400
on it. And that was the start of the Team

354
00:19:05.440 --> 00:19:09.640
Quest Fight Club. So and I remember these things. It's

355
00:19:09.680 --> 00:19:12.079
not some mystical thing to me that, oh my god,

356
00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:15.440
this great powerhouse of a gym just came out of

357
00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:17.640
no place, like no. We all put in our time

358
00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:20.440
and our work follow us was huge on making the

359
00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:22.519
business run. Randy had tried to do it before but

360
00:19:22.680 --> 00:19:25.920
wasn't able to commit enough time at Performance Quest. Well,

361
00:19:25.920 --> 00:19:28.960
now we had Team Quest. But success can be the

362
00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:33.400
downfall of so many And so I went to the

363
00:19:33.480 --> 00:19:35.319
team and said, so they don't want to do any

364
00:19:35.319 --> 00:19:37.759
of these changes that we've talked about. Instead of us

365
00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:40.720
paying twenty percent of our gross income to Team Quest

366
00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:43.400
to come train on their wrestling mats, why don't we

367
00:19:43.440 --> 00:19:46.839
go to any other gym here in the city and say, hey,

368
00:19:46.920 --> 00:19:49.920
we're the former Team Quest Fight Club. How about we

369
00:19:49.960 --> 00:19:52.480
all become members here at your gym. You can advertise

370
00:19:52.519 --> 00:19:54.279
the hell out of us. So this is where we train,

371
00:19:54.680 --> 00:19:57.000
you know. That's what drove I think five hundred Paining

372
00:19:57.079 --> 00:19:59.240
members to go to Team Quest because they saw us

373
00:19:59.279 --> 00:20:03.920
on TV. And we'll just we'll continue our training, but

374
00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:06.359
now we'll take that twenty percent and we'll reinvest it

375
00:20:06.359 --> 00:20:10.079
in ourselves and we'll pay these coaches. Not to speak

376
00:20:10.119 --> 00:20:13.400
to sparageonly about fall list, but he was a purple

377
00:20:13.400 --> 00:20:16.200
belt in jiu jitsu and I had black belts in

378
00:20:16.279 --> 00:20:19.440
jiu jitsu in my weight class, Like, you're not gonna

379
00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:21.839
get me ready as well as a black belt would.

380
00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:23.680
We didn't have a boxing coach, we didn't have a

381
00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:26.119
kickboxing coach, we didn't have a conditioning coach, none of

382
00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:29.119
that stuff. And I was told by Lynland, we don't

383
00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:30.880
need any of that stuff. We're not hiring any of

384
00:20:30.920 --> 00:20:34.480
those coaches. We are an MMA gym. That's all we need. Well, Matt,

385
00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:38.119
you're a silver medalist in the Olympics for greco Roman.

386
00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:43.200
You have the world's best classification in one aspect of

387
00:20:43.240 --> 00:20:45.480
the sport, and you're able to take people to that

388
00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:48.400
all the time. I'm not that good. I need those

389
00:20:48.440 --> 00:20:50.960
coaches to be the best that I can be. And

390
00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:54.559
if you look at Team Quest, they never made any champions.

391
00:20:54.880 --> 00:20:58.079
They had Champion, they had Danny, they had Randy, they

392
00:20:58.119 --> 00:21:01.519
had Matt, but they didn't grow somebody from nothing and

393
00:21:01.599 --> 00:21:03.720
make them into a world champion. I mean that was

394
00:21:03.759 --> 00:21:06.559
a pretty simple equation. Well, when I told the team

395
00:21:06.599 --> 00:21:08.559
that they didn't want to make any of these changes,

396
00:21:09.799 --> 00:21:12.160
every one of them said, oh shit, Well I didn't

397
00:21:12.200 --> 00:21:14.240
realize that you were serious. You were going to go

398
00:21:14.279 --> 00:21:17.640
talk to them. No, no, we're fine. So I decided,

399
00:21:17.640 --> 00:21:18.799
all right, I'm going to go off and I'm going

400
00:21:18.839 --> 00:21:20.480
to train by myself. There was one guy there a

401
00:21:20.480 --> 00:21:22.200
to gym by the name of Greg Thompson. He was

402
00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:25.920
heading up the amateur team and we had talked a

403
00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:28.319
few times. We become friends. And he called me and

404
00:21:28.359 --> 00:21:30.279
he said, oh, I don't know why you chose to leave,

405
00:21:30.519 --> 00:21:32.440
but if there's anything you do to help you, let

406
00:21:32.440 --> 00:21:35.000
me know. And I said, well, don't get it twisted.

407
00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:38.160
I didn't choose to leave. They're kicking me out because

408
00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:40.240
they're going to use me as an example to keep

409
00:21:40.279 --> 00:21:44.839
everybody quiet and doing what they tell them to do. Well.

410
00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:48.319
Around this point I reached out to Jail and I said, hey, Chail,

411
00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:51.119
so now I'm training that this gym that's across the

412
00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:53.240
parking lot from where you work. He was a realtor

413
00:21:53.240 --> 00:21:56.119
at the time. I said, I'm just looking to get

414
00:21:56.200 --> 00:22:00.480
rounds twice a week Tuesday Thursday afternoons. If you'd like

415
00:22:00.519 --> 00:22:01.960
to train with me, I'd love to have you. So

416
00:22:02.039 --> 00:22:04.440
he came over on a Tuesday and we did our

417
00:22:04.519 --> 00:22:07.799
rounds and at the end of the rounds he went, hell, yes,

418
00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:11.720
this is saving me two three hours out of my day.

419
00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:13.599
I don't have to drive all the way out to Gresham.

420
00:22:13.640 --> 00:22:15.720
And then drive back. This is right where I lived,

421
00:22:15.720 --> 00:22:18.480
This is perfect. I've always been a great training partner.

422
00:22:18.839 --> 00:22:20.839
So we said, all right, I'll be here every Tuesday Thursday.

423
00:22:20.839 --> 00:22:24.279
Well Thursday comes and Jail's not there, and so I

424
00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:26.039
called him up and I said, Chail, so what's going on?

425
00:22:26.119 --> 00:22:28.559
And he says, well, they don't want me to train

426
00:22:28.680 --> 00:22:31.359
with you. And I said, well, Jail, you're going man.

427
00:22:31.400 --> 00:22:34.359
You can do whatever you want. And Chail opted not

428
00:22:34.440 --> 00:22:39.079
to follow my advice. And so I took that personally.

429
00:22:39.559 --> 00:22:41.519
And when somebody tells me that they're going to do something,

430
00:22:41.599 --> 00:22:44.240
they don't. And here's the thing. And I had this

431
00:22:44.319 --> 00:22:47.880
happen with my cutman as well. He refused to corner

432
00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:50.079
me because he chose to he felt that there was

433
00:22:50.079 --> 00:22:52.559
a better opportunity for him at Team Quest. Of course,

434
00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:55.279
when Team Quests fell apart and my career kept going,

435
00:22:55.319 --> 00:22:59.200
then he came back. But I tend to remember these things,

436
00:22:59.200 --> 00:23:03.920
and what I said was especially to this cutman. So

437
00:23:03.960 --> 00:23:07.000
you've worked with a lot of guys, You've done some championships, fights,

438
00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:10.279
you've traveled around the world. None of them was important

439
00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:13.319
as my fight because I wasn't fighting for its title

440
00:23:13.680 --> 00:23:16.799
or honor or any of that bullshit. I was fighting

441
00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:19.920
for my daughter's future. I was fighting to give her

442
00:23:20.039 --> 00:23:24.400
proof and defeed her. And you chose your own pathways.

443
00:23:25.160 --> 00:23:27.160
That's you're right. You can do whatever you want to.

