May 7, 2025 • 58 mins
What happens when the comfort zone becomes a cage? In this captivating conversation, boxing coach Luke Freshour reveals how stepping into the ring transforms not just fighters, but people. Having started boxing at 22—considered late by most standards—Luke's journey from losing his first three fights to becoming a two-time Golden Gloves champion offers powerful lessons in resilience that transcend the sport itself.
"Fear is excitement, it's stepping out of your comfort zone," Luke explains, sharing the psychology he now imparts to his fighters at Upgraded Industries in Cleveland. His approach to coaching goes far beyond technique, focusing on mental preparation and visualization that builds character capable of withstanding life's inevitable challenges. When he tells his fighters that "the experience of fighting is life in a 5-10 year period condensed," he's speaking from hard-earned wisdom.
Host Mike Bono brings his own perspective as both a comedian and former martial artist, creating a fascinating parallel between different forms of performance anxiety. Their discussion reveals surprising commonalities between facing an opponent in the ring and an audience on stage – both requiring the courage to fail publicly and the resilience to keep showing up. Mike's story about getting knocked out in his 29th Taekwondo match by a female opponent creates one of the episode's most authentic moments of vulnerability.
The conversation delves into practical aspects of boxing training for MMA fighters, the psychology of competition, and how combat sports build transferable confidence. From visualization techniques to reframing nervousness as energy, listeners will discover actionable insights for any challenging situation in life.
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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 Bono.
I have a great guest for ustoday.
I believe he's coming to us allthe way from Cleveland.
He is a boxing coach and it isLuke Freshour.
Joins the show, luke, thanksfor joining, man.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Thanks, my man.
Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Hey, not a problem.
So for those of my listenersthat don't know, uh, about you,
you know, tell us a little bitabout yourself.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
You know, like, where you grow up, you know high
schools and and whatnot uh, Igrew up in madison, madison ohio
, which is almost like ashtabulafar lake county yeah um was
living in payneville city in myearly 20s and uh driving all the
way the west side to box um gottired like three days a week of
that so ended up just movingout here um right in a place and
(00:48):
then ended up buying a place afew years ago.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
So I boxed out of a old angle on the west side for
uh, for all my career, you knowall right on and uh, I must say,
do you have the best flow withthe hair in in the boxing game
right now, man?
I can see it coming out of theback of the.
It's an Indian's hat.
They will always be the Indiansto me Always, always.
But you know, besides being,you know, involved in the fight
(01:14):
game, you're also a realtor.
How did you get involved inthat?
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Man, I wish I knew.
You know it's a funny story.
Like we grew up having dinnerlike a family dinner every night
and we'd answer the home phonebecause we had a home in the
early 2000s and we'd be like,hey, you know, we're having
dinner, we'll call you back.
But whenever the realtor wouldcall because my parents flipped
houses at the time they wouldtake the call and I remember
(01:40):
being like I don't know whatthis realtor is or what powers
they have, but it must besomebody pretty important.
And uh, my dad's buddy ended upgetting into real estate.
He's my broker now and uh,didn't know what I wanted to do,
so was became a real estateagent when I was like 22,
started boxing shortlythereafter.
So it was very conducive with,like, the training and uh and
(02:03):
everything else.
You know it.
It helped tremendously to havea flexible schedule.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Oh, I'm sure, with the fight game, like I wish I
had that flexible schedule.
Being a comedian, you know you,you have to find that balance
to where it's like.
This is what I want to do, butI need to make ends meet at the
same time.
Um, and realtors, for sure.
We've had a couple of realtorson the show from Up that Way.
You may know her, wendy Kunesh,was on the show.
(02:29):
Yeah, she's.
I can't remember the realestate company that she works
for Up that Way, but she's inthat area and she's been on the
show a few times.
I love talking to you because Ilove knowing the behind the
scenes, currently in a fixerupper as it is, and, um, me
(02:50):
personally, never again.
Um, because it's just onenightmare after the next with
the fixer uppers, for sure itcan be like that for sure so you
know, you know with, withboxing, and you know, uh, being
a realtor, you know how do you?
how do you balance that rightnow?
(03:10):
Cause I know realtors don'treally have a set like nine to
five, but neither does boxing,so how do you mesh the two
together?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Well, when I was training and it's almost the
same schedule, cause you're atthe gym in the evening and it
can be difficult because that'sonly the same time, you know
people could see houses normallyis at the evening time, um, but
when I was training I kind ofwake up and get my road work in
um, or do yoga, like in themorning middays, answer some
emails and then if I didn't haveshowings, you know, I was at
(03:39):
the gym boxing, probably like atleast three days a week, um,
but if I couldn't, if I had ashowing, you know I would just
make sure to get some sort ofwork in around it.
And same thing.
Now, you know I'm kind ofdialed into upgraded industries,
you know, helping out boxing,being a boxing coach there and
doing privates and stuff.
And I'm at the point now in mycareer, almost 10 years, in that
(04:02):
I can kind of pick and choose,luckily, like I could, almost 10
years, in that I can kind ofpick and choose luckily, like um
, I could kind of tell peoplelike, hey, I have a commitment
tuesdays and thursdays.
I just tell them I have anappointment, more or less, like
they don't need the specifics,um, but you know, unless push
comes to shove.
Like you know, every once in awhile I have to cancel a private
or class.
But you know there are othercoaches there billy freeman,
(04:22):
justin Salisgar great strikingcoaches.
So between the three of us, ifsomebody misses it's really no
sweat.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Yeah, we just had Billy on the show not too long
ago.
The show just aired.
I know by the time this showairs it'll be a couple of weeks
by now, but great guy to talk to, loved getting the ins and outs
of the know of the boxing worldwith him.
And you know the fight game.
I'm a huge fight game fan.
I'm a huge combat sports fan.
(04:51):
Grew up taking Taekwondo, kindof started my love of, you know,
combat sports because it reallywasn't well known.
I mean, I was a teenager.
It was, you know, the mid tolate 90s Aging myself.
I was a teenager.
