May 14, 2025 • 54 mins
Chris "The Grit" Droege invites us into the fascinating intersection between combat sports, entrepreneurship, and personal growth in this compelling conversation that transcends the typical fighter interview.
From the wrestling mats of Youngstown to the MMA cages of Cleveland, Chris shares how wrestling shaped not just his fighting style, but his entire approach to life. "Nobody's gonna care about you as much as you are," he explains, detailing how the individual responsibility inherent in wrestling transferred directly to his business mindset.
Rather than following a traditional career path despite holding two master's degrees, Chris launched his own painting company to create the flexibility needed for his fighting career. This strategic decision removed the financial pressure that plagues many fighters, allowing him to approach MMA "purely for the love and just try to be the best in the world." His perspective on creating parallel paths—one for stability and another for passion—offers a blueprint anyone can apply to their creative pursuits.
The disciplined mindset Chris developed through wrestling permeates everything from his training methodology to his business approach. He draws a brilliant parallel between paying dues in combat sports and other fields: "You don't sign up for the high school football team to make a million dollars. You're doing it for the experience, for the love of the sport." This refreshing perspective counters our instant-gratification culture with timeless wisdom about mastery requiring investment before rewards.
Whether you're a fight fan, entrepreneur, or simply someone striving to align your passions with sustainable success, Chris's insights will reshape how you approach your own journey. Check out his upc
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride Home
Rants podcast.
This is, as always, your host,mike Bonham.
I got a great guest for ustoday.
He's coming to us again fromUpgraded Industries Gym up in
Cleveland Ohio, and that isChris.
The Grit Draggy joins the show.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Chris, thanks for joining brother, no worries,
thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Hey, not a problem at all.
Hey, so for any of my listenersout there that may not know of
you, we do have a pretty bigfollowing up there in Cleveland.
You know, tell them whereyou're from, you know how you
grew up and everything like that.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Yeah, sure, so I'm from Northeast Ohio, I'm from
Youngstown about an hour and 20or so from the Cleveland area,
about an hour and 20 or so fromlike the cleveland area and yeah
, man, not not too like much toreport on.
I mean, I just got intowrestling and shit when I was in
middle school and then stuckwith it, came to lake erie
(00:59):
college which is up here,wrestled here and then right
towards the end of my career Igot in contact with like a
couple mma gyms in the area andlike just started working out
with guys getting them ready fortheir fights and that's how I
got linked up with upgraded.
I was working with dj and tonygetting them ready for some
(01:19):
fights and then they were likewell, when you're done wrestling
in college, you should justfight out of here.
And I was like cool, and then Ijust been there ever since.
Man.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Not a bad way to get into it, for sure.
So you wrestled.
Did you do any other sportswhen you were growing up?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Yeah, I ran track for a little bit, but like,
wrestling is just the one thingthat like really took my
attention and it's like, onceyou really start getting in the
thick of it, you you're trainingmore than just like the season.
You know what I mean.
It's like wrestling seasons inthe winter, and then freestyle
and greco, which is like theolympic styles, that happens
(02:04):
during the spring.
So then I was like, well,that's more important to me than
track, and then like, yeah,then you just find yourself
doing like summer tournaments,tournaments in the fall, and it
just becomes an all-year thing.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
You know, yeah, I definitely understand that um
grew up, uh, a, a swimmer.
Yeah, I definitely understandthat, grew up a swimmer.
And it's another winter sportwhen you're in school, but
there's always a spring season,there's always summer seasons
and everything like that.
Fall is really the only timethat we kind of have off.
(02:39):
I did play a little bit offootball in high school in the
fall, mainly just to stay inshape for my swim season, and
you know it was.
It's one of those sports that Ifeel like, like wrestling, it
doesn't get the recognition thatit deserves, except for when
the Olympics come around.
But you know, I've always had arespect for wrestlers,
(03:03):
especially watching MMA andgrowing up as a combat sports
fan.
I don't think that the actual,like the Greco, roman and all
that wrestling gets therecognition that it deserves.
You kind of have that samefeeling.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Yeah, I mean for sure .
Like, even if you're in, likethe sport itself, like now
freestyle and greco is gettingway more popular.
But even when I was in highschool, like I really didn't
hear about it until like the endof my freshman year, and all
these guys were like, yeah,we're gonna do this, like
practice is coming up, and I wasjust like, oh, whatever.
(03:39):
And I went there and it waslike completely different and
like even like the word around,like all the best kids in the
state would do it, and like,obviously, like Ohio is like
premier for wrestling, likewe're for sure one of the better
states.
So, like I don't know, I justwas.
I noticed that like, okay, allthe best guys are doing this,
(04:01):
like I should probably be doingthis too.
But even when I was in highschool, like people weren like,
like they just I don't know, itwasn't as popular and like
people would still be like, ohwell, that's not what we do
during the season, so it's likeI'm not gonna waste my time
doing it, but just like anythingelse, man, if you look at it as
like cross training, it's likeone, it's just more time doing
(04:24):
something and two, it makes youuse your body a completely
different way.
So now I think guys are gettingmore hip to it.
Like I'm coaching at thecollege that I wrestled at and
like we had club practice thismorning, which is like for
freestyle and greco and um,there's way more guys doing it
now than like when I was incollege.
(04:45):
Like a lot of my collegeteammates were like nah, I never
I never wrestled freestyle inGreco.
Like I'm not gonna start nowand it's like whatever man.
But now we got a bunch of guyswho are just they like it and
it's like just more ingrained inthe culture.
So I think I don't know.
I think like overall it's justgetting like more like notor,
more like notoriety, and likepeople are really understanding
(05:08):
it better and have accepted thefact that, like if you want to
continue wrestling at a reallyhigh level, you got to at least
get in with freestyle.
And it's like if you want to bethe best in the world, like
that's your only option.
The world's in Olympics areonly freestyle and Greco.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
It's not like like folk style in America.
Right, yeah, I've noticed that.
Do you think that with the riseof the UFC and mixed martial
arts, that that helped with thefreestyle?
Because you hear Bruce Bufferannouncing a lot with the guys
and a lot of them nowadays I'mhearing he's a freestyle fighter
, he's a freestyle, he's Gregand Roman.
(05:48):
I hear a lot of those nowcoming up into the UFC and mixed
martial arts.
Do you think maybe Dana Whitehas new something and that it's
helping that sport kind of takeoff a little bit more?
Speaker 2 (06:02):
I wouldn't say like I don't know, kind of take off a
little bit more.
I wouldn't say like I don'tknow that freestyle, like if
somebody's saying they're afreestyle fighter, that's not
like freestyle wrestling, it'slike a completely different,
that's more of like a mix ofthings.
Like it's just like MMA I don'tknow, um, but for sure like
guys doing good in wrestling andMMA is making it more popular.
(06:25):
And then obviously in the USwe're the only ones that do folk
style, but like that's gettingmore people into it and then
inherently more people from folkstyle are getting into
freestyle.
And then I mean I would imagineit's having the same effect
across the world.
Like there's got to be kids,like in russia and australia and
(06:45):
stuff, like watching the ufcand like I want to do that the
best guys are wrestlers.
I should probably startwrestling and like it's just
naturally growing the sport,which is great man, that's what
we want.
Like I don't want to just growin america, I want it to grow
everywhere.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
I absolutely wanted that to be worldwide for sure.
So, besides, you know the mixedmartial arts space.
Do you do anything outside ofthat for work other than you
know?
Like you said, you coach at theat the college you went to.
Is there anything else that youdo for like a day job?
Because I know with fighters,kind of like being a comedian,
it's not like a set nine to five, like you don't have like
(07:26):
consistent I don't want to sayconsistent work, but you know
what I mean.
There could be a month or twoin between fights for you guys.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Well, yeah, I mean one.
I'm still an amateur, so Ican't even get paid.
So it's like I'm just doingthis for purely experience and
getting ready to go pro, whichI'm going to be doing here soon.
Okay, but even then, like atthe lower level of like your
regional pro scene, like you'renot making all that much money,
(07:55):
man, like maybe like a couplethousand for a fight, like
making weight and winning, youknow what I mean.
Like that's really nothing but,yeah, work-wise, for the last
three years I've been running myown painting company.
So I just I worked for, uh, oneof who the guy was my college
coach originally.
(08:15):
He stepped down and just took alike was painting full-time
with his business.
I did that in the summersaround you know, school and
stuff.
And then I just was gettinglike a lot of side jobs, just
like people's, you know, likeparents or whatever around here,
like I just need this, donethis, painted this.
And then it just like grew tothe point where I was like I
(08:39):
could probably just do this onmy own.
And so I just took a leap offaith.
Like I graduated, like I got twomaster's degrees from school,
but I wanted to do somethingthat's flexible with my time.
Like if I had a nine to five, Iwouldn't be able to train the
same way I do, I wouldn't beable to coach.
So I was like whatever, I'mjust gonna go all in with this
(08:59):
and just do my own thing.
And it's been great.
Man like I, I'm understandinghow to run a business.
I really understand, like howmoney works, how taxes work,
like I'm gaining a lot like inexperience in that way.
And then, like I mean I set myown schedule.
Like if I want to work more, Iwill, if I don't, then I don't.
(09:23):
And it's cool, man, like youknow, I mean it's it's not like
I'm living this life of luxury,but like I got a truck, I got a
house, like like I'm not worriedabout you know, like not like
in college, when you're liketrying to figure out where your
next meal is going to be, whenyou're next time you're going to
get money in your pocket, likeI don't worry about those things
(09:46):
anymore and you know it's givenme.
It takes a lot of pressure offthe idea of like I have to go
pro and I got to do this to makemoney and I got to win this
fight to have money.
It's like I can do this purelyfor the love and just try to be
the best in the world, withouthaving that added bit of
pressure of like where's moneycoming in?
(10:08):
Or or working a job?
I don't like.
It's like I don't know, man,it's ideal.
And it's like if you can't finda situation that's ideal for
you, gotta kind of gotta justmake one, you know no, yeah, I
agree with that wholeheartedly.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
You know I am, you know, 13 years into comedy and
I'm still considered an up andcomer.
So like that it's, it takes alot and, like you saying, at the
low levels of being aprofessional it's not a lot of
money.
Same thing with comedy.
You know, I do have a day jobthat I that I have to go to
Takes a good bit of my time.
I do have a day job that I haveto go to.
(10:43):
It takes a good bit of my time.
But at the same sense, you hadthat confidence to take that
leap of faith to be your ownboss.
So kudos to you for being ableto do that.
There's not a lot of peoplethat have that drive.
Do you think MMA and wrestlingkind of gave you that mindset to
(11:05):
be able to take that leap offaith?
Speaker 2 (11:07):
100 man.
