September 13, 2023 • 31 mins
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Get up close and personal with Dricus, the South African sensation shaking up the world of mixed martial arts.
Dricus lays bare the electrifying rush he experiences in the moments leading up to a fight and reflects on his celebrated clash with Robert Whitaker, a fight that gripped the world and catapulted South African mixed martial arts into the limelight. He also shares about the burden of self-imposed expectations and the unwavering belief he harbors in his own potential. A foot injury that forced him to decline a fight offer also crops up.
Delve deeper into Dracis's future fight plans and the navigational challenges he faces within the labyrinth of mixed martial arts. We unravel the intricate balance between personal dreams and the demanding needs of the promotion. Hear how Dricus manages to embrace tough decisions while keeping his passion aflame. His readiness to take on grueling fights and his relentless pursuit of the UFC world champion title also form a crucial part of our conversation.
Finally, we talk about the possibilities of Israel Adesanya's rematch with Strickland and the factors that could sway the balance. Dana White's surprise at the suggestion of a rematch piques my interest and the implications for the sport.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
All right, I think we're live Dracus, how you doing
over there in South Africa?
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Absolutely great.
Last night we had to cancel alot of these because of power
outages.
But welcome to Africa.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Yeah, exactly, the media tour that you're on.
I mean, what was it Like?
Does the power go out?
It sounds like it happensregularly.
The power might go out.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
It happens every day.
So last week there was a day ofno.
The whole of last week, 12hours without power.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Yeah, so this is a normal thing.
It's all load shedding.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
So it's like power cuts to save power, because
government's not really good ata conservative power, or you
know whatever they do, and theybasically go and say, okay, from
6am till 8am there's no power,and then again from 12 to 4pm no
power, and then again at nightfor like two more hours.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
So it's sometimes you know there is schedule, but I
don't really follow it.
Yeah, yeah, just pops up at theworst times, I'm sure.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yeah, and obviously there's no signal when the
power's off, because all thetowers are down.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
So, dricus, I want to tell a quick story before we
get into, like, the news of lastweekend and then what sits for
you.
But if you remember, when wetalked in July, it was right
before your fight with Whitakerhad a great chat and we talked
about when you really feel therush of the competition right,
and you talked about how, in theback, when they say two minutes
(01:33):
to walk and everybody's justgetting off and doing their
things, get the stool and yourteams doing their things and all
the PR teams doing their stuffand you're like, but for you
you're going to war, you'regoing to do the most important
thing you've ever done.
And the coolest thing for me isthat I was walking in the back
of T-Mobile Arena and you'restanding there and you're in
(01:55):
your warm-ups and I catch youreye and you just give me that
wink and I was like, oh mygoodness, I didn't know this I
was like we just talked aboutthis.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
It was so cool for me to go out there.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
And then obviously you get that huge win and, man,
what a moment, like how do youthink back on that fight against
Robert, like what it's done foryou and like the feeling that
it gave you.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Yeah, I mean what it's done.
I mean for me and for Africanand South African mixed martial
arts it feels you know,everything just stepped up.
You know there are more peopleknow about me and that's even
irrelevant.
More people about know aboutUFC and South African UFC than
ever.
It's incredible.
And you go out there and put ona performance that I knew I
(02:39):
could and the performance that Ianything less than that would
have been a loss for me Anythingless than that I wouldn't have
won that fight and you know Ijust I made the switch and it
was a good night at the office.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
What do you mean?
Anything less than a knockout,you mean.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
No, no, anything less than that good of a performance
.
Yeah, it's the competitive.
Like what it could would havebeen a loss on my record.
You can't make mistakes againsta guy like what it could.
Yes, there were mistakes made,but very minor mistakes were
made and you know I'm reallyglad that 100% oxygen drinkers
(03:20):
is a real thing.
Listen, I talked to big game,but there was only one way to
really find out that was gettingin the case.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Yeah, you put the pressure on yourself a little
bit in that one.
I mean, the pressure is alwayson, but the way that you speak
about your goals and yourmission, that you're on it puts
a lot of pressure on you everytime out.
How do you do that?
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Yeah, I mean exactly that.
It puts a lot of pressure on,because I don't accept
mediocrity from anybody aroundme and I don't accept mediocrity
for myself, especially not formyself, because it's contagious.
Firstly, and once you startthinking that's okay, then why?
(04:04):
What's the motivation to begreat, to be better, to want to
be better?
And I'm not saying I'm perfect,I'm not saying I'm great yet,
but I'm aspiring to be everysingle day.
And you know that performancefor me was the most motivating
thing I've ever done, for otherpeople and for myself, because
I've proved to myself what I cando, what I'm capable of, and
that this one thing that I'vealways believed in I was right.
(04:27):
I was right.
I've always believed in myself.
I always believed that I couldbe the best.
And you know, beating God, I'veprobably got to go getting
there very damn close to that.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Yeah, so then after that I want you to unpack, like
obviously I don't know all thedetails, right, I assume the
fight was offered to you likeofficially in Sydney.
Why was it a no from you?
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Oh well, no, all our photos are everything you need
that.
My foot was busted up and thishappened literally the day
before we flew out.
I think it's 18 days before thefight.
I've literally a photo, sendingit to my T, sending it to my
friend, saying what would a campwith outside adversity be?
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Wearing a moon boots you know, I think my foot this
is before what.
Fight the Whitaker, fight theWhitaker, fight your foot's
busted up three weeks before100%.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Literally my last session.
Before we flew out, I kickedinto a knee and my foot was
completely screwed.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Now you can.
Another thing is you go ask thephysio team and the physical
therapist at the UFC PI whatthey were working on the whole
time I was in Vegas.
That was what they were workingon because my foot was busted.
They didn't kick with it once,Even in the warmup couldn't kick
with it the first time I kickedwith it.
Look at the fight.
(05:51):
The first thing I did in thatfight was open up with that foot
that was busted.
The first thing I did was kickthat foot because I had to get
that confidence in it and ithurts, but I could feel ah,
Adriana's got me, it's fine,it's hurting but it'll be okay.
And what I said was, after thatfight, I said we'll see, we'll
(06:12):
see.
And you know somebody likeCharles Sonnen talking about a
shit, saying listen, rodriguezdidn't even limp out of the cage
.
Why would I limp out of thecage?
I'd just beat Robert Whitaker.
You know what kind ofadrenaline goes through my body.
I was basically able to do abackflip on that foot if I
wanted to yeah.
And it's after an hour or so.
(06:32):
That adrenaline to me, it givesme superpowers.
And I just went and said,listen, guys, I don't think this
foot's gonna be.
You know, to take the Whitakerfight, I understand, three weeks
out or 18 days out, you are allthe hard work's done, I'm
already fit, the game plan istrained.
It's just maintaining.
Maintaining I can deal withthat.
(06:52):
But starting a camp injured fora world title fight, I don't
think that's fair to expect ofanybody.
And I've said this before too.
You know the whole thing withPijit the lishaw hurting his
shoulder in camp and not livingthe years.