It was the you know the mid tolate 90s um, aging myself, I
(05:11):
know um.
But you know, fell in love withsparring tournaments that I was
in and, uh, probably shouldhave stuck with it.
Wish I would have, uh, didn't.
But I still follow everythingthat that happens in compact
sports.
You know you being, you know, aboxing coach, you know how did
you get involved in the sport Ijust kind of always was like, uh
, into it a little bit.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
My dad never had like really formal training but he
was just kind of like a strappy,like scrappy street guy, more
or less.
So we had a lot of like gearand outbuilding, um, double bags
, heavy bags and stuff and I wasalways kind of the kid who kept
like two pairs of 16 ouncegloves in my trunk and you know
we'd like go on the wrestlingroom and like Duke it out, like
(05:53):
always playfully you know what Imean Never really like
maliciously or anything.
And then later on in like mylate teens, early twenties, you
know the boys having the beer,same thing put them on the
backyard, just like classic shit.
But a good family friend ofmine, rick Lozada.
He was a coach at Old Angle,which is now, which is now Joey
(06:15):
Maxson Powell Police AthleticLeague Gym.
We were on West 25th, now we'reon East 49th and we rent from
the Ohio Technical College butum, but you know he was just
like a family friend and I hadlike a cousin going up to old
angle at the time and I was likeman, I'd love to get in there
and see what's up.
And I was 22, definitely later,um for sure later.
(06:36):
But um, trained from 22, had myfirst fight in the golden gloves
cleveland area golden gloves in2018 at 23 years old, um, and
competed until the going glovesin 2022 and covid was in the
middle of that and I had a nursenursing injury back in that,
but ended up like 20 fights whenit was all said and done and uh
(06:56):
then yeah, so met dj because hewould come out there when he
was still competing mma, becauseanother coach at old angle, leo
keglevik, was dj striking coachat Strong Style back in the day
.
So that's just kind of how I metDJ and he hit me up probably
like three years ago when I wasstill competing.
Even I was like, hey, dude, doyou know anybody looking for
like a boxing position?
(07:17):
I was nursing a shoulderdislocation at the time location
at the time and it wasdefinitely like what I needed to
like give my body a rest, butstill like teach and be involved
, and like let it heal but stilllike be involved mentally and
explain things because, like Isaid, I was still competing at
the time yeah, I feel like covidshowed people who they really
(07:41):
are.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Uh, you know it, being a comedian, like it's.
There's, like I said, it's noset day job, no set nine to five
.
You're not like, okay, well, Igotta go to the office.
On these days it's find workwhen you can.
You know kind of like fighters,find fights when you can.
Who's willing to take the fight?
And you know we had open micsand that, and then you know
(08:04):
everything shut down.
You know no, bars, which is alot of our, that, that's our gym
.
You know, going to bars doingthe open mics, testing out jokes
, that's fine, um, but then it'slike, okay, well, we got to do
something.
I mean, we can sit here and Icould write jokes till my hands
turn purple, but until you getout, there is it funny.
(08:24):
I mean it's funny to me.
I think it's funny.
I think it's fucking hysterical, but it might not be.
And then Zoom shows became athing I didn't even know that
that's crazy.
I did like two Because it's notthey weren't my company and I
know I'm recording thisinterview via Zoom.
But it's completely differentwhen I'm trying to tell a joke
(08:46):
and they have to have the crowdmuted because, like, it just
created a feedback and I feedoff of the crowd.
I do a lot of crowd work in inmy sets and you know that had to
have happened with you guys,with fight fans and fighters.
You know not having fans at the, at the arenas to start out
(09:08):
with when everything wasstarting to get back.
You know I liked watching theUFC on TV then because you could
hear the coaches.
You know you could hear morethe instructions they were
getting.
It was cool, it was a coolaspect of that, but that wasn't
the same level of fights in myopinion, because I feel like, as
a fighter, you're feeding offof what the crowd is giving you,
(09:29):
do you?
have that and how do you trainfor that?
Speaker 2 (09:33):
well, I mean, even for my first fight, like I have
a large sphere, a lot of friends, I mean I probably like 50
people at my first fight lost.
So that's always classic, youknow.
But like um, yeah, and itreally stinks because from the
golden gloves in 2018, thegolden gloves in 2019, um, I had
eight fights.
(09:53):
So I fought eight times in ayear.
We were getting ready to goopen division.
So in amateur boxing, once youhave six to ten fights, you
could elect to go open divisionand then after that you're you
could fight in tournaments,fight dudes.
With 50 fights, 100 fights, yougo nationals and stuff, and
that was the plan.
Like, let's get 10 fights, mycut and rick was out of.
My coach was like let's boogie,like let's, let's go, let's,
(10:14):
let's travel, and uh, literallygot to my 10th and 11th fight um
, in february 2020, 2020,february 2020, and then I had a
year layoff.
I fought once during COVID in agym setting.
Again, no crowd, it was just alive stream.
So my people were having awatch party.
(10:35):
I'd say my teammates cheer meon.
You don't really hear the crowd, but you still absorb the
energy.
At least I didn't.
You know what I mean Walking upand people cheering your name.
I kind of liked it.
I'll be honest, not likefighting during COVID, because,
like it was just it was a hardspar is what it felt like
without a crowd, because a crowdbrings a lot of nerves too.
(10:56):
You know, it brings a lot ofenergy and a lot of glory when
you take the dub, but a lot ofnerves too.
So it was kind of cool.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
I get the nerves it's .
It's a little different for me.
I prefer this is going to soundso good.
I prefer the bigger crowds thanthe smaller crowds.
Smaller crowds are so tough forcomedians because laughter is
contagious.
Laughter is contagious.
You get one person that thinksit's funny and it just it's a
ripple effect.
More people start laughingbecause this part well, person
(11:27):
must be missing something.
It must be funny.
You get those small crowds andthe bombs happen.
It's tough for a comedianbecause, like I said, I feed off
the crowd and those nerves setin.
