June 11, 2025 • 43 mins
When DJ Jacobucci resigned from his firefighting career and dumped his pension into opening Upgraded Industries, it wasn't just a business decision—it was a leap of faith into a lifelong passion. "That's betting on yourself," he explains on the Ride Home Rants podcast. "That's either saying I'm going to be poor or this is going to work."
This all-or-nothing mentality has shaped Upgraded Industries into what DJ lovingly describes as a "dysfunctional family that you can't help but love." Starting as a personal trainer while navigating a difficult divorce, DJ gradually built his business until he could focus on his true passion—combat sports. With a background as a wrestler and fighter himself, he's created a training environment where accountability and self-motivation are non-negotiable. "I don't hold hands," he states plainly, reflecting his belief that fighters must develop discipline alongside technique.
The gym's success speaks for itself, producing fighters like Tony "The Latin Assassin" and attracting talented coaches who share DJ's vision. What began as Sunday wrestling sessions with whoever would show up has evolved into an elite training facility that stays true to old-school toughness while adapting to modern training methods. Between training professional fighters, raising his identical twin sons who wrestle competitively, and managing all aspects of the business, DJ embodies the fighter's mentality in everything he does.
Throughout the conversation, DJ offers candid insights on the state of combat sports, expressing concern that UFC might follow boxing's self-destructive path, while sharing stories of the tight-knit community he's built at Upgraded Industries. Whether you're a fighting enthusiast or simply appreciate stories of entrepreneurs betting on their passion, DJ's journey from firefighter to gym owner demonstrates what's possible when you commit fully to building something meaningful around what you love.
• Betting everything on his dream by resigning from firefighting and investing his pension into the gym
• Balancing fatherhood with running the gym, prioritizing family while maintaining high standards for his fig
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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 have a great guest for ustoday.
He is going to round outeveryone that we have talked to
up at Upgraded Industries.
He is the owner of the gym upthere and that is DJ Iacobucci.
Joins the show.
Dj, thanks for joining, brother.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Absolutely.
Thanks for having me on my man.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Hey, not a problem at all.
Like I said earlier, we've hadall the fighters on, starting
with Tony the Latin assassintoward Lisi, went through a lot
of your coaches, so it's nice tofinally get the man behind
everything here.
Upgraded industries there theman of many hats, some of which
I don't want to wear, I suppose.
As most business owners wouldtell you.
(00:44):
That's typical for sure, havinga bunch of hats to wear that
you don't want to wear.
But, first and foremost, how doyou balance?
I believe you have two youngboys yourself.
How do you balance the dad lifewith everything else that's
going on with the gym?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
I actually have identical twins and they wrestle
all over the country.
They're very, very, very, verygood.
You know, in the recent yearsI've been lucky to have Billy
and to have Luke and to have,you know, now, tony, since he's
retired, stepping onto thecoaching staff, because now I
have the availability that allof my sons are a little bit
older to be able to go away anddo things with them.
So those guys are clutch for me.
(01:19):
Like I said, you know the manin many hats.
It's a role.
It's hard, you know, but I haveto prioritize.
Obviously you know my kids comefirst before anything, even
before my business.
So you know I try to prioritizethat.
But if you know, if it's arandom tournament my sons are
wrestling in and one of my guysgot a title fight, I'm going to
the title fight and my boysunderstand you know.
(01:39):
So it's a certain days, certaintimes, that guys just know you,
certain days, certain times,that guys just know you know I
won't be there, but they knowwhat's expected and obviously
you see by the results theylisten pretty well.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Absolutely.
I was at Tony's title fightthere in Mountaineer.
It's kind of how we gotconnected.
It was great to see him, youknow, win the title, even though
he did retire right after that.
But you know it was still anawesome fight after that.
But you know, it was still anawesome fight and for someone
who says he doesn't have thatgood of hands, I think he's the
most modest of the guys thatI've talked to from there, cause
(02:10):
I believe he got that win byknockout, if I, if my memory
serves me correctly, you know,and that whole thing of of him
not having hands got started byone of his bitter opponents.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
You know, tony shouldn't even take him the one
fight he took, you know, we toldhim not to.
The doctors told him not to.
He was like six months off ofgetting the ACL repair and, dude
, he's just a stubborn,tough-ass Mexican.
So we gutted it out, you know,and the kid bitched about, you
know.
Oh, he just wrestled me.
He doesn't have hands.
I assure you.
Tony, when I was fighting, wasmy number one training partner
for a long time and we, yeah, wethrew down quite a bit.
(02:42):
So he absolutely has hands, butyou know, he's never had to
really show them and I think hislast one.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
His way out, he said, all right, well, let's just
silence the talk.
What a way to go out with aknockout victory, to win the
title Right For sure.
But like I said in theinterview, you are the owner of
Upgraded Industries.
You know, tell the listenersabout you, know that, you know
how you got there and how yougot started with that business.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
So I started my.
I started as a personaltraining business as I was a
young firefighter.
Basically, I was kind ofgetting hosed in my divorce and
you can only work so many jobsbefore you know you're just,
you're never getting ahead.
So I started a personaltraining company and then I grew
that into the gym.
Well, before all that, I hadfought.
I fought through Strong Style.
(03:29):
I fought through Leo Kegelvick,who's my boxing coach.
He's, you know, coaches Lukenow.
So I had been fighting for years, I've been wrestling for years
and that was my passion.
And I couldn't get back to mypassion just yet, just yet.
So I, you know, I retired fromfire service and I concentrated
heavily on building the gym.
I got the fitness center sidegoing and then that basically
(03:50):
started funding all the stuffthat was my passion, which was
MMA, jujitsu, the wrestling, allthat, and that's kind of how it
all started coming together.
It was, it was a lot.
You know, it was kind of one ofthose sink or swim situations
because I resigned from the firedepartment and I dumped my
pension into the gym.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
That's betting on yourself.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
That's either saying I'm going to be poor or this is
going to work.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Absolutely.
I get it, man, as a comedianmyself.
There's that whole sink or swimtype of mentality that you have
to have, like, if I don't haveshows, I mean I'm not, you know,
signed by an agency or anything.
I don't have a manager, I don'thave an agent or anything like
that.
So if I don't have shows andI'm not getting paid for comedy,
it's all on me and it's kind oflike taking the leap of faith
(04:41):
and, you know, leaving the fireservice to chase your dream and
chase your passion, which iskudos to you.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
I give anybody credit that's willing to chase down
something that they'repassionate about for sure.
Tell everyone it's a terrifyingfirst step, but once you do it,
you'll never look back, right.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Absolutely so.
Have you always been a combatsports fan or did you kind of
like wrestle growing up oranything like that?
So like, how did you get intointo the fight scene?
Speaker 2 (05:09):
So I grew up wrestling and I was.
I was little, I used to be alittle dude, so I got picked on
and I used to just scrap, I getin fights and I did fairly well.
I had a little bit of a youknow not so great upbringing,
but it is what it is.
I stayed enough out of troublethat I could still wrestle.
(05:31):
I love wrestling, I wasobsessed with it.
I didn't have the means that mysons have now, so you know my
wrestling career was lackluster.
So after that I decided well, Iwant to get into MMA.
I remember watching like theoriginal UFC tapes from like
Blockbuster Video.
I remember watching theoriginal UFC tapes from
Blockbuster Video.
I remember seeing the CanadianMounties busted in and I was
like, oh my god, I love thisshit.
So I just started training.
(05:53):
Ironically enough, I ran intosome dudes I knew that were just
starting to dabble in Jiu-Jitsu.
I was a short, stocky, explosivewrestler and they were all tall
grapplers.
Dude, let's learn this stuff.
It was cool.
I started wrestler and they'reall tall grapplers.
So, dude, let's learn thisstuff.
Um, it was cool.
Um, I started getting it afterhigh school.
Thought quite a bit and I kindof went semi-retire, when I had
(06:14):
my sons came back for a few Um,and then I just that was it.
I've always loved it.
Um, you know, took karate as akid, boxing all that stuff.
I just was always obsessed withsome sort of martial arts and
some sort of like structure andschedule, um, along with like
the weight lifting and all thatstuff.
You know, being strong was cool, but being strong and being a
total badass was even better.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
100 yeah, I uh, I took uh martial arts when I was,
you know, teenager and all that.
I talked about it with all theall the fighters.
I got a black belt in taekwondo.
Probably should have stuck withit, but it was as a 15 year old
.
You get that one tough lossthat I had and it shook me right
out of the fight game for sure.
(06:53):
But after it was fight number29 and I was 28-0 at that point
in time and ended up finishingout 28-1 and that was the last
fight for me because I gotknocked out and I did not like
that feeling that was at 15,took a shot right to the ego and
(07:14):
you know just go.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
death is the best thing that can happen to a man,
though you don't really trulyfind out who you are until your
ego can die.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Oh yeah, and it helps me today as a a comedian
because you know, I I gotknocked out at a big uh
taekwondo tournament in front ofprobably a thousand people, and
well, you know, we all beenthere, we all lost in front of
our family and friends, shit thebed, you know right and it's
now.