Like wrestling is interestingin the fact that it is like a
team sport, but it's not in thesame regard like it is a team
sport because you're practicingwith your teammates, you have
coaches, like you know, in adual sense it is a team sport
like you're watching yourteammates, like there's a team
(11:28):
score and stuff, but the stuffthat really counts it's not like
like nationals isn't reallylike there is, there's a team
scoring to it, but it's likereally it's focused on you, like
your focus is winning anational title, winning matches,
winning a state title.
You know, like mma is the sameway.
(11:48):
Like it's really not a teamsport.
Like obviously, like I have ateam and I have coaches and
stuff, but it's not the same.
Like it's not like college,where you have like a structured
, like every single person isdoing this right now, right, so
a lot of it falls on you to likemake sure you're getting ample
(12:11):
amount of like your strikingwork, your conditioning, your
grappling, your wrestling, andwrestling is kind of the same
way.
It's like you can only do somuch in practice.
And then it's like if you wantto be elite, you gotta.
You gotta do stuff on your ownman and you gotta have that
drive if you want to get better.
Nobody's gonna care about youas much as you are.
(12:31):
You know like and I wasn't likea really like like, especially
when I got to college like Iwasn't one of the guys who was
highly recruited, like I was oneof the guys they like
overlooked.
And if you want to set yourselfup to win like, they're not
going to go out of their way forthe guys that they don't think
(12:52):
are going to do good, they'refocused on the guys who are
eating up the most scholarshipmoney.
So it's like I had to take alot on my own, like stay after
practice, set up extra workouts,and you know like always doing
stuff on my own, and it's likeeventually you just get better
and better and then people arewilling to work with you more.
(13:12):
But you still got to have thatdrive of like I'm taking care of
me, like no life is like thatman, nobody's gonna take care of
you.
You know what I mean?
You could, you could have itmade.
You could be born into amillionaire family, but you
could still have a horrible life, like if you don't take care of
yourself and you don't havelike, like, a drive and a focus.
(13:34):
So it's just like that.
That's just how I've alwaysfelt.
Like I, no matter whatsituation I'm in, I feel like I
have the faith to pull myselfout and just continually like
improve my situation.
So that's why I wasn't like Iwasn't scared to like start my
own business because, like Imean, I was already dealing.
(13:57):
Be here all day telling you somestories of me and my teammates
living in a house together, likestruggling just to put money
together to get food.
And it's like when I was donewith school.
It's like, because you can'twork during wrestling season,
(14:18):
it's like really hard to do that, and wrestling season is most
of the college year.
It's like I didn't have money.
So it's like any money wasprofit to me.
So I was just like fuck it, I'mjust gonna hustle as much as I
can.
Like the more money that's inmy pocket, the less I gotta
worry.
All this falls on me.
So it's like, whether I makelike a thousand dollars today, I
(14:41):
make zero dollars today, itfalls on me, man.
So it's like, yeah, that thatprobably did come from wrestling
, because it's like I've justbeen used to that and it's like
I don't know.
That's that's what I think likereally improves the quality of
your life, man, like hustlingand having faith that things can
get better if you just put thetime into it 100 percent.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Um, we actually just talked with Luke Freshour on
here.
He has a similar mindset.
Do you work with Luke?
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Yeah, that's my boxing coach.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
I figured he said he works with a bunch of the guys,
especially a lot of thewrestlers there Similar mindset
to you, because we talked aboutit with him on his show.
And you know, I grew up with amartial arts and a taekwondo
background and it helps me tothis day in comedy because it
(15:37):
though it is, like you said,like wrestling, a team sport, uh
, when you're in there with yourteammates and you're in the gym
and you're working out, but atthe end of the day, when you get
into the ring or anything, it'sjust you in there and you have
to make it work for yourself.
And that's kind of the way I've.
I've leaned into my comedycareer and trying to grow that
(15:58):
because at the end of the day,I'm I'm not signed by a label,
I'm not, uh, I don't have anagent, I don't have a manager,
it's just me.
So if I don't have that manyshows coming up, that's on me,
because I'm the one getting theshows, so I'm the one dealing
with my own paycheck for that.
(16:19):
I love that attitude.
I I do because I've I've had abad loss in Taekwondo Me and
Luke talked about it on on thatshow and it kind of turned me
away from from martial arts andthe mixed martial arts and the
fighting combat sports realm,but having that on like a
national stage.
(16:41):
Now if I bomb on stage it's likealright, well, I mean, I've
been knocked out in front ofthousands of people.
If somebody doesn't like myjoke, who gives a shit?
It gives me that mindset tojust keep moving forward.
Because I look back at it nowand it's like, yeah, I probably
should have stuck with Taekwondoand stuck that out in the
(17:02):
combat sports room.
I was really good at it upuntil that one loss.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
I had 29 fights and I was 28 and one and I was good.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
And I lost on the 29th fight and that was the last
fight for me.
So you know I have that mindset.
But when I was in Taekwondo Iwas also that last fight.
I was 14 or 15 years old.
So you know I was a young,cocky kid and you know it struck
my ego at that age, as ateenager, and you know, if I was
(17:34):
doing it now, yeah, it's a badloss, we'll shake it off and
we'll move on, but you know itis what it is and it molded me
into how I pursue my comedycareer.
It is what it is.
It molded me into how I pursuemy comedy career.
Like you know, if I could go 28and one as as a fighter, who's
to stop me from making it as anational headlining comedian?
(17:55):
You know what I mean.
That's, that's the always theend goal and that's the you're
right.
It's the same idea as trying tochase a championship, as it is
to chase that, that career path,and I love that attitude career
path and I love that attitudein people.
I love seeing that in peopleand I'm always rooting for those
people because I've been anunderdog my entire life and I
love rooting for the underdogs.
(18:16):
I don't know about you, if you,if you notice that's like you
said.
You weren't highly recruited inin college and you made it work
for you and now you coming upabout to be professional.
I know you're going to beprofessional.
I almost just want to call youprofessional.
I can see it in you, eventhrough zoom, that you'll be a
professional fighter.
All right, we'll put this inhere we're.
We're getting started againhere with uh, chris the grit.
(18:37):
Uh, we um had a few poweroutages here in ohio, but uh,
we're getting back to it.
We were just talking about howfighting and combat sports have
shaped us and our careers andpathways.
After that, we'll keep rollinghere with everything.
I don't know what was recordedand what's not.
(18:58):
We'll hear that in the playbackafterwards.
So, chris, you were brought tous by Tony, the Latin Assassin
Tordelisi, other than trainingwith him, how you were brought
to us by Tony, the Latinassassin toward Lisi.
So, other than training withhim, how do you know, tony?
Speaker 2 (19:11):
I mean, that was really how I met him was just
training, like, like I said atthe beginning, it was one of the
alumni at Lake Erie was likeyeah, man, I started training
jujitsu, you should come checkit out and there's some fighters
that you should work with, likeif you want to get into like
mma, and I was like all right,cool, and I go up to upgrade it.
(19:32):
And the owner, dj, and tony,were like both getting ready for
fights and so I was just likeall right, cool, start working
with them wrestling a coupletimes a week.
And then they were like yeah,you should just come to sparring
, you know.
I was like all right, cool,like, and then, yeah, and then I
don't know man, like from that,like dj is my head coach, but
(19:54):
like tony now, because he'sretired like he had just retired
after this last fight like yeah, he's taken like a, like a
coaching role, and it's like Idon't know man, it's just like
he was one of the guys, justkind of a coaching role, and
it's like I don't know man, it'sjust like he was one of the
guys that just kind of took meunder his wing.
It's like he was really the onlyguy fighting out of upgraded
when I got there, him and DJ,and then just we've gotten more
(20:15):
fighters just from you know,just the team growing and stuff.
But like that's how I know Tony, it's like I, I, every day he's
in there, like I, every dayhe's in there, like I train with
him, like we were just trainingyesterday morning, like he has
no reason to go through thestuff that I'm doing anymore.
You know what I mean, becausehe's done, but he's just like,
yeah, he's just there to helppush me, man.
(20:36):
It's like so as kind of like myolder brother, like yeah, I
love talking to Tony.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
When we had him on the show I actually got to see
his last fight at Mountaineer.
I was actually at that fight,okay, you probably saw me in the
corner then I was going fuckingnuts okay, you were that guy,
then okay, I know exactly,because a lot of the fighters
that we've had on were at Tony'slast fight and it was everyone
in his corner.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
So far we've had on the show so far we've had you
that we've had on the show sofar.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
We've had you.
Now We've had Tony, billyFriedson, luke Freshour we're
all on the have been on the showso far, so you're kind of the
last one and we actually have arecording scheduled with DJ, so
we're just rolling right throughyour guys' show.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
So we're just rolling right through your catch and it
was cool because it's like myone of Tony's fights.
I want to say it was like histhird or fourth fight.
Like they I was still incollege and they were just like,
hey, man, like do you want tocome down and corner Tony?
I'm like sure, like, and I just,you know, like I hadn't had any
(21:46):
fights yet, like I was juststill in college and I was just
like yeah, man like I candefinitely tell you what to do
on the wrestling side of thingsand like I'm I was like hip to
grappling at that time, but it'slike I didn't and I was
watching fighting a lot.
I was like, yeah, whatever,like I want to experience this.
I want to see what it's like.
I don't want it to be the first.
I want to experience this.
I want to see what it's like.
I don't want it to be the firsttime I ever experienced MMA.
(22:09):
Like when I'm stepping in thereRight, yeah, man, it's, it's
been cool and it was, it wassuper cool.
Like when Tony asked me likecause we, everybody knew that
was going to be his last fightLike the word kind of got out
towards the beginning of campand then at the end it was just
like confirmed.
Like he was like, yeah, forsure, this is the last one I'm
(22:30):
doing and it was just sick.
When he was like, yeah, I wantyou to be in my corner, I was
like cool man, like I'm thereright.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
It's always good to have that boat of confidence
when somebody was like, hey, Iwant you there you know, like I
like it.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
I do this like even now, like it's you know coaching
, like I'm not the head coach,I'm just an assistant.
But it's like it's cool to mewhen guys come out of their way
at the tournament and they'relike yo man, I want you in my
corner and it's like some it'sgreat.
And then sometimes it's like Ilike being there, man, like I
(23:05):
like supporting people and Ialways felt like like,
especially when I was in college, I always felt like like I
needed to lean on my coaches andI felt like if they were there
in my corner, it's like Itrusted them 100 and I.
I still feel that way.
Like there's things that theoutside perspective can see and,
(23:26):
as long as you have a goodrelationship with them, it's
like you know how to like takein what they're trying to tell
you and you got to trust thatthey're seeing things that
you're not and just you know, gowith it.