When you two or three jokes inand nobody's laughing, it's like
, ah, this is going to be arough 10 more minutes that I got
(11:49):
to be fucking up here and justnothing.
And um, I had it happen early inmy career.
And you know one of my buddieswho got me into into comedy.
He was been doing it for acouple of years and he finally
said like hey, man, um, I'mgonna tell you, you have like
two or three shows under yourbelt and you've killed at every
(12:13):
show.
Nice, it's not if you're goingto bomb, it's when you're going
to bomb, it's gonna happen.
Just prepare yourself now.
And I was like I, I don't know,dude, we've had some small
shows, we've had some big showsand I mean I bring the house
down every time.
And you know you had thatmentality, kind of like a
fighter after two or three bigwins.
(12:33):
You know you kind of get thatlike I'll take on the world
right now, I can fight anybody.
Yes and yes, I went to um it.
It brought a love-haterelationship to Youngstown, ohio
.
First, as I call it, away gamein Youngstown had a 20-minute
set.
Nobody laughed the entirety ofthe 20 minutes, the longest 20
(12:57):
minutes of my life.
And finally I was just so madat the end of it I just turned.
I said I'm Mike Bono, go fuckyourself Youngstown.
And I put the mic back in theyoung in the mike's dance or in
the crowd erupted in laughterover that that's hilarious and
it was just like that's what youguys like, okay, and from from
that show, my buddy actuallydubbed me the angry white comic,
(13:20):
from that little just outburstat the end, and 13 years later I
am still known as the angrywhite comic and it's just, it
sticks with that.
You have that like withfighters and their nicknames,
because you, we got connected,uh, via the, the latin assassin,
tony tortolisi, yeah, you know.
And fighters I love hearingfighters nicknames and how they
(13:41):
come up with that.
Um, first and foremost, did youhave a fight nickname, uh, when
you were boxing um, and how didthey come up with that?
Um, first and foremost, did youhave a fight nickname when you
were boxing Um, and how did youcome up with?
If you did?
Speaker 2 (13:50):
so, like amateur boxing, they really don't like
announce your nickname.
Um, you're lucky to get awalkout song.
Like I'm pissed.
I never got a walkout like agood, like a good venue, like a
good, um, promotional, dowalkout songs and stuff, songs
and stuff.
But uh, it's just an extralayer of planning and I've seen
how fight cards are, howstressful they are to plan, so
it's a whole other thing.
(14:10):
But, um, as far as fight name,I was kind of deemed like cool
hand, like cool hand luke, okay,so a lot of coaches.
I had a couple, had a couplecoaches called me cool hand.
Um, but it's not like not likea huge, it wasn't like a huge
thing, but like, yeah, I had acouple people call me cool hand
luke, which is like pretty young, like all right, cool, take
that yeah, absolutely so.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
How did?
How did you meet tony?
Speaker 2 (14:32):
let's get to that now um, man, how did I meet tony he
was just coming in with?
He was coming in with dj to oldangle, like years and years ago
.
You know, I probably owned tonylike eight years, um, and you
know, when dj like ended in hiscareer and stuff and didn't
fight anymore, like tony kind oflike took that torch and
started like going on, you know,and, um, I was just kind of
(14:56):
brought on to upgraded to doprivates originally, you know,
and I was like, hey, you know,I'm not interested in having a
stopwatch and like 20 women on aheavy you know heavy bags.
Like I want to teach like realboxing, and he's just like, no,
that's what I want.
Um, and then eventually thefight team just kind of started
to grow and I was like I mean,it's cool getting paid to teach
people how to box, but like Iultimately like want to work
(15:17):
with fighters.
Um, so, yeah, started workingwith tony, start cornering tony
and stuff and a lot of his.
Then they may fight Spartancountless rounds held mids for
him, countless rounds.
And yeah, for being a wrestler,his hands are sharp.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Dude, his hands are nasty.
I saw him Heavy-handed A coupleof months ago now at the
Mountaineer Casino in NorthwestVirginia.
I was at that fight.
I called that combo from hiscorner.
Were you there with him.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Were you in his corner.
He was switching.
His opponent was switchingsouthpaw.
We always won 3-2 on a southpaw.
So you jab, hook, get theoutside position, it sets up
your right hand.
And he was switching.
He was switching.
He was in southpaw when Tonykind of threw the combination,
(16:06):
but he like heard it and it wasalready in his head.
He kind of like flicked it andit kind of became like a long
hook and like an overhand rightUm clip this week.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
That was.
That was beautiful.
And I remember talking to Tony.
He was like, oh, my handsaren't that good.
I was like I, I I watched yourfight, dude.
Like like give yourself somecredit.
My guy Like that's.
And yeah, like I don't.
I don't know, like I, I knowwrestlers in MMA like want to
(16:32):
get to the ground.
You, as a boxing coach, whenyou're you're teaching boxing to
a wrestler, are you teachingthe striking to set up their
takedowns or are you trying tobe like all right, let's you.
You're gonna fight some peoplethat want to stand and they want
to stand and bang in the middleof the octagon or the ring or
whatever.
How?
Speaker 2 (16:52):
are you?
How are?
you coaching tony definitely alittle bit of both, you know.
So, like we're a wrestlingheavy gym for sure, like even
jujitsu, like we kind of deemourselves an american jujitsu
academy, like're going to bullyW and then try and choke you out
.
So I work with Chris Straggethere also, who is a 185-pound
(17:13):
local champion as well.
He's a two-time All-Americanand collegiate, so he's the man
too.
Wrestling.
A big thing is level changes.
I was big on level changes too.
And a big thing is like levelchanges.
I was, I was big on levelchanges too.
Um, feints and level changes.
You know, bringing the,bringing the guard up and then
jabbing the body.
Bringing the guard up, jabbingthe body and then eventually
shooting a takedown.
(17:33):
You know I mean overhand, youknow what I mean.
Like I'll have like chris andtony, like kind of flick the jab
, come to body and then like setup overhand and try and like
scoop positioning too.
You know what I mean angles andpositioning.