It's just like okay, if I bombon stage like who who gives a
(07:41):
shit, I've been knocked out infront of thousands of people
like who cares, and it justhelps me push forward in in the
comedy career in martial artsand having that um discipline to
stick after it after, uh, 13years of doing it and still
being considered an up-and-comer.
Uh, so you know, it's not forthe, for the faint of heart for
(08:02):
sure, like I'm sure the thefight game is it, because I
think people just think like, oh, you get a black belt, you're
automatically a pro fighter.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
It's like no, you have to go through the amateur
scene, you know, prettyextensively, you have to clear
house before you're going to getyou know, if you want to be a
legitimate pro, you have to beatevery top amateur and top
everything around.
You got to win everything untilthere's no more to win as an
amateur.
You know that's the one thingthat I tell my guys.
You know they're required tohave three belts before they go
pro.
Three different organizations,preferably.
(08:30):
Tony.
You know it was a differentstory.
We just kept getting you knowwe weren't going to turn them
down.
It is what it is.
But yeah, you should becleaning out the amateur ranks
Before you decide to go pro.
I think a lot of these new agekids they rush to turn pro um,
and it's just not.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
They need to not right, yeah, and you know, like
I said before, you know we'vehad, you know, a lot of your
coaches and fighters on.
How did you find these guys?
These guys are phenomenal, howdid you find them?
And they are.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
You know, it's like it's our own merry band of
misfits.
Um, it's like dysfunctionalfamily that you can't help but
love.
So, dude, every one of themended up being like a training
situation.
So back in my old gym onSundays, we used to scrap so we
would wrestle.
Dude, we had like the lowestranking kid in our room at that
(09:21):
point at that time was JacobLagoa, who was like a
16-year-old kid, which I don'tknow if you're familiar with,
jacob, but he's cleaning up thescene right now and grappling at
MMA.
Kid's a beast.
He was a beast at like 16.
He was a multiple-time statechamp.
But anyways, we would wrestleon Sundays for like two, three
hours.
We would just get any dudes whowould come in that viewed good
and we would scrap.
Well, brought Tony in and I waslike, oh man, this kid can
(09:42):
fucking wrestle, all right.
So him and I were scrappingback and forth a couple weeks he
just ended up becoming boys.
He's probably one of my bestfriends, on top of being one of
my best fighters.
He's a good dude.
He's a little out there, butyou got to be the dude we do you
kind of have to be to be afighter.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
You kind of can't be this even-keeled guy if you're
going to be about.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
I haven't seen one yet yeah, most people don't say,
hey, this, this guy that'strained to kick my ass, I'm
gonna lock myself in a cage withthem, you know.
You know, it's not a, it's nota normal thought, I suppose.
Um, and then, billy, I met um,I was getting ready for fights
and I needed someone thatactually had good stand-up.
Um, we used to do this thing inmy old again the old place, but
(10:29):
it was around like the COVIDera.
So we had like a secret fightclub, because I defied all that
bullshit.
Um, so guys would come in and wewould spar and that's, there
was nothing else to do.
So we'd have guys there, we'dbe sparring for two, three hours
.
Um, billy came in and him and Icould flow really well, he
moved good and I was like, ohshit, it's like I like this dude
, um.
So I had always had him in mymind.
(10:50):
And then, when I move into thenew place and I realized, well,
this place is double the size ofthe other one, how am I gonna
manage?
He was the first and the onlyperson I called um to come over
and help me with the strikingprogram and then, inevitably, I
just gave it to him because hedeserves it.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Yeah, I mean after after talking to to Billy, you
know he's definitely I couldjust, you know, tell what his
passion and how he talked abouthow he trains his fighters and
everything like that, and evenhow he talked about Tony, you
know, getting them ready forthat last title fight at
Mountaineer.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
You know it, you have a good one in your striking
coach there and I absolutely do,and sometimes I got to remind
the guys that because they givehim shit, because he expects a
lot and you know what he shouldyeah, yeah, I mean, every good
coach should expect that youknow the best out of all their
fighters.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
That that's.
That's always been a mindset ofmine absolutely yeah, like I, I
don't understand people thatjust when they have this, oh
well, they're pushing me harder,so they obviously don't like me
.
No, it means they like you morethan you think.
It's because they're pushingyou to see what you can't see
yourself.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
I used to tell the young guys in the fire service I
said, hey, you don't got toever worry about if we like you
or not, unless we stop talkingto you.
Yeah, because then when we stopgiving a shit, then you're done
.
And that goes the same withcoaches.
You know, I've, you know I'vehad my, my instances where I
want to grab some of these guysand choke them, but they also
(12:18):
have to take a step back andrealize how I was at some of
their ages as well.
You know.
So I'm persistent, but mypersistence only goes so far.
I can't make you do everythingyou know, and I don't hold hands
and I refuse.
You make you do everything youknow and I don't hold hands and
I refuse.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
You're expected to get the workload done, and if
you don't, that's on you, man,right?
Yeah, I mean that that's how itshould be.
I think you, you should haveyour training regimen in place.
These guys should be, you know,mature enough and disciplined
enough to be able to do it ontheir own, without having
somebody standing over theirshoulders and watching every
move that they make.
I love that attitude.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Unfortunately, the new age, a lot of these.
They do need their hands heldand that's just.
You know, maybe there's peoplethat can do that.
I just I don't.
That's just not how I do things, not even with my youth
wrestlers.
You know, I don't.
There's no level of which Ibaby people.
That just doesn't do that.
There's people of disservice inthe real world.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
It really does.
Absolutely, I think that.
But being the fighter andwatching all the fights, you
know that you have, and growingup in the fight game.
What are your thoughts on someof the all-time old greats?
Speaker 2 (13:30):
of the UFC, like Ken Shamrock, dan the Beast around,
and Roy Gracie I'm going tocatch a lot of shit for this
because of his current metalmental state.
Bj Penn was my dog Dude.
Baby J was the man Like.
That was my favorite fighter.
That was a dude that I was likeI want to be like that guy, you
know.
Now not so much, but no, thathe was.
(13:52):
That was the guy that I thoughtwas a true pioneer.
Matt Hughes I actually got, um,the pleasure of training with
Hughes out at the military camp.
I went out there many, many,many years ago.
Um, that was awesome.
Hughes, bj St Pierre those werethe dudes.
Um, you know, gracie was aninnovator.
Yes, I, just, I have my ownthoughts on on all of them.
(14:12):
Um, he was the innovator.
Yes, I, just, I have my ownthoughts on all of them.
He was an innovator.
He was the only one that wasdoing jiu-jitsu and per se
jiu-jitsu versus the catchwrestling which the Shamrock
Brothers were doing.
They were great.
It wasn't really intriguing tome.
I liked Tank Abbott because hewas nuts and just wanted to
throw down.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
But BJ Penn was the first true mixed martial artist
that I was like this dude's theshit.
Yeah, I think GSP is what didit for me.
George St Pierre, watching himfight and coming up and just the
way he went about the fightgame was a little bit different
than most guys.
They just wanted to stand andbang in the middle of the
octagon.
Well, that's entertaining.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
It is entertaining, but you know what?
The longevity of your career isnot such.
You know you can't, you can'tbe getting punched in the head
time and time and time again andexpect a solid quality of life.
You know, right.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Absolutely, and I think he had a you know a
different approach to it.
And what blew my mind too, aswell as the learn that Joe Rogan
actually taught him hisspinning back kick- yes.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
On a punching bag in a gym yes.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Just fucking around too, that's what's awesome it
blows my mind and people don'tgive Joe Rogan the credit that
he deserves for being themartial artist that he actually
is.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
I would not want to fight Joe Rogan.
I've seen videos of him justmurdering a tie bag and you know
you watch him roll.
He's good, you know.
I just think that's someonethat also.
You know, there's people thatcan be a complete badass but
they don't want to fight andthat's fine.
You know, fighting is not foreverybody.
There's a mental side of itthat some people just don't want
(15:48):
to endure themselves in andthen that's and that's okay.
You know, and that's where Ithink a lot of the young
fighters they need to figurethat out.
Some guys think they want tofight and then they learn oh, I
don't want to really fight.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Yeah, I think everyone thinks they want to
because of the popularity of theUFC and mixed martial arts now
and then they get hit in theface once and it kind of deters
them from what, correct?
Speaker 2 (16:12):
like the old, the old tyson line.
Everyone's got a plan untilthey get punched in the face.
But that's, that's very true.
I mean, you know, I, I alwaystell my guys you guys have no
idea how nice you have it backin the day.
Um, uh, I trained a strongstyle.
I was trained with stipe andjoe highland and forest pets,
jeff cox, like all all theCleveland OGs that were just
(16:34):
absolute murderers.
The way that Marcus had ustrain sometimes wasn't the most
conventional, but it made youtough as hell, my guys.
Now obviously we do somesmarter things, but there's a
time and a place for thetoughness.
Yeah, I mean it's.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Yeah, I mean it's a different game, but I gotta ask
you guys ever settle any likelittle uh debates in the octagon
in the training gym?