That's why I thought it wascool, because it's like Tony and
I have a good relationship andwe train so much together.
(23:48):
It's like I can tell whatsituations he's in and try to
give him the best possiblefeedback I can in the midst of a
fight.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
Right, absolutely.
I mean, you know him betterthan anybody being in the corner
and training with him for sure.
So I've asked every other guyout of your gym this question,
so you're not off the hook forthis either.
But you know, what type ofbackground do you think gives
MMA fighters the best chance tobe the most well-rounded coming
(24:15):
into the sport?
Speaker 2 (24:19):
I mean obviously, like I want to say wrestling, I
mean I don't know, man, I wouldsay like the best situation
possible you could have would belike growing up with some kind
of like something like karateand taekwondo and wrestling.
And the reason I'm saying thatis like striking is inherently,
(24:43):
I I think, easier to learn.
But like it's easier I hear somany people say it, like I just
heard Ilya Teporia on JoeRogan's podcast say that like
it's easier for a grappler tostart learning wrestling or I
mean I take that for like agrappler to learn striking than
it is for a striker to learngrappling Right.
(25:05):
I don't know if that's true,like maybe, maybe it is, maybe
it isn't.
But the one thing I will say islike people who have been doing
like traditional martial artssince they were kids, they have
this like crazy dexterity oftheir legs and like if fighting
at a high level is likeunderstanding range and control,
(25:26):
taekwondo kind of gives youthat best ability because it's
so kick heavy, yeah, and like Imean karate to an extent is
depending on what kind of karateyou're coming up with.
But yeah, I would say likeideally it would be like a mix
of that and wrestling.
But I think, like I think, youjust get put ahead if you do any
(25:48):
kind of martial art.
Young, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
Yeah, I can confirm the dexterity when it comes to
Taekwondo.
Like I said, to be able at mygym to even get your black belt,
you had to be able to do aperfect split and hold it.
Like they weren't like just getinto a split.
They made you get up on a bagand put a heel on each bag and
then they just separated it awayand to be.
(26:14):
It was.
It's intense and you know, as,as a teenager, that's, you know,
not fun to try to learn thatdexterity and that flexibility,
but, um, it helps for sure.
I mean even me now, 36 yearsold, you know I still have a
little bit of that flexibility.
I mean not as much as I didback then, but you know, getting
older, um, it still helps outwith, you know, movement in that
(26:36):
and it's a very kick-heavy, uh,martial art um, but it taught
me at a very young age because II grew very quickly.
I wasn't supposed to exceed 5'9".
I'm 6'5".
The doctor was a little off, soit helped me with coordination,
(26:57):
with that aspect.
But it also taught me adefensive style of fighting.
It was more self-defense thanjust being able to, as people
say, kick the shit out offighting.
It was more self-defense thanjust being able to, as people
say, kick the shit out ofsomebody.
But it taught me how to use mylegs because I'm all legs to
keep people at distance and keepthem away from me.
(27:18):
I didn't even have to throw akick, even if I just lifted my
leg.
They knew how long my legs wereand they were trying to stay at
that distance.
So I can definitely agree withthat.
For sure, with Taekwondo I'm alittle biased because I have a
black belt in Taekwondo, butit's.
I can't disagree with thatbecause I've lived it.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Yeah, man, I mean I'm always trying to listen to the
highest level guys.
What are they doing?
Obviously, joe Rogan's podcastis like he's always having UFC
fighters on there and 1FCfighters and Bellator guys and
all this.
It's like I listen to his.
And then recently I've beenlistening to Jake Shields'
(28:01):
podcast a lot and I mean, yeah,man, it's like you'd be a fool
not to listen to the things thatthey have to say.
And that's just like.
I mean that's just one of thethings that I'm trying to absorb
is like, what are the best guysdoing?
Like, if they're doing it, I'mdefinitely not above them.
(28:22):
Like I should be doing the samethings they're doing If they're
focusing on this.
I'm going to try that out.
I do it all the time.
I try to bring it to mytraining all the time, the
mentality of all right, thisguy's doing this.
I'm going to try this.
I think maybe that helps fromwrestling.
Wrestling is a very mental sport.
(28:44):
It's different than any otherkind of martial art in that way.
I mean, shit, I didn't eventhink of it as a martial art
really when I was doing it.
You think about it as a sport,but anything else that's
remotely like it is considered amartial art, like jiu-jitsu,
grappling, yeah, so judo, I meanit's like all those things are
(29:11):
looked at as martial arts.
Wrestling, for whatever reason,isn't, but I think that's
something that it really givesyou is just like this, like
drive and like also this abilityto like digest things in a
different way and like reallylike commit to using it.
Like other, I just feel likeother martial arts just don't
(29:33):
give you that same level ofdiscipline.
In that regard, you know what Imean.
Wrestling isn't about bowing inand like saying yes, sir, to
your master, your sensei andstuff which they're totally like
there's totally legitimatereasons for that and like I
respect martial arts for givingespecially kids and teenagers,
(29:53):
like a discipline yeah but likewrestling isn't like that.
It gives you discipline of likelike I gotta make weight.
Like I gotta get this fuckingweight off, man.
Like it's not just gonna falloff.
Like I gotta go for a run, Igotta go to the sauna.
I gotta get this fucking weightoff, man.
Like it's not just gonna falloff.
Like I gotta go for a run, Igotta go to the sauna, I gotta
get an extra drill in.
I gotta eat less, drink less.
(30:14):
Like that's the kind ofdiscipline it gives you and it's
like, all right, you got thiswhole summer until next season.
Like what are you gonna do atthis time?
It's easy to feel motivated,but to have the discipline to be
like every single day you'rewaking up with this goal and
you're chasing it down,wrestling instills that in you,
(30:34):
man.
So I don't know.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
No, I got a big respect for wrestlers, just with
what they go through especiallywith the weight cuts and
everything like that, and havingto make weight of what they go
through, especially with theweight cuts and everything like
that and having to make weight.
It's insane to me thinking howyou can do that and the
different ways that they cutweight and everything like that.
It's impressive to me.
You didn't mention one thing,though, about Joe Rogan and
(31:01):
listening to him, and I don'tknow why more people aren't
listening to him more.
With martial arts, he taughtGeorge St Pierre his spinning
back kick, and not a lot ofpeople know that A champion
fighter went to Joe Rogan on howto improve one of his strikes,
(31:22):
and the dude knows what he'stalking about.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
He's actually a very skilled martial artist and like
nobody gives him the credit forthat because they all know him
as the fear factor guy or thecommentator, like fear factor
was a thing when I was a kid,but like I I mean I wasn't
really watching it like I wasyoung, but like still, like he,
like he has a black belt intaekwondo and he has a black
belt under eddie bravo, who'sone of the most respected like
(31:47):
jiu-jitsu guys and from thatlineage, both, like both Eddie
Bravo and Joe Rogan are underJohn Jock Machado, who is, like
he's part of that Gracie family.
He was like grew up with theGracies and he's one of the most
respected grapplers in theworld and it's like if they give
you the nod like that's, that'ssaying a lot man right, like I
(32:12):
don't know, I listen, I was likefuck, like if he's, I see his
videos.
I watched a video of him andeddie bravo talking to hicks and
gracie, who is like widelyknown as, like the arguably the,
the best Gracie I don't knowthere's, for there's something
to be said for like, uh, henzo,gracie and Hoyler, but
(32:34):
regardless, like he's thepinnacle of jiu-jitsu and he was
a really big name in the early2000s of MMA and it was just
like a side video after theirpodcast of just going over
grappling exchanges and this andthat, and it's like, like that
information is out there.
Man, like you gotta just you,you gotta watch it.
(32:56):
Like all the all the bestpeople in every field do
studying.
Why would MMA be any different?
Why would wrestling be anydifferent?
Like I try to tell those guys Ijust told him this week at
practice I'm like, hey, man,like you know as much as like me
and the other coaches can showyou.
Like you got to work on stuffon your own.
(33:19):
If you're having trouble withthis position, look it up, type
it into youtube.
There's a million videos.
My college coaches were hugeabout that.
Like, watch videos.
Find a wrestler you like, findsomebody who has a similar style
as you figure out what they do.
Watch a technique breakdown ofwhat they do.
So I do that all the time.
(33:39):
Like I'm watching fights.
Like obviously it's great towatch fights while they're live,
but I like watching them andwatching them like replaying
them.
You know what I mean.
One of the guys I've beengrateful enough to be able to
train with is Christian Lee.
He's the 170 and 185-poundchamp of 1FC.
I've been brought out to bepart of his camp and his younger
(34:01):
brother's camp, who's now in 1fc um four times now and like
christian is an unbelievableathlete man like and watching
his fights back and then likeeven like the fights that I've
like the camps I've been a partof watching his fights and like
thinking about what we weredoing in the room and then what
(34:23):
he was doing in these fights,it's like, yeah, like that makes
sense.
We sit there and break down filmlike this guy's a two division
world champ, like he probablyknows everything right, he's not
.
He's not like.
He's not like closed-minded.
The fact of like hey, there'sstuff that I can be working on,
so everybody else has got towork on it.
(34:44):
I was on the treadmill thisweek when Billy was putting me
through conditioning and in ourlong conditioning session where
it's just like a steady statething, I'm watching fights, I
watched GSP and Carlos Conditand right after that, when I was
warming up doing my shadowboxing, I'm like, all right, I'm
just just gonna try some stuffthat gsp was doing, like some of
(35:07):
the footwork stuff, some of theways that he was setting things
up.
And then then I watched alittle technique video and I'm
like, okay, I'm gonna put it,I'm gonna try this out and spawn
, and it's like that's what thebest people in the world are
doing, and I want to be the bestin the world.
It's a pretty easy equation.
I just got to do what they'redoing 100 like if.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
If they've made it here, what's stopping me from
watching what they did to makeit there?
Speaker 2 (35:32):
exactly, and it's no different than what you're doing
right now with comedy 100.
I just listened to shane gillistalk about what you were
talking about like yeah, there'snot, there's not money in.
Like like starting out incomedy no, there's not.
He was talking about like hewas stoked when he got paid 50
(35:52):
bucks one time, like 50 bucks isnothing man like, but that
recognition of like okay, I canget paid for this.
Now it's a matter of doing moreof these shows and more of these
shows, and it's just the moreyou put yourself out there, just
like competitions the more youdo, the better you're gonna get.
It's time on the mat, time onthe stage, time dedicated to
(36:14):
your craft.
It's like that's what makes youbetter and that's what gets you
closer to where you want to be.
You know what I mean 100.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
I.
I still do open mic nights forno pay.
It's the way for me to test outnew jokes.
I still get excited.
Oh, this show pays 100 bucks.