You know they were pissed offat him because he had a terrible
performance.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Right.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Because he couldn't train with his shoulder.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
So now I go and I keep the company happy and say
listen, I'm injured, I can'tfight in seven weeks notice,
even though I fought three timesin the last seven months.
And you know I get criticizedfor that too.
So what do you want to me?
I don't know.
What is it that you want?
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Should I fight injured?
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Should I not declare the injury?
Should I fight injured?
Or should I say listen, I can'tstart my camp?
If I was three weeks after thatfight and that exact same
injury happened, you never evenwould have heard of it because
you know it doesn't matter.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Right.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
But you know, starting a camp, injured, not
being able to kick, I onlystarted kicking two weeks ago.
It's six weeks after the injury.
Yeah, I only started kickingtwo weeks ago.
So you want me to go into atitle fight like that?
Yeah, against, quite a kicker,right, quite a kicker, I mean
you know, and I'm a kicker too,right, I like to kick as well,
(08:09):
right, so you know.
So you know, I'm notcriticizing the UFC, I'm not
criticizing Dana at all.
I just feel that you know, Idon't know why they are so
pissed off at me.
You know, booking a fight sevenweeks after a fight with Robert
Whitaker doesn't make the mostsense.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
Right, it's a challenge.
I want to get into this.
It's a challenge, no matterwhat.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Like, if you sparked Whitaker.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
You were full bill of health.
You spark Whitaker in a minute.
It's still a challenge to turnaround and fight an even more
important fight on potentiallynot a full camp, and you know
we've seen Adesanya do this.
He has scheduled his fightsshortly after other fights
Marvin Vittori won in April,fought for a title in June,
(09:01):
right Like 60 day turnaround.
Adesanya was ready, he had thedate.
It was Marvin Vittori comingoff the win in April, boom title
fight.
And there's the pressure totake that.
What kind of pressure did youfeel to take it?
Was there ever a chance thatyou might say yes, or was it
just like a flag no?
Speaker 2 (09:23):
No, no, no, I guess.
So I guess, and the only reasonI wanted to say yes is because
I knew this was probably goingto be a thing.
Yeah, and you know, I justrealized, listen, I'm not in
this for anything else thanbeing the greatest, and the
reason I believe I will be thegreatest is because I work hard
on anybody else and if I'minjured, I can't do the work
(09:46):
that I know I can do.
And, like I said, fightinginjured is something that's
probably always going to happen.
I don't know about too manyfights that have not been
injured or to some extent, butstarting a camp injured, I feel
it's silly.
Starting a camp injured foryour world title fight something
(10:06):
I've been working towards mywhole life it's unfair, it's.
You know, I went out there andI beat Robert Wettig
convincingly.
They didn't do me any favors bygiving me a title shot.
I earned that title shot andright now I feel like I'm being
penalized for not taking thatfight.
And yeah, if that's the case,so be it.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Yeah, did you think it was going to be like?
So you're saying maybe therewas a chance because you kind of
acknowledged it was a gamble.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
I say no, no, no, no.
What I'm saying is it's justyou know your own mind, you know
like, maybe if I don't takethis fight, they're never going
to give me my opportunity.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Right.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Because and I just went like listen, I'm not being
outrageous here, it's not likeI'm a guy to turn down fight.
In fact, every time they'veasked me to help out with the
Calvin Gasslin fight, with theBrunson fight somebody's out I
say cool, let's step up, let'sgo.
I've had turnarounds all thetime.
Like I said, I fought threetimes in seven months.
I fought Brad Savarez, I foughtDarren Till and I fought Dave
(11:11):
Brunson and for me that wasactually, that was eight months.
Yeah, and you know, for methey've never even the Whitaker
fight.
I literally went and said Ithought I was going to get the
easy fight before Whitaker.
I thought that was going tohappen because of the hype.
And they phoned and said,listen, they want to do Whitaker
.
And I said, well, okay, I saidthat's a guy to beat, that's a
(11:35):
guy to beat.
I've never given them a hardtime about purse.
I've never given them a hardtime about an opponent trying to
get somebody easier, not once.
So you know, for me, you knowmy mind playing tricks,
everybody's mind does that Likelisten, this is your title fight
, maybe you should take.
You should take thisopportunity and, as Sean
(11:56):
Strickland should take theopportunity, each ranked number
five and I would have done thatif I was ranked number five.
But being ranked number one andearning that spot, I feel just
the full camp is justified, nota full game.
You understand if it came to mehaving a month or two to
recover, then starting a camp,but this was literally directly
(12:20):
seven weeks after the fight.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Yeah, when did they ask you, like in the back
Sometimes they'll let you like,come down the stairs and be,
like you, ready for September.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Something like that yeah, well, I mean yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
It was like quick right.
It was like that night.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Just before I went on for the press conference.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Yeah, yeah, I went on for the press conference.
Yeah, so in back there whenyou're in your suit when I saw
you there.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
They're asking you wow, crazy man.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
It's quick.
Can't celebrate too long, canyou?
Yeah, not in this sport.
What do you make?
What's your plan right now,dracus?
Speaker 2 (12:55):
My plan right now is to get that chance to fight and
be chance to fight and fightIsrael and Sanya for my first
part of the thing.
That's my plan.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Yeah, that's in a perfect world.
Yeah, how do you wake up and goday to day though, knowing that
you know somebody's saying this, somebody's saying this the
Adesanya rematch is rumored.
You got Paulo Costa and HamzatShemayev Like your plan is one
thing.
How do you deal with theswirling narratives that are
(13:23):
that?
Speaker 2 (13:24):
is.
That is a good question.
Somebody asked me that today aswell.
I said listen, guys, my job isto get in there and fight.
I don't do the matchmaking, Idon't do the promoting, I don't
do any of that.
What I do is getting there andfight and no matter what they
decide, they're going to keep meaway from my belt and if that's
the way I want to play, so beit.
(13:44):
I know that's their prerogativeidea of the day.
I'm a fighter and that's what Ido I fight?
Yeah, I said before the war, togo fight.
I don't care about taking smallfights, I'm there to fight.
I 100% believe I deserve thistitle shot.
I 100% believe I worked forthis title shot and that's.
That's all I can do.
It's got to perform and Ibelieve I've been doing that the
(14:08):
whole time.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
How soon could you take a title fight?
Right now, december, december,december, las Vegas, end of the
year 100% you'd be ready forthat.
Probably 100% ready for that.
What do you make of?
This is something I feel likewe see from time to time,
especially in our sport.
What is it like being theathlete in the business?
(14:34):
Right Like on, from an athleticstandpoint, you want to be
ready for the highest level ofcompetition in this sport of
mixed martial arts, but there isa business that exists.
That's why it's called apromotion and not a league.
That's why there's not playoffsto determine the right answers
(14:55):
all the time.
What is it like, though, to bethe athlete in that equation,
because that's something that Ifeel like gets left out a lot of
times.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Yeah, and I see your point, you know, even though you
thought about like that.
But in the end of the day, youknow, I guess in a different way
, I did think about that,because that's what I said, in
the end of the day, they have tomake money For them.
That's their sport.
Their sport is making money.
My sport is winning fights.