Like if you're having a debatewith tony or anything like, all
right, let's wrestle for it.
You know what I mean?
Like that's just this, let'sget on the mat.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
We endlessly talk shit to each other.
That's like we have a groupchat where literally we'll just
all talk shit to each other.
That's like we have a groupchat where literally, we'll just
all talk shit to each other allday long.
So it's on at site anytime.
All the time you could be inmid-conversation with somebody
else.
The next thing, you know, yourfeet are going over your head
and you're getting slammed.
So or you're talking, you justget a leg kicked.
(17:31):
You know it's.
You know, but it's good, it's.
We bust balls.
Like I say, it's adysfunctional frat house full of
dudes that are pretty toughwith a lot of tattoos that's
awesome.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
That's that's phenomenal.
That's that's a phenomenalworkplace.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
I mean, for the most part we don't really have.
I mean, there's never been toomany beefs.
You know we've had a couplewhere we've had to settle um,
but you know neither party wasright, they were both wrong.
But for the most part theseguys do get along pretty well.
You know there's always acompetition edge.
You know, tony and I justwrestled the other day for like
six minutes straight and neitherof us could get a takedown, wow
(18:07):
, and we both afterwards werejust exhausted and everyone's
like oh, my God, I'm like dude,there's a difference between
wrestling pace and jiu-jitsupace.
Like a hard wrestling pace forthat long is tough as shit, you
know.
But I mean the competitive edgeis always there.
I mean this is what we do, youknow, and I always tell people
so just because I don't fightanymore doesn't mean I don't
train.
I still love to train.
(18:27):
Still love to train.
Like that's just part of mylife.
And I guess that comes back tolike the gsp thing.
Gsp was a complete and totalmixed martial artist.
Whether he was ever going tofight again or not, other than
him stepping into the atka,nothing in his life was changing
.
No, he was still going to stickon those paths, he was still
going to maintain the healthylifestyle.
He's still going to do whathe's gonna do just longer in the
, in the cage, you know gettingpaid, you know hundreds of
(18:50):
thousands of dollars for itRight and he knew how to get
that longevity.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
He knew what to do and I think that's why his
career lasted as long as it did,because everybody else wanted
to be that tough brute and getthe fans excited by standing and
just throwing cautions of thewind in the middle of the
octagon.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
I can't back Chandler anymore after that last one.
I just can't, yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
I missed the fight and I'm kind of glad I did.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
A part of me died with Michael Chandler that night
, I feel, Because I was justlike no way, no way.
That guy's physical attributesand skill set that he possesses
and then just never uses blowsmy mind.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Yeah, I saw the highlights of it on SportsCenter
the next day, but it was justlike really.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Yeah, it was a pretty solid, clear-ass whooping, for
sure yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
Just from the short little couple-second clips that
I got on SportsCenter.
It was just like, yeah, he gothis ass beat the whole time,
didn't he?
Yeah, it was pretty wild towatch, yeah.
So you know, we've had a lot ofother people on this show,
athlete-wise from collegefootball players to track
athletes, soccer, baseball,basketball, you name it.
(20:10):
We've had all these formerathletes on here.
Have you ever seen any othertypes of former athletes wanting
to get into?
Speaker 2 (20:20):
MMA at your gym after their college careers are done?
Yes, so, ironically enough,with Chris, we basically have
like a Lake Erie WrestlingFeeder League.
All those wrestlers usually endup coming.
If they stay in Ohio, theyusually come and they train
jujitsu with us and some get anMMA.
Um, uh, we actually have twoDPTs inside my gym and they
train semi-pro as well as proand then upcoming high school
(20:43):
basketball players and a coupleof those guys joke, but none of
them have ever been reallyserious.
Um, we have people come in andout.
Usually they don't stay, butyou know ex football players
that are coming in big, solidheavyweights.
They'll roll for a couple ofmonths and then they'll move
away.
But majority right now it'sjust been the wrestlers.
We get a lot of collegewrestlers that after that like
what do we do?
Speaker 1 (21:04):
No, fuck MMA and jujitsu.
Yeah, I mean, I I don't knowhow that would be as a
collegiate wrestler, what to doafter that career is over,
because you still have thatinstinct to want to fight in you
.
Oh, it's compete, you stillwant to compete.
Yeah, hell, I was a swimmerfrom the time I was eight, all
(21:24):
the way through college, andeven at 36 years old, with a bum
shoulder, I still have the itchto get in the pool.
I can't anymore becauseliterally my body won't allow me
to have the itch to get in thepool.
I can't anymore becauseliterally my body won't allow me
to do what I need to do in thepool.
I still have that now.
I can only imagine at that ageOkay, well, shit.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
You've done something your whole life, all right, hey
, well, you're done.
Now, what do you mean?
I'm done?
I've practiced every day of mylife for seven days a week, two
times a day, yep, and.
And now I do what?
Speaker 1 (21:57):
yeah, that.
Uh, mine was to get on stageand make people laugh.
Apparently it was the next stepfor me, just a pull to each his
own.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Whatever works, got it got it.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
After the uh, the unfortunate shoulder injury, it
was just like, yeah, thisswimming's just not gonna happen
for me and um just became agoofball after that, apparently
um laughter is the best form ofmedicine that's what they say,
right, they say that for sure.
I I agree wholeheartedly, afterdoing it for 13 years and
hearing uh people coming up atthe shows and telling me, you
(22:31):
know they, they're having abetter day just from being at
the show and they feel betterafter being able to be made
laugh for a little bit.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
And that can be life-changing to some
individuals.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
It was, and I've told it before I've had.
One of the most rewarding showsthat I had was at North Central
Correctional Institute where wegot to perform for the inmates.
There was 400 inmates that gotto come to the show and for two
hours we got to make them laughand they came up to all of us
(23:06):
after the show and said you knowwhat?
You just gave me six moremonths of peace in here, because
I got to feel like, uh, Iwasn't locked up for two hours
and that was more rewarding thanthe pay I got for that show.
Yeah, yeah, and you know I Iwas 12 years into comedy after I
(23:27):
did that hadn't signed like asingle autograph, and I signed
400 autographs that day becauseevery single one of them came up
and were just that they wantedus to autograph something for
them, and that's why I keepdoing what I'm doing, because
people are like oh well, there'snot a lot of money in comedy to
start out with.
I don't give a shit about themoney right now.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
So many people chase money and that's why the world's
so sad.
You know money is the root ofall fucking evil.
It really is.
Yeah, you know passion shoulddrive things.
You know passion doesn't paythe bills I get.
I'm a realist, but you know, ifyou're so focused it's money.
Usually it's fucked from theget-go 100% 100%.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
I definitely agree with that wholeheartedly, do I
know?
If I keep doing what I'm doing,the money will eventually come,
yeah, so I'll just take my timeand it'll come when it comes.
But that being said, you knowthere's a lot of great promoters
out there, in both the fightgame and comedy too, as well.
(24:26):
But do you think Dana White isone of the best pro sports
promoter that you've seen lately?
Speaker 2 (24:31):
well, I used to defend Dana heavily, Um and
anymore it seems like the lastfive years, UFC has done a lot
of things that give me boxingvibes.
Uh, the reason boxing died isbecause of so many promoters, um
, and executives and just no,you know, legitimacy in the
(24:54):
belts and just the money wateredit down and I feel like the UFC
is headed that way and it kindof sucks.
Yeah, I'm a huge UFC fan.
Uh, you know, just even as ofrecently, the whole shit with
John Jones, like you know, Idon't know man, I asked, but
I'll sit on the shelf, they'renot paying him for it.
You know, whether it's to sellfights or not, Time is our enemy
(25:22):
, man, especially if you're anMMA.
It's tricky to go awry and yourbody can only hold out for so
long.
I don't know.
I think.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Dana White's kind of a piece of shit right now.
If I'm being honest, that'swhat we look for on this show is
total honesty.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Hopefully that doesn't affect any of my guys in
the future.
I think he's making somequestionable choices that I
don't necessarily care for, buthe's a multi-billionaire, so hey
, what the fuck do I know right.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
Right, it is what it is, you know.
I mean, everyone's allowed tohave their opinion.
That's the beauty of thecountry that we live in.
For sure is that, like I said,said I'm a huge ufc fan.
Um, I kind of see where you'recoming from with that, with, uh,
it turning into boxing, becauseI was a big boxing fan growing
up, because that was like theeverybody was right, that was
(26:09):
the original.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
How old?
Speaker 1 (26:10):
are you?
Speaker 2 (26:10):
I'm 36 okay, so I'm older than you, but I mean we're
around close enough age towhere, yes, boxing was the only
thing people used to pack barsbars for Tyson fights and shit
like that and that was a bigdeal.
But then what happened?
Turned into a shit show I mean,don King is a fucking scumbag
of all scumbags and then it gotwatered down and now there's you
know so many different titlesand this and that Are there some
(26:31):
tough ass dudes still boxing?
Absolutely.
But I just think it's gottenpulled in the wrong directions,
as you can see.