Fuck, yeah, I'm getting paid todo what I want to do.
You know what I mean?
That's the mindset of acomedian.
We'll take those at the earlystages, those shit pay jobs and
(36:47):
gigs to get the recognitionbecause the word of mouth.
I went up to Sanford, michigan,for a show.
It was five and a half hourdrive for me and the pay was one
hundred and fifty bucks.
Yeah, I spent more in gas in mytruck to get there, but now
(37:08):
there's more people fromMichigan and I keep seeing
people when I check the stats onthe podcast.
More people from Michigan arelistening and I have to equate
that to the time.
I went to Sanford Michigan on awhim.
Just be like hey, they want tobook me, fuck it, it's 150 bucks
(37:29):
, I'm getting paid it.
I'm probably going to losemoney on the, on the trip up and
back with the gas, but it's,it's exposure and that's what
we're looking for in in ourfield for sure.
I mean.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
I mean it's like, obviously, like you need some
level of money, right?
Like, obviously I'm not goingto sit here and say like, oh,
you got to just do everything.
But if it was really about themoney, you wouldn't be doing it.
No, you know what I mean.
I wouldn't be if it was reallyabout the money right now.
If I was really about all myentire day is wake up, digits,
(38:06):
digits, putting more money in mypocket.
I wouldn't be painting and Iwouldn't be fighting.
I would use these degrees thatI have and get a job sitting in
a cubicle bitching somebody out,you know, wearing a suit and
tie.
But it's not about that.
That's not the life I want tolive.
Like no sure.
Like I, I'm grateful beyondgrateful to god that I have the
(38:30):
things that I do have, and it'sit's not a lot, but I'm grateful
for not having to worry aboutthose things and being able to
chase my passion right now.
Man, you know what I mean.
Like it's not it I told.
I said at the beginning of thepodcast when you're amateur,
you're not getting paid, you'redoing it just.
You're doing it for the love ofit, man, or just because you
(38:51):
want to scrap.
There's plenty of guys whoprobably have no ambition of
being a pro.
They just want to get in afight.
Hey, man, this is what thissport's here for.
It's like everybody can havedifferent goals.
It's like if it was about themoney, you wouldn't be doing it
100%.
So I don't know.
Man, I respect that a lot.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
Yeah, I don't think I got paid.
For the first two or threeyears that I was doing comedy it
was all open mic nights, justfinding anywhere where there was
a stage and a microphone justto go and make a room full of
people laugh.
I mean, yeah, I didn't get'tget paid.
I think the first two years Iwas doing comedy they knew that
first paid show and that justaccelerates you like I want to
(39:35):
keep doing this.
I want to keep doing this tomake money think about it like
you.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
You would be ignorant .
Any person would be ignorant toassume that their first time
they deserve to get compensationfor it financially your
compensation is the experience.
Yeah, if you can't see that, ifyou can't see that you're
getting paid in experience, likethen you have already missed
the point.
Man, yep, I, I, mma, mma is nodifferent.
(40:03):
Sports are no different.
It's like you don't sign up forthe high school football team
to make a million dollars.
You're doing it for theexperience, for the love of the
sport and just to do it.
If you commit your time andyour athleticism and all this,
yeah, you could get to a bigcollege, get an NIL deal, go to
the NFL, like, yeah, that'swhere the money comes in.
(40:26):
But that ain't, from the start,right.
Why would any other craft belike that?
A hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (40:32):
And you know, I, I come from a, uh, very old school
, traditional Italian family.
My, you know, grandfather was asteel worker, my dad was a
steel worker, Uh, so very bluecollar.
And you know, trying to explainto just like that, that old
school mentality, you know,starting out in comedy like, oh
well, what did you get paid?
I'm getting paid in experience.
(40:53):
I'm getting paid in stage time.
I'm getting paid in peoplehearing my jokes and liking my
jokes.
That is going to pay off downthe road.
I might not be getting paidtoday, tomorrow or a month from
now or even a year from now, butI not be getting paid today,
tomorrow or a month from now oreven a year from now, but I will
be getting paid for this.
It's just I gotta pay my dues.
(41:15):
That's a great analogy that youput there.
It's like high school sports.
You're not playing high schoolfootball or high school
wrestling, or even me, highschool swimming, because you're
getting paid to do it.
You're doing it because youlove the sport and you're
getting experience and you'remaking yourself better so that
maybe one day yeah, you can, youknow, make some money off of it
(41:36):
.
And that's honestly the bestanalogy I've heard and it
equates to both of ourprofessions and I love that for
sure.
I never even thought of it thatway and that's that's a great
mindset.
To that for sure.
I never even thought of it thatway.
That's a great mindset to havefor sure.
Speaker 2 (41:49):
Yeah, man.
Speaker 1 (41:50):
And Chris, hell, I feel like I could talk to you
all day, but we are running downhere near the end of the
episode here.
I do want to get this lastsegment in here before we end
and for anybody who has listenedto the show before.
It is the Fast Fitty Five.
Five random questions from thewonderful manager of the podcast
, johnny Fitty Falcone.
For those of you who have notheard or are new listeners to
(42:13):
the show, this is kind of arapid-fire question to answer.
They have nothing to do withwhat we've been talking about
for the better part of thisabout 45 minutes to an hour now.
So, chris, like I said, therapid fire, but you can
elaborate if you feel you needto.
So, chris, like I said, therapid fire, but you can
elaborate if you feel you needto.
So if you are ready, we'll getstarted with the Fast 55.
Speaker 2 (42:32):
Come on, man, I'm game, I'm sure.
Speaker 1 (42:34):
Question number one Is the number 38 or the number
47 a worst football number towear?
Speaker 2 (42:40):
Shit.
I don't really know anythingabout football, so I would say
they both suck.
If you're not one, you're notit.
Speaker 1 (42:48):
I love that answer Question number two have you
ever been skydiving?
Speaker 2 (42:53):
Nah hell.
Speaker 1 (42:54):
no, yeah, fuck that.
I'm so terrified of heights.
Fuck that.
Question number three what'syour favorite sports movie?
Speaker 2 (43:03):
Damn, that's a good one.
I don't know if I can be quickabout that.
Warrior is a good one.
I don't know if I can be quickabout that.
Warrior is a great movie.
Miracle is that the one aboutthe hockey?
Oh yeah, that's a great movie.
I mean Rocky Dude, I don't know, there's so many good ones.
(43:24):
Even sports.
I've never played Angels in theOutfield, I never played
baseball, but I like that movieman.
Speaker 1 (43:31):
There's so many good sports movies.
I feel like he cheated you withthat question.
There's no right answer to thatquestion.
Speaker 2 (43:37):
There's no right answer to that.
I'll just say all of them, allof the above.
Speaker 1 (43:41):
I got you All right.
Speaker 2 (43:43):
Question number four what's the best meat to get from
the deli Dude?
I don't know, man, I don'treally get deli meat.
I would say like from thebutcher.
You got to get a steak and thebutcher is right next to there
(44:04):
and if I'm feeling bougie, I'llget a ribeye.
Right that cut, that's my cutof steak 100 a ribeye.
Not many people know, or maybethey do, I don't know.
But if you get like, if youlook at the chuck roast, you can
.
You can find the part of thechuck that's right next to the
ribeye.
They they're touching on thecow and you can find part of the
(44:25):
chuck is like, will lookexactly like a ribeye.
You just cut it off from theother side and the chuck roast
usually comes like this big.
You cut it in half.
You got two steaks Way cheaperthan ribeye.
I just gave out the secret tothe people.
Speaker 1 (44:39):
You just dropped a knowledge bomb on everybody for
that one.
Speaker 2 (44:43):
Not every chuck roast is going to have that.
I don't know what it is.
I'm not like a butcher, likethe cap or whatever, but it'll
look like a ribeye is right nextto it.
Basically, they make two steaksout of it.
There's a Denver steak whichalmost looks like a New York
strip without a fat cap, andthen there's a part that looks
like a ribeye.
You got to look.
Speaker 1 (45:04):
When you go to Costco or whatever next, look, I'm
100% going to be looking.
Next time I go to the butcher,there's no chance I'm not
looking.
Speaker 2 (45:10):
I mean, dude, we're talking about 13 bucks a pound
versus, like, less than fivebucks a pound.
It's easy math, 100%.
I'm a mathematician, but that'seasy math, easy math.
Speaker 1 (45:20):
And question number five.
Here is orange juice overratedor underrated.
Speaker 2 (45:27):
I don't know.
I think it's probablyunderrated.
I think you drink it a lot whenyou're a kid and you stop
drinking it so much as an adult.
And I had some before trainingtoday and I felt great.
Those carbs, maybe the vitaminstoo, I don't know.
I like it.
I don't think you should make ahabit of drinking a gallon of
it a day.
I'm not a nutritionist, neitherGotcha.
Speaker 1 (45:50):
Well, that was the Fast Fitty Five.
He comes up with some of thecraziest questions for this
segment.
It's hysterical.
Every time we run this segmentat the end of every show.
It's just the way his mindworks.
He sends these to me all day.
Every day I get texts fromJohnny and it's all these
questions.
And it's not important.
(46:11):
It's just the way his mindworks and he has to get them out
.
So now we get them out on theshow every week.
Speaker 2 (46:15):
Well, he's got some answers, At least my answers.
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (46:18):
Those are great answers.
I'm not going to lie to you,those were phenomenal answers.
But, chris, I do give every,every guest this opportunity at
the end of every show.
Um, I'm going to give you abouta minute.
If there's anything you want toget out there, whether it's an
upcoming fight for either you orsomebody that you're training
with, or for the gym, or even ifit's just a positive message,
I'm going to give you about aminute.
Speaker 2 (46:36):
The floor is yours yeah, man, I'll say, first I do
have a fight.
I have a 185 pound title fightfor bcm on june 21st.
That's going to be down inMillersburg, Ohio.
And then you know, I just wantto say, shout out to my team.
I know you said Billy hasalready been on here, Tony, Luke
and DJ's coming on.
(46:57):
Those are my coaches.
So I'm I wouldn't be in thesituation I'm in without them.
And then the only other thing Ican say is like I'm a man of
faith and I'm by no means am Ipushing this on anybody, but
it's like if you want to findreal purpose in your life, look,
look for Jesus man and justfollow the word, read the
gospels and see it, Even if youdon't believe, there's things in
(47:21):
there and Psalms and Proverbsthat are just great wisdom for
humans just to live by, andthat's I mean.
People have been strugglingwith the same things we've been
struggling with this entirehuman history.
So if you're struggling withsomething, open it up and just
read it, Check it out, Check theword out.
Speaker 1 (47:42):
That is great.
I love helping people promoteanything that they got going on
with the show, but I love itwhen there's a good message at
the end of the show and guestshave a good message.