So it's like I'm like Iultimately want your jabs to be
good, your hooks, uppercuts,right hands, all that.
But I'm like I your bread andbutter.
It's to win.
And do I love it when our dudeslike, when, like or set up wins
(17:57):
from, like knockouts and shitthat I call like, yeah, like
tony doing that.
That was like probably like oneof my proudest moments not my
proudest moment, like as a coach, and like my short career.
You know, I'm 30.
So I've really only beencoaching and cornering boxers
and MMA fighters for two, threeyears.
We also had ronald costaneda umthe cuba missile crisis.
(18:19):
I called his last knockout, too, from the corner and he heard
me and he just came right overto me after the win.
He was like you called that,that was you like I just
implemented and like for being a, I mean, I'm a young coach.
I'm a young coach.
You know like I kind of startedfought since I was 27.
Um, I won the golden glovesopen division.
I'm a two-time golden 27.
I won the Golden Gloves OpenDivision.
I'm a two-time Golden Gloveschampion.
(18:41):
I won the Golden Gloves OpenDivision in 2022.
Coming off a year layoffshoulder dislocation.
I fought two nights in a rowFriday night, a fresh guy.
Saturday night, another freshguy.
Got to buy the finals.
Beat them both and I wassupposed to go to Tulsa,
oklahoma, for national goldglove tournament to represent
Cleveland in 165 pound divisionand just had had a bad feeling.
(19:01):
Just had a bad feeling.
I was like man, I dislocated myshoulder like four times in a
year.
I felt like I got lucky,winning again, just like as far
as like it not coming out.
And then um opted to not go tonationals and like two weeks
after I was supposed to gosparring a girl light in the gym
and she just punched myshoulder and came out and I was
like yeah, it's probably yeahit's probably a rat, you know.
(19:23):
So coaching is obviously thenext best thing and it's pretty
much healed now.
You know I'm always toying withthe comeback.
You know it's always being like, oh, it'd be cool to have a
little pro debut or something.
You know I had 20 fights.
So, um, I started I, you know,I took my first three, three
losses Back to back to back,lost my first three fights in a
row, which was hard, you know Iwas 23 years old Lost my first
(19:44):
three fights.
It took a gnarly hit on myconfidence, like inside and
outside the gym, and I was likeman, like I don't know if this
is for me, but I told myselfwhen I started I'd do it five
times.
My fourth fight was a knockoutKnocked a dude out.
Fifth fight got stopped.
Um, but by the time I won thegolden gloves in 2019, one year
later, I had eight fights.
My record was four and four.
(20:05):
I was a gold glove champion.
I was like, all right, I'm backto zero and then after that, I
kind of went on like an eightwin streak, ended my career.
You know, 15 and five was myfinal record, which, starting oh
and 3 I'll take, starting late,take.
You know, I came back from loss, so I came back from injuries.
Um, you know, one of those yearswas covid, another one was like
(20:26):
a injury, so no sooner, youknow.
So it kind of went by, it wentby in the blink of an eye.
And that's something I'm reallybig on with my fighters now is
everyone fights for a reason,nobody's perfectly happy in
their life and chooses to get ina cage or a ring and get rain
damage and try and hurt somebody, like, and that's something
that I didn't realize, that Ithought boxing was an outlet but
it was a distraction and Ifound that when I stopped
(20:49):
fighting, you know, and so I tryand sprinkle in a little bit of
that to my fighters.
I'm like, well, why are youdoing this?
You know, I try and explainlike, like, even we were saying
like nerves, I try and reshapethat um, big on custom auto and
tyson, like their relationship.
I've read like countless bookson those dudes and cuss would
always be like, listen, likefear.
Fear is excitement, fears youstepping out of your comfort
(21:12):
zone.
You know, a gazelle gets struckwith fear before a lion attacks
it and it gives it boosts ofadrenaline that could save its
life.
So I always try and tell myfighters that to like reframe it
you know what I mean like youcould either succumb to that
fear, you could use it to youradvantage.
I just help them like they justneed you to do like you getting
on the stage and calm it'salways gonna be nerve-wracking,
it's.
It's like that just means you'redoing something that's worth
(21:35):
doing and out of your comfortsucks.
You know what I mean.
Of course we get used to it,but it's like if you're not
pushing yourself and trying todo like different things, you
know, and coaching has justhelped tremendously with the
transition.
Um, and all my coaches wereolder, you know, they were all
in their 50s, 60s, 70s, even 80ssome of them.
(21:55):
So it's like they could neverspar me, so like it was all it's
.
It's awesome.
Like I have I have a shinerright now you know what I mean
like I'll still get in there andyou know, and just be like
listen, I could show you timeand time and time again, but
like if you can't get it down,I'm gonna dust off the gear and
show you how effective it is,because I know I would learn
when, ultimately, things wouldhappen to me Like damn, how do
(22:18):
you do that?
Like that cracked me, like howdid he do that?
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
And that's really the best way to like go about that.
I feel like A hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
You brought it up with with comedy with me.
The first time I got on stage Ihad crippling stage right.
Crippling stage right, like Iwould pass out if I was up on
stage and a bunch of people werelooking at me.
And then I decided to give it ashot with being up there by
myself with a spotlight on meand a microphone.
(22:49):
Now I showed up to this barlike an hour before the comics
were even supposed to show upand I just started pounding
beers and I had to be completelytanked to get on stage.
That was the only way I couldget over the nerves and just get
up there and tell my jokes.
And now I look forward to it,you know, but like you said,
(23:09):
getting out of your comfort zone.
Last year I did a show that Iwas super nervous to do, worked
with a company, slapstick Comedy, out of Columbus, ohio, and
they were putting on prisonshows.
No way Went to.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
North.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
Central Correctional Facility and got to perform for
400 inmates and it'snerve-wracking because I do a
lot of crowd work and you knowit brought me out of my comfort
zone, One of the most rewardingshows I had ever done in my 13
year career.
All 400 inmates came up to usafterwards, shook our hand and
(23:50):
said hey, you know what youmaking us laugh, for these two
hours just gave me six moremonths of peace in here, Sick.