So you have those two, thosetwo to think about, but they're
(15:25):
going to do what's best for them.
I want what's best for me andhopefully we'll meet somewhere
there in the middle.
Because you know, like it ornot, you know, I want to be the
UFC world champion and I'mwilling to do whatever it takes
to get there.
So for me, you know, the UFC.
I honestly believe that I'veperformed, I've done what is
(15:48):
expected of me as a UFC fighterand as a champion, and that's
about that.
That's what I can do.
I don't have anything.
I don't have any saying whatcomes, what happens behind the
scenes.
I don't have any saying whatthey decide.
That's going to be all them.
So what is it like to be theathlete?
Just like being the gladiator?
(16:11):
At least the fans cheer whenyou win.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Yeah right, you get the glory.
You get the glory in the arena.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Getting the glory, getting the glory.
You get the glory in the arenaand no decision can ever take
that away from me.
No decision of me fighting forworld title or not fighting for
world title.
I'm a warrior, I'm a fighterand I'm a gladiator, and every
time I step into that arena,that's the only thing that
matters.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Yeah.
So now we've seen this atBantamweight in regards to
Marabh Duwala Shwili waitingdidn't want to fight Aldermaine
Sterling.
Now he wants to be next forSean O'Malley and they're saying
you got to wait.
He's saying I'll wait a year.
My next fight will be for thetitle.
What hill are you dying on now,dreek?
(16:58):
It's like what position are youin?
You know you want the titleshot next you want to fight
Strickland, then you want tofight Izzy, but what's the
approach in terms of how you seeit unfolding potentially and
what you're willing to do?
Speaker 2 (17:14):
My approach right now is telling them listen, it's
making my case for why I deservethe title shot.
Hopefully the people want thestarter shot as well.
Hopefully the people want tosee me as stripped in as well.
If that's not the case, thenthis is entertainment.
The people don't believe thatI'm worthy of the starter shot.
(17:40):
Then am I really?
I need to be working on somestuff, man.
I need to get these people onboard.
If the people don't want to seeit, it's not going to happen,
unfortunately.
That's why every single fightof mine has been exciting.
Every single fight.
I try to go out there and puton the performance of a lifetime
and give these people a propershow.
And yeah, I mean, that's thedeal I'm dying on.
(18:02):
It's going out there andfighting.
If they don't give me a startershot, what am I going to say
Now?
I'm never going to fight again.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
No, how long, though, right Are you going to say
let's see what materializes,whatever?
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Let's say they run the rematch in December or
whatever.
At the end of the day, I needyou to sit and wait, because the
UFC definitely hasn't made adecision as well.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Right, exactly.
You're not making any decisionsnow, so why would you?
Speaker 2 (18:27):
I can't make any decisions up until they've made
any decisions.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
What I'm saying is I believe I 100% know I deserve
that fight and I will be readyfor that fight Whenever it comes
.
Whenever, wherever I'm ready tofight, I'm sure I'll stick then
and become the middleweightchampion of the world.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Can you describe what you felt watching that fight?
Because it was one of thosethings where it was just like,
oh my God, it's at best for Izzytwo to two, it might be three
to one.
Then you go into the fifthround and the last minute you're
just like.
This is happening.
What are you sitting on thecouch saying while that, indeed,
(19:06):
is happening?
Strickland's polishing off aclear decision victory.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Quite an upset.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
What are you thinking ?
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Yeah, I mean I said, especially when he caught him in
that first round, I thought, ohdamn, if he had a little bit of
a harder punch he could havetaken him out there.
But he doesn't.
And I was like Izzy almostslipped up there and for me it
was 100% like Izzy is obviouslydoing what he does, some weird
mind game.
He's going to probably say,yeah, look at my shirt that I
(19:35):
wore on Thursday.
I had a number three on my backand that was for round three.
So I obviously thought Izzy wasgoing to try and pull off
something like that.
But when the second round cameI just realized, oh shit, izzy's
in trouble yet he's not lookingcomfortable.
And every round I was just likewhat is happening.
And from the very first round Isaid my brother was watching me
(20:01):
I don't actually remember whoall the people are watching, but
anyway and I just said Izzylooks off.
I don't know what it is, it'sthe meanest.
Walk out.
Everything looked off from theget go.
I said Izzy looks off, it lookslike something's weird.
And watching the fight, likeyou said in that last minute, I
was like, holy shit, seanStrickland is going to become
(20:24):
the middleweight champion of theworld, and he made it look easy
.
Right Didn't even have a bloodynose at the end of it.
Yeah, I mean, it didn't evenlook like he took a punch.
Yeah, it was somethingincredible and I was like we
spoke about it and we justdidn't like well, that's MMA for
you.
What a sport.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
What are you thinking , though, in terms of your
standing?
Because I got to think a partof you is going.
Oh no, Because if Israel keepsturning back people, then it's
easy.
Then you want when you're ready.
Okay, now we're ready for thisone.
But Strickland winning did notmake it so cut and dry,
obviously.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
So what are you thinking in terms of your?
What are you thinking thenumber one next to my?
Speaker 1 (21:08):
name, right, right.
But I'm just saying, like itshuffles the deck, the rematch
is possible, and then it justpushes back the timeline and all
that sort of stuff.
Does that enter your mind thatnight?
Or are you starting to thinklike, oh no, no, no, no, 100%?
Speaker 2 (21:21):
no, 100% into my mind .
And when Dana said a rematch, Iwas genuinely shocked.
I couldn't believe it.
I honestly thought what?
That does not make any sense.
A rematch doesn't make sense.
You're going what?
Three and two, you're lost five.
You can't have a rematch.
The first rematch he got was100% justified.
He was on the table for yearschasing goat status, and he was
(21:44):
winning the fight against PahayaRight, winning the fight until
he got caught First.
Title defense is the newchampion, nielus, so it's every
guy that's going to try anddefend.
It's the belt and the firsttime getting at the arm.
Because if he was winning thestricken fight, the whole fight,
then he got knocked out in thefirst round.
Maybe we can justify that, buthe wasn't winning a second, he
(22:05):
was just, in my opinion, losingthe whole fight.
But, what justifies a rematch?
What?
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Yeah Well, daniel Cormier said on the broadcast he
thinks the division needs tomove on a little bit and he
didn't want to see the rematchand then.
I was a bit surprised to seeDana speak about it like yeah,
we'll do the rematch, and what Ithought was for the reason that
you just said Israel Adesanyaseemed off.
He seemed in slow motion.
Dana said it like you, just hisdemeanor was different.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
That's like what Every time I lose a fight, I'm
going to say no, I need to fightthis guy again.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Right.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
You know, you know, I had some emotional stuff to do
with.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Yeah, how many?
Speaker 2 (22:44):
people give a shit about his winning.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Right, right.
I wonder, though, if it isenough to get him a rematch,
because, let's say, he's dealingwith something and it comes out
and whatever.
And listen, drugus, I'm nottrying to build a case against
you.
I'm just saying you know, likeIsrael, adesanya has fought so
much as a champion that he'sbuilt some equity within the
company.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
There's no denying that, right, you know like he's
headlined a lot of events, right, exactly.