444
00:23:27.880 --> 00:23:29.880
But don't think that I'm going to forget that when

445
00:23:29.880 --> 00:23:33.359
I needed you, you weren't there. And so it was

446
00:23:33.599 --> 00:23:35.680
my same feeling that I had with Jail, and I

447
00:23:35.720 --> 00:23:38.599
held onto that for quite a few years. Well then

448
00:23:38.920 --> 00:23:42.160
just randomly, we both go to a comedy show and

449
00:23:42.200 --> 00:23:44.799
he ends up sitting right behind me, and so we're

450
00:23:44.839 --> 00:23:46.920
talking and such, and I hadn't seen him in quite

451
00:23:46.920 --> 00:23:49.480
a while. Well, he sends me a text the next

452
00:23:49.559 --> 00:23:51.400
day and says, hey, I got this podcast. I'd like

453
00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:53.880
to have you on it. And I think I was

454
00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:56.240
day drinking. It was a Sunday and I had a

455
00:23:56.240 --> 00:23:58.160
couple of beers and me or a couple of ciders.

456
00:23:58.880 --> 00:24:00.960
And I texted him back and I said, no, you don't.

457
00:24:01.359 --> 00:24:03.319
You don't want me on your podcast. He says, no,

458
00:24:03.400 --> 00:24:04.839
I do. I want to tell some of those old stories.

459
00:24:04.880 --> 00:24:06.720
And I said, no, you don't, because I'm going to

460
00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:09.839
tell what really happened, what went down at Team Quest,

461
00:24:10.279 --> 00:24:14.359
why I left, and what you did and his response was,

462
00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:16.240
I think it's time to tell the story. Come on.

463
00:24:17.160 --> 00:24:19.559
So we spend out what was it, an hour, hour

464
00:24:19.559 --> 00:24:22.640
and a half, and I just tore into him the

465
00:24:22.839 --> 00:24:27.920
entire time, just ripped into him and talked about all

466
00:24:27.960 --> 00:24:31.960
of the hypocrisy and the cowardice and all the shit

467
00:24:32.039 --> 00:24:34.400
that I had seen at Team Quest throughout for all

468
00:24:34.480 --> 00:24:37.160
these years, and these baddest men on the planet who

469
00:24:37.240 --> 00:24:40.119
just won't even stand up for themselves. Things like that,

470
00:24:40.880 --> 00:24:43.359
And at the end of it, Jale said, you know, Nate,

471
00:24:44.160 --> 00:24:46.359
I'm sorry. I don't know if he said I'm sorry,

472
00:24:46.359 --> 00:24:49.200
but he said, history will prove that you were right.

473
00:24:49.400 --> 00:24:52.640
I was wrong, and I took a deep breath.

474
00:24:53.240 --> 00:24:55.200
He said something to that degree, that's correct.

475
00:24:56.880 --> 00:24:59.720
And it was one of those times where kind of

476
00:24:59.720 --> 00:25:02.119
one of the those life lessons that I'm still learning

477
00:25:02.119 --> 00:25:05.039
into my fifties. It's like, if you're angry years later,

478
00:25:05.160 --> 00:25:08.640
you're not punishing anyone but yourself. And that allowed me

479
00:25:08.720 --> 00:25:13.839
to kind of breathe and forgive him and move on

480
00:25:13.920 --> 00:25:17.960
with my life. And it was such a crazy thing

481
00:25:18.039 --> 00:25:22.480
because when that happened, so many other business opportunities opened

482
00:25:22.519 --> 00:25:25.400
up for me. He invited me to commentate for his

483
00:25:25.480 --> 00:25:29.160
FGFF show and then Submission Underground he had me commentate

484
00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:31.680
for that. Then I met Sean Weelock and we were

485
00:25:31.680 --> 00:25:35.160
doing shows, and Shawn Weelock introduced me to George Chunk,

486
00:25:35.319 --> 00:25:38.480
and now I'm fine to Kazakhstan and Thailand to do

487
00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:42.519
shows for those guys. And it was just one of

488
00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:45.279
those times where it's like, you know, I stood my ground,

489
00:25:45.319 --> 00:25:47.680
I did what I felt was the right thing to do.

490
00:25:48.240 --> 00:25:50.319
I said my piece, and then I let it go,

491
00:25:51.079 --> 00:25:53.640
and I recognize that we all do what we feel

492
00:25:53.720 --> 00:25:56.240
is in our own best in Chris, and that's just

493
00:25:56.319 --> 00:25:58.200
human nature. And then am I going to hold onto

494
00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:00.359
those things for the rest of my life? Am I

495
00:26:00.440 --> 00:26:02.480
just gonna say? Yeah, it is what it is, And

496
00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:05.799
I'm gonna appreciate people for what they what they do

497
00:26:05.880 --> 00:26:07.920
have to offer and offer, give them for what they don't,

498
00:26:07.960 --> 00:26:09.759
and be a better man myself.

499
00:26:10.599 --> 00:26:15.440
Sure that was a very introspective, just because as the listener,

500
00:26:15.880 --> 00:26:19.200
you know, I'm traveling to work and I'm hearing the

501
00:26:19.240 --> 00:26:21.880
styles that you both have, and but I remember all

502
00:26:21.920 --> 00:26:24.640
the back as you share, but as I listened you

503
00:26:24.680 --> 00:26:27.480
continue to do more episodes, and one of them that

504
00:26:27.559 --> 00:26:30.640
you shared that I guess it's my favorite one of

505
00:26:30.720 --> 00:26:32.279
all the ones I had to pick. This is my

506
00:26:32.359 --> 00:26:34.519
favorite story that you pulled. I think it was the

507
00:26:34.599 --> 00:26:36.799
second time you went on, and then I think Joel

508
00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:39.799
interfered out of nowhere and he became a co host

509
00:26:39.839 --> 00:26:43.400
over time. But you had mentioned a story about Baroni,

510
00:26:43.799 --> 00:26:45.839
and I believe that I won't tell the whole story,

511
00:26:45.880 --> 00:26:48.200
but you were you were cornering jail, and you were

512
00:26:48.200 --> 00:26:51.160
in a lot of pain, and Phil was shouting from

513
00:26:51.160 --> 00:26:53.720
the side, and you shut him down with one phrase.

514
00:26:54.319 --> 00:26:56.880
If you can remember that, could you walk the blockhead

515
00:26:56.960 --> 00:26:59.640
Nation through that one encounter? You shared it on the

516
00:26:59.720 --> 00:27:01.640
second or third time you went on your Walcome.

517
00:27:02.480 --> 00:27:07.440
Yeah. So this is two thousand and four, two thousand

518
00:27:07.480 --> 00:27:11.920
and five, right. I had just fought for the wall title,

519
00:27:12.240 --> 00:27:16.599
got brutally knocked out, great knockout for Rich Franklin, and

520
00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:19.880
then a couple months later, my back is hurting so

521
00:27:20.079 --> 00:27:23.519
badly I can barely walk, let alone pick up my daughter,

522
00:27:23.559 --> 00:27:27.079
who's five years old at the time. So I ended

523
00:27:27.160 --> 00:27:29.720
up going to the doctor. I discovered I have degenerate

524
00:27:29.799 --> 00:27:32.279
dis disease, so in my lumbar spine, my lower back,

525
00:27:32.400 --> 00:27:34.640
my l two three couple of my vertebrates down there,

526
00:27:34.680 --> 00:27:37.519
the disc had completely collapsed, and I was having bone

527
00:27:37.559 --> 00:27:42.440
on bone grinding, horrifically painful, and I'm being told that

528
00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:45.839
I need to get a spinal fusion surgery. So everyone

529
00:27:45.960 --> 00:27:48.680
is telling me, if you get spinal fusion surgery, not

530
00:27:48.759 --> 00:27:51.000
only is your career over, your life is over. You're

531
00:27:51.039 --> 00:27:54.359
done for pat militants told me, do not get your surgery,

532
00:27:54.440 --> 00:27:57.279
live with the pain. Well, I knew if I did nothing,