So thank you for that.
That was great for sure.
But that is going to do it forthis week's episode of the Ride
Home Rants podcast.
I want to thank my guest, Christhe grit dredging, for joining
(48:05):
the show.
I think I just butchered yourname again, man.
Speaker 2 (48:07):
I apologize.
Speaker 1 (48:09):
Dreggy.
Speaker 2 (48:10):
I knew I was going to .
It's all good.
It's all good.
Speaker 1 (48:14):
I got you, but thank you for joining.
But, as always, if you enjoyedthe show, be a friend, tell a
friend.
If you didn't tell them anyways, they might like it just
because you didn't.
That's going to do it for meand I.
Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride Home
Rants podcast.
This is, as always, your host,mike Bonham.
I got a great guest for ustoday.
He's coming to us again fromUpgraded Industries Gym up in
Cleveland Ohio, and that isChris.
The Grit Draggy joins the show.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Chris, thanks for joining brother, no worries,
thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Hey, not a problem at all.
Hey, so for any of my listenersout there that may not know of
you, we do have a pretty bigfollowing up there in Cleveland.
You know, tell them whereyou're from, you know how you
grew up and everything like that.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Yeah, sure, so I'm from Northeast Ohio, I'm from
Youngstown about an hour and 20or so from the Cleveland area,
about an hour and 20 or so fromlike the cleveland area and yeah
, man, not not too like much toreport on.
I mean, I just got intowrestling and shit when I was in
middle school and then stuckwith it, came to lake erie
(00:59):
college which is up here,wrestled here and then right
towards the end of my career Igot in contact with like a
couple mma gyms in the area andlike just started working out
with guys getting them ready fortheir fights and that's how I
got linked up with upgraded.
I was working with dj and tonygetting them ready for some
(01:19):
fights and then they were likewell, when you're done wrestling
in college, you should justfight out of here.
And I was like cool, and then Ijust been there ever since.
Man.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Not a bad way to get into it, for sure.
So you wrestled.
Did you do any other sportswhen you were growing up?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Yeah, I ran track for a little bit, but like,
wrestling is just the one thingthat like really took my
attention and it's like, onceyou really start getting in the
thick of it, you you're trainingmore than just like the season.
You know what I mean.
It's like wrestling seasons inthe winter, and then freestyle
and greco, which is like theolympic styles, that happens
(02:04):
during the spring.
So then I was like, well,that's more important to me than
track, and then like, yeah,then you just find yourself
doing like summer tournaments,tournaments in the fall, and it
just becomes an all-year thing.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
You know, yeah, I definitely understand that um
grew up, uh, a, a swimmer.
Yeah, I definitely understandthat, grew up a swimmer.
And it's another winter sportwhen you're in school, but
there's always a spring season,there's always summer seasons
and everything like that.
Fall is really the only timethat we kind of have off.
(02:39):
I did play a little bit offootball in high school in the
fall, mainly just to stay inshape for my swim season, and
you know it was.
It's one of those sports that Ifeel like, like wrestling, it
doesn't get the recognition thatit deserves, except for when
the Olympics come around.
But you know, I've always had arespect for wrestlers,
(03:03):
especially watching MMA andgrowing up as a combat sports
fan.
I don't think that the actual,like the Greco, roman and all
that wrestling gets therecognition that it deserves.
You kind of have that samefeeling.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Yeah, I mean for sure .
Like, even if you're in, likethe sport itself, like now
freestyle and greco is gettingway more popular.
But even when I was in highschool, like I really didn't
hear about it until like the endof my freshman year, and all
these guys were like, yeah,we're gonna do this, like
practice is coming up, and I wasjust like, oh, whatever.
(03:39):
And I went there and it waslike completely different and
like even like the word around,like all the best kids in the
state would do it, and like,obviously, like Ohio is like
premier for wrestling, likewe're for sure one of the better
states.
So, like I don't know, I justwas.
I noticed that like, okay, allthe best guys are doing this,
(04:01):
like I should probably be doingthis too.
But even when I was in highschool, like people weren like,
like they just I don't know, itwasn't as popular and like
people would still be like, ohwell, that's not what we do
during the season, so it's likeI'm not gonna waste my time
doing it, but just like anythingelse, man, if you look at it as
like cross training, it's likeone, it's just more time doing
(04:24):
something and two, it makes youuse your body a completely
different way.
So now I think guys are gettingmore hip to it.
Like I'm coaching at thecollege that I wrestled at and
like we had club practice thismorning, which is like for
freestyle and greco and um,there's way more guys doing it
now than like when I was incollege.
(04:45):
Like a lot of my collegeteammates were like nah, I never
I never wrestled freestyle inGreco.
Like I'm not gonna start nowand it's like whatever man.
But now we got a bunch of guyswho are just they like it and
it's like just more ingrained inthe culture.
So I think I don't know.
I think like overall it's justgetting like more like notor,
more like notoriety, and likepeople are really understanding
(05:08):
it better and have accepted thefact that, like if you want to
continue wrestling at a reallyhigh level, you got to at least
get in with freestyle.
And it's like if you want to bethe best in the world, like
that's your only option.
The world's in Olympics areonly freestyle and Greco.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
It's not like like folk style in America.
Right, yeah, I've noticed that.
Do you think that with the riseof the UFC and mixed martial
arts, that that helped with thefreestyle?
Because you hear Bruce Bufferannouncing a lot with the guys
and a lot of them nowadays I'mhearing he's a freestyle fighter
, he's a freestyle, he's Gregand Roman.
(05:48):
I hear a lot of those nowcoming up into the UFC and mixed
martial arts.
Do you think maybe Dana Whitehas new something and that it's
helping that sport kind of takeoff a little bit more?
Speaker 2 (06:02):
I wouldn't say like I don't know, kind of take off a
little bit more.
I wouldn't say like I don'tknow that freestyle, like if
somebody's saying they're afreestyle fighter, that's not
like freestyle wrestling, it'slike a completely different,
that's more of like a mix ofthings.
Like it's just like MMA I don'tknow, um, but for sure like
guys doing good in wrestling andMMA is making it more popular.
(06:25):
And then obviously in the USwe're the only ones that do folk
style, but like that's gettingmore people into it and then
inherently more people from folkstyle are getting into
freestyle.
And then I mean I would imagineit's having the same effect
across the world.
Like there's got to be kids,like in russia and australia and
(06:45):
stuff, like watching the ufcand like I want to do that the
best guys are wrestlers.
I should probably startwrestling and like it's just
naturally growing the sport,which is great man, that's what
we want.
Like I don't want to just growin america, I want it to grow
everywhere.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
I absolutely wanted that to be worldwide for sure.
So, besides, you know the mixedmartial arts space.
Do you do anything outside ofthat for work other than you
know?
Like you said, you coach at theat the college you went to.
Is there anything else that youdo for like a day job?
Because I know with fighters,kind of like being a comedian,
it's not like a set nine to five, like you don't have like
(07:26):
consistent I don't want to sayconsistent work, but you know
what I mean.
There could be a month or twoin between fights for you guys.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Well, yeah, I mean one.
I'm still an amateur, so Ican't even get paid.
So it's like I'm just doingthis for purely experience and
getting ready to go pro, whichI'm going to be doing here soon.
Okay, but even then, like atthe lower level of like your
regional pro scene, like you'renot making all that much money,
(07:55):
man, like maybe like a couplethousand for a fight, like
making weight and winning, youknow what I mean.
Like that's really nothing but,yeah, work-wise, for the last
three years I've been running myown painting company.
So I just I worked for, uh, oneof who the guy was my college
coach originally.
(08:15):
He stepped down and just took alike was painting full-time
with his business.
I did that in the summersaround you know, school and
stuff.
And then I just was gettinglike a lot of side jobs, just
like people's, you know, likeparents or whatever around here,
like I just need this, donethis, painted this.
And then it just like grew tothe point where I was like I
(08:39):
could probably just do this onmy own.
And so I just took a leap offaith.
Like I graduated, like I got twomaster's degrees from school,
but I wanted to do somethingthat's flexible with my time.
Like if I had a nine to five, Iwouldn't be able to train the
same way I do, I wouldn't beable to coach.
So I was like whatever, I'mjust gonna go all in with this
(08:59):
and just do my own thing.
And it's been great.
Man like I, I'm understandinghow to run a business.
I really understand, like howmoney works, how taxes work,
like I'm gaining a lot like inexperience in that way.
And then, like I mean I set myown schedule.
Like if I want to work more, Iwill, if I don't, then I don't.
(09:23):
And it's cool, man, like youknow, I mean it's it's not like
I'm living this life of luxury,but like I got a truck, I got a
house, like like I'm not worriedabout you know, like not like
in college, when you're liketrying to figure out where your
next meal is going to be, whenyou're next time you're going to
get money in your pocket, likeI don't worry about those things
(09:46):
anymore and you know it's givenme.
It takes a lot of pressure offthe idea of like I have to go
pro and I got to do this to makemoney and I got to win this
fight to have money.
It's like I can do this purelyfor the love and just try to be
the best in the world, withouthaving that added bit of
pressure of like where's moneycoming in?
(10:08):
Or or working a job?
I don't like.
It's like I don't know, man,it's ideal.
And it's like if you can't finda situation that's ideal for
you, gotta kind of gotta justmake one, you know no, yeah, I
agree with that wholeheartedly.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
You know I am, you know, 13 years into comedy and
I'm still considered an up andcomer.
So like that it's, it takes alot and, like you saying, at the
low levels of being aprofessional it's not a lot of
money.
Same thing with comedy.
You know, I do have a day jobthat I that I have to go to
Takes a good bit of my time.
I do have a day job that I haveto go to.
(10:43):
It takes a good bit of my time.
But at the same sense, you hadthat confidence to take that
leap of faith to be your ownboss.
So kudos to you for being ableto do that.
There's not a lot of peoplethat have that drive.
Do you think MMA and wrestlingkind of gave you that mindset to
(11:05):
be able to take that leap offaith?
Speaker 2 (11:07):
100 man.
Like wrestling is interestingin the fact that it is like a
team sport, but it's not in thesame regard like it is a team
sport because you're practicingwith your teammates, you have
coaches, like you know, in adual sense it is a team sport
like you're watching yourteammates, like there's a team
(11:28):
score and stuff, but the stuffthat really counts it's not like
like nationals isn't reallylike there is, there's a team
scoring to it, but it's likereally it's focused on you, like
your focus is winning anational title, winning matches,
winning a state title.
You know, like mma is the sameway.
(11:48):
Like it's really not a teamsport.
Like obviously, like I have ateam and I have coaches and
stuff, but it's not the same.