I mean, I think the companydidn't be a huge favor by doing
the rematch with Sahara, right,right, I think that was your.
You know your get out jail,freak on.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Yeah, no, and you have to balance, like you can't
just put one athlete above thesystem, you know, for too long,
because then it just you know,it sets a precedent and it's not
good.
It holds back their businesspotentially in the future.
What else, drugus, so you'reready to go for the December
(23:43):
pay-per-view if needed.
What kind of communication arelike?
What kind of conversations arebeing had right now, like is
there, you know?
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Right now, nothing Right now.
In my honest opinion, I don'tthink the UFC really has an
answer right now.
I don't know.
I don't know if they have.
If they already have a clearcut, listen, this is what.
This is what we go with,because if they have, I haven't
(24:15):
heard anything about it.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Right.
What's it like for you to wakeup every day without that
uncertainty and know that yougot to go train, got to go train
and you want to do all of yourthings as normal, but knowing
like your mind's going to playtricks on you.
It's going to continue to do itDoes for all of us.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I guess so, but you know it's
never been the motivation, thefight.
I go up there and I do what Ido.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
You know I wake up every day and you know,
obviously we talk about it,everybody's talking about it to
me, and you know the answer isthe same.
Listen, you know as much as Ido.
Yeah, and this takes out noidea.
But you can't let that stuffdictate how you live your life.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Yeah, when you're in a place like South Africa that's
just so far away from Las Vegasand it's like obviously it's a
global sport right, because NewZealand's not around the corner
either but do you feel that thataffects your standing in any
way, because you're kind of inthis isolated place relative to
(25:17):
a lot of the other UFC big starsand high ranked guys and you're
not in a super gym and you'reall that sort of stuff.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
I feel that most super gym in the world Right.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Right, I hear what you're saying, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
You know, I don't know, maybe.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Right.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Maybe I'm, you know, maybe I'm just oblivious to the
fact.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Yeah Well, no, it's good.
I mean, it's good to be thatway because these are things
that guys like me will think ofand talk about, but it has no
value for you as the athletethat needs to wake up and train
every day and be at yourabsolute physical best when the
lights are shining, when you'rein the arena, when you're
fighting for all the prize youknow.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day it's about.
You know, keep on winning,Right.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
And so I sometimes I feel silly doing interviews like
this, because it's all talk,right, but it's like it's
talking season for you right now, like you, got a campaign a
little bit right.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Yeah, 100%.
I mean, that's what I said, youknow, right now I'm like you
know, vote for Pedro.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Yes, exactly, I have to make my case and it's a and
it's it's like it's not normalbehavior for, especially for a
guy like you.
You know, you kind of like youlet your athleticism do the
talking.
You don't really chest beat andyou're not telling people how
good you are, You're all aboutshowing it, you know.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
So it's like it's kind of the opposite of yeah,
it's kind of weird, becauseright now I mean it's.
It's almost like you know thisone is up for grabs.
It's like getting a tender job.
You know you have to.
Everybody has to you know, youknow, listen.
Everybody might ask to maketheir offer and see who's the
best offer.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Yeah, now all right.
So, spinning away from thiswhole drama thing, let's like
just a couple of questions, if Ican.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
You're going to be how much time you got something.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Oh yeah, when are?
Speaker 2 (27:01):
you going?
Speaker 1 (27:03):
Oh you got a head out .
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We're over, huh yeah just tellme what habits you built based
on the win.
Like what door did it open To,like, make you even better?
A lot of times you know,instead of climbing up to you
know Some top of the mountain,number one ranked guy or
(27:23):
whatever.
A lot of times people say itmotivates me more or it
uncovered something else.
Right, so now I'm like I itopened a door that I never seen
before.
Can you just describe what thatkind of is like for you?
Speaker 2 (27:35):
the biggest door this open for me is Is the fact that
believing in the system, oursystem, the system I train my
gym my team, my coaches, evenmore, because we came up with a
strategy to beat Robert Whitakerand we did it in spectacular
fashion and it just gave me moreconfidence and he gave me more
(27:55):
Motivation because obviouslypeople went, wow, lucas is so
good right now.
He looked amazing and I waslike, well, now I know how to
look amazing and I felt at homein the game and I was like I
can't wait for the next show.
I can't wait so right now.
The best thing that's came fromthis is the motivation to go
(28:15):
out there and People have to beeven more shocked in my next
performance and I'm yeah, wow,awesome man.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
It's great to hear you say that.
Hey, I want to thank you forincluding me on this media
campaign tour that you're on,man, because I know you're
talking with like Bisping.
You're off to Ariel Hawani andit makes me feel good that you
know.
You said I'll come on your showtoo.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Drink is a great chat in July.
Yeah, awesome.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Drink is have a great one, and can't wait to see
where you end up next.
Man, I'm hoping the best foryou.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Appreciate you, so I'm a good one, have a good one.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
Yes, good to see you.
All right, drink is to Plessy.
They're live on Fitz nation.
How about that?
I'm sitting here this morningno, I'm recording with Drinkus
and I just thought why don't Ihit that little button and do it
live, as they say?
So maybe we'll have more ofthat and I'll polish off an
(29:11):
episode.
Well, maybe we'll just leave itthere, but I just I'll tell
this quick story for those ofyou that weren't watching at the
beginning.
But yeah, we had a great chatthis summer when our haircuts
were just about the same and itwas at the podcast studio at the
UFC apex.
And I never met Drinkus face toface before because I had never
(29:32):
called any of his fights.
But Obviously, on this showit's more about the journeys of
the fighters, the habits, thatkind of build them to what they
want to be, and not necessarily,you know, the news of the day
and the campaigning for thetitle shot and all this other
sort of stuff.
So, you know, talk to him aboutlike what the best moment is for
(29:53):
him, when he, you know, isgetting ready to go out for the
fight, like when he feels thatadrenaline rushing through his
veins and you know, he said whenit was like two minutes to walk
.
Everybody's going about theirnormal day and you're getting
out there to go fight in a cage.
You're getting out and he sayshe says his goodbyes to his
family before every fight, likeif anything should happen Thank
(30:16):
you, love you.
Goodbye Like I'm going awayforever type of goodbye.
So it's pretty awesome to hear.
The full episode is on myPodcast channel and on UFC fight
pass and there's a clip righthere on the UFC or on my YouTube
channel of our chat from Julyand then obviously you heard
(30:40):
what was just there.
I'm just reading through thesecomments right now.
So thank you for followingalong during the live stream and
I promise I'll do more of these.
I hope.
If you hadn't heard about myYouTube channel, then I hope
this got you on board a littlebit and you can check out some
of the behind-the-scenes stuff.
And I'm just seeing for acomment from Ricky.
His interview with Ariel wasscheduled 11 minutes ago and
(31:02):
that's why I had to thank him.
He's putting off area.
How want he going live on theMMA hour to be live with me on
Fitz nation?
So that was great.
Thank you everyone forlistening.
Go check out my podcast If youhaven't already.