533
00:27:57.400 --> 00:27:59.319
I was going to go nowhere. So I had to

534
00:27:59.359 --> 00:28:02.799
take the chance on this, this surgery. While leading up

535
00:28:02.799 --> 00:28:05.559
to the surgery, because it takes a few weeks and

536
00:28:05.680 --> 00:28:10.039
months to get everything prepared and all that stuff, I'm

537
00:28:10.079 --> 00:28:14.000
just waiting, and I'm heavily medicated, and I'm just dealing

538
00:28:14.039 --> 00:28:18.279
with life as it is. So Chaal is fighting Trevor

539
00:28:18.279 --> 00:28:21.119
Prangley and this says a rematch for him. I was

540
00:28:21.160 --> 00:28:24.559
there at his first Trevor Prangley fighter at the Portland

541
00:28:24.559 --> 00:28:29.440
at the Roseland, and Jail is always he's such a

542
00:28:29.440 --> 00:28:34.319
phenomenal athlete. Chail bj Penn, Dan Henderson three of the

543
00:28:34.359 --> 00:28:39.319
most dominant, just incredible athletes I'd ever trained with. And

544
00:28:40.119 --> 00:28:42.480
Chail when he gets out of his own way, and

545
00:28:42.559 --> 00:28:45.279
that's what he really started to do in his latter career.

546
00:28:45.359 --> 00:28:48.279
Build this persona of it he could really use to

547
00:28:48.359 --> 00:28:51.160
propel himself when he got out of his own way.

548
00:28:51.200 --> 00:28:54.400
He was such a dominant fighter. He's wrestling is phenomenal,

549
00:28:54.640 --> 00:28:58.319
and nobody who hasn't trained with Jail understands that he's

550
00:28:58.319 --> 00:29:02.599
so good. And so Chaill asked me to corner him

551
00:29:03.359 --> 00:29:06.519
against Trevor Praangley and I'm just going to be a third.

552
00:29:07.039 --> 00:29:09.559
Fawless and Lynland are going to be the first and second.

553
00:29:09.839 --> 00:29:12.400
So I'm just kind of hanging out there. Well, Chaill

554
00:29:12.480 --> 00:29:14.160
asked me to be in his corner and I said,

555
00:29:14.200 --> 00:29:17.200
Chail Man, I can't train, I can barely stand. I

556
00:29:17.279 --> 00:29:19.480
won't be able to do shit to this whole thing.

557
00:29:20.240 --> 00:29:23.359
He said something I'll never forget. He goes, Nay, you know,

558
00:29:23.400 --> 00:29:25.200
when you're getting in a fight, you just want your

559
00:29:25.240 --> 00:29:28.519
friends there. And I said, all right. I said that's

560
00:29:28.519 --> 00:29:30.160
all you had to say. I will be there. I'm

561
00:29:30.200 --> 00:29:34.519
that guy. And so I'm sitting there on the stool,

562
00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:37.240
mine in my business. I don't have nothing to say.

563
00:29:37.319 --> 00:29:39.319
I'm just there. It's the first fight of the night.

564
00:29:39.799 --> 00:29:43.319
At the Hard Rock Casino. It is empty. It's like

565
00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:46.720
right after the Ultimate Fighter. I think, yeah, it is, yeah,

566
00:29:46.880 --> 00:29:49.559
just maybe season two or something. So the UFC has

567
00:29:49.599 --> 00:29:52.039
not blown up into what it is today. You could

568
00:29:52.200 --> 00:29:54.359
buy a ticket and the first fight of the night

569
00:29:54.799 --> 00:29:57.960
Chail Son and Trevor Prankley or the opening of the card,

570
00:29:57.960 --> 00:30:01.480
and no one is there except for one guy, Phil Baroni.

571
00:30:02.400 --> 00:30:04.599
And he's like five six ro us back and he'd

572
00:30:04.599 --> 00:30:08.759
been training with Trevor Brangley for some time now. He

573
00:30:08.839 --> 00:30:11.599
kind of floated around gyms and this and that, and

574
00:30:11.680 --> 00:30:15.559
Phil is just loud and he's yelling the entire time.

575
00:30:15.640 --> 00:30:20.279
The entire time, he's just beat his ass, kick his ass.

576
00:30:20.640 --> 00:30:22.640
Yeah, you're kicking this, beat of that.

577
00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:26.680
The whole time. He's yelling this stuff, like like he

578
00:30:26.759 --> 00:30:28.279
knew there was no one there in the crowd, so

579
00:30:28.319 --> 00:30:31.640
we had to make up for everybody. Well, Linlan and

580
00:30:31.680 --> 00:30:34.880
Baroni always had some kind of beef going on, Like

581
00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:38.440
it was so easy for Linlan to just provoke Baroni

582
00:30:38.440 --> 00:30:41.720
and Baroni would just lose his mind. And so Baroni

583
00:30:41.839 --> 00:30:43.279
yells something like you.

584
00:30:43.319 --> 00:30:44.119
Broke his heart.

585
00:30:44.240 --> 00:30:49.000
He won't continue, and Linland just off hand says, yeah,

586
00:30:49.000 --> 00:30:54.440
I guess you two got something in common. Then huh Baroni, fuck.

587
00:30:54.240 --> 00:30:55.599
You, hould you fuck?

588
00:30:55.680 --> 00:30:58.440
Oh duck you the fuck out, blah blah blah. And

589
00:30:58.480 --> 00:31:01.799
I'm sitting again. I'm like sweating, I'm in so much pain,

590
00:31:02.559 --> 00:31:07.839
and I just kind of smirk. I'm smirking because I'm like, well,

591
00:31:07.880 --> 00:31:10.160
of course this is what's gonna happen. You got Linland

592
00:31:10.160 --> 00:31:13.400
and Baroni anywhere near each other, this, this kind of

593
00:31:13.400 --> 00:31:16.799
fireworks gonna happen. Well, Baroni sees me smirk, and I

594
00:31:16.880 --> 00:31:20.440
mean literally just a something like that. Baroni turns on me.

595
00:31:20.839 --> 00:31:23.119
What the fuck you laughing at you? Fucking bagg it.

596
00:31:23.319 --> 00:31:26.440
You're a fucking joke. Fuck you, you're the fucking highlight

597
00:31:26.519 --> 00:31:28.960
of the year. You got knocked the fuck out, And

598
00:31:29.000 --> 00:31:32.359
he's just screaming and then yelled at it. Yeah, like,

599
00:31:32.920 --> 00:31:36.720
oh my god, I'm so tired. I don't want any

600
00:31:36.759 --> 00:31:38.839
of this. I am in so much pain. And he

601
00:31:39.000 --> 00:31:40.720
just yelled at me and yelled at me and yelled

602
00:31:40.759 --> 00:31:43.079
me thirty forty five seconds, and finally I turned to

603
00:31:43.160 --> 00:31:45.279
him and I said, at least.

604
00:31:45.039 --> 00:31:48.759
I got a title shot, Phil, and that was it.

605
00:31:50.039 --> 00:31:56.119
He just went, yeah, you did, didn't say another word.

606
00:31:57.240 --> 00:31:57.480
Price.

607
00:31:58.359 --> 00:32:01.960
All right, So now I'm know Phil Berni hates me.

608
00:32:02.880 --> 00:32:05.519
I want to have to worry about him ever again,

609
00:32:05.599 --> 00:32:08.839
and no interaction blah blah blah. So the next time

610
00:32:08.880 --> 00:32:10.359
I see Phil, and I don't know when, this is

611
00:32:10.440 --> 00:32:14.480
months and months later where it's like some UFC big

612
00:32:14.519 --> 00:32:16.759
show or something like that, when of they're when they

613
00:32:16.839 --> 00:32:19.200
used to bring in all the vendors and all that,

614
00:32:19.880 --> 00:32:22.440
And I see Phil from across the room. He walks

615
00:32:22.519 --> 00:32:24.559
through the crowd and comes up to me. He goes,

616
00:32:25.960 --> 00:32:28.720
so good to see you and shakes my hand. Motherfucker.