That was more to me than thepay I got for that show and
that's a feather in your cap.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
Like you don't know how far like comedy is going to
take you.
Like, and that's things I tellfighters.
I'm like listen, win or lose.
Like you find the gold gloves.
Like that's a feather in yourcap, like people know what the
gold gloves are, you know.
I mean like that's no matterhow things go, it's like that's
a cool opportunity yeah, it was.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
I was.
I was excited that they theyasked me to do it.
Um, got to work with, uh, a bigname comic, um, the room ripper
is is his, is what he goes by.
Um, and he's done shows withlike earthquake, def jam comedy,
like hbo specials, like thisguy has been around the block
(24:45):
and you know I got to work withhim for a couple hours and you
know, bounce ideas off of himand like he even came up to me
after the show and he was justlike you see what works now I
was like, yeah, dude, I mean Iknow I need those thriller jokes
.
I normally do crowd work.
I was super nervous to do crowdwork and you know you're
talking to comic, you're talkingto convicts and you know and,
(25:07):
but they were all superappreciative.
13 years I had never been askedfor an autograph.
I signed 400 autographs thatthat day and you know it was
just like I don't even know, Idon't even know how to fucking
sign my name now, like I'venever been asked for a goddamn
autograph in my life.
And you know it was a coolexperience but it definitely
brought me out of my comfortzone and, like you said, now I'm
(25:28):
like all right, what's the nextbig step?
You know, in comedy you evercome up to Hilarity's.
I have not.
I've messaged them every monthwith my availability and it's
just the comedy game.
It's a tough business to getinto.
I'll tell that for anybodythinking about it, as you can
(25:49):
probably hear my wife laughingin the background.
But it's rewarding, but at thestart of it just no, Not a lot
of money in it.
There's rewarding, but at thestart of it just no, like not a
lot of money in it.
You know there's that it's atough thing to get into and it's
show business.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
You need to be good at both.
You need to be good.
You could be good at the showbut not good at the business
aspect.
Or you could be good at thebusiness aspect and get a ton of
shows, but you bomb every timeyou're on stage.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
So a lot of fighters, you know, yeah, and I'm sure
you see that and you know.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
That kind of brings me to my next point.
Like you know, how do you thinkthat boxers translate into the
mma arena?
Speaker 2 (26:31):
well, like I.
So, for instance, like chris,who you know, chris, who's a
fighter at our gym, I'm justlike dude, like take boxing
matches, take as many.
Like this isn't your forte, butit gets you under the lights.
You know, like you could, youcould grapple a lot and it's
sick to grapple, it's sick tolike take you know, jujitsu
(26:53):
tournaments and stuff like that,but those are when you grapple,
that's a match.
You know what I mean.
An tournaments and stuff likethat, but those are when you
grapple, that's a match.
You know what I mean.
An mma fight is a fight.
A boxing I mean it's a fight.
You know like the nerves are alittle more real.
I'm like if you got under thelights, you won, I don't, I
don't care.
You know what I mean.
Like you're, it's gonna onlyget you better for your mma.
And it's like, dude, low risk,high reward, 12 ounce gloves and
(27:14):
headgear.
Like you're fighting noheadgear, and like four ounce
gloves in mma.
So it's like low risk, highreward, even if you have a great
fight, you implement some ofthe things I tell you in the
corner, you're able to calm downon the corner more, you're more
receptive.
All of that is going totranslate.
All that's going to translate,especially being a wrestler.
I'm like you know, allow, likea wrestler heavy gym that we are
(27:36):
, I'm like I want you guys to beforced just to stand, you know.
So I think it translates well.
Translates well because it'slike you, you have to set up
your takedowns.
You can't just like tap glovesand dive in.
You got to set it up andideally, it's like.
You know, we are a wrestlingheavy gym like.
I can't stress that enough.
(27:57):
So it's like when people lookup their, their opponents,
they're like, oh, he's going towrestle me, he's going to
wrestle me.
When they come out, they startsticking nice jabs.
Sticking nice jabs, boom,there's the right hand.
They're like, oh shit, andthat's going to force the dude
to do something he doesn't wantto do, likely.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
So it's like they're gonna be gone fucked and you're
gonna beat them, like you'regonna beat them psychologically
too.
Yeah, absolutely.
And I, I get that.
I know I'm not the cleanestcomic in the world and you know,
forcing myself to do, uh, acouple years back now, a pg-13
show, uh, which no cussing, Imean a little bit sprinkled in
here and there they were okaywith, but like, definitely no
(28:43):
f-bombs.
And you know I don't evenrealize.
I say it half the time, likeit's just, it's ingrained into
like my vocabulary and it'd behard, it'd be really.
It was tough and again broughtme out of my comfort zone.
Love the show, you know.
Loved having kids at the show.
That was an awesome experience,you know, um, but I get what
(29:04):
you're saying.
With wrestlers and being outside, you know like they want to
shoot for their steak does, butnow I'm forced to stand and
throw hands.
It's only going to make itbetter.
They, they did that, um, at mytaekwondo gym and for a month
straight they brought in a uhjujitsu specialist and now,
(29:25):
instead of throwing kicks andelbows and jabs, now we're on
the ground.
Yeah, now what do we do?
And most fun I had was whenthey brought him in, you know,
getting to learn a differentskill set and had I gone
anywhere, it taught me how toset kicks up for takedowns.
(29:46):
I never thought I would.
That would translate becausenow I'm lifting one foot off the
ground, now I'm off balance,yeah, and you know.
But somehow me, being the lankyguy that I am, I mean I'm six
five.
Back then I'm 6'5", back then Iwas 155 pounds.
At 6'5" I'm skin and bones.
That's insane Skin and fuckingbones.
And it translated intojiu-jitsu because I have these
(30:09):
really long, fucking dry legsthat I could pull guard real
easily and then set up trianglesand arm bars because my legs
were so long and I could keepthem away with my legs and I
learned how to use those.