I have interviews with a lot ofdifferent UFC athletes that
I've been doing over the lastseveral years and they dig
(31:22):
deeper into the journey.
Instead of the he said, shesaid I should fight this next, I
should do this next andwhatever, and how's your weight
cut, and all the standardquestions.
We get into deeper topics.
So I hope you enjoy it.
If you're just discovering itand if you're a fan, then, of
course, thanks, as always, forlistening.
I got ahead of the UFC apexright now, as a matter of fact,
so I'll see you at UFC on theline and various other UFC
(31:46):
productions and enjoy your day.
All right, I think we're live Dracus, how you doing
over there in South Africa?
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Absolutely great.
Last night we had to cancel alot of these because of power
outages.
But welcome to Africa.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Yeah, exactly, the media tour that you're on.
I mean, what was it Like?
Does the power go out?
It sounds like it happensregularly.
The power might go out.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
It happens every day.
So last week there was a day ofno.
The whole of last week, 12hours without power.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Yeah, so this is a normal thing.
It's all load shedding.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
So it's like power cuts to save power, because
government's not really good ata conservative power, or you
know whatever they do, and theybasically go and say, okay, from
6am till 8am there's no power,and then again from 12 to 4pm no
power, and then again at nightfor like two more hours.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
So it's sometimes you know there is schedule, but I
don't really follow it.
Yeah, yeah, just pops up at theworst times, I'm sure.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yeah, and obviously there's no signal when the
power's off, because all thetowers are down.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
So, dricus, I want to tell a quick story before we
get into, like, the news of lastweekend and then what sits for
you.
But if you remember, when wetalked in July, it was right
before your fight with Whitakerhad a great chat and we talked
about when you really feel therush of the competition right,
and you talked about how, in theback, when they say two minutes
(01:33):
to walk and everybody's justgetting off and doing their
things, get the stool and yourteams doing their things and all
the PR teams doing their stuffand you're like, but for you
you're going to war, you'regoing to do the most important
thing you've ever done.
And the coolest thing for me isthat I was walking in the back
of T-Mobile Arena and you'restanding there and you're in
(01:55):
your warm-ups and I catch youreye and you just give me that
wink and I was like, oh mygoodness, I didn't know this I
was like we just talked aboutthis.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
It was so cool for me to go out there.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
And then obviously you get that huge win and, man,
what a moment, like how do youthink back on that fight against
Robert, like what it's done foryou and like the feeling that
it gave you.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Yeah, I mean what it's done.
I mean for me and for Africanand South African mixed martial
arts it feels you know,everything just stepped up.
You know there are more peopleknow about me and that's even
irrelevant.
More people about know aboutUFC and South African UFC than
ever.
It's incredible.
And you go out there and put ona performance that I knew I
(02:39):
could and the performance that Ianything less than that would
have been a loss for me Anythingless than that I wouldn't have
won that fight and you know Ijust I made the switch and it
was a good night at the office.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
What do you mean?
Anything less than a knockout,you mean.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
No, no, anything less than that good of a performance
.
Yeah, it's the competitive.
Like what it could would havebeen a loss on my record.
You can't make mistakes againsta guy like what it could.
Yes, there were mistakes made,but very minor mistakes were
made and you know I'm reallyglad that 100% oxygen drinkers
(03:20):
is a real thing.
Listen, I talked to big game,but there was only one way to
really find out that was gettingin the case.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Yeah, you put the pressure on yourself a little
bit in that one.
I mean, the pressure is alwayson, but the way that you speak
about your goals and yourmission, that you're on it puts
a lot of pressure on you everytime out.
How do you do that?
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Yeah, I mean exactly that.
It puts a lot of pressure on,because I don't accept
mediocrity from anybody aroundme and I don't accept mediocrity
for myself, especially not formyself, because it's contagious.
Firstly, and once you startthinking that's okay, then why?
(04:04):
What's the motivation to begreat, to be better, to want to
be better?
And I'm not saying I'm perfect,I'm not saying I'm great yet,
but I'm aspiring to be everysingle day.
And you know that performancefor me was the most motivating
thing I've ever done, for otherpeople and for myself, because
I've proved to myself what I cando, what I'm capable of, and
that this one thing that I'vealways believed in I was right.
(04:27):
I was right.
I've always believed in myself.
I always believed that I couldbe the best.
And you know, beating God, I'veprobably got to go getting
there very damn close to that.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Yeah, so then after that I want you to unpack, like
obviously I don't know all thedetails, right, I assume the
fight was offered to you likeofficially in Sydney.
Why was it a no from you?
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Oh well, no, all our photos are everything you need
that.
My foot was busted up and thishappened literally the day
before we flew out.
I think it's 18 days before thefight.
I've literally a photo, sendingit to my T, sending it to my
friend, saying what would a campwith outside adversity be?
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Wearing a moon boots you know, I think my foot this
is before what.
Fight the Whitaker, fight theWhitaker, fight your foot's
busted up three weeks before100%.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Literally my last session.
Before we flew out, I kickedinto a knee and my foot was
completely screwed.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Now you can.
Another thing is you go ask thephysio team and the physical
therapist at the UFC PI whatthey were working on the whole
time I was in Vegas.
That was what they were workingon because my foot was busted.
They didn't kick with it once,Even in the warmup couldn't kick
with it the first time I kickedwith it.
Look at the fight.
(05:51):
The first thing I did in thatfight was open up with that foot
that was busted.
The first thing I did was kickthat foot because I had to get
that confidence in it and ithurts, but I could feel ah,
Adriana's got me, it's fine,it's hurting but it'll be okay.
And what I said was, after thatfight, I said we'll see, we'll
(06:12):
see.
And you know somebody likeCharles Sonnen talking about a
shit, saying listen, rodriguezdidn't even limp out of the cage
.
Why would I limp out of thecage?
I'd just beat Robert Whitaker.
You know what kind ofadrenaline goes through my body.
I was basically able to do abackflip on that foot if I
wanted to yeah.
And it's after an hour or so.
(06:32):
That adrenaline to me, it givesme superpowers.
And I just went and said,listen, guys, I don't think this
foot's gonna be.
You know, to take the Whitakerfight, I understand, three weeks
out or 18 days out, you are allthe hard work's done, I'm
already fit, the game plan istrained.
It's just maintaining.
Maintaining I can deal withthat.
(06:52):
But starting a camp injured fora world title fight, I don't
think that's fair to expect ofanybody.
And I've said this before too.
You know the whole thing withPijit the lishaw hurting his
shoulder in camp and not livingthe years.
You know they were pissed offat him because he had a terrible
performance.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Right.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Because he couldn't train with his shoulder.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
So now I go and I keep the company happy and say
listen, I'm injured, I can'tfight in seven weeks notice,
even though I fought three timesin the last seven months.
And you know I get criticizedfor that too.
So what do you want to me?
I don't know.
What is it that you want?
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Should I fight injured?
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Should I not declare the injury?
Should I fight injured?
Or should I say listen, I can'tstart my camp?
If I was three weeks after thatfight and that exact same
injury happened, you never evenwould have heard of it because
you know it doesn't matter.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Right.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
But you know, starting a camp, injured, not
being able to kick, I onlystarted kicking two weeks ago.