617
00:32:30.759 --> 00:32:33.480
We have a stable relationship. I either want to hate

618
00:32:33.480 --> 00:32:37.680
you or love you. I am I'm not good with

619
00:32:37.680 --> 00:32:41.759
with the ups and downs of unstable people. And right,

620
00:32:42.119 --> 00:32:44.000
and the last I've heard at the end of Phil

621
00:32:44.039 --> 00:32:46.279
Berrony story, and I don't know where he's at now,

622
00:32:46.279 --> 00:32:48.519
but last I heard, he was in prison and Mexico

623
00:32:48.640 --> 00:32:51.519
for beating his girlfriend to death. So I don't know

624
00:32:51.559 --> 00:32:56.920
how that is out. But yikes, people will find yeah

625
00:32:57.319 --> 00:32:58.640
age rather than go to therapy.

626
00:32:59.400 --> 00:33:01.720
Sure, I don't condone here and things like that, but

627
00:33:01.759 --> 00:33:04.599
I also hate hearing that for so many that laid

628
00:33:04.640 --> 00:33:07.960
the groundwork for MMA to where we are today. But

629
00:33:08.200 --> 00:33:10.599
as you were telling that, you told so many stories

630
00:33:10.640 --> 00:33:13.000
and it's kind of like, not you stole my thunder,

631
00:33:13.039 --> 00:33:14.880
but you even took my bullet point. I was gonna

632
00:33:14.920 --> 00:33:17.359
ask about some of those from Team Quest and a

633
00:33:17.359 --> 00:33:20.039
few others, but you got to him. But I hope

634
00:33:20.079 --> 00:33:22.759
it's okay that I ask one other. You saved this

635
00:33:23.319 --> 00:33:25.799
for an episode of Beyond the Fight. This was the

636
00:33:25.880 --> 00:33:28.319
post stuff with Jail back in the day. He doesn't

637
00:33:28.319 --> 00:33:30.200
do this anymore, but he used to do it Beyond

638
00:33:30.200 --> 00:33:33.160
the Fight, and he asked you a very important question

639
00:33:33.720 --> 00:33:36.920
and it was all related to the fight you had

640
00:33:36.960 --> 00:33:39.680
with Jorge Rivera because I remember following him. I think

641
00:33:39.720 --> 00:33:42.200
he was Season five of The Ultimate Fighter somewhere in there.

642
00:33:42.519 --> 00:33:45.440
But he just he wanted to face you, and you

643
00:33:46.119 --> 00:33:49.960
have a awesome recollection of that story. It has to

644
00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:51.680
deal with your stool. I don't want to give away

645
00:33:51.680 --> 00:33:54.319
too much, but I'm hoping that helps recollected a little

646
00:33:54.319 --> 00:33:56.279
bit if you're willing, If you're willing to share that

647
00:33:56.720 --> 00:33:59.880
with the Blockhead Nation, can you walk us through your

648
00:34:00.359 --> 00:34:01.559
fight with Jorge Rivera?

649
00:34:02.559 --> 00:34:06.480
Yeah, of course. So who did I fight right before Jorge?

650
00:34:07.759 --> 00:34:09.960
Should His name is Escaping me, but we put on

651
00:34:10.119 --> 00:34:14.880
just a hell of a war. Three round fight, first

652
00:34:14.880 --> 00:34:18.519
and second round, maybe even the third. They all around

653
00:34:18.599 --> 00:34:21.280
start the same, uses my head as a speedbag, and

654
00:34:21.320 --> 00:34:23.679
then I hit him and drop him. He gets back up,

655
00:34:23.679 --> 00:34:25.480
I hit him and drop him, and we just fought

656
00:34:26.199 --> 00:34:28.280
to the death. It was just stopped a little early.

657
00:34:29.519 --> 00:34:33.599
Sure I ended up winning the decision. I think we

658
00:34:33.679 --> 00:34:36.480
got third best fight of the year according to the UFC.

659
00:34:37.599 --> 00:34:41.400
And so Jorge then reaches out to the UFC and says, hey,

660
00:34:41.400 --> 00:34:44.400
this would be a great fight me and Nate, and

661
00:34:44.440 --> 00:34:48.039
I'm not they know, so I said, okay, let's do this.

662
00:34:48.719 --> 00:34:50.760
It was not ever going to be a great fight

663
00:34:50.800 --> 00:34:53.599
for me. I fight best when I'm angry and I

664
00:34:53.679 --> 00:34:58.760
have emotion. I dislike the person. Jorge is a great boxer.

665
00:34:59.280 --> 00:35:02.400
My my game plan was to kind of wear him out.

666
00:35:02.719 --> 00:35:05.079
His cardio has always been his weakness. When he fought

667
00:35:05.159 --> 00:35:08.159
Rich Franklin, he was really giving it to Rich and

668
00:35:08.199 --> 00:35:10.400
then he gasped I think in the third or whenever

669
00:35:10.440 --> 00:35:12.760
it was, and Rich was able to beat him. So

670
00:35:12.880 --> 00:35:15.840
my plan was to wear him down. And he's got

671
00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:19.639
such great striking, he's long, he's got reach, and it

672
00:35:19.679 --> 00:35:23.360
did not go well for me. But we get into

673
00:35:23.400 --> 00:35:27.679
the ring and he starts lighting me up and hits

674
00:35:27.719 --> 00:35:30.199
me with a big right hand, takes a step, hits

675
00:35:30.199 --> 00:35:33.039
me with a second and just shatters the whole left

676
00:35:33.039 --> 00:35:36.840
side of my face. Drops me, gets on top, trying

677
00:35:36.880 --> 00:35:40.159
to pound me out. I'm fighting back. We make it

678
00:35:40.199 --> 00:35:43.599
past the first round and I'm sitting on my stool,

679
00:35:44.360 --> 00:35:49.360
stitched around as my corner man, and he's putting the

680
00:35:50.119 --> 00:35:53.559
swap up my nose with the epinephrin. Tried to cauterize

681
00:35:53.840 --> 00:35:56.679
all the blood vessels so I'm not just bleeding on

682
00:35:56.800 --> 00:35:59.800
my nose all over the place. Well, when stitch A

683
00:36:00.159 --> 00:36:03.480
has a rag on his hand and it drapes over

684
00:36:03.519 --> 00:36:06.519
my mouth and I can't breathe. I've got a broken nose.

685
00:36:06.559 --> 00:36:08.440
I've got this swab up my nose. I can't breathe.

686
00:36:08.480 --> 00:36:10.679
Then he's covered my mouth, so I'm pushing his hand

687
00:36:10.679 --> 00:36:13.199
away and he says, brother, you got to let me work.

688
00:36:13.239 --> 00:36:16.320
Your nose is broken, And I just thought, man, you

689
00:36:16.400 --> 00:36:20.239
got no idea. My nose is broken, my septum has broken,

690
00:36:20.280 --> 00:36:23.440
my cheekbone is broken. I could move my cheekbone around

691
00:36:23.440 --> 00:36:27.679
my face. It was so badly broken, and this little

692
00:36:27.760 --> 00:36:32.119
voice inside my head said, man, you should quit. This

693
00:36:32.199 --> 00:36:35.599
is a lot of damage. When everybody sees how bad

694
00:36:35.639 --> 00:36:38.719
it is tomorrow, no one will fault you. People have

695
00:36:38.800 --> 00:36:41.760
quit for a lot, a lot less of a reason.