And wrestlers they want tograpple.
But being in MMA and having aboxing background, it's got to
(30:36):
help.
Guys just want to want to wantto stand and and throw hands and
I get like with mma.
You know you hear the crowdsbooing when guys are on the
ground.
I was watching fight night lastweekend or a couple weekends
ago now, but when this airs andit was grapplers, they were,
they were on the ground and thecrowd instantly started booing
and it's just like you don'tknow, you don't see the art form
(30:59):
that's happening here.
It looks like they're justlaying on each other, but
there's so much happening thatyou can't see, and it's just,
it's become more entertaining tome Because it's chestnut
checkers.
Yeah, absolutely, and I get it.
Fight fans they want to seeguys stand in the middle of the
ring, like max holloway and them, and just throw caution to win
(31:24):
no blocks.
We're just throwing hands, ofcourse, and I get that.
But I've seen a lot of boxersnot do well in mma because I
feel like once they've gottentaken down, like like that's.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Or leg kicked.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
You're heavy on that front and like that's something
like I try and like let peopleI'm like listen.
Like if you jab and you sit,come up and like raise your knee
, you know what I mean.
Like let somebody know.
Like let somebody know like Iwill check your kick, like a lot
(31:59):
of things I'll be like youdon't have to show somebody a
technique while it's happening,like you could just show them
that you'll do it, you'll becapable of it.
Like you come out and you'removing your head, like all those
dudes head movement's good, youknow what I mean.
Like even though you're justdoing it.
So I'm like like that's onething.
Like, yes, you know.
Like you have to have great,you know like leg kick, defense,
takedown defense to be asuccessful boxer.
(32:20):
Like I would never even fathom.
Like I grew up wrestling like alittle bit, did it for like a
year or two in elementary school.
I understand it.
Like even jujitsu, likefighting is fighting.
Like I don't know how ortransitions or what, but like
when I'm watching it I'm likeman, if I was that dude, I would
try and do this and I don'tknow how or how to go about it.
But then they start to try anddo that.
(32:42):
I'm just like okay, I have amild understanding of this Right
.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
Right, yeah, definitely, definitely helps,
for sure.
And you know, like, like I said, you know, I, I, just I, I love
everything about the fight game.
I've always been ingrained, uh,with the fight game and that
now, with that being said, whoare some of your favorite boxers
of all time?
Speaker 2 (33:05):
marvelous marvin haggler.
Yeah, just the middleweight erain the 80s was just fucking
sugar a leonard, tommy hearns,robertouran no one was afraid of
their fucking taking a loss.
They all beat the fuck out ofeach other.
They all fought a bunch oftimes Like it was incredible,
you know what I mean.
Like I think Floyd Mayweatherkind of like he didn't ruin
(33:27):
boxing, but like some of thegreatest ever had losses, you
know, and it's like people arelike oh, it's easy for you to
say you fucking took three in arow for your first three fights,
but it was just like so I neverwas undefeated.
So I don't know what it's like,but what I do know it's like I
got better.
I was more hungry with off of aloss than I ever was a win.
(33:50):
You know you're more confident,but it's like you're way more
hungry and you learn more fromlosses.
You learn way more from lossesand you learn more from losses.
You learn way more from losseslike, um, I always tell like my
fighters now I'm just like theexperience of fighting is life.
In a 5, 10, 15 year period, ifyou're lucky, like condensed,
(34:10):
there's gonna be high, highs,low, lows, there's gonna be
setbacks, there's gonna be glory.
There's gonna be things thatjust don't go fair or go your
way and you're gonna have tofucking live with it.
And these are all things thatyou can summon strength from.
When your mom dies or your kidgets into a terrible car
accident, god forbid.
Like life is just weird yeah sowhen you choose to once do
(34:32):
something hard, that is fighting, it's a choice and then you
could summon strength from thatwhen life is inevitably weird or
hard, like down the line.
So those are the things I tryand like really implement in
coaching.
You know what I mean Likevisualization.
You know like right after I getsomeone warmed up mitts, you
know their adrenaline's goingand I bring them into a back
(34:53):
room somewhere quiet and I'mlike, hey, take like three deep
breaths And're like what I'mlike yeah, you like take the
tongue off the roof of yourmouth, relax your jaw, and
they're like okay, and I'm likeclose your eyes and let's
breathe and like, yeah, I'm likeyou know your opponent looks
like, you know what the venuelooks like and say they're in
the blue corner and visualizeyour success out of the blue
(35:17):
corner.
I talked to him real calm.
I talked to him real calm andthey got a bead of sweat coming
down their head because we justwarmed up and they're about to
go fight.
You know like you couldvisualize your success in a
fucking cage or a ring.
You could visualize yoursuccess in anything.
So it's like these little tipsand like tricks that I try and
like, show people, I'm like, no,this, no, this isn't, this
(35:38):
isn't fight.
This is bigger than fighting.
Like, yeah, I care about yourjab, I care about your uppercut,
but I care about the man thatyou are when you're done.
And have you, have you grown?
Have you grown through theprocess that is fighting, and
are you going to become a betterperson after?
And and that's really what myjob as a coach is like flat?
Speaker 1 (35:57):
out.
Holy shit, I wish I didn't haveany more to to to go with this
show, cause that is a phenomenalanalogy.
And that was, yeah, I, Ihonestly, now that you say that
I, you know, I think back and Ifought 29 times in Taekwondo
(36:17):
Sick, it's a lotekwondo Sick,it's a lot, 28 and one Sick and
I lost on fight 29.
And, oddly enough, it told thestory to Billy and it got a big
laugh out of him, which it getsa big laugh every time I tell it
.
Yeah, but driving to the venuewith my coach and my other
(36:39):
teammate that was fighting inthe tournament with me and she
and I were ranked as the top twoin Taekwondo at at the time.
So I was like, look, we'regoing to end up on opposite
sides of the bracket if it comesdown to both of us in the
championship round.
I'm not going to hit you hard,don't hit me hard, we're going
to be tired and let's thetrophy's coming back to our gym.