I mean, go to a local boxingevent usually subpar anymore,
you know it's because no onereally cares.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Mma is taking over, but MMA is kind of going to
probably start heading that samedirection too, unfortunately,
do you think?
That's just the nature of whathappens with combat sports, like
with what happens with boxingnow, seeing the mixed martial
arts kind of start to head thatdirection, do you think?
Speaker 2 (27:05):
that's kind of like the end all be all for for
combat sports.
So does every empire crash?
Is that what you're askingEssentially?
Yeah, um, I don't think it hasto.
I think if you don't learn fromyour past mistakes.
But also, you know, we're in ageneration of everyone wants
everything now, so everyonewants these demands and you know
(27:26):
, if you've done one, you got todo the other.
It's kind of it's veryself-destructing.
I think combat sports arebecoming self-destructive.
The monopoly's there, it's beenthere but self-destructive.
The monopoly's there, it's beenthere, but then even the
monopoly's going to dropeventually.
It sucks.
I think a lot of things arewrong with combat sports.
I think if you're in the UFC,you should be getting healthcare
(27:46):
Now do I know Dana does a lotof nice shit for people?
Yes, absolutely.
There's a lot that he does do,but there's a lot that he
doesn't do.
Yeah, it's greed.
Greed is the enemy and that'skind of where it's headed.
I hope it doesn't.
I hope that it changes.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
But yeah, I do too.
The signs are there that it'snot right, I see where you come
from and I'm with you.
I hope I hope it doesn't.
My wife and I look forward toSaturday night fight nights with
the UFC.
I'm the one who got her intocombat sports.
(28:23):
When we met, I was watching oldUFC events and she never really
knew what it was.
Now she's with me on the couchevery Saturday as we look
forward to fight nights andgetting to watch that.
It's something that we enjoyfor sure and I hope that doesn't
get taken away.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
No, I don't know that it would be in the super near
future, but you know, it's on avery, very it's on the up and
the money is there and I justthink the money could be used to
a little bit better to protectthe fighters.
The fighters do absolutely needpaid.
You know, if some peoplerealize what some of these
fighters were making in the past, you know like, you know here's
(29:10):
your $3,000.
Like what?
So yeah, I mean, I think it.
It probably will fail.
I hope that it doesn't.
I hope that mistakes arecorrected from you know things
that we've seen in the past.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
Yeah, I hope you're you're right on that.
And yeah, I mean, do you seeanything coming up for upgraded
uh industries up there, uh, anynew fighters coming up or any
fights that you guys have thatare that are coming up that you
kind of want to get out therefor everybody?
Speaker 2 (29:46):
Um, well, um, both of my guys that had title fights
I'm not going to say their namesbecause of the other promoters
um, are in, you know, innegotiations, but both of my
guys that had scheduled titlefights uh now have no opponents,
gotcha.
So that's neat.
Um, for one of them it's been aconsistent problem.
(30:07):
We're just trying to find themfights, uh, and it's just not
happening.
Um, yeah, kind of sucks.
Um, we do get some new talent inand we have some smaller guys
that I'm looking forward to withsome college wrestling
experience.
We never had too many like one,35 years.
We've got a new kid and he'sreally tough.
I'm not going to say his nameyet, but you'll see him, I like
(30:28):
him, I think he's got, I thinkhe's got a hell of a potential.
I don't know if he's reallymean yet, but we'll find out.
He has Zippy, has that mainstreak in him yet.
Yeah, yeah, we get some kidsthat come in, you know.
But again, like theconversation we had earlier,
everyone wants to do it untilthey realize what it entails and
at the level of which we expect.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
So I gotcha, absolutely.
I definitely understand that.
I know the fight game is kindof like you know I don't want to
say the comedy game, but I meanit is With shows can be few and
far between it could be bookedfor a show and then the next
minute it gets pulled out fromunderneath you.
You're not sure why, but ithappens a lot more than people
(31:10):
think.
I've had to, you know, refundticket prices for people that
went on and pre-bought ticketsbecause uh, got pulled out from
underneath me and then you know,then what do you do?
Speaker 2 (31:23):
you're kind of in scramble mode and I think it it
builds character for sure yeah,you know, and there's, just like
I always try to say, that godhas a plan, and you know, and
every time that these guys get afight pulled from them, I just
feel like, all right, well,that's more time that we have to
work on this Cause.
Nobody's perfect and we allhave the areas to work on and
they all have different areas towork on, right?
(31:43):
So then you know, we do focuson those, but there's there's a
time and a place to where youneed to have that.
You need to have that dressrehearsal, right, the amateurs,
that's the dress rehearsal.
But you need to have thatbecause you need to know what
it's like.
You know like, for instance,like my, my sons, before they
wrestle their season, I makethem wrestle 60 preseason
(32:04):
matches at least.
Now it was this past year wasprobably doubled Um, but cause,
by the time that they get towhere it matters, there's no
thinking, it's just reacting.
This is what we do, right?
So, while I do utilize the timethat these guys get fights
pulled from them, I also missthat dress rehearsal with them,
which they need equally as well.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Yeah, it's, it's definitely a catch 22 on that
one.
You know cause you need that,that Matt time, we'll call it in
that cage time, uh, fighting.
But you also need, you know,the training time to hone in on
the skills.
So it's definitely a goodbalance that you need to find,
for sure.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Yeah.
So we have a lot of our guys.
We have them, you know, competein grappling as well as boxing
and MMA and kickboxing.
We kind of try to throw them ineverything because you know,
like for these instances it justagain now happened shit gets
pulled out from us.
Well, all right, well, let's gotake this and let's stay active
, let's keep doing this.
All right, let's work on thisarea of our game, you know.
(33:05):
And then you know, in thatsense it's almost like a relief
for some of them because it'slike all right, well, I'm not
doing mma right now, I'm onlyfocusing and competing in this
area of mma, so let's just go dothis.
So you know, we make it work,but it still still sucks.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Yeah, no, I definitely get it.
It definitely sucks when youget something pulled from me,
especially when you're pumped upand you're ready to go for that
for sure.
But, DJ, we are running downhere near the end of the episode
.
I got to get this last segmentin before we round out the show
here and that is the Fast FittyFive.
(33:38):
Five random questions from thewonderful manager of the podcast
, Johnny Fitty Falcone, andthese are kind of rapid fire,
but you can elaborate if youneed to.
And, DJ, these have nothing todo with what we've been talking
about for the entirety of thisshow what you're saying.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
we're about to get a little weird.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
It's going to get really weird.
I'll tell you this.
And he sent these to me today.
Entirety of uh, you're sayingwe're about to get a little
weird.
It's gonna get really weird.
I'll tell you this.
And he sent these to me today.
So, uh, this is gonna be.
He never sends these to me tillthe day we record.
He does not want me to see himeither.
So it's it's a shock for all ofus and it's a nice fun way that
we're gonna end the show.
So if you are ready, we'll getstarted I'm ready when you are
all righty question numberShould you wash your hair first
(34:18):
or last in the shower?
First, first, 100% on that one?
Yeah, definitely first.
Question number two Is hotsauce on steak a real thing?
Speaker 2 (34:31):
I mean, yeah, but that's got to be a shitty steak,
that's a terrible steak.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
Now I pride myself on my steak.
You put hot sauce on my steak.
I'll punch you in the throat.
Question number three Best dayto cut grass is One where it's
dry, because, as of latelythat's been never.
Yeah, I have a jungle in mybackyard and there's no dry days
(34:56):
to do it, so I definitelyunderstand that for sure.
Question number four harder jobprofessional roofer or
professional plumber?
Speaker 2 (35:06):
I know both and billy's gonna be pissed at me.
But professional roofer, thatroofing jobs suck yeah, yeah, we
, just we, yeah yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
I know a couple roofers.
That's not a fun job, for sure.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
That's a brutal job, man.
Those guys are nuts.
They deserve to drink two casesof beer a day 100%, 100%.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
And last question here what is the most
comfortable pair of shoes?
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Vans, my checkered vans, bro.
Everyone will tell you, Ialways rock those.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
I haven't heard of v bands in a long time.
That's so old school.
I love it For sure.
Oh, but DJ, that was a fast 85.
I feel like you took it alittle easy on you on those ones
, because he definitely comes upwith some weird questions for
sure.
With that, and he I mean heasked me, he texts me these
questions all the time and it'sjust literally him asking me
(35:59):
these questions like deadserious, and it's just the way
his mind works and we love itand it's a fun way for us to
kind of round out the episode,for sure.
But, dj, I do give every guestthis opportunity at the end of
every show.
If there's anything else youwant to get out there, anything
you want to promote, whetherit's your gym, any of your
(36:19):
fighters, anything like that, orif it's even just a good
message, I'll give you about aminute and the floor is yours.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
June 7th Cage Grappling at our place.
Come check it out.
Upgradedindustriescom.
June 28th Golf Outing.
All the funds go tounderprivileged kids that cannot
afford to enter wrestlingtournaments or get uniforms.
I will buy them for them out ofthat fund.
Uh, chris Tragy has a titlefight.
Ron is supposedly supposed tohave a title fight Um June and
(36:46):
July made men as well, as Ican't remember the other
promotion, I apologize.