696
00:36:42.960 --> 00:36:44.960
And then I had this big, booming voice come over

697
00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:48.519
the top and say, you're a fucking fighter. Are you

698
00:36:48.639 --> 00:36:51.199
really thinking about ending your career on your stool? Are

699
00:36:51.199 --> 00:36:54.599
you really gonna quit on your stool? If you do,

700
00:36:54.760 --> 00:36:56.760
you will be a coward. Until the day you die,

701
00:36:57.519 --> 00:37:01.119
you will consider yourself to be a coward failure. This

702
00:37:01.159 --> 00:37:03.559
is why you got in this, to test yourself. Whether

703
00:37:03.639 --> 00:37:05.679
or not you win or lose really doesn't matter. That

704
00:37:05.719 --> 00:37:08.880
takes care of itself. What kind of a man are you?

705
00:37:08.880 --> 00:37:12.039
You get up and you fight, and one of two

706
00:37:12.079 --> 00:37:13.800
things that's going to happen. Either he's going to knock

707
00:37:13.840 --> 00:37:15.719
you out or you're gonna knock him out. Now do

708
00:37:15.800 --> 00:37:18.639
your fucking job. And I stood up, and I walked

709
00:37:18.639 --> 00:37:21.320
across the ring, and he tkoed me and less than

710
00:37:21.360 --> 00:37:25.599
a minute fight ended. I got up. I looked at

711
00:37:25.679 --> 00:37:27.559
one of my toes was pointing the wrong direction. I

712
00:37:27.599 --> 00:37:29.360
put it back in and popped back out again. I

713
00:37:29.360 --> 00:37:33.679
put it back in. It stayed there. The fight doctor,

714
00:37:34.079 --> 00:37:36.760
the ring doctor, came up to me and said, oh,

715
00:37:36.800 --> 00:37:40.039
your nose is broken. Well, I hate doing interviews with

716
00:37:40.039 --> 00:37:44.840
a broken nose. As shoved now, most people don't really

717
00:37:44.920 --> 00:37:48.079
have an opinion, but I'm not a fan. So I said,

718
00:37:48.119 --> 00:37:49.920
we'll put it back in, and he goes, I can't

719
00:37:49.920 --> 00:37:51.400
do that. So I just grabbed my nose and I

720
00:37:51.440 --> 00:37:52.840
shoved it back where it's supposed to be. And I

721
00:37:52.880 --> 00:37:54.360
looked at him and I said, why are you even

722
00:37:54.400 --> 00:37:59.760
fucking here? Okay, I go and Ory Hey got his

723
00:37:59.800 --> 00:38:02.679
hand race, and it's happy for him and all that.

724
00:38:03.679 --> 00:38:05.440
But at the end of it, what I knew was

725
00:38:06.599 --> 00:38:09.320
you could break my face. You could dislocate my toe,

726
00:38:09.440 --> 00:38:11.719
my fingers, whatever the case may be. I've had my

727
00:38:11.840 --> 00:38:14.760
right pectorial ripped off, my left bicep ripped off. I've

728
00:38:14.800 --> 00:38:19.280
got two spinal fusions. It'll get repaired. They'll throw some

729
00:38:19.360 --> 00:38:21.760
more screws in me. I'll go through some physical therapy.

730
00:38:22.119 --> 00:38:24.480
But one thing you never recover from is a broken heart.

731
00:38:25.599 --> 00:38:27.679
If you quit on your stool, if you give up

732
00:38:27.719 --> 00:38:31.079
on yourself, if you truly get beaten, It's one thing

733
00:38:31.239 --> 00:38:33.320
for your body to get beaten. It's another thing for

734
00:38:33.360 --> 00:38:36.000
your heart to get beaten. If you quit, if you

735
00:38:36.079 --> 00:38:39.280
give up, that's a pain that you'll never recover from.

736
00:38:39.480 --> 00:38:41.920
You spend the rest of your life questioning, well, when

737
00:38:41.960 --> 00:38:45.440
it really came down to it, I wasn't man enough.

738
00:38:45.480 --> 00:38:47.960
I wasn't a strong enough competitor to get up and

739
00:38:48.559 --> 00:38:51.079
do my job and fight to the end. And so

740
00:38:51.159 --> 00:38:53.119
I know. I fought twenty two times. I got a

741
00:38:53.119 --> 00:38:57.239
record eighteen and four. I lost my knockout technical knockout,

742
00:38:57.360 --> 00:39:01.000
by submission, and by decision. I lost one of all

743
00:39:01.000 --> 00:39:04.159
four ways that you can lose. But out of all

744
00:39:04.199 --> 00:39:07.079
of those, no one ever made me quit. I never

745
00:39:07.159 --> 00:39:10.159
gave up. I fought till I had nothing left. And

746
00:39:10.199 --> 00:39:12.400
that was what I wanted to know about myself the

747
00:39:12.519 --> 00:39:15.079
first time that I stepped in the ring at at

748
00:39:15.119 --> 00:39:17.760
age twenty six. Am I the type of man that

749
00:39:17.760 --> 00:39:20.280
will fight till I have nothing? Or will I give up?

750
00:39:20.280 --> 00:39:23.320
When things get tough? Am I all loud and bluster

751
00:39:23.519 --> 00:39:25.880
and telling everybody how great I am? But as soon

752
00:39:25.920 --> 00:39:27.679
as things don't go my way, I look for an

753
00:39:27.719 --> 00:39:30.719
easy out, or do I fight till I have nothing

754
00:39:30.800 --> 00:39:33.880
left to give? And I know that about myself and

755
00:39:33.920 --> 00:39:36.039
that gives me a confidence and I know where I

756
00:39:36.039 --> 00:39:37.880
am in the world. If you would have asked me

757
00:39:38.599 --> 00:39:41.440
when I was seventeen eighteen what scares me, I'd have

758
00:39:41.480 --> 00:39:44.000
told you nothing, a goddamn thing in this world that

759
00:39:44.039 --> 00:39:47.559
scares me. You asked me in my fifties at fifty three,

760
00:39:47.880 --> 00:39:51.079
Holy shit, how much time do you have? I'll give

761
00:39:51.119 --> 00:39:54.280
you a list that there's so many things careed of.

762
00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:56.880
But I also know that I will fight till I

763
00:39:56.920 --> 00:40:00.239
have nothing left. When I was a young man, I

764
00:40:00.280 --> 00:40:02.760
believe the lie I had you because I had nothing

765
00:40:02.800 --> 00:40:07.280
to back it up. Well, nothing scares me, I gotta

766
00:40:07.320 --> 00:40:09.400
tell you, so hopefully you believe it, because I sure

767
00:40:09.519 --> 00:40:12.800
shit don't. Well, now in my fifties, I can say, yeah,

768
00:40:12.960 --> 00:40:14.599
there's a lot of things that scare me. If you

769
00:40:14.599 --> 00:40:15.719
come up to me in a bar and you want

770
00:40:15.719 --> 00:40:19.039
to start some shit, I'll go I'll even run away.

771
00:40:19.199 --> 00:40:21.719
I don't care. I've been through all of that. I

772
00:40:21.719 --> 00:40:23.519
don't need to get punch in the face for free.

773
00:40:23.760 --> 00:40:27.960
I don't need to help promote your Instagram page or

774
00:40:28.880 --> 00:40:31.360
help you go through your therapy that you should have

775
00:40:31.400 --> 00:40:36.079
gone through. I know this about myself, and unfortunately there's

776
00:40:36.400 --> 00:40:39.239
too many young men out there, and even into older

777
00:40:39.280 --> 00:40:42.239
men that are still chasing that. They're still trying to

778
00:40:42.239 --> 00:40:45.519
figure out who they are. They've never truly tested themselves,

779
00:40:45.599 --> 00:40:48.079
so they look for ways to do that, to give

780
00:40:48.119 --> 00:40:53.199
themselves this sense of bravado, the sense of strength, when

781
00:40:53.320 --> 00:40:56.159
actually it's just a facade. It's not real. If you

782
00:40:56.639 --> 00:40:58.280
want to find out who you are, you have to

783
00:40:58.320 --> 00:41:01.519
test yourself in a real way. Go train, go fight,

784
00:41:01.639 --> 00:41:05.159
do something great. When I hear about what makes a man,

785
00:41:05.840 --> 00:41:08.280
it's not the size of his truck. It's not how

786
00:41:08.360 --> 00:41:10.480
many street fights he's gotten into. It's not even how

787
00:41:10.480 --> 00:41:13.159
many championship belts he's got. It's well, what kind of

788
00:41:13.159 --> 00:41:15.480
a father is he? What kind of a friend is he?