(37:03):
Anyways, who gives a shit?
Who gets it?
She's like deal, fate has it.
We're in the championship roundtogether and at first we're
we're kind of just like taggingeach other with jabs.
We're kind of just like taggingeach other with jabs, a little
leg kick here and there, andthen, out of nowhere, I must
have tagged her a little harderthan I thought I did and I saw
(37:23):
the blinders come on, yeah.
And next thing I know I had myhands low, because I always did,
because everyone was shorterthan me.
And next thing I know I felt apressure on the side of my face
and my eyes are opening.
There's five people standingabove me.
She had kicked me in the faceso hard and her one foot didn't
(37:44):
leave the ground, just a perfectroundhouse right to the button
Drop me.
That was my one loss and in myfucking head I was like I don't
like this feeling.
I don't ever want to have thisfeeling ever again, and I think
that's what stopped me frompursuing the fight game.
You know, after 29 fights, howold were you when you were
(38:07):
competing?
I'm 36 now.
How old were?
Speaker 2 (38:08):
you when you were competing.
Speaker 1 (38:11):
I was at that time, I was 15.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
Yeah, that's a hard pill to swallow, as a kid too.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
Especially a 15-year-old dude.
You get knocked out by a girl.
It sucks.
Now this is one of those chicksI'd run from in a dark alley.
She's tough as fucking nails.
I'd spar her all the time atthe gym.
They're like why are you alwayspicking cassie?
(38:40):
It's like because she hitsharder than most of the other
guys in here good she's good.
She's gonna make me better.
I'm gonna make her better.
We're the top two rank peoplein taekwondo right now, like in
in the studentville ohio area.
Like why?
Why are you like who cares who?
I'm sparring yeah and yeah, shewas, yeah, she was the one
(39:02):
knockout and never fought againafter that happens, dude, I've
heard of, I've heard of thathappening.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
Like people are just like 18 and oh, then that 19th
fight, dude on the button.
And they're just like, yeah,fuck that, yeah.
And you're still like in, likeyou're just inflamed, that like
your ego's inflamed.
You're just like, oh, you thinkand you're invincible, and,
especially as a 15 year old,like your fucking hormones are
going crazy and shit like thatwould.
That would suck, that's a.
That's a hard age, that's ahard loss and a chick like
(39:32):
that's a pretty naughty trifectafor sure it was.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
Yeah, it definitely yeah, it definitely was, and it
still sticks with me.
I'm 36 now and you know itstill sticks with me two decades
later.
Yeah, and you know as I, that's.
All I remember about that fight, yeah, is lowering my hands
seeing the blunders come on,waking up, that's the one you
(40:00):
don't see coming.
That's it.
I threw a jab.
I must have caught her wrong,or I threw it harder than I
thought I did.
It's still a funny story,because now all my friends get a
big laugh oh, you're gettingknocked out by a chick Like,
yeah, stay in the ring with her,let's see.
Let's see who who's awake atthe end of that fight, cause
(40:21):
it's not going to be you.
Speaker 2 (40:23):
You transitioned into a comedy easier because you
could like again someone,someone's strength.
Like I've been in front of acrowd.
You're like I've been knockedout.
I've been knocked out by a girlin front of a fucking crowd.
What's the worst thing that'sgoing to happen on a stage.
I'm going to bomb, like do youthink the trials of like martial
arts have given you confidence,at least early on in your
comedy career?
Speaker 1 (40:42):
like starting out 100 percent um my.
My wife always says she doesnot know where my confidence
comes from in myself.
Speaker 2 (40:53):
Well, you're 6'5" too .
Speaker 1 (40:56):
That helps a little bit.
Because of her I'm a little bitmore of a normal weight at 210
pounds, but that definitelyhelps.
Thinking of that, I got knockedout by a girl.
What's this fucking bum who'ssitting here in a bar not
laughing?
Oh, who gives a shit?
Yeah, and it definitely helps.
(41:19):
But you know, I always tellpeople you know, like, like, how
do you meet your confidence?
Well, I love me, I think I'mfantastic, and that's all I need
.
You know, I don't care if youlike me, I like me, I think I'm
awesome.
Yeah, and you know it's broughtme to.
You know, still, I mean 13years and I'm still considered
an up and coming comedian.
(41:41):
Yeah, but you know, it'ssomething I'm always going to be
pursuing regardless, Becauseyou still feel alive.
Speaker 2 (41:48):
Like that's probably my hardest thing right now about
like not competing is like II'm trying to find something
that like I want to feel likealive doing again you know what
I mean.
Speaker 1 (41:57):
and it's like yeah, the adrenaline rush that I get
after, after a set is good orbad, honestly.
Yeah, if it's a good set, Iknow, obviously it's a little
bit more.
And you know, I know sleep'snot happening that night, uh,
because I'm I'm too amped up.
Um, if it's a bad show, moreand I know sleep's not happening
that night because I'm tooamped up.
If it's a bad show, I'm stillamped up.
(42:19):
For another reason.
I'm like, why didn't thisfucking joke work?
Now I'm going over things andI'm going back to the drawing
boards with jokes and that.
But yeah, it definitelydefinitely helps out.
Having that martial artsbackground Taught me a lot of
discipline, and that was what myparents were, the ones who
(42:41):
actually, you know, I don't wantto say forced me into it, but
they were like, look, you'regrowing way too fast, you've hit
two growth spurts already andyou're already taller than what
the doctor said you were goingto be.
Uh, yeah, the doctor told me Iwasn't going to exceed five nine
by the time I was 21, I was 13and I was over six foot.
(43:02):
Um, yeah, so, so wrong and sowrong.
And you know, I I had to learncoordination.
So like, well, let's put themin some martial arts or
something.
My mom suggested ballet atfirst and my dad was like
absolutely not.
So my dad suggested martialarts as the next best thing and
it's helped out tremendously.
Speaker 2 (43:27):
I got a black belt in taekwondo and it's something
that Black belt in anything isan insane achievement.
It's so cool.