Like it's not like college,where you have like a structured
, like every single person isdoing this right now, right, so
a lot of it falls on you to likemake sure you're getting ample
(12:11):
amount of like your strikingwork, your conditioning, your
grappling, your wrestling, andwrestling is kind of the same
way.
It's like you can only do somuch in practice.
And then it's like if you wantto be elite, you gotta.
You gotta do stuff on your ownman and you gotta have that
drive if you want to get better.
Nobody's gonna care about youas much as you are.
(12:31):
You know like and I wasn't likea really like like, especially
when I got to college like Iwasn't one of the guys who was
highly recruited, like I was oneof the guys they like
overlooked.
And if you want to set yourselfup to win like, they're not
going to go out of their way forthe guys that they don't think
(12:52):
are going to do good, they'refocused on the guys who are
eating up the most scholarshipmoney.
So it's like I had to take alot on my own, like stay after
practice, set up extra workouts,and you know like always doing
stuff on my own, and it's likeeventually you just get better
and better and then people arewilling to work with you more.
(13:12):
But you still got to have thatdrive of like I'm taking care of
me, like no life is like thatman, nobody's gonna take care of
you.
You know what I mean?
You could, you could have itmade.
You could be born into amillionaire family, but you
could still have a horrible life, like if you don't take care of
yourself and you don't havelike, like, a drive and a focus.
(13:34):
So it's just like that.
That's just how I've alwaysfelt.
Like I, no matter whatsituation I'm in, I feel like I
have the faith to pull myselfout and just continually like
improve my situation.
So that's why I wasn't like Iwasn't scared to like start my
own business because, like Imean, I was already dealing.
(13:57):
Be here all day telling you somestories of me and my teammates
living in a house together, likestruggling just to put money
together to get food.
And it's like when I was donewith school.
It's like, because you can'twork during wrestling season,
(14:18):
it's like really hard to do that, and wrestling season is most
of the college year.
It's like I didn't have money.
So it's like any money wasprofit to me.
So I was just like fuck it, I'mjust gonna hustle as much as I
can.
Like the more money that's inmy pocket, the less I gotta
worry.
All this falls on me.
So it's like, whether I makelike a thousand dollars today, I
(14:41):
make zero dollars today, itfalls on me, man.
So it's like, yeah, that thatprobably did come from wrestling
, because it's like I've justbeen used to that and it's like
I don't know.
That's that's what I think likereally improves the quality of
your life, man, like hustlingand having faith that things can
get better if you just put thetime into it 100 percent.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Um, we actually just talked with Luke Freshour on
here.
He has a similar mindset.
Do you work with Luke?
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Yeah, that's my boxing coach.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
I figured he said he works with a bunch of the guys,
especially a lot of thewrestlers there Similar mindset
to you, because we talked aboutit with him on his show.
And you know, I grew up with amartial arts and a taekwondo
background and it helps me tothis day in comedy because it
(15:37):
though it is, like you said,like wrestling, a team sport, uh
, when you're in there with yourteammates and you're in the gym
and you're working out, but atthe end of the day, when you get
into the ring or anything, it'sjust you in there and you have
to make it work for yourself.
And that's kind of the way I've.
I've leaned into my comedycareer and trying to grow that
(15:58):
because at the end of the day,I'm I'm not signed by a label,
I'm not, uh, I don't have anagent, I don't have a manager,
it's just me.
So if I don't have that manyshows coming up, that's on me,
because I'm the one getting theshows, so I'm the one dealing
with my own paycheck for that.
(16:19):
I love that attitude.
I I do because I've I've had abad loss in Taekwondo Me and
Luke talked about it on on thatshow and it kind of turned me
away from from martial arts andthe mixed martial arts and the
fighting combat sports realm,but having that on like a
national stage.
(16:41):
Now if I bomb on stage it's likealright, well, I mean, I've
been knocked out in front ofthousands of people.
If somebody doesn't like myjoke, who gives a shit?
It gives me that mindset tojust keep moving forward.
Because I look back at it nowand it's like, yeah, I probably
should have stuck with Taekwondoand stuck that out in the
(17:02):
combat sports room.
I was really good at it upuntil that one loss.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
I had 29 fights and I was 28 and one and I was good.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
And I lost on the 29th fight and that was the last
fight for me.
So you know I have that mindset.
But when I was in Taekwondo Iwas also that last fight.
I was 14 or 15 years old.
So you know I was a young,cocky kid and you know it struck
my ego at that age, as ateenager, and you know, if I was
(17:34):
doing it now, yeah, it's a badloss, we'll shake it off and
we'll move on, but you know itis what it is and it molded me
into how I pursue my comedycareer.
It is what it is.
It molded me into how I pursuemy comedy career.
Like you know, if I could go 28and one as as a fighter, who's
to stop me from making it as anational headlining comedian?
(17:55):
You know what I mean.
That's, that's the always theend goal and that's the you're
right.
It's the same idea as trying tochase a championship, as it is
to chase that, that career path,and I love that attitude career
path and I love that attitudein people.
I love seeing that in peopleand I'm always rooting for those
people because I've been anunderdog my entire life and I
love rooting for the underdogs.
(18:16):
I don't know about you, if you,if you notice that's like you
said.
You weren't highly recruited inin college and you made it work
for you and now you coming upabout to be professional.
I know you're going to beprofessional.
I almost just want to call youprofessional.
I can see it in you, eventhrough zoom, that you'll be a
professional fighter.
All right, we'll put this inhere we're.
We're getting started againhere with uh, chris the grit.
(18:37):
Uh, we um had a few poweroutages here in ohio, but uh,
we're getting back to it.
We were just talking about howfighting and combat sports have
shaped us and our careers andpathways.
After that, we'll keep rollinghere with everything.
I don't know what was recordedand what's not.
(18:58):
We'll hear that in the playbackafterwards.
So, chris, you were brought tous by Tony, the Latin Assassin
Tordelisi, other than trainingwith him, how you were brought
to us by Tony, the Latinassassin toward Lisi.
So, other than training withhim, how do you know, tony?
Speaker 2 (19:11):
I mean, that was really how I met him was just
training, like, like I said atthe beginning, it was one of the
alumni at Lake Erie was likeyeah, man, I started training
jujitsu, you should come checkit out and there's some fighters
that you should work with, likeif you want to get into like
mma, and I was like all right,cool, and I go up to upgrade it.
(19:32):
And the owner, dj, and tony,were like both getting ready for
fights and so I was just likeall right, cool, start working
with them wrestling a coupletimes a week.
And then they were like yeah,you should just come to sparring
, you know.
I was like all right, cool,like, and then, yeah, and then I
don't know man, like from that,like dj is my head coach, but
(19:54):
like tony now, because he'sretired like he had just retired
after this last fight like yeah, he's taken like a, like a
coaching role, and it's like Idon't know man, it's just like
he was one of the guys, justkind of a coaching role, and
it's like I don't know man, it'sjust like he was one of the
guys that just kind of took meunder his wing.
It's like he was really the onlyguy fighting out of upgraded
when I got there, him and DJ,and then just we've gotten more
(20:15):
fighters just from you know,just the team growing and stuff.
But like that's how I know Tony, it's like I, I, every day he's
in there, like I, every dayhe's in there, like I train with
him, like we were just trainingyesterday morning, like he has
no reason to go through thestuff that I'm doing anymore.
You know what I mean, becausehe's done, but he's just like,
yeah, he's just there to helppush me, man.
(20:36):
It's like so as kind of like myolder brother, like yeah, I
love talking to Tony.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
When we had him on the show I actually got to see
his last fight at Mountaineer.
I was actually at that fight,okay, you probably saw me in the
corner then I was going fuckingnuts okay, you were that guy,
then okay, I know exactly,because a lot of the fighters
that we've had on were at Tony'slast fight and it was everyone
in his corner.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
So far we've had on the show so far we've had you
that we've had on the show sofar.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
We've had you.
Now We've had Tony, billyFriedson, luke Freshour we're
all on the have been on the showso far, so you're kind of the
last one and we actually have arecording scheduled with DJ, so
we're just rolling right throughyour guys' show.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
So we're just rolling right through your catch and it
was cool because it's like myone of Tony's fights.
I want to say it was like histhird or fourth fight.
Like they I was still incollege and they were just like,
hey, man, like do you want tocome down and corner Tony?
I'm like sure, like, and I just,you know, like I hadn't had any
(21:46):
fights yet, like I was juststill in college and I was just
like yeah, man like I candefinitely tell you what to do
on the wrestling side of thingsand like I'm I was like hip to
grappling at that time, but it'slike I didn't and I was
watching fighting a lot.
I was like, yeah, whatever,like I want to experience this.
I want to see what it's like.
I don't want it to be the first.
I want to experience this.
I want to see what it's like.
I don't want it to be the firsttime I ever experienced MMA.
(22:09):
Like when I'm stepping in thereRight, yeah, man, it's, it's
been cool and it was, it wassuper cool.
Like when Tony asked me likecause we, everybody knew that
was going to be his last fightLike the word kind of got out
towards the beginning of campand then at the end it was just
like confirmed.
Like he was like, yeah, forsure, this is the last one I'm
(22:30):
doing and it was just sick.
When he was like, yeah, I wantyou to be in my corner, I was
like cool man, like I'm thereright.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
It's always good to have that boat of confidence
when somebody was like, hey, Iwant you there you know, like I
like it.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
I do this like even now, like it's you know coaching
, like I'm not the head coach,I'm just an assistant.
But it's like it's cool to mewhen guys come out of their way
at the tournament and they'relike yo man, I want you in my
corner and it's like some it'sgreat.
And then sometimes it's like Ilike being there, man, like I
(23:05):
like supporting people and Ialways felt like like,
especially when I was in college, I always felt like like I
needed to lean on my coaches andI felt like if they were there
in my corner, it's like Itrusted them 100 and I.
I still feel that way.
Like there's things that theoutside perspective can see and,
(23:26):
as long as you have a goodrelationship with them, it's
like you know how to like takein what they're trying to tell
you and you got to trust thatthey're seeing things that
you're not and just you know, gowith it.
That's why I thought it wascool, because it's like Tony and
I have a good relationship andwe train so much together.
(23:48):
It's like I can tell whatsituations he's in and try to
give him the best possiblefeedback I can in the midst of a
fight.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
Right, absolutely.
I mean, you know him betterthan anybody being in the corner
and training with him for sure.
So I've asked every other guyout of your gym this question,
so you're not off the hook forthis either.
But you know, what type ofbackground do you think gives
MMA fighters the best chance tobe the most well-rounded coming
(24:15):
into the sport?
Speaker 2 (24:19):
I mean obviously, like I want to say wrestling, I
mean I don't know, man, I wouldsay like the best situation
possible you could have would belike growing up with some kind
of like something like karateand taekwondo and wrestling.