789
00:41:15.599 --> 00:41:18.360
What kind of morals does he abide by? Is he

790
00:41:18.400 --> 00:41:21.960
an honorable man? Or are there just a long list

791
00:41:21.960 --> 00:41:26.159
of stories of children he's fathered and walked away from,

792
00:41:26.639 --> 00:41:31.440
women that he has taken advantage of, business partners, brewed

793
00:41:31.519 --> 00:41:35.079
over all of these things that they're trying to fill

794
00:41:35.079 --> 00:41:37.440
this hole in their soul that can never be filled

795
00:41:37.480 --> 00:41:40.880
by fake things. To be a real man, you have

796
00:41:40.960 --> 00:41:43.599
to take on the responsibilities and do the right thing.

797
00:41:43.639 --> 00:41:44.360
It's that simple.

798
00:41:44.400 --> 00:41:47.800
Have virtue blockhead Nation. I hope you are digesting this

799
00:41:48.000 --> 00:41:51.440
as much as I am. Nate is dropping some serious

800
00:41:51.480 --> 00:41:55.000
truth bombs on everybody today, and to be honest, sir,

801
00:41:55.079 --> 00:41:57.320
that means you've hit every single bullet point that I

802
00:41:57.519 --> 00:41:59.840
was wanting to bring to the table except for one

803
00:42:00.039 --> 00:42:04.159
important one. You are also in a creative outlet. You

804
00:42:04.239 --> 00:42:06.360
have been doing a lot of work with something called

805
00:42:06.760 --> 00:42:09.840
Zombie Cage Fighter, So if you can, can you catch

806
00:42:09.920 --> 00:42:12.599
us up to speak where that currently is, If there's

807
00:42:12.679 --> 00:42:15.639
current other projects, this is your chance to really, Chris,

808
00:42:16.079 --> 00:42:18.400
If I and my listeners want to do anything involved

809
00:42:18.440 --> 00:42:20.440
with Zombie Cage Fire, this is their chance. Can you

810
00:42:20.480 --> 00:42:21.679
walk us through that, my friend?

811
00:42:22.440 --> 00:42:25.840
Yeah, thank you. Zombie Cage Fighter is my graphic novel,

812
00:42:25.880 --> 00:42:28.960
my comic book. It's the story of my life plus zombies.

813
00:42:29.679 --> 00:42:31.719
I wrote about what I'd been through as a fighter

814
00:42:31.760 --> 00:42:33.639
and at the time as a single father. I've since

815
00:42:33.679 --> 00:42:36.960
gotten married and had a few more kids, but at

816
00:42:36.960 --> 00:42:39.440
the time I was a single father and fighting, and

817
00:42:39.519 --> 00:42:41.400
I had this story that I wanted to tell, and

818
00:42:41.440 --> 00:42:43.519
I didn't want to just through the usual rocky story.

819
00:42:43.599 --> 00:42:46.280
Guy comes from nowhere, win some fights, blah blah blah,

820
00:42:46.599 --> 00:42:48.639
I'm an old school comic book nerd. That was my

821
00:42:48.800 --> 00:42:51.800
escape from my child I could escape into the Star

822
00:42:51.840 --> 00:42:54.400
Wars world, the Marvel Comics world. The Incredible Hulk was

823
00:42:54.400 --> 00:42:59.039
always my favorite. He was the strongest. The matter he got,

824
00:42:59.079 --> 00:43:02.840
the more powerful, well he was. And so I sat

825
00:43:02.880 --> 00:43:05.800
down and I started writing this story about about zombie

826
00:43:05.880 --> 00:43:08.559
cage fighter. And in my UFC career, I did all right.

827
00:43:08.639 --> 00:43:11.760
I once I lost some I got very fortunate to

828
00:43:11.760 --> 00:43:15.039
get some great sponsors to stand behind me, and my

829
00:43:15.119 --> 00:43:17.159
life has gone better than I ever could have imagined

830
00:43:17.159 --> 00:43:19.800
when I was a young man, well in the zombie

831
00:43:19.840 --> 00:43:22.639
cage fighting world, I never quite make it over the hump.

832
00:43:22.960 --> 00:43:25.880
I'm still fighting in the small shows, and I'm one

833
00:43:25.880 --> 00:43:29.280
of those fighters that you see well past their prime

834
00:43:29.960 --> 00:43:33.880
fighting of those years. And I take a fight and

835
00:43:33.920 --> 00:43:36.199
lose it, and I tell the promoter, I'm like, man,

836
00:43:36.199 --> 00:43:37.719
I'm a fighter. This is what I do. And the

837
00:43:37.760 --> 00:43:40.559
promoter says, look, man, let's be honest here, you were

838
00:43:40.599 --> 00:43:44.199
a fighter. Those days are long gone. No one is

839
00:43:44.280 --> 00:43:46.480
excited to see you on the card anymore. They're sad.

840
00:43:47.320 --> 00:43:49.519
But if this is all you know, and this is

841
00:43:49.559 --> 00:43:51.239
all you're going to do, let me introduce you to

842
00:43:51.280 --> 00:43:55.559
another promoter who runs these underground zombie cage fights, and

843
00:43:55.559 --> 00:43:57.599
they'll pay a little bit more money because you're putting

844
00:43:57.599 --> 00:43:59.480
your life on the line. But if you lose, well,

845
00:43:59.519 --> 00:44:02.440
the next week you're on the rotten side of the cage.

846
00:44:03.400 --> 00:44:07.960
And I wrote this story, had some phenomenal people come

847
00:44:08.000 --> 00:44:10.960
together to help me tell it, phenomenal artist to bring

848
00:44:11.000 --> 00:44:14.400
it together, and I am so proud of the graphic novel.

849
00:44:14.400 --> 00:44:16.840
It's all six issues, so that's a whole first story arc.

850
00:44:18.079 --> 00:44:20.119
If you take away the zombies, if you take away

851
00:44:20.119 --> 00:44:23.480
the mma, it's about a father willing to sacrifice whatever

852
00:44:23.519 --> 00:44:26.559
he has to provide for his family, for his little girl.

853
00:44:26.639 --> 00:44:28.639
And I think that's just a timeless story that we

854
00:44:28.719 --> 00:44:33.440
can all relate to. And it's just been going incredibly well.

855
00:44:33.840 --> 00:44:35.760
We did a Kickstarter a few years ago to help

856
00:44:35.840 --> 00:44:40.559
fund the graphic novel. That went great. She's twenty different

857
00:44:40.599 --> 00:44:44.079
shirts or so along with the comic book. The best

858
00:44:44.119 --> 00:44:46.880
thing for me is every time I sell a book,

859
00:44:47.079 --> 00:44:49.599
somebody buys one, I say, hey, let me know what

860
00:44:49.639 --> 00:44:51.119
you thought of the book next time I see you,

861
00:44:51.719 --> 00:44:53.599
And over and over again people come up to me

862
00:44:53.599 --> 00:44:56.880
and go, holy shit, this was really good. I really

863
00:44:57.000 --> 00:45:00.880
enjoyed this. I've had people say I have read thismultiple times.

864
00:45:01.239 --> 00:45:04.079
It has helped me through some dark periods of my life,

865
00:45:04.159 --> 00:45:07.239
which is just kind of amazing to me because there

866
00:45:07.239 --> 00:45:09.519
are comic books that mean that much to me as well.