It's six weeks after the injury.
Yeah, I only started kickingtwo weeks ago.
So you want me to go into atitle fight like that?
Yeah, against, quite a kicker,right, quite a kicker, I mean
you know, and I'm a kicker too,right, I like to kick as well,
(08:09):
right, so you know.
So you know, I'm notcriticizing the UFC, I'm not
criticizing Dana at all.
I just feel that you know, Idon't know why they are so
pissed off at me.
You know, booking a fight sevenweeks after a fight with Robert
Whitaker doesn't make the mostsense.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
Right, it's a challenge.
I want to get into this.
It's a challenge, no matterwhat.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Like, if you sparked Whitaker.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
You were full bill of health.
You spark Whitaker in a minute.
It's still a challenge to turnaround and fight an even more
important fight on potentiallynot a full camp, and you know
we've seen Adesanya do this.
He has scheduled his fightsshortly after other fights
Marvin Vittori won in April,fought for a title in June,
(09:01):
right Like 60 day turnaround.
Adesanya was ready, he had thedate.
It was Marvin Vittori comingoff the win in April, boom title
fight.
And there's the pressure totake that.
What kind of pressure did youfeel to take it?
Was there ever a chance thatyou might say yes, or was it
just like a flag no?
Speaker 2 (09:23):
No, no, no, I guess.
So I guess, and the only reasonI wanted to say yes is because
I knew this was probably goingto be a thing.
Yeah, and you know, I justrealized, listen, I'm not in
this for anything else thanbeing the greatest, and the
reason I believe I will be thegreatest is because I work hard
on anybody else and if I'minjured, I can't do the work
(09:46):
that I know I can do.
And, like I said, fightinginjured is something that's
probably always going to happen.
I don't know about too manyfights that have not been
injured or to some extent, butstarting a camp injured, I feel
it's silly.
Starting a camp injured foryour world title fight something
(10:06):
I've been working towards mywhole life it's unfair, it's.
You know, I went out there andI beat Robert Wettig
convincingly.
They didn't do me any favors bygiving me a title shot.
I earned that title shot andright now I feel like I'm being
penalized for not taking thatfight.
And yeah, if that's the case,so be it.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Yeah, did you think it was going to be like?
So you're saying maybe therewas a chance because you kind of
acknowledged it was a gamble.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
I say no, no, no, no.
What I'm saying is it's justyou know your own mind, you know
like, maybe if I don't takethis fight, they're never going
to give me my opportunity.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Right.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Because and I just went like listen, I'm not being
outrageous here, it's not likeI'm a guy to turn down fight.
In fact, every time they'veasked me to help out with the
Calvin Gasslin fight, with theBrunson fight somebody's out I
say cool, let's step up, let'sgo.
I've had turnarounds all thetime.
Like I said, I fought threetimes in seven months.
I fought Brad Savarez, I foughtDarren Till and I fought Dave
(11:11):
Brunson and for me that wasactually, that was eight months.
Yeah, and you know, for methey've never even the Whitaker
fight.
I literally went and said Ithought I was going to get the
easy fight before Whitaker.
I thought that was going tohappen because of the hype.
And they phoned and said,listen, they want to do Whitaker
.
And I said, well, okay, I saidthat's a guy to beat, that's a
(11:35):
guy to beat.
I've never given them a hardtime about purse.
I've never given them a hardtime about an opponent trying to
get somebody easier, not once.
So you know, for me, you knowmy mind playing tricks,
everybody's mind does that Likelisten, this is your title fight
, maybe you should take.
You should take thisopportunity and, as Sean
(11:56):
Strickland should take theopportunity, each ranked number
five and I would have done thatif I was ranked number five.
But being ranked number one andearning that spot, I feel just
the full camp is justified, nota full game.
You understand if it came to mehaving a month or two to
recover, then starting a camp,but this was literally directly
(12:20):
seven weeks after the fight.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Yeah, when did they ask you, like in the back
Sometimes they'll let you like,come down the stairs and be,
like you, ready for September.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Something like that yeah, well, I mean yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
It was like quick right.
It was like that night.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Just before I went on for the press conference.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Yeah, yeah, I went on for the press conference.
Yeah, so in back there whenyou're in your suit when I saw
you there.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
They're asking you wow, crazy man.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
It's quick.
Can't celebrate too long, canyou?
Yeah, not in this sport.
What do you make?
What's your plan right now,dracus?
Speaker 2 (12:55):
My plan right now is to get that chance to fight and
be chance to fight and fightIsrael and Sanya for my first
part of the thing.
That's my plan.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Yeah, that's in a perfect world.
Yeah, how do you wake up and goday to day though, knowing that
you know somebody's saying this, somebody's saying this the
Adesanya rematch is rumored.
You got Paulo Costa and HamzatShemayev Like your plan is one
thing.
How do you deal with theswirling narratives that are
(13:23):
that?
Speaker 2 (13:24):
is.
That is a good question.
Somebody asked me that today aswell.
I said listen, guys, my job isto get in there and fight.
I don't do the matchmaking, Idon't do the promoting, I don't
do any of that.
What I do is getting there andfight and no matter what they
decide, they're going to keep meaway from my belt and if that's
the way I want to play, so beit.
(13:44):
I know that's their prerogativeidea of the day.
I'm a fighter and that's what Ido I fight?
Yeah, I said before the war, togo fight.
I don't care about taking smallfights, I'm there to fight.
I 100% believe I deserve thistitle shot.
I 100% believe I worked forthis title shot and that's.
That's all I can do.
It's got to perform and Ibelieve I've been doing that the
(14:08):
whole time.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
How soon could you take a title fight?
Right now, december, december,december, las Vegas, end of the
year 100% you'd be ready forthat.
Probably 100% ready for that.
What do you make of?
This is something I feel likewe see from time to time,
especially in our sport.
What is it like being theathlete in the business?
(14:34):
Right Like on, from an athleticstandpoint, you want to be
ready for the highest level ofcompetition in this sport of
mixed martial arts, but there isa business that exists.
That's why it's called apromotion and not a league.
That's why there's not playoffsto determine the right answers
(14:55):
all the time.
What is it like, though, to bethe athlete in that equation,
because that's something that Ifeel like gets left out a lot of
times.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Yeah, and I see your point, you know, even though you
thought about like that.
But in the end of the day, youknow, I guess in a different way
, I did think about that,because that's what I said, in
the end of the day, they have tomake money For them.
That's their sport.
Their sport is making money.
My sport is winning fights.
So you have those two, thosetwo to think about, but they're
(15:25):
going to do what's best for them.
I want what's best for me andhopefully we'll meet somewhere
there in the middle.
Because you know, like it ornot, you know, I want to be the
UFC world champion and I'mwilling to do whatever it takes
to get there.
So for me, you know, the UFC.
I honestly believe that I'veperformed, I've done what is
(15:48):
expected of me as a UFC fighterand as a champion, and that's
about that.
That's what I can do.
I don't have anything.
I don't have any saying whatcomes, what happens behind the
scenes.