Other than that, come check usout.
Thank you for having me on theshow, my man.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
Hey, not a problem at all, DJ.
Thank you for joining.
That was a lot.
It's a lot of fun to kind ofround out the group there and
upgraded industries and get youon here.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
Now the weirdness makes sense, right?
Speaker 1 (37:07):
It does.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
Dude, the guys were awesome.
You're awesome.
I'm going to definitely befollowing you guys.
I follow everybody that comeson this show, no matter what
they are, and I love watchingyour careers progress and I
can't wait to see what you andUpgraded do with all the talent
that you have there.
But that is going to do it forthis week's episode of the Ride
(37:30):
Home Rants podcast.
Again, I want to thank my guest, dj Yakabuchi, for joining the
show.
As always, if you enjoyed theshow, 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 will see y'all next week.
Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride Home
Rants podcast.
This is, as always, your host,mike Bonham.
I have a great guest for ustoday.
He is going to round outeveryone that we have talked to
up at Upgraded Industries.
He is the owner of the gym upthere and that is DJ Iacobucci.
Joins the show.
Dj, thanks for joining, brother.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Absolutely.
Thanks for having me on my man.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Hey, not a problem at all.
Like I said earlier, we've hadall the fighters on, starting
with Tony the Latin assassintoward Lisi, went through a lot
of your coaches, so it's nice tofinally get the man behind
everything here.
Upgraded industries there theman of many hats, some of which
I don't want to wear, I suppose.
As most business owners wouldtell you.
(00:44):
That's typical for sure, havinga bunch of hats to wear that
you don't want to wear.
But, first and foremost, how doyou balance?
I believe you have two youngboys yourself.
How do you balance the dad lifewith everything else that's
going on with the gym?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
I actually have identical twins and they wrestle
all over the country.
They're very, very, very, verygood.
You know, in the recent yearsI've been lucky to have Billy
and to have Luke and to have,you know, now, tony, since he's
retired, stepping onto thecoaching staff, because now I
have the availability that allof my sons are a little bit
older to be able to go away anddo things with them.
So those guys are clutch for me.
(01:19):
Like I said, you know the manin many hats.
It's a role.
It's hard, you know, but I haveto prioritize.
Obviously you know my kids comefirst before anything, even
before my business.
So you know I try to prioritizethat.
But if you know, if it's arandom tournament my sons are
wrestling in and one of my guysgot a title fight, I'm going to
the title fight and my boysunderstand you know.
(01:39):
So it's a certain days, certaintimes, that guys just know you,
certain days, certain times,that guys just know you know I
won't be there, but they knowwhat's expected and obviously
you see by the results theylisten pretty well.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Absolutely.
I was at Tony's title fightthere in Mountaineer.
It's kind of how we gotconnected.
It was great to see him, youknow, win the title, even though
he did retire right after that.
But you know it was still anawesome fight after that.
But you know, it was still anawesome fight and for someone
who says he doesn't have thatgood of hands, I think he's the
most modest of the guys thatI've talked to from there, cause
(02:10):
I believe he got that win byknockout, if I, if my memory
serves me correctly, you know,and that whole thing of of him
not having hands got started byone of his bitter opponents.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
You know, tony shouldn't even take him the one
fight he took, you know, we toldhim not to.
The doctors told him not to.
He was like six months off ofgetting the ACL repair and, dude
, he's just a stubborn,tough-ass Mexican.
So we gutted it out, you know,and the kid bitched about, you
know.
Oh, he just wrestled me.
He doesn't have hands.
I assure you.
Tony, when I was fighting, wasmy number one training partner
for a long time and we, yeah, wethrew down quite a bit.
(02:42):
So he absolutely has hands, butyou know, he's never had to
really show them and I think hislast one.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
His way out, he said, all right, well, let's just
silence the talk.
What a way to go out with aknockout victory, to win the
title Right For sure.
But like I said in theinterview, you are the owner of
Upgraded Industries.
You know, tell the listenersabout you, know that, you know
how you got there and how yougot started with that business.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
So I started my.
I started as a personaltraining business as I was a
young firefighter.
Basically, I was kind ofgetting hosed in my divorce and
you can only work so many jobsbefore you know you're just,
you're never getting ahead.
So I started a personaltraining company and then I grew
that into the gym.
Well, before all that, I hadfought.
I fought through Strong Style.
(03:29):
I fought through Leo Kegelvick,who's my boxing coach.
He's, you know, coaches Lukenow.
So I had been fighting for years, I've been wrestling for years
and that was my passion.
And I couldn't get back to mypassion just yet, just yet.
So I, you know, I retired fromfire service and I concentrated
heavily on building the gym.
I got the fitness center sidegoing and then that basically
(03:50):
started funding all the stuffthat was my passion, which was
MMA, jujitsu, the wrestling, allthat, and that's kind of how it
all started coming together.
It was, it was a lot.
You know, it was kind of one ofthose sink or swim situations
because I resigned from the firedepartment and I dumped my
pension into the gym.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
That's betting on yourself.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
That's either saying I'm going to be poor or this is
going to work.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Absolutely.
I get it, man, as a comedianmyself.
There's that whole sink or swimtype of mentality that you have
to have, like, if I don't haveshows, I mean I'm not, you know,
signed by an agency or anything.
I don't have a manager, I don'thave an agent or anything like
that.
So if I don't have shows andI'm not getting paid for comedy,
it's all on me and it's kind oflike taking the leap of faith
(04:41):
and, you know, leaving the fireservice to chase your dream and
chase your passion, which iskudos to you.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
I give anybody credit that's willing to chase down
something that they'repassionate about for sure.
Tell everyone it's a terrifyingfirst step, but once you do it,
you'll never look back, right.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Absolutely so.
Have you always been a combatsports fan or did you kind of
like wrestle growing up oranything like that?
So like, how did you get intointo the fight scene?
Speaker 2 (05:09):
So I grew up wrestling and I was.
I was little, I used to be alittle dude, so I got picked on
and I used to just scrap, I getin fights and I did fairly well.
I had a little bit of a youknow not so great upbringing,
but it is what it is.
I stayed enough out of troublethat I could still wrestle.
(05:31):
I love wrestling, I wasobsessed with it.
I didn't have the means that mysons have now, so you know my
wrestling career was lackluster.
So after that I decided well, Iwant to get into MMA.
I remember watching like theoriginal UFC tapes from like
Blockbuster Video.
I remember watching theoriginal UFC tapes from
Blockbuster Video.
I remember seeing the CanadianMounties busted in and I was
like, oh my god, I love thisshit.
So I just started training.
(05:53):
Ironically enough, I ran intosome dudes I knew that were just
starting to dabble in Jiu-Jitsu.
I was a short, stocky, explosivewrestler and they were all tall
grapplers.
Dude, let's learn this stuff.
It was cool.
I started wrestler and they'reall tall grapplers.
So, dude, let's learn thisstuff.
Um, it was cool.
Um, I started getting it afterhigh school.
Thought quite a bit and I kindof went semi-retire, when I had
(06:14):
my sons came back for a few Um,and then I just that was it.
I've always loved it.
Um, you know, took karate as akid, boxing all that stuff.
I just was always obsessed withsome sort of martial arts and
some sort of like structure andschedule, um, along with like
the weight lifting and all thatstuff.
You know, being strong was cool, but being strong and being a
total badass was even better.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
100 yeah, I uh, I took uh martial arts when I was,
you know, teenager and all that.
I talked about it with all theall the fighters.
I got a black belt in taekwondo.
Probably should have stuck withit, but it was as a 15 year old
.
You get that one tough lossthat I had and it shook me right
out of the fight game for sure.
(06:53):
But after it was fight number29 and I was 28-0 at that point
in time and ended up finishingout 28-1 and that was the last
fight for me because I gotknocked out and I did not like
that feeling that was at 15,took a shot right to the ego and
(07:14):
you know just go.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
death is the best thing that can happen to a man,
though you don't really trulyfind out who you are until your
ego can die.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Oh yeah, and it helps me today as a a comedian
because you know, I I gotknocked out at a big uh
taekwondo tournament in front ofprobably a thousand people, and
well, you know, we all beenthere, we all lost in front of
our family and friends, shit thebed, you know right and it's
now.
It's just like okay, if I bombon stage like who who gives a
(07:41):
shit, I've been knocked out infront of thousands of people
like who cares, and it justhelps me push forward in in the
comedy career in martial artsand having that um discipline to
stick after it after, uh, 13years of doing it and still
being considered an up-and-comer.
Uh, so you know, it's not forthe, for the faint of heart for
(08:02):
sure, like I'm sure the thefight game is it, because I
think people just think like, oh, you get a black belt, you're
automatically a pro fighter.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
It's like no, you have to go through the amateur
scene, you know, prettyextensively, you have to clear
house before you're going to getyou know, if you want to be a
legitimate pro, you have to beatevery top amateur and top
everything around.
You got to win everything untilthere's no more to win as an
amateur.
You know that's the one thingthat I tell my guys.
You know they're required tohave three belts before they go
pro.