867
00:45:09.679 --> 00:45:13.280
There's a as a side note, there's a ridiculous story

868
00:45:13.320 --> 00:45:16.920
about the Thing from the Fantastic Four. He fights this

869
00:45:17.000 --> 00:45:19.880
intergalactic boxer who's going to destroy the Earth if he

870
00:45:19.880 --> 00:45:23.639
can't find anyone worthwhile. And Thing fights nearly to the

871
00:45:23.760 --> 00:45:28.039
death against this guy, and and and what the intergalactic

872
00:45:28.079 --> 00:45:30.960
boxer says, any any world that would spawn one Cinch

873
00:45:31.000 --> 00:45:33.719
as you is worthy of life. And I would take

874
00:45:33.760 --> 00:45:36.679
that book with me to my fights and I'd say,

875
00:45:36.719 --> 00:45:39.239
you know what, i may not be the best, i

876
00:45:39.599 --> 00:45:41.800
may lose, but I'm going to give everything I've got,

877
00:45:42.280 --> 00:45:45.280
And it just it helped me get into that warrior mindset.

878
00:45:45.559 --> 00:45:47.360
And to hear that my book is doing that for

879
00:45:47.440 --> 00:45:51.559
other people really really feels good for me. And I've

880
00:45:51.559 --> 00:45:53.800
been in talks to do an animated series, to do

881
00:45:53.840 --> 00:45:56.800
a movie COVID Hit. Things got really tough with all

882
00:45:56.840 --> 00:46:01.480
of that. The animation studio rus Teeth. It was putting

883
00:46:01.519 --> 00:46:03.360
together a pitch deck for it. They went out of

884
00:46:03.360 --> 00:46:06.639
business after twenty years, so it's been it's been a

885
00:46:06.679 --> 00:46:10.880
little challenging, but it's something that I just love doing.

886
00:46:11.000 --> 00:46:13.079
And if it went nowhere, at least I know that

887
00:46:13.760 --> 00:46:16.159
once again, I did what I wanted to do with

888
00:46:16.199 --> 00:46:19.519
my life and I made something happen. And as always,

889
00:46:20.199 --> 00:46:22.159
no one has ever believed in me. When I was

890
00:46:22.239 --> 00:46:25.320
up and coming, when I considered fighting, everybody thought that

891
00:46:25.480 --> 00:46:27.239
was a joke. Well what can you ever do with it?

892
00:46:27.320 --> 00:46:30.440
When I started to do the Zombie Cage Fighter comic,

893
00:46:30.800 --> 00:46:33.400
I heard this guy's just a fighter. He's just trying

894
00:46:33.440 --> 00:46:36.440
to glom onto the comic book world. He's just trying

895
00:46:36.480 --> 00:46:39.840
to make a quick buck. I'm like, man, you should

896
00:46:39.840 --> 00:46:43.679
see my collection I got. I got to go quite

897
00:46:43.679 --> 00:46:46.960
a few long boxes. It's awesome. Everybody can get a

898
00:46:47.000 --> 00:46:49.800
book at Zombie Cagefighter dot com and get a shirt

899
00:46:49.840 --> 00:46:53.800
as well. It's just I just love doing it. And

900
00:46:53.880 --> 00:46:55.960
I get to go to MMA shows and I'll set

901
00:46:56.039 --> 00:46:58.199
up a booth, or I'll go to comic cons and

902
00:46:58.199 --> 00:47:00.320
I'll set up a booth there and and I get

903
00:47:00.320 --> 00:47:03.519
to meet so many cool, interesting people, become friends with

904
00:47:03.719 --> 00:47:06.239
artists from the comic book world that I've admired for

905
00:47:06.280 --> 00:47:11.159
so long. It's really amazing. And it's another one of

906
00:47:11.199 --> 00:47:13.639
those things where I'm like, man, whatever you want to do,

907
00:47:13.800 --> 00:47:16.800
just do it. What's the worst case scenario? You fail miserably?

908
00:47:17.519 --> 00:47:20.119
So what I've failed on a bigger stage than you.

909
00:47:20.239 --> 00:47:23.360
Most likely, every time somebody really wants to take a

910
00:47:23.400 --> 00:47:25.920
dig on me, they'll say, oh, man, how hard did

911
00:47:25.960 --> 00:47:28.480
Franklin knock you out? You must be really fucked up

912
00:47:28.519 --> 00:47:32.760
in the heath of course, always laugh and I go, well,

913
00:47:33.679 --> 00:47:37.519
where's your poster for your title shot? Yeah? Oh, you

914
00:47:37.639 --> 00:47:40.039
never made it. Well, I can't tell you where mine is.

915
00:47:40.239 --> 00:47:43.480
It's on my wall. I see it every day. I

916
00:47:43.519 --> 00:47:47.880
have three uf posters all framed hanging on my wall.

917
00:47:48.440 --> 00:47:50.679
At the UFC, when you're fighting on the card and

918
00:47:50.719 --> 00:47:52.559
they have a poster, they'll have every fighter on the

919
00:47:52.599 --> 00:47:56.159
card sign the poster just randomly and is on all

920
00:47:56.159 --> 00:47:58.679
three of the posters that I have framed hanging on

921
00:47:58.760 --> 00:48:02.960
my wall. Knowing where I came from that being ends

922
00:48:02.960 --> 00:48:06.239
of the MMA the sports world at twenty four, and

923
00:48:06.280 --> 00:48:09.719
then eleven years later fighting for the world title, that's

924
00:48:09.760 --> 00:48:14.199
not bad. And knowing where I've gone, and the opportunities

925
00:48:14.199 --> 00:48:16.800
that I'm giving my family, the hard work that I've done,

926
00:48:17.360 --> 00:48:19.519
it is just so rewarding to be able to sit

927
00:48:19.599 --> 00:48:22.239
back and just go, you know what I did. Okay,

928
00:48:22.880 --> 00:48:25.559
you know I won some, i lost some, But at

929
00:48:25.599 --> 00:48:27.440
the end of the day, I'm happy with where I'm

930
00:48:27.440 --> 00:48:29.320
at and I'm not going to complain about the journey

931
00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:30.679
blockhead Nation.

932
00:48:30.760 --> 00:48:32.320
I don't think you can say it any better than that.

933
00:48:32.400 --> 00:48:33.800
I was going to ask him there was something to

934
00:48:33.880 --> 00:48:35.920
leave my listeners with, but I think you were just

935
00:48:36.079 --> 00:48:38.679
given that on a silver platter. And also when it

936
00:48:38.719 --> 00:48:41.119
comes to Zombie Cage Fighter, you don't need to search

937
00:48:41.159 --> 00:48:44.119
anywhere blockhead Nation. Just go to the blog your favorite

938
00:48:44.159 --> 00:48:46.920
blockhead dot com slash blog. If you go to the

939
00:48:46.960 --> 00:48:50.119
description for today's podcast, you'll see the three little buttons

940
00:48:50.199 --> 00:48:53.039
up there, and you will see all of Nate's social media.

941
00:48:53.119 --> 00:48:55.559
You will see Zombie cagefire dot com. You can have

942
00:48:55.639 --> 00:48:57.920
access to it. It's all here. You don't have to

943
00:48:57.960 --> 00:49:00.559
go searching for him. It's already done for you have

944
00:49:00.599 --> 00:49:03.800
no excuse. So Nate, thank you again so much for

945
00:49:03.840 --> 00:49:05.639
this opportunity to speak to you. Sir. Is there anything

946
00:49:05.679 --> 00:49:08.159
you want to share any closure or any current projects

947
00:49:08.159 --> 00:49:09.400
before we wrap it up today.