I don't have any saying whatthey decide.
That's going to be all them.
So what is it like to be theathlete?
Just like being the gladiator?
(16:11):
At least the fans cheer whenyou win.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Yeah right, you get the glory.
You get the glory in the arena.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Getting the glory, getting the glory.
You get the glory in the arenaand no decision can ever take
that away from me.
No decision of me fighting forworld title or not fighting for
world title.
I'm a warrior, I'm a fighterand I'm a gladiator, and every
time I step into that arena,that's the only thing that
matters.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Yeah.
So now we've seen this atBantamweight in regards to
Marabh Duwala Shwili waitingdidn't want to fight Aldermaine
Sterling.
Now he wants to be next forSean O'Malley and they're saying
you got to wait.
He's saying I'll wait a year.
My next fight will be for thetitle.
What hill are you dying on now,dreek?
(16:58):
It's like what position are youin?
You know you want the titleshot next you want to fight
Strickland, then you want tofight Izzy, but what's the
approach in terms of how you seeit unfolding potentially and
what you're willing to do?
Speaker 2 (17:14):
My approach right now is telling them listen, it's
making my case for why I deservethe title shot.
Hopefully the people want thestarter shot as well.
Hopefully the people want tosee me as stripped in as well.
If that's not the case, thenthis is entertainment.
The people don't believe thatI'm worthy of the starter shot.
(17:40):
Then am I really?
I need to be working on somestuff, man.
I need to get these people onboard.
If the people don't want to seeit, it's not going to happen,
unfortunately.
That's why every single fightof mine has been exciting.
Every single fight.
I try to go out there and puton the performance of a lifetime
and give these people a propershow.
And yeah, I mean, that's thedeal I'm dying on.
(18:02):
It's going out there andfighting.
If they don't give me a startershot, what am I going to say
Now?
I'm never going to fight again.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
No, how long, though, right Are you going to say
let's see what materializes,whatever?
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Let's say they run the rematch in December or
whatever.
At the end of the day, I needyou to sit and wait, because the
UFC definitely hasn't made adecision as well.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Right, exactly.
You're not making any decisionsnow, so why would you?
Speaker 2 (18:27):
I can't make any decisions up until they've made
any decisions.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
What I'm saying is I believe I 100% know I deserve
that fight and I will be readyfor that fight Whenever it comes
.
Whenever, wherever I'm ready tofight, I'm sure I'll stick then
and become the middleweightchampion of the world.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Can you describe what you felt watching that fight?
Because it was one of thosethings where it was just like,
oh my God, it's at best for Izzytwo to two, it might be three
to one.
Then you go into the fifthround and the last minute you're
just like.
This is happening.
What are you sitting on thecouch saying while that, indeed,
(19:06):
is happening?
Strickland's polishing off aclear decision victory.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Quite an upset.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
What are you thinking ?
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Yeah, I mean I said, especially when he caught him in
that first round, I thought, ohdamn, if he had a little bit of
a harder punch he could havetaken him out there.
But he doesn't.
And I was like Izzy almostslipped up there and for me it
was 100% like Izzy is obviouslydoing what he does, some weird
mind game.
He's going to probably say,yeah, look at my shirt that I
(19:35):
wore on Thursday.
I had a number three on my backand that was for round three.
So I obviously thought Izzy wasgoing to try and pull off
something like that.
But when the second round cameI just realized, oh shit, izzy's
in trouble yet he's not lookingcomfortable.
And every round I was just likewhat is happening.
And from the very first round Isaid my brother was watching me
(20:01):
I don't actually remember whoall the people are watching, but
anyway and I just said Izzylooks off.
I don't know what it is, it'sthe meanest.
Walk out.
Everything looked off from theget go.
I said Izzy looks off, it lookslike something's weird.
And watching the fight, likeyou said in that last minute, I
was like, holy shit, seanStrickland is going to become
(20:24):
the middleweight champion of theworld, and he made it look easy
.
Right Didn't even have a bloodynose at the end of it.
Yeah, I mean, it didn't evenlook like he took a punch.
Yeah, it was somethingincredible and I was like we
spoke about it and we justdidn't like well, that's MMA for
you.
What a sport.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
What are you thinking , though, in terms of your
standing?
Because I got to think a partof you is going.
Oh no, Because if Israel keepsturning back people, then it's
easy.
Then you want when you're ready.
Okay, now we're ready for thisone.
But Strickland winning did notmake it so cut and dry,
obviously.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
So what are you thinking in terms of your?
What are you thinking thenumber one next to my?
Speaker 1 (21:08):
name, right, right.
But I'm just saying, like itshuffles the deck, the rematch
is possible, and then it justpushes back the timeline and all
that sort of stuff.
Does that enter your mind thatnight?
Or are you starting to thinklike, oh no, no, no, no, 100%?
Speaker 2 (21:21):
no, 100% into my mind .
And when Dana said a rematch, Iwas genuinely shocked.
I couldn't believe it.
I honestly thought what?
That does not make any sense.
A rematch doesn't make sense.
You're going what?
Three and two, you're lost five.
You can't have a rematch.
The first rematch he got was100% justified.
He was on the table for yearschasing goat status, and he was
(21:44):
winning the fight against PahayaRight, winning the fight until
he got caught First.
Title defense is the newchampion, nielus, so it's every
guy that's going to try anddefend.
It's the belt and the firsttime getting at the arm.
Because if he was winning thestricken fight, the whole fight,
then he got knocked out in thefirst round.
Maybe we can justify that, buthe wasn't winning a second, he
(22:05):
was just, in my opinion, losingthe whole fight.
But, what justifies a rematch?
What?
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Yeah Well, daniel Cormier said on the broadcast he
thinks the division needs tomove on a little bit and he
didn't want to see the rematchand then.
I was a bit surprised to seeDana speak about it like yeah,
we'll do the rematch, and what Ithought was for the reason that
you just said Israel Adesanyaseemed off.
He seemed in slow motion.
Dana said it like you, just hisdemeanor was different.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
That's like what Every time I lose a fight, I'm
going to say no, I need to fightthis guy again.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Right.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
You know, you know, I had some emotional stuff to do
with.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Yeah, how many?
Speaker 2 (22:44):
people give a shit about his winning.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Right, right.
I wonder, though, if it isenough to get him a rematch,
because, let's say, he's dealingwith something and it comes out
and whatever.
And listen, drugus, I'm nottrying to build a case against
you.
I'm just saying you know, likeIsrael, adesanya has fought so
much as a champion that he'sbuilt some equity within the
company.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
There's no denying that, right, you know like he's
headlined a lot of events, right, exactly.
I mean, I think the companydidn't be a huge favor by doing
the rematch with Sahara, right,right, I think that was your.
You know your get out jail,freak on.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Yeah, no, and you have to balance, like you can't
just put one athlete above thesystem, you know, for too long,
because then it just you know,it sets a precedent and it's not
good.
It holds back their businesspotentially in the future.
What else, drugus, so you'reready to go for the December
(23:43):
pay-per-view if needed.
What kind of communication arelike?