Three different organizations,preferably.
(08:30):
Tony.
You know it was a differentstory.
We just kept getting you knowwe weren't going to turn them
down.
It is what it is.
But yeah, you should becleaning out the amateur ranks
Before you decide to go pro.
I think a lot of these new agekids they rush to turn pro um,
and it's just not.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
They need to not right, yeah, and you know, like
I said before, you know we'vehad, you know, a lot of your
coaches and fighters on.
How did you find these guys?
These guys are phenomenal, howdid you find them?
And they are.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
You know, it's like it's our own merry band of
misfits.
Um, it's like dysfunctionalfamily that you can't help but
love.
So, dude, every one of themended up being like a training
situation.
So back in my old gym onSundays, we used to scrap so we
would wrestle.
Dude, we had like the lowestranking kid in our room at that
(09:21):
point at that time was JacobLagoa, who was like a
16-year-old kid, which I don'tknow if you're familiar with,
jacob, but he's cleaning up thescene right now and grappling at
MMA.
Kid's a beast.
He was a beast at like 16.
He was a multiple-time statechamp.
But anyways, we would wrestleon Sundays for like two, three
hours.
We would just get any dudes whowould come in that viewed good
and we would scrap.
Well, brought Tony in and I waslike, oh man, this kid can
(09:42):
fucking wrestle, all right.
So him and I were scrappingback and forth a couple weeks he
just ended up becoming boys.
He's probably one of my bestfriends, on top of being one of
my best fighters.
He's a good dude.
He's a little out there, butyou got to be the dude we do you
kind of have to be to be afighter.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
You kind of can't be this even-keeled guy if you're
going to be about.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
I haven't seen one yet yeah, most people don't say,
hey, this, this guy that'strained to kick my ass, I'm
gonna lock myself in a cage withthem, you know.
You know, it's not a, it's nota normal thought, I suppose.
Um, and then, billy, I met um,I was getting ready for fights
and I needed someone thatactually had good stand-up.
Um, we used to do this thing inmy old again the old place, but
(10:29):
it was around like the COVIDera.
So we had like a secret fightclub, because I defied all that
bullshit.
Um, so guys would come in and wewould spar and that's, there
was nothing else to do.
So we'd have guys there, we'dbe sparring for two, three hours
.
Um, billy came in and him and Icould flow really well, he
moved good and I was like, ohshit, it's like I like this dude
, um.
So I had always had him in mymind.
(10:50):
And then, when I move into thenew place and I realized, well,
this place is double the size ofthe other one, how am I gonna
manage?
He was the first and the onlyperson I called um to come over
and help me with the strikingprogram and then, inevitably, I
just gave it to him because hedeserves it.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Yeah, I mean after after talking to to Billy, you
know he's definitely I couldjust, you know, tell what his
passion and how he talked abouthow he trains his fighters and
everything like that, and evenhow he talked about Tony, you
know, getting them ready forthat last title fight at
Mountaineer.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
You know it, you have a good one in your striking
coach there and I absolutely do,and sometimes I got to remind
the guys that because they givehim shit, because he expects a
lot and you know what he shouldyeah, yeah, I mean, every good
coach should expect that youknow the best out of all their
fighters.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
That that's.
That's always been a mindset ofmine absolutely yeah, like I, I
don't understand people thatjust when they have this, oh
well, they're pushing me harder,so they obviously don't like me
.
No, it means they like you morethan you think.
It's because they're pushingyou to see what you can't see
yourself.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
I used to tell the young guys in the fire service I
said, hey, you don't got toever worry about if we like you
or not, unless we stop talkingto you.
Yeah, because then when we stopgiving a shit, then you're done
.
And that goes the same withcoaches.
You know, I've, you know I'vehad my, my instances where I
want to grab some of these guysand choke them, but they also
(12:18):
have to take a step back andrealize how I was at some of
their ages as well.
You know.
So I'm persistent, but mypersistence only goes so far.
I can't make you do everythingyou know, and I don't hold hands
and I refuse.
You make you do everything youknow and I don't hold hands and
I refuse.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
You're expected to get the workload done, and if
you don't, that's on you, man,right?
Yeah, I mean that that's how itshould be.
I think you, you should haveyour training regimen in place.
These guys should be, you know,mature enough and disciplined
enough to be able to do it ontheir own, without having
somebody standing over theirshoulders and watching every
move that they make.
I love that attitude.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Unfortunately, the new age, a lot of these.
They do need their hands heldand that's just.
You know, maybe there's peoplethat can do that.
I just I don't.
That's just not how I do things, not even with my youth
wrestlers.
You know, I don't.
There's no level of which Ibaby people.
That just doesn't do that.
There's people of disservice inthe real world.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
It really does.
Absolutely, I think that.
But being the fighter andwatching all the fights, you
know that you have, and growingup in the fight game.
What are your thoughts on someof the all-time old greats?
Speaker 2 (13:30):
of the UFC, like Ken Shamrock, dan the Beast around,
and Roy Gracie I'm going tocatch a lot of shit for this
because of his current metalmental state.
Bj Penn was my dog Dude.
Baby J was the man Like.
That was my favorite fighter.
That was a dude that I was likeI want to be like that guy, you
know.
Now not so much, but no, thathe was.
(13:52):
That was the guy that I thoughtwas a true pioneer.
Matt Hughes I actually got, um,the pleasure of training with
Hughes out at the military camp.
I went out there many, many,many years ago.
Um, that was awesome.
Hughes, bj St Pierre those werethe dudes.
Um, you know, gracie was aninnovator.
Yes, I, just, I have my ownthoughts on on all of them.
(14:12):
Um, he was the innovator.
Yes, I, just, I have my ownthoughts on all of them.
He was an innovator.
He was the only one that wasdoing jiu-jitsu and per se
jiu-jitsu versus the catchwrestling which the Shamrock
Brothers were doing.
They were great.
It wasn't really intriguing tome.
I liked Tank Abbott because hewas nuts and just wanted to
throw down.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
But BJ Penn was the first true mixed martial artist
that I was like this dude's theshit.
Yeah, I think GSP is what didit for me.
George St Pierre, watching himfight and coming up and just the
way he went about the fightgame was a little bit different
than most guys.
They just wanted to stand andbang in the middle of the
octagon.
Well, that's entertaining.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
It is entertaining, but you know what?
The longevity of your career isnot such.
You know you can't, you can'tbe getting punched in the head
time and time and time again andexpect a solid quality of life.
You know, right.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Absolutely, and I think he had a you know a
different approach to it.
And what blew my mind too, aswell as the learn that Joe Rogan
actually taught him hisspinning back kick- yes.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
On a punching bag in a gym yes.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Just fucking around too, that's what's awesome it
blows my mind and people don'tgive Joe Rogan the credit that
he deserves for being themartial artist that he actually
is.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
I would not want to fight Joe Rogan.
I've seen videos of him justmurdering a tie bag and you know
you watch him roll.
He's good, you know.
I just think that's someonethat also.
You know, there's people thatcan be a complete badass but
they don't want to fight andthat's fine.
You know, fighting is not foreverybody.
There's a mental side of itthat some people just don't want
(15:48):
to endure themselves in andthen that's and that's okay.
You know, and that's where Ithink a lot of the young
fighters they need to figurethat out.
Some guys think they want tofight and then they learn oh, I
don't want to really fight.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Yeah, I think everyone thinks they want to
because of the popularity of theUFC and mixed martial arts now
and then they get hit in theface once and it kind of deters
them from what, correct?
Speaker 2 (16:12):
like the old, the old tyson line.
Everyone's got a plan untilthey get punched in the face.
But that's, that's very true.
I mean, you know, I, I alwaystell my guys you guys have no
idea how nice you have it backin the day.
Um, uh, I trained a strongstyle.
I was trained with stipe andjoe highland and forest pets,
jeff cox, like all all theCleveland OGs that were just
(16:34):
absolute murderers.
The way that Marcus had ustrain sometimes wasn't the most
conventional, but it made youtough as hell, my guys.
Now obviously we do somesmarter things, but there's a
time and a place for thetoughness.
Yeah, I mean it's.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Yeah, I mean it's a different game, but I gotta ask
you guys ever settle any likelittle uh debates in the octagon
in the training gym?
Like if you're having a debatewith tony or anything like, all
right, let's wrestle for it.
You know what I mean?
Like that's just this, let'sget on the mat.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
We endlessly talk shit to each other.
That's like we have a groupchat where literally we'll just
all talk shit to each other.
That's like we have a groupchat where literally, we'll just
all talk shit to each other allday long.
So it's on at site anytime.
All the time you could be inmid-conversation with somebody
else.
The next thing, you know, yourfeet are going over your head
and you're getting slammed.
So or you're talking, you justget a leg kicked.
(17:31):
You know it's.
You know, but it's good, it's.
We bust balls.
Like I say, it's adysfunctional frat house full of
dudes that are pretty toughwith a lot of tattoos that's
awesome.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
That's that's phenomenal.
That's that's a phenomenalworkplace.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
I mean, for the most part we don't really have.