And the reason I'm saying thatis like striking is inherently,
(24:43):
I I think, easier to learn.
But like it's easier I hear somany people say it, like I just
heard Ilya Teporia on JoeRogan's podcast say that like
it's easier for a grappler tostart learning wrestling or I
mean I take that for like agrappler to learn striking than
it is for a striker to learngrappling Right.
(25:05):
I don't know if that's true,like maybe, maybe it is, maybe
it isn't.
But the one thing I will say islike people who have been doing
like traditional martial artssince they were kids, they have
this like crazy dexterity oftheir legs and like if fighting
at a high level is likeunderstanding range and control,
(25:26):
taekwondo kind of gives youthat best ability because it's
so kick heavy, yeah, and like Imean karate to an extent is
depending on what kind of karateyou're coming up with.
But yeah, I would say likeideally it would be like a mix
of that and wrestling.
But I think, like I think, youjust get put ahead if you do any
(25:48):
kind of martial art.
Young, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
Yeah, I can confirm the dexterity when it comes to
Taekwondo.
Like I said, to be able at mygym to even get your black belt,
you had to be able to do aperfect split and hold it.
Like they weren't like just getinto a split.
They made you get up on a bagand put a heel on each bag and
then they just separated it awayand to be.
(26:14):
It was.
It's intense and you know, as,as a teenager, that's, you know,
not fun to try to learn thatdexterity and that flexibility,
but, um, it helps for sure.
I mean even me now, 36 yearsold, you know I still have a
little bit of that flexibility.
I mean not as much as I didback then, but you know, getting
older, um, it still helps outwith, you know, movement in that
(26:36):
and it's a very kick-heavy, uh,martial art um, but it taught
me at a very young age because II grew very quickly.
I wasn't supposed to exceed 5'9".
I'm 6'5".
The doctor was a little off, soit helped me with coordination,
(26:57):
with that aspect.
But it also taught me adefensive style of fighting.
It was more self-defense thanjust being able to, as people
say, kick the shit out offighting.
It was more self-defense thanjust being able to, as people
say, kick the shit out ofsomebody.
But it taught me how to use mylegs because I'm all legs to
keep people at distance and keepthem away from me.
(27:18):
I didn't even have to throw akick, even if I just lifted my
leg.
They knew how long my legs wereand they were trying to stay at
that distance.
So I can definitely agree withthat.
For sure, with Taekwondo I'm alittle biased because I have a
black belt in Taekwondo, butit's.
I can't disagree with thatbecause I've lived it.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Yeah, man, I mean I'm always trying to listen to the
highest level guys.
What are they doing?
Obviously, joe Rogan's podcastis like he's always having UFC
fighters on there and 1FCfighters and Bellator guys and
all this.
It's like I listen to his.
And then recently I've beenlistening to Jake Shields'
(28:01):
podcast a lot and I mean, yeah,man, it's like you'd be a fool
not to listen to the things thatthey have to say.
And that's just like.
I mean that's just one of thethings that I'm trying to absorb
is like, what are the best guysdoing?
Like, if they're doing it, I'mdefinitely not above them.
(28:22):
Like I should be doing the samethings they're doing If they're
focusing on this.
I'm going to try that out.
I do it all the time.
I try to bring it to mytraining all the time, the
mentality of all right, thisguy's doing this.
I'm going to try this.
I think maybe that helps fromwrestling.
Wrestling is a very mental sport.
(28:44):
It's different than any otherkind of martial art in that way.
I mean, shit, I didn't eventhink of it as a martial art
really when I was doing it.
You think about it as a sport,but anything else that's
remotely like it is considered amartial art, like jiu-jitsu,
grappling, yeah, so judo, I meanit's like all those things are
(29:11):
looked at as martial arts.
Wrestling, for whatever reason,isn't, but I think that's
something that it really givesyou is just like this, like
drive and like also this abilityto like digest things in a
different way and like reallylike commit to using it.
Like other, I just feel likeother martial arts just don't
(29:33):
give you that same level ofdiscipline.
In that regard, you know what Imean.
Wrestling isn't about bowing inand like saying yes, sir, to
your master, your sensei andstuff which they're totally like
there's totally legitimatereasons for that and like I
respect martial arts for givingespecially kids and teenagers,
(29:53):
like a discipline yeah but likewrestling isn't like that.
It gives you discipline of likelike I gotta make weight.
Like I gotta get this fuckingweight off, man.
Like it's not just gonna falloff.
Like I gotta go for a run, Igotta go to the sauna.
I gotta get this fucking weightoff, man.
Like it's not just gonna falloff.
Like I gotta go for a run, Igotta go to the sauna, I gotta
get an extra drill in.
I gotta eat less, drink less.
(30:14):
Like that's the kind ofdiscipline it gives you and it's
like, all right, you got thiswhole summer until next season.
Like what are you gonna do atthis time?
It's easy to feel motivated,but to have the discipline to be
like every single day you'rewaking up with this goal and
you're chasing it down,wrestling instills that in you,
(30:34):
man.
So I don't know.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
No, I got a big respect for wrestlers, just with
what they go through especiallywith the weight cuts and
everything like that, and havingto make weight of what they go
through, especially with theweight cuts and everything like
that and having to make weight.
It's insane to me thinking howyou can do that and the
different ways that they cutweight and everything like that.
It's impressive to me.
You didn't mention one thing,though, about Joe Rogan and
(31:01):
listening to him, and I don'tknow why more people aren't
listening to him more.
With martial arts, he taughtGeorge St Pierre his spinning
back kick, and not a lot ofpeople know that A champion
fighter went to Joe Rogan on howto improve one of his strikes,
(31:22):
and the dude knows what he'stalking about.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
He's actually a very skilled martial artist and like
nobody gives him the credit forthat because they all know him
as the fear factor guy or thecommentator, like fear factor
was a thing when I was a kid,but like I I mean I wasn't
really watching it like I wasyoung, but like still, like he,
like he has a black belt intaekwondo and he has a black
belt under eddie bravo, who'sone of the most respected like
(31:47):
jiu-jitsu guys and from thatlineage, both, like both Eddie
Bravo and Joe Rogan are underJohn Jock Machado, who is, like
he's part of that Gracie family.
He was like grew up with theGracies and he's one of the most
respected grapplers in theworld and it's like if they give
you the nod like that's, that'ssaying a lot man right, like I
(32:12):
don't know, I listen, I was likefuck, like if he's, I see his
videos.
I watched a video of him andeddie bravo talking to hicks and
gracie, who is like widelyknown as, like the arguably the,
the best Gracie I don't knowthere's, for there's something
to be said for like, uh, henzo,gracie and Hoyler, but
(32:34):
regardless, like he's thepinnacle of jiu-jitsu and he was
a really big name in the early2000s of MMA and it was just
like a side video after theirpodcast of just going over
grappling exchanges and this andthat, and it's like, like that
information is out there.
Man, like you gotta just you,you gotta watch it.
(32:56):
Like all the all the bestpeople in every field do
studying.
Why would MMA be any different?
Why would wrestling be anydifferent?
Like I try to tell those guys Ijust told him this week at
practice I'm like, hey, man,like you know as much as like me
and the other coaches can showyou.
Like you got to work on stuffon your own.
(33:19):
If you're having trouble withthis position, look it up, type
it into youtube.
There's a million videos.
My college coaches were hugeabout that.
Like, watch videos.
Find a wrestler you like, findsomebody who has a similar style
as you figure out what they do.
Watch a technique breakdown ofwhat they do.
So I do that all the time.
(33:39):
Like I'm watching fights.
Like obviously it's great towatch fights while they're live,
but I like watching them andwatching them like replaying
them.
You know what I mean.
One of the guys I've beengrateful enough to be able to
train with is Christian Lee.
He's the 170 and 185-poundchamp of 1FC.
I've been brought out to bepart of his camp and his younger
(34:01):
brother's camp, who's now in 1fc um four times now and like
christian is an unbelievableathlete man like and watching
his fights back and then likeeven like the fights that I've
like the camps I've been a partof watching his fights and like
thinking about what we weredoing in the room and then what
(34:23):
he was doing in these fights,it's like, yeah, like that makes
sense.
We sit there and break down filmlike this guy's a two division
world champ, like he probablyknows everything right, he's not
.
He's not like.
He's not like closed-minded.
The fact of like hey, there'sstuff that I can be working on,
so everybody else has got towork on it.
(34:44):
I was on the treadmill thisweek when Billy was putting me
through conditioning and in ourlong conditioning session where
it's just like a steady statething, I'm watching fights, I
watched GSP and Carlos Conditand right after that, when I was
warming up doing my shadowboxing, I'm like, all right, I'm
just just gonna try some stuffthat gsp was doing, like some of
(35:07):
the footwork stuff, some of theways that he was setting things
up.
And then then I watched alittle technique video and I'm
like, okay, I'm gonna put it,I'm gonna try this out and spawn
, and it's like that's what thebest people in the world are
doing, and I want to be the bestin the world.
It's a pretty easy equation.
I just got to do what they'redoing 100 like if.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
If they've made it here, what's stopping me from
watching what they did to makeit there?
Speaker 2 (35:32):
exactly, and it's no different than what you're doing
right now with comedy 100.
I just listened to shane gillistalk about what you were
talking about like yeah, there'snot, there's not money in.
Like like starting out incomedy no, there's not.
He was talking about like hewas stoked when he got paid 50
(35:52):
bucks one time, like 50 bucks isnothing man like, but that
recognition of like okay, I canget paid for this.
Now it's a matter of doing moreof these shows and more of these
shows, and it's just the moreyou put yourself out there, just
like competitions the more youdo, the better you're gonna get.
It's time on the mat, time onthe stage, time dedicated to
(36:14):
your craft.
It's like that's what makes youbetter and that's what gets you
closer to where you want to be.
You know what I mean 100.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
I.
I still do open mic nights forno pay.
It's the way for me to test outnew jokes.
I still get excited.
Oh, this show pays 100 bucks.
Fuck, yeah, I'm getting paid todo what I want to do.
You know what I mean?
That's the mindset of acomedian.
We'll take those at the earlystages, those shit pay jobs and
(36:47):
gigs to get the recognitionbecause the word of mouth.
I went up to Sanford, michigan,for a show.
It was five and a half hourdrive for me and the pay was one
hundred and fifty bucks.
Yeah, I spent more in gas in mytruck to get there, but now
(37:08):
there's more people fromMichigan and I keep seeing
people when I check the stats onthe podcast.
More people from Michigan arelistening and I have to equate
that to the time.
I went to Sanford Michigan on awhim.
Just be like hey, they want tobook me, fuck it, it's 150 bucks
(37:29):
, I'm getting paid it.