What kind of conversations arebeing had right now, like is
there, you know?
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Right now, nothing Right now.
In my honest opinion, I don'tthink the UFC really has an
answer right now.
I don't know.
I don't know if they have.
If they already have a clearcut, listen, this is what.
This is what we go with,because if they have, I haven't
(24:15):
heard anything about it.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Right.
What's it like for you to wakeup every day without that
uncertainty and know that yougot to go train, got to go train
and you want to do all of yourthings as normal, but knowing
like your mind's going to playtricks on you.
It's going to continue to do itDoes for all of us.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I guess so, but you know it's
never been the motivation, thefight.
I go up there and I do what Ido.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
You know I wake up every day and you know,
obviously we talk about it,everybody's talking about it to
me, and you know the answer isthe same.
Listen, you know as much as Ido.
Yeah, and this takes out noidea.
But you can't let that stuffdictate how you live your life.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Yeah, when you're in a place like South Africa that's
just so far away from Las Vegasand it's like obviously it's a
global sport right, because NewZealand's not around the corner
either but do you feel that thataffects your standing in any
way, because you're kind of inthis isolated place relative to
(25:17):
a lot of the other UFC big starsand high ranked guys and you're
not in a super gym and you'reall that sort of stuff.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
I feel that most super gym in the world Right.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Right, I hear what you're saying, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
You know, I don't know, maybe.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Right.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Maybe I'm, you know, maybe I'm just oblivious to the
fact.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Yeah Well, no, it's good.
I mean, it's good to be thatway because these are things
that guys like me will think ofand talk about, but it has no
value for you as the athletethat needs to wake up and train
every day and be at yourabsolute physical best when the
lights are shining, when you'rein the arena, when you're
fighting for all the prize youknow.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day it's about.
You know, keep on winning,Right.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
And so I sometimes I feel silly doing interviews like
this, because it's all talk,right, but it's like it's
talking season for you right now, like you, got a campaign a
little bit right.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Yeah, 100%.
I mean, that's what I said, youknow, right now I'm like you
know, vote for Pedro.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Yes, exactly, I have to make my case and it's a and
it's it's like it's not normalbehavior for, especially for a
guy like you.
You know, you kind of like youlet your athleticism do the
talking.
You don't really chest beat andyou're not telling people how
good you are, You're all aboutshowing it, you know.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
So it's like it's kind of the opposite of yeah,
it's kind of weird, becauseright now I mean it's.
It's almost like you know thisone is up for grabs.
It's like getting a tender job.
You know you have to.
Everybody has to you know, youknow, listen.
Everybody might ask to maketheir offer and see who's the
best offer.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Yeah, now all right.
So, spinning away from thiswhole drama thing, let's like
just a couple of questions, if Ican.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
You're going to be how much time you got something.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Oh yeah, when are?
Speaker 2 (27:01):
you going?
Speaker 1 (27:03):
Oh you got a head out .
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We're over, huh yeah just tellme what habits you built based
on the win.
Like what door did it open To,like, make you even better?
A lot of times you know,instead of climbing up to you
know Some top of the mountain,number one ranked guy or
(27:23):
whatever.
A lot of times people say itmotivates me more or it
uncovered something else.
Right, so now I'm like I itopened a door that I never seen
before.
Can you just describe what thatkind of is like for you?
Speaker 2 (27:35):
the biggest door this open for me is Is the fact that
believing in the system, oursystem, the system I train my
gym my team, my coaches, evenmore, because we came up with a
strategy to beat Robert Whitakerand we did it in spectacular
fashion and it just gave me moreconfidence and he gave me more
(27:55):
Motivation because obviouslypeople went, wow, lucas is so
good right now.
He looked amazing and I waslike, well, now I know how to
look amazing and I felt at homein the game and I was like I
can't wait for the next show.
I can't wait so right now.
The best thing that's came fromthis is the motivation to go
(28:15):
out there and People have to beeven more shocked in my next
performance and I'm yeah, wow,awesome man.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
It's great to hear you say that.
Hey, I want to thank you forincluding me on this media
campaign tour that you're on,man, because I know you're
talking with like Bisping.
You're off to Ariel Hawani andit makes me feel good that you
know.
You said I'll come on your showtoo.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Drink is a great chat in July.
Yeah, awesome.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Drink is have a great one, and can't wait to see
where you end up next.
Man, I'm hoping the best foryou.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Appreciate you, so I'm a good one, have a good one.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
Yes, good to see you.
All right, drink is to Plessy.
They're live on Fitz nation.
How about that?
I'm sitting here this morningno, I'm recording with Drinkus
and I just thought why don't Ihit that little button and do it
live, as they say?
So maybe we'll have more ofthat and I'll polish off an
(29:11):
episode.
Well, maybe we'll just leave itthere, but I just I'll tell
this quick story for those ofyou that weren't watching at the
beginning.
But yeah, we had a great chatthis summer when our haircuts
were just about the same and itwas at the podcast studio at the
UFC apex.
And I never met Drinkus face toface before because I had never
(29:32):
called any of his fights.
But Obviously, on this showit's more about the journeys of
the fighters, the habits, thatkind of build them to what they
want to be, and not necessarily,you know, the news of the day
and the campaigning for thetitle shot and all this other
sort of stuff.
So, you know, talk to him aboutlike what the best moment is for
(29:53):
him, when he, you know, isgetting ready to go out for the
fight, like when he feels thatadrenaline rushing through his
veins and you know, he said whenit was like two minutes to walk
.
Everybody's going about theirnormal day and you're getting
out there to go fight in a cage.
You're getting out and he sayshe says his goodbyes to his
family before every fight, likeif anything should happen Thank
(30:16):
you, love you.
Goodbye Like I'm going awayforever type of goodbye.
So it's pretty awesome to hear.
The full episode is on myPodcast channel and on UFC fight
pass and there's a clip righthere on the UFC or on my YouTube
channel of our chat from Julyand then obviously you heard
(30:40):
what was just there.
I'm just reading through thesecomments right now.
So thank you for followingalong during the live stream and
I promise I'll do more of these.
I hope.
If you hadn't heard about myYouTube channel, then I hope
this got you on board a littlebit and you can check out some
of the behind-the-scenes stuff.
And I'm just seeing for acomment from Ricky.
His interview with Ariel wasscheduled 11 minutes ago and
(31:02):
that's why I had to thank him.
He's putting off area.
How want he going live on theMMA hour to be live with me on
Fitz nation?
So that was great.
Thank you everyone forlistening.
Go check out my podcast If youhaven't already.
I have interviews with a lot ofdifferent UFC athletes that
I've been doing over the lastseveral years and they dig
(31:22):
deeper into the journey.
Instead of the he said, shesaid I should fight this next, I
should do this next andwhatever, and how's your weight
cut, and all the standardquestions.
We get into deeper topics.
So I hope you enjoy it.
If you're just discovering itand if you're a fan, then, of
course, thanks, as always, forlistening.
I got ahead of the UFC apexright now, as a matter of fact,
so I'll see you at UFC on theline and various other UFC
(31:46):
productions and enjoy your day.
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