I mean, there's never been toomany beefs.
You know we've had a couplewhere we've had to settle um,
but you know neither party wasright, they were both wrong.
But for the most part theseguys do get along pretty well.
You know there's always acompetition edge.
You know, tony and I justwrestled the other day for like
six minutes straight and neitherof us could get a takedown, wow
(18:07):
, and we both afterwards werejust exhausted and everyone's
like oh, my God, I'm like dude,there's a difference between
wrestling pace and jiu-jitsupace.
Like a hard wrestling pace forthat long is tough as shit, you
know.
But I mean the competitive edgeis always there.
I mean this is what we do, youknow, and I always tell people
so just because I don't fightanymore doesn't mean I don't
train.
I still love to train.
(18:27):
Still love to train.
Like that's just part of mylife.
And I guess that comes back tolike the gsp thing.
Gsp was a complete and totalmixed martial artist.
Whether he was ever going tofight again or not, other than
him stepping into the atka,nothing in his life was changing
.
No, he was still going to stickon those paths, he was still
going to maintain the healthylifestyle.
He's still going to do whathe's gonna do just longer in the
, in the cage, you know gettingpaid, you know hundreds of
(18:50):
thousands of dollars for itRight and he knew how to get
that longevity.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
He knew what to do and I think that's why his
career lasted as long as it did,because everybody else wanted
to be that tough brute and getthe fans excited by standing and
just throwing cautions of thewind in the middle of the
octagon.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
I can't back Chandler anymore after that last one.
I just can't, yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
I missed the fight and I'm kind of glad I did.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
A part of me died with Michael Chandler that night
, I feel, Because I was justlike no way, no way.
That guy's physical attributesand skill set that he possesses
and then just never uses blowsmy mind.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Yeah, I saw the highlights of it on SportsCenter
the next day, but it was justlike really.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Yeah, it was a pretty solid, clear-ass whooping, for
sure yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
Just from the short little couple-second clips that
I got on SportsCenter.
It was just like, yeah, he gothis ass beat the whole time,
didn't he?
Yeah, it was pretty wild towatch, yeah.
So you know, we've had a lot ofother people on this show,
athlete-wise from collegefootball players to track
athletes, soccer, baseball,basketball, you name it.
(20:10):
We've had all these formerathletes on here.
Have you ever seen any othertypes of former athletes wanting
to get into?
Speaker 2 (20:20):
MMA at your gym after their college careers are done?
Yes, so, ironically enough,with Chris, we basically have
like a Lake Erie WrestlingFeeder League.
All those wrestlers usually endup coming.
If they stay in Ohio, theyusually come and they train
jujitsu with us and some get anMMA.
Um, uh, we actually have twoDPTs inside my gym and they
train semi-pro as well as proand then upcoming high school
(20:43):
basketball players and a coupleof those guys joke, but none of
them have ever been reallyserious.
Um, we have people come in andout.
Usually they don't stay, butyou know ex football players
that are coming in big, solidheavyweights.
They'll roll for a couple ofmonths and then they'll move
away.
But majority right now it'sjust been the wrestlers.
We get a lot of collegewrestlers that after that like
what do we do?
Speaker 1 (21:04):
No, fuck MMA and jujitsu.
Yeah, I mean, I I don't knowhow that would be as a
collegiate wrestler, what to doafter that career is over,
because you still have thatinstinct to want to fight in you
.
Oh, it's compete, you stillwant to compete.
Yeah, hell, I was a swimmerfrom the time I was eight, all
(21:24):
the way through college, andeven at 36 years old, with a bum
shoulder, I still have the itchto get in the pool.
I can't anymore becauseliterally my body won't allow me
to have the itch to get in thepool.
I can't anymore becauseliterally my body won't allow me
to do what I need to do in thepool.
I still have that now.
I can only imagine at that ageOkay, well, shit.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
You've done something your whole life, all right, hey
, well, you're done.
Now, what do you mean?
I'm done?
I've practiced every day of mylife for seven days a week, two
times a day, yep, and.
And now I do what?
Speaker 1 (21:57):
yeah, that.
Uh, mine was to get on stageand make people laugh.
Apparently it was the next stepfor me, just a pull to each his
own.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Whatever works, got it got it.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
After the uh, the unfortunate shoulder injury, it
was just like, yeah, thisswimming's just not gonna happen
for me and um just became agoofball after that, apparently
um laughter is the best form ofmedicine that's what they say,
right, they say that for sure.
I I agree wholeheartedly, afterdoing it for 13 years and
hearing uh people coming up atthe shows and telling me, you
(22:31):
know they, they're having abetter day just from being at
the show and they feel betterafter being able to be made
laugh for a little bit.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
And that can be life-changing to some
individuals.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
It was, and I've told it before I've had.
One of the most rewarding showsthat I had was at North Central
Correctional Institute where wegot to perform for the inmates.
There was 400 inmates that gotto come to the show and for two
hours we got to make them laughand they came up to all of us
(23:06):
after the show and said you knowwhat?
You just gave me six moremonths of peace in here, because
I got to feel like, uh, Iwasn't locked up for two hours
and that was more rewarding thanthe pay I got for that show.
Yeah, yeah, and you know I Iwas 12 years into comedy after I
(23:27):
did that hadn't signed like asingle autograph, and I signed
400 autographs that day becauseevery single one of them came up
and were just that they wantedus to autograph something for
them, and that's why I keepdoing what I'm doing, because
people are like oh well, there'snot a lot of money in comedy to
start out with.
I don't give a shit about themoney right now.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
So many people chase money and that's why the world's
so sad.
You know money is the root ofall fucking evil.
It really is.
Yeah, you know passion shoulddrive things.
You know passion doesn't paythe bills I get.
I'm a realist, but you know, ifyou're so focused it's money.
Usually it's fucked from theget-go 100% 100%.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
I definitely agree with that wholeheartedly, do I
know?
If I keep doing what I'm doing,the money will eventually come,
yeah, so I'll just take my timeand it'll come when it comes.
But that being said, you knowthere's a lot of great promoters
out there, in both the fightgame and comedy too, as well.
(24:26):
But do you think Dana White isone of the best pro sports
promoter that you've seen lately?
Speaker 2 (24:31):
well, I used to defend Dana heavily, Um and
anymore it seems like the lastfive years, UFC has done a lot
of things that give me boxingvibes.
Uh, the reason boxing died isbecause of so many promoters, um
, and executives and just no,you know, legitimacy in the
(24:54):
belts and just the money wateredit down and I feel like the UFC
is headed that way and it kindof sucks.
Yeah, I'm a huge UFC fan.
Uh, you know, just even as ofrecently, the whole shit with
John Jones, like you know, Idon't know man, I asked, but
I'll sit on the shelf, they'renot paying him for it.
You know, whether it's to sellfights or not, Time is our enemy
(25:22):
, man, especially if you're anMMA.
It's tricky to go awry and yourbody can only hold out for so
long.
I don't know.
I think.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Dana White's kind of a piece of shit right now.
If I'm being honest, that'swhat we look for on this show is
total honesty.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Hopefully that doesn't affect any of my guys in
the future.
I think he's making somequestionable choices that I
don't necessarily care for, buthe's a multi-billionaire, so hey
, what the fuck do I know right.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
Right, it is what it is, you know.
I mean, everyone's allowed tohave their opinion.
That's the beauty of thecountry that we live in.
For sure is that, like I said,said I'm a huge ufc fan.
Um, I kind of see where you'recoming from with that, with, uh,
it turning into boxing, becauseI was a big boxing fan growing
up, because that was like theeverybody was right, that was
(26:09):
the original.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
How old?
Speaker 1 (26:10):
are you?
Speaker 2 (26:10):
I'm 36 okay, so I'm older than you, but I mean we're
around close enough age towhere, yes, boxing was the only
thing people used to pack barsbars for Tyson fights and shit
like that and that was a bigdeal.
But then what happened?
Turned into a shit show I mean,don King is a fucking scumbag
of all scumbags and then it gotwatered down and now there's you
know so many different titlesand this and that Are there some
(26:31):
tough ass dudes still boxing?
Absolutely.
But I just think it's gottenpulled in the wrong directions,
as you can see.
I mean, go to a local boxingevent usually subpar anymore,
you know it's because no onereally cares.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Mma is taking over, but MMA is kind of going to
probably start heading that samedirection too, unfortunately,
do you think?
That's just the nature of whathappens with combat sports, like
with what happens with boxingnow, seeing the mixed martial
arts kind of start to head thatdirection, do you think?
Speaker 2 (27:05):
that's kind of like the end all be all for for
combat sports.
So does every empire crash?
Is that what you're askingEssentially?
Yeah, um, I don't think it hasto.
I think if you don't learn fromyour past mistakes.
But also, you know, we're in ageneration of everyone wants
everything now, so everyonewants these demands and you know
(27:26):
, if you've done one, you got todo the other.
It's kind of it's veryself-destructing.
I think combat sports arebecoming self-destructive.
The monopoly's there, it's beenthere but self-destructive.
The monopoly's there, it's beenthere, but then even the
monopoly's going to dropeventually.