I'm probably going to losemoney on the, on the trip up and
back with the gas, but it's,it's exposure and that's what
we're looking for in in ourfield for sure.
I mean.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
I mean it's like, obviously, like you need some
level of money, right?
Like, obviously I'm not goingto sit here and say like, oh,
you got to just do everything.
But if it was really about themoney, you wouldn't be doing it.
No, you know what I mean.
I wouldn't be if it was reallyabout the money right now.
If I was really about all myentire day is wake up, digits,
(38:06):
digits, putting more money in mypocket.
I wouldn't be painting and Iwouldn't be fighting.
I would use these degrees thatI have and get a job sitting in
a cubicle bitching somebody out,you know, wearing a suit and
tie.
But it's not about that.
That's not the life I want tolive.
Like no sure.
Like I, I'm grateful beyondgrateful to god that I have the
(38:30):
things that I do have, and it'sit's not a lot, but I'm grateful
for not having to worry aboutthose things and being able to
chase my passion right now.
Man, you know what I mean.
Like it's not it I told.
I said at the beginning of thepodcast when you're amateur,
you're not getting paid, you'redoing it just.
You're doing it for the love ofit, man, or just because you
(38:51):
want to scrap.
There's plenty of guys whoprobably have no ambition of
being a pro.
They just want to get in afight.
Hey, man, this is what thissport's here for.
It's like everybody can havedifferent goals.
It's like if it was about themoney, you wouldn't be doing it
100%.
So I don't know.
Man, I respect that a lot.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
Yeah, I don't think I got paid.
For the first two or threeyears that I was doing comedy it
was all open mic nights, justfinding anywhere where there was
a stage and a microphone justto go and make a room full of
people laugh.
I mean, yeah, I didn't get'tget paid.
I think the first two years Iwas doing comedy they knew that
first paid show and that justaccelerates you like I want to
(39:35):
keep doing this.
I want to keep doing this tomake money think about it like
you.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
You would be ignorant .
Any person would be ignorant toassume that their first time
they deserve to get compensationfor it financially your
compensation is the experience.
Yeah, if you can't see that, ifyou can't see that you're
getting paid in experience, likethen you have already missed
the point.
Man, yep, I, I, mma, mma is nodifferent.
(40:03):
Sports are no different.
It's like you don't sign up forthe high school football team
to make a million dollars.
You're doing it for theexperience, for the love of the
sport and just to do it.
If you commit your time andyour athleticism and all this,
yeah, you could get to a bigcollege, get an NIL deal, go to
the NFL, like, yeah, that'swhere the money comes in.
(40:26):
But that ain't, from the start,right.
Why would any other craft belike that?
A hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (40:32):
And you know, I, I come from a, uh, very old school
, traditional Italian family.
My, you know, grandfather was asteel worker, my dad was a
steel worker, Uh, so very bluecollar.
And you know, trying to explainto just like that, that old
school mentality, you know,starting out in comedy like, oh
well, what did you get paid?
I'm getting paid in experience.
(40:53):
I'm getting paid in stage time.
I'm getting paid in peoplehearing my jokes and liking my
jokes.
That is going to pay off downthe road.
I might not be getting paidtoday, tomorrow or a month from
now or even a year from now, butI not be getting paid today,
tomorrow or a month from now oreven a year from now, but I will
be getting paid for this.
It's just I gotta pay my dues.
(41:15):
That's a great analogy that youput there.
It's like high school sports.
You're not playing high schoolfootball or high school
wrestling, or even me, highschool swimming, because you're
getting paid to do it.
You're doing it because youlove the sport and you're
getting experience and you'remaking yourself better so that
maybe one day yeah, you can, youknow, make some money off of it
(41:36):
.
And that's honestly the bestanalogy I've heard and it
equates to both of ourprofessions and I love that for
sure.
I never even thought of it thatway and that's that's a great
mindset.
To that for sure.
I never even thought of it thatway.
That's a great mindset to havefor sure.
Speaker 2 (41:49):
Yeah, man.
Speaker 1 (41:50):
And Chris, hell, I feel like I could talk to you
all day, but we are running downhere near the end of the
episode here.
I do want to get this lastsegment in here before we end
and for anybody who has listenedto the show before.
It is the Fast Fitty Five.
Five random questions from thewonderful manager of the podcast
, johnny Fitty Falcone.
For those of you who have notheard or are new listeners to
(42:13):
the show, this is kind of arapid-fire question to answer.
They have nothing to do withwhat we've been talking about
for the better part of thisabout 45 minutes to an hour now.
So, chris, like I said, therapid fire, but you can
elaborate if you feel you needto.
So, chris, like I said, therapid fire, but you can
elaborate if you feel you needto.
So if you are ready, we'll getstarted with the Fast 55.
Speaker 2 (42:32):
Come on, man, I'm game, I'm sure.
Speaker 1 (42:34):
Question number one Is the number 38 or the number
47 a worst football number towear?
Speaker 2 (42:40):
Shit.
I don't really know anythingabout football, so I would say
they both suck.
If you're not one, you're notit.
Speaker 1 (42:48):
I love that answer Question number two have you
ever been skydiving?
Speaker 2 (42:53):
Nah hell.
Speaker 1 (42:54):
no, yeah, fuck that.
I'm so terrified of heights.
Fuck that.
Question number three what'syour favorite sports movie?
Speaker 2 (43:03):
Damn, that's a good one.
I don't know if I can be quickabout that.
Warrior is a good one.
I don't know if I can be quickabout that.
Warrior is a great movie.
Miracle is that the one aboutthe hockey?
Oh yeah, that's a great movie.
I mean Rocky Dude, I don't know, there's so many good ones.
(43:24):
Even sports.
I've never played Angels in theOutfield, I never played
baseball, but I like that movieman.
Speaker 1 (43:31):
There's so many good sports movies.
I feel like he cheated you withthat question.
There's no right answer to thatquestion.
Speaker 2 (43:37):
There's no right answer to that.
I'll just say all of them, allof the above.
Speaker 1 (43:41):
I got you All right.
Speaker 2 (43:43):
Question number four what's the best meat to get from
the deli Dude?
I don't know, man, I don'treally get deli meat.
I would say like from thebutcher.
You got to get a steak and thebutcher is right next to there
(44:04):
and if I'm feeling bougie, I'llget a ribeye.
Right that cut, that's my cutof steak 100 a ribeye.
Not many people know, or maybethey do, I don't know.
But if you get like, if youlook at the chuck roast, you can
.
You can find the part of thechuck that's right next to the
ribeye.
They they're touching on thecow and you can find part of the
(44:25):
chuck is like, will lookexactly like a ribeye.
You just cut it off from theother side and the chuck roast
usually comes like this big.
You cut it in half.
You got two steaks Way cheaperthan ribeye.
I just gave out the secret tothe people.
Speaker 1 (44:39):
You just dropped a knowledge bomb on everybody for
that one.
Speaker 2 (44:43):
Not every chuck roast is going to have that.
I don't know what it is.
I'm not like a butcher, likethe cap or whatever, but it'll
look like a ribeye is right nextto it.
Basically, they make two steaksout of it.
There's a Denver steak whichalmost looks like a New York
strip without a fat cap, andthen there's a part that looks
like a ribeye.
You got to look.
Speaker 1 (45:04):
When you go to Costco or whatever next, look, I'm
100% going to be looking.
Next time I go to the butcher,there's no chance I'm not
looking.
Speaker 2 (45:10):
I mean, dude, we're talking about 13 bucks a pound
versus, like, less than fivebucks a pound.
It's easy math, 100%.
I'm a mathematician, but that'seasy math, easy math.
Speaker 1 (45:20):
And question number five.
Here is orange juice overratedor underrated.
Speaker 2 (45:27):
I don't know.
I think it's probablyunderrated.
I think you drink it a lot whenyou're a kid and you stop
drinking it so much as an adult.
And I had some before trainingtoday and I felt great.
Those carbs, maybe the vitaminstoo, I don't know.
I like it.
I don't think you should make ahabit of drinking a gallon of
it a day.
I'm not a nutritionist, neitherGotcha.
Speaker 1 (45:50):
Well, that was the Fast Fitty Five.
He comes up with some of thecraziest questions for this
segment.
It's hysterical.
Every time we run this segmentat the end of every show.
It's just the way his mindworks.
He sends these to me all day.
Every day I get texts fromJohnny and it's all these
questions.
And it's not important.
(46:11):
It's just the way his mindworks and he has to get them out
.
So now we get them out on theshow every week.
Speaker 2 (46:15):
Well, he's got some answers, At least my answers.
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (46:18):
Those are great answers.
I'm not going to lie to you,those were phenomenal answers.
But, chris, I do give every,every guest this opportunity at
the end of every show.
Um, I'm going to give you abouta minute.
If there's anything you want toget out there, whether it's an
upcoming fight for either you orsomebody that you're training
with, or for the gym, or even ifit's just a positive message,
I'm going to give you about aminute.
Speaker 2 (46:36):
The floor is yours yeah, man, I'll say, first I do
have a fight.
I have a 185 pound title fightfor bcm on june 21st.
That's going to be down inMillersburg, Ohio.
And then you know, I just wantto say, shout out to my team.
I know you said Billy hasalready been on here, Tony, Luke
and DJ's coming on.
(46:57):
Those are my coaches.
So I'm I wouldn't be in thesituation I'm in without them.
And then the only other thing Ican say is like I'm a man of
faith and I'm by no means am Ipushing this on anybody, but
it's like if you want to findreal purpose in your life, look,
look for Jesus man and justfollow the word, read the
gospels and see it, Even if youdon't believe, there's things in
(47:21):
there and Psalms and Proverbsthat are just great wisdom for
humans just to live by, andthat's I mean.
People have been strugglingwith the same things we've been
struggling with this entirehuman history.
So if you're struggling withsomething, open it up and just
read it, Check it out, Check theword out.
Speaker 1 (47:42):
That is great.
I love helping people promoteanything that they got going on
with the show, but I love itwhen there's a good message at
the end of the show and guestshave a good message.
So thank you for that.
That was great for sure.
But that is going to do it forthis week's episode of the Ride
Home Rants podcast.
I want to thank my guest, Christhe grit dredging, for joining
(48:05):
the show.
I think I just butchered yourname again, man.
Speaker 2 (48:07):
I apologize.
Speaker 1 (48:09):
Dreggy.
Speaker 2 (48:10):
I knew I was going to .
It's all good.
It's all good.
Speaker 1 (48:14):
I got you, but thank you for joining.
But, as always, if you enjoyedthe show, be a friend, tell a
friend.
If you didn't tell them anyways, they might like it just
because you didn't.
That's going to do it for meand I.
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