948
00:49:10.280 --> 00:49:14.079
Boy, we're living in tough times right now. There's there's

949
00:49:14.079 --> 00:49:16.159
a lot of loud, a lot of bravado, a lot

950
00:49:16.159 --> 00:49:19.519
of anger, a lot of rage. It is it is

951
00:49:19.960 --> 00:49:24.079
a much greater show of strength to be kind than

952
00:49:24.079 --> 00:49:26.679
it is to be loud and angry. Those that are

953
00:49:26.719 --> 00:49:30.360
loud and angry living their lives filled with with hatred

954
00:49:30.400 --> 00:49:34.760
and judgment of others. Man, let it go. What do

955
00:49:34.840 --> 00:49:39.039
you Why is hurting others? Why does that give your

956
00:49:39.159 --> 00:49:41.280
life meaning? Why does that make it so you feel

957
00:49:41.280 --> 00:49:44.079
good about yourself. I'm sorry that your life didn't turn

958
00:49:44.119 --> 00:49:46.440
out the way that it has or that you wanted

959
00:49:46.440 --> 00:49:51.440
it to, but let it go. It is sure. I've

960
00:49:51.639 --> 00:49:56.280
started reading recently books by Ryan Holiday, all about stoicism,

961
00:49:56.800 --> 00:49:59.559
and you want to talk about the war on men,

962
00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:03.000
which first off is bullshit because every time I hear it,

963
00:50:03.159 --> 00:50:04.880
you know what, I go and do whatever the fuck

964
00:50:04.920 --> 00:50:08.039
I want, because there's no war on men. This term

965
00:50:08.079 --> 00:50:12.480
about toxic masculinity is really just hey, don't be an asshole,

966
00:50:13.000 --> 00:50:17.199
don't be abusive, don't be a dick the way that

967
00:50:17.239 --> 00:50:20.119
it used to be. My son's name is Atticus. I

968
00:50:20.199 --> 00:50:26.719
named him after Harper Lee the book. In the book,

969
00:50:26.800 --> 00:50:32.280
in the movie, Atticus Finch, he's a lawyer. He does

970
00:50:32.360 --> 00:50:34.599
the right thing. He stands up for a black man

971
00:50:34.719 --> 00:50:38.239
that is accused of a crime he did not commit

972
00:50:38.719 --> 00:50:42.239
in the South, and he knows his life is in danger,

973
00:50:42.280 --> 00:50:44.199
his family's life is in danger, but it is the

974
00:50:44.280 --> 00:50:47.119
right thing to do, and he stands up and does this.

975
00:50:47.519 --> 00:50:49.280
But there's also a scene in the book and in

976
00:50:49.320 --> 00:50:52.440
the movie where there's a rabid dog running through town

977
00:50:53.039 --> 00:50:57.119
and they're looking for someone to shoot it, and somebody

978
00:50:57.159 --> 00:51:01.519
gives the rifle to Atticus Finch, and Atticus his daughter Scout, says,

979
00:51:01.719 --> 00:51:03.239
why are you giving him the gun? He doesn't know

980
00:51:03.239 --> 00:51:06.400
how to shoot. And the man says, your father's the

981
00:51:06.400 --> 00:51:10.000
best shot in the county. But she never knew because

982
00:51:10.039 --> 00:51:12.320
he didn't run around telling everybody, Hey, do you know

983
00:51:12.360 --> 00:51:14.480
how good of a shot I am? Hey, I'm gonna

984
00:51:14.480 --> 00:51:17.360
I'm gonna go into Starbucks with my rifle. Make sure

985
00:51:17.360 --> 00:51:21.360
everybody knows badass. You don't look like badass. You look

986
00:51:21.440 --> 00:51:24.599
like a coward, you look like a fool. There's more

987
00:51:24.639 --> 00:51:27.599
bravery going into a high school these days. As a

988
00:51:27.719 --> 00:51:31.559
child here in America. Then there is going into Starbucks.

989
00:51:32.360 --> 00:51:34.360
I'll load it up for bear. Are you kidding me?

990
00:51:35.519 --> 00:51:35.719
Yes?

991
00:51:35.920 --> 00:51:39.519
Need to go back to the strength and dignity that

992
00:51:39.599 --> 00:51:42.199
we used to consider of men, not the loud bravado

993
00:51:42.559 --> 00:51:45.719
of these fools who have grown up thinking that that's

994
00:51:45.760 --> 00:51:49.159
what makes them a man, because it's not. That's what

995
00:51:49.199 --> 00:51:52.639
makes you look foolish. That's the type of man that

996
00:51:52.679 --> 00:51:55.320
I want to be. And as I'm as I'm raising

997
00:51:55.360 --> 00:51:58.960
my son, I tell him all the time. He yelled

998
00:51:58.960 --> 00:52:02.599
to me this morning, is he up? Then he said

999
00:52:02.599 --> 00:52:04.559
we're not friends? And I said, buddy, that's that's not

1000
00:52:04.679 --> 00:52:08.800
my goal here. I would love to be friends with you,

1001
00:52:08.880 --> 00:52:11.079
and I'm sure that we will be probably this afternoon.

1002
00:52:11.840 --> 00:52:15.119
But I'm your father. My goal is to raise you

1003
00:52:15.159 --> 00:52:17.559
from a boy into a man, into a good man.

1004
00:52:18.360 --> 00:52:21.159
And I will ask him when he's throwing his fits,

1005
00:52:22.000 --> 00:52:23.480
is that the kind of person you want to be?

1006
00:52:23.599 --> 00:52:25.400
Is that how you want to react? Because life is

1007
00:52:25.400 --> 00:52:28.400
going to be tough and we can we can only

1008
00:52:28.440 --> 00:52:31.960
control how we deal with the problems that come our way.

1009
00:52:32.320 --> 00:52:33.880
Are we going to be loud? Are we going to

1010
00:52:33.960 --> 00:52:37.480
scream and cry? Are we going to pull up our brushes?

1011
00:52:37.519 --> 00:52:40.400
And buy down on our mouthpiece and get off our

1012
00:52:40.440 --> 00:52:44.800
stool and take our whooping or deliver our whooping. It's

1013
00:52:44.840 --> 00:52:48.320
time for us to all stand up and be the

1014
00:52:48.440 --> 00:52:50.239
change that we want to see in the world, because

1015
00:52:50.280 --> 00:52:51.159
it starts at home.

1016
00:52:52.039 --> 00:52:54.119
I'm so glad that you shared the Ettichus Fince story

1017
00:52:54.119 --> 00:52:55.679
because I grew up on that movie, grew up on

1018
00:52:55.719 --> 00:52:58.559
that book, and remember very well when she tells Geane

1019
00:52:58.559 --> 00:53:01.000
Louise to stand up because you're fall passing. I mean

1020
00:53:01.159 --> 00:53:03.960
it gives me. I get misty eyed every single time,

1021
00:53:03.960 --> 00:53:06.559
and I get goosebumps. So I'm so thrilled, and I

1022
00:53:07.519 --> 00:53:10.239
send my prayers and my vibes for Atticus and for

1023
00:53:10.360 --> 00:53:13.400
everybody in your family to continue to do well. But

1024
00:53:13.519 --> 00:53:16.119
also thank you so much for the stories you tossed,

1025
00:53:16.119 --> 00:53:18.079
but also to show that meekness is not weakness, it's

1026
00:53:18.119 --> 00:53:21.360
power under control. So thank you so much for your time. Nay,

1027
00:53:21.480 --> 00:53:24.159
this means so much. You'd come by today, sir and

1028
00:53:24.840 --> 00:53:28.440
blockhead Nation. You heard it. You have everything you need

1029
00:53:28.519 --> 00:53:30.679
your fingertips. You can go back and listen to this

1030
00:53:30.719 --> 00:53:32.679
as many times you need to when you need it,

1031
00:53:32.920 --> 00:53:35.639
and you don't go looking for anything for zombie cage fighter.

1032
00:53:35.639 --> 00:53:38.079
It's all here on the block and with that, ladies

1033
00:53:38.079 --> 00:53:41.199
and gentlemen, we will catch you next time, same blockhead time,

1034
00:53:41.639 --> 00:53:42.880
same blockhead.

1035
00:53:42.960 --> 00:53:43.119
Chin