It sucks.
I think a lot of things arewrong with combat sports.
I think if you're in the UFC,you should be getting healthcare
(27:46):
Now do I know Dana does a lotof nice shit for people?
Yes, absolutely.
There's a lot that he does do,but there's a lot that he
doesn't do.
Yeah, it's greed.
Greed is the enemy and that'skind of where it's headed.
I hope it doesn't.
I hope that it changes.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
But yeah, I do too.
The signs are there that it'snot right, I see where you come
from and I'm with you.
I hope I hope it doesn't.
My wife and I look forward toSaturday night fight nights with
the UFC.
I'm the one who got her intocombat sports.
(28:23):
When we met, I was watching oldUFC events and she never really
knew what it was.
Now she's with me on the couchevery Saturday as we look
forward to fight nights andgetting to watch that.
It's something that we enjoyfor sure and I hope that doesn't
get taken away.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
No, I don't know that it would be in the super near
future, but you know, it's on avery, very it's on the up and
the money is there and I justthink the money could be used to
a little bit better to protectthe fighters.
The fighters do absolutely needpaid.
You know, if some peoplerealize what some of these
fighters were making in the past, you know like, you know here's
(29:10):
your $3,000.
Like what?
So yeah, I mean, I think it.
It probably will fail.
I hope that it doesn't.
I hope that mistakes arecorrected from you know things
that we've seen in the past.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
Yeah, I hope you're you're right on that.
And yeah, I mean, do you seeanything coming up for upgraded
uh industries up there, uh, anynew fighters coming up or any
fights that you guys have thatare that are coming up that you
kind of want to get out therefor everybody?
Speaker 2 (29:46):
Um, well, um, both of my guys that had title fights
I'm not going to say their namesbecause of the other promoters
um, are in, you know, innegotiations, but both of my
guys that had scheduled titlefights uh now have no opponents,
gotcha.
So that's neat.
Um, for one of them it's been aconsistent problem.
(30:07):
We're just trying to find themfights, uh, and it's just not
happening.
Um, yeah, kind of sucks.
Um, we do get some new talent inand we have some smaller guys
that I'm looking forward to withsome college wrestling
experience.
We never had too many like one,35 years.
We've got a new kid and he'sreally tough.
I'm not going to say his nameyet, but you'll see him, I like
(30:28):
him, I think he's got, I thinkhe's got a hell of a potential.
I don't know if he's reallymean yet, but we'll find out.
He has Zippy, has that mainstreak in him yet.
Yeah, yeah, we get some kidsthat come in, you know.
But again, like theconversation we had earlier,
everyone wants to do it untilthey realize what it entails and
at the level of which we expect.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
So I gotcha, absolutely.
I definitely understand that.
I know the fight game is kindof like you know I don't want to
say the comedy game, but I meanit is With shows can be few and
far between it could be bookedfor a show and then the next
minute it gets pulled out fromunderneath you.
You're not sure why, but ithappens a lot more than people
(31:10):
think.
I've had to, you know, refundticket prices for people that
went on and pre-bought ticketsbecause uh, got pulled out from
underneath me and then you know,then what do you do?
Speaker 2 (31:23):
you're kind of in scramble mode and I think it it
builds character for sure yeah,you know, and there's, just like
I always try to say, that godhas a plan, and you know, and
every time that these guys get afight pulled from them, I just
feel like, all right, well,that's more time that we have to
work on this Cause.
Nobody's perfect and we allhave the areas to work on and
they all have different areas towork on, right?
(31:43):
So then you know, we do focuson those, but there's there's a
time and a place to where youneed to have that.
You need to have that dressrehearsal, right, the amateurs,
that's the dress rehearsal.
But you need to have thatbecause you need to know what
it's like.
You know like, for instance,like my, my sons, before they
wrestle their season, I makethem wrestle 60 preseason
(32:04):
matches at least.
Now it was this past year wasprobably doubled Um, but cause,
by the time that they get towhere it matters, there's no
thinking, it's just reacting.
This is what we do, right?
So, while I do utilize the timethat these guys get fights
pulled from them, I also missthat dress rehearsal with them,
which they need equally as well.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Yeah, it's, it's definitely a catch 22 on that
one.
You know cause you need that,that Matt time, we'll call it in
that cage time, uh, fighting.
But you also need, you know,the training time to hone in on
the skills.
So it's definitely a goodbalance that you need to find,
for sure.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Yeah.
So we have a lot of our guys.
We have them, you know, competein grappling as well as boxing
and MMA and kickboxing.
We kind of try to throw them ineverything because you know,
like for these instances it justagain now happened shit gets
pulled out from us.
Well, all right, well, let's gotake this and let's stay active
, let's keep doing this.
All right, let's work on thisarea of our game, you know.
(33:05):
And then you know, in thatsense it's almost like a relief
for some of them because it'slike all right, well, I'm not
doing mma right now, I'm onlyfocusing and competing in this
area of mma, so let's just go dothis.
So you know, we make it work,but it still still sucks.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Yeah, no, I definitely get it.
It definitely sucks when youget something pulled from me,
especially when you're pumped upand you're ready to go for that
for sure.
But, DJ, we are running downhere near the end of the episode
.
I got to get this last segmentin before we round out the show
here and that is the Fast FittyFive.
(33:38):
Five random questions from thewonderful manager of the podcast
, Johnny Fitty Falcone, andthese are kind of rapid fire,
but you can elaborate if youneed to.
And, DJ, these have nothing todo with what we've been talking
about for the entirety of thisshow what you're saying.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
we're about to get a little weird.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
It's going to get really weird.
I'll tell you this.
And he sent these to me today.
Entirety of uh, you're sayingwe're about to get a little
weird.
It's gonna get really weird.
I'll tell you this.
And he sent these to me today.
So, uh, this is gonna be.
He never sends these to me tillthe day we record.
He does not want me to see himeither.
So it's it's a shock for all ofus and it's a nice fun way that
we're gonna end the show.
So if you are ready, we'll getstarted I'm ready when you are
all righty question numberShould you wash your hair first
(34:18):
or last in the shower?
First, first, 100% on that one?
Yeah, definitely first.
Question number two Is hotsauce on steak a real thing?
Speaker 2 (34:31):
I mean, yeah, but that's got to be a shitty steak,
that's a terrible steak.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
Now I pride myself on my steak.
You put hot sauce on my steak.
I'll punch you in the throat.
Question number three Best dayto cut grass is One where it's
dry, because, as of latelythat's been never.
Yeah, I have a jungle in mybackyard and there's no dry days
(34:56):
to do it, so I definitelyunderstand that for sure.
Question number four harder jobprofessional roofer or
professional plumber?
Speaker 2 (35:06):
I know both and billy's gonna be pissed at me.
But professional roofer, thatroofing jobs suck yeah, yeah, we
, just we, yeah yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
I know a couple roofers.
That's not a fun job, for sure.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
That's a brutal job, man.
Those guys are nuts.
They deserve to drink two casesof beer a day 100%, 100%.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
And last question here what is the most
comfortable pair of shoes?
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Vans, my checkered vans, bro.
Everyone will tell you, Ialways rock those.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
I haven't heard of v bands in a long time.
That's so old school.
I love it For sure.
Oh, but DJ, that was a fast 85.
I feel like you took it alittle easy on you on those ones
, because he definitely comes upwith some weird questions for
sure.
With that, and he I mean heasked me, he texts me these
questions all the time and it'sjust literally him asking me
(35:59):
these questions like deadserious, and it's just the way
his mind works and we love itand it's a fun way for us to
kind of round out the episode,for sure.
But, dj, I do give every guestthis opportunity at the end of
every show.
If there's anything else youwant to get out there, anything
you want to promote, whetherit's your gym, any of your
(36:19):
fighters, anything like that, orif it's even just a good
message, I'll give you about aminute and the floor is yours.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
June 7th Cage Grappling at our place.
Come check it out.
Upgradedindustriescom.
June 28th Golf Outing.
All the funds go tounderprivileged kids that cannot
afford to enter wrestlingtournaments or get uniforms.
I will buy them for them out ofthat fund.
Uh, chris Tragy has a titlefight.
Ron is supposedly supposed tohave a title fight Um June and
(36:46):
July made men as well, as Ican't remember the other
promotion, I apologize.
Other than that, come check usout.
Thank you for having me on theshow, my man.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
Hey, not a problem at all, DJ.
Thank you for joining.
That was a lot.
It's a lot of fun to kind ofround out the group there and
upgraded industries and get youon here.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
Now the weirdness makes sense, right?
Speaker 1 (37:07):
It does.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
Dude, the guys were awesome.
You're awesome.
I'm going to definitely befollowing you guys.
I follow everybody that comeson this show, no matter what
they are, and I love watchingyour careers progress and I
can't wait to see what you andUpgraded do with all the talent
that you have there.
But that is going to do it forthis week's episode of the Ride
(37:30):
Home Rants podcast.
Again, I want to thank my guest, dj Yakabuchi, for joining the
show.
As always, if you enjoyed theshow, 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 will see y'all next week.
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