I'm going to be the 50 year olddude like in a room full of
like kids at a dojo taking likekarate.
You know, like like flat out,you know like I think that
shit's cool, it's, it's, it'sjust yeah yeah, I started, uh,
at 12 and I had my black belt at14.
Speaker 1 (43:50):
wow, um, yeah it.
It was supposed to be likeit'll take about three years to
probably get to be a black belt.
I mean, that's just a typicaltransition and I don't know what
it was in me, but even as a12-year-old I said what's the
fastest anybody's ever gotten ablack belt?
And they're like well, aboutthree years.
(44:11):
I was like so that's the mark tobeat like if you think you can
get it faster than that, by allmeans shoot for it.
Don't be disappointed if it'sthree years.
I was like I won't, but I, Ilike lofty, go that as a 12 year
old, you know what I mean.
Like that that's not what Ishould be thinking about, yeah,
and that's just kind of been mymindset, and like that's why
people ask all the time like whyare you still pursuing comedy?
(44:33):
Like you haven't.
You're still considered anup-and-comer.
You've been doing it 13 years.
It's like, yeah, look, look,look at some of the guys that
have their netflix specials.
They're 37 to 40 to 50 to 60years old.
I can, as long as I can stilltalk and stand like I'm still
trying to make a room full ofpeople laugh and it's the best
(44:55):
rush I've ever had.
Speaker 2 (44:57):
Yeah, and you're not getting brain damage.
Speaker 1 (44:59):
Right, yeah, I get to stand there with a microphone,
like no, the worst thing I haveto have is somebody throwing
something at me nowadays ortrying to Will Smith me, you
know, I don't know, like that's.
Speaker 2 (45:15):
I mean I think, yeah, like a like that's.
I mean I think, yeah, like alot of, I grew up, like it said
in madison, so kind of likehunting and fishing, and after
my career like transitioned backand I'm novice, I'm not like a
big hunter, fisher like, butlike it's a similar.
It's a similar primal rush.
You know what I mean that'slike and you and you hear, hear
dudes will be on Rogue andtalking about, I mean I know
(45:36):
Gerald Spahn.
He fought out of Strong Stylemaybe five years ago.
He dipped his toe in stand-upand stuff, you know, and I had a
little run at it and stuff.
And I'm like man, I alwaysthought that that was cool.
I'm like, yeah, that's gotta bethe same.
Speaker 1 (45:52):
I would encourage anybody to just go to an open
mic night, sign up and just geton stage.
Yeah, it's, it's an experience,it's something you can cross
off a bucket list.
If you don't want to do it, ohwell, you can say you tried it.
You can say you know, you cansay you did it and it's fun.
(46:13):
Everyone was shocked at mebecause they were like okay,
this is your first time going onstage.
I can tell you're nervous ashell, you're sweating.
Before you even get on stageYou're probably going to bomb.
We'll put you up first and thenwe'll kind of come in and save
the show.
I was like it's your show, man,I'm just here to fill a spot.
I'm cool, put me up wheneveryou want to put me up.
(46:35):
Went up and absolutely murderedthe room To the point where
everybody after me didn't do aswell.
They had funny jokes, but aftersomebody who kills like that,
end the show Because you're notgoing to get any big laughs.
Some of them were even like man,who put this fucking running
order together in this.
Like Jesus, like this firsttimer comes up here and
(46:57):
absolutely has people in tears.
And now, how old?
Speaker 2 (47:00):
were you when that happened.
Speaker 1 (47:01):
Uh, so I would have been 23.
Speaker 2 (47:06):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:07):
Yeah.
Yeah 23 years old Just 23 yearsold buddy of mine needed to fill
a spot in the show but houndedme for months.
I was like fuck, I'll do it foryou.
As a fraternity brother of mine, I wanted to help him out.
13 years later, here I am stilldoing it, still kicking, still
running at it.
But look, we are running downhere near the end.
(47:29):
I feel like I could talk to youlike all fucking night.
Just looked at the time, like,oh shit, we're running down near
the end.
I feel like I could talk to youlike all fucking night.
Just looked at the time, I waslike, oh shit, we're running
down near the end of the showhere.
I do got to get this lastsegment in here and it's a
segment everybody loves.
We've been running this showfor four years now and coming up
on five and everyone loves it.
And that is the Fast Fitty Five.
And that is five randomquestions from the wonderful
(47:50):
manager of the podcast, johnnyFitty Falcone.
And for the new listeners outthere, these are kind of rapid
fire, but, luke, you canelaborate if you need to, but if
you are ready, these questionshave nothing to do with what
we've been talking about for thebetter part of an hour now.
So if you're ready, man, allrighty.
(48:11):
So question number one oneswhat are your thoughts about
geese?
Speaker 2 (48:17):
geese, I fucking hate them.
I almost ran one over on theway to the gym today.
It's a shame that they'reendangered.
I would fucking if it was themiddle of the night and I had
three drinks in me and I wasdriving.
I would fucking run one over ifno one was around.
That's what I think, geese theshit's around.
Speaker 1 (48:34):
That's what I think he's the shit's everywhere.
Speaker 2 (48:42):
It's slick like.
Speaker 1 (48:43):
I love that answer to start this off.
It's to do a whole otherfucking yeah, it's a whole
nother show in and of itselfwith the rant.
I could go on about geese.
Uh, question number two isfishing a sport.
Speaker 2 (48:50):
Yes, yeah yeah, I'm an avid fisherman.
I'm fucking novice.
I was fishing yesterday.
I caught my first steelhead,like first four steelhead this
last week.
Nice, um, it's a sport.
Speaker 1 (49:03):
It's not like a fucking, you're sweating, but
like it's it's, it's a sportyeah, 100 not like total bias
opinion, but you're goodquestion number three if, oh god
, how does he?
If you had a perfect time to goto bed and also get up every
morning, what time would that be?
Speaker 2 (49:25):
you had to get eight hours, especially with fucking
training.
So like 11 to 7.
I'm a realer.
So like I'm like midnight to 8,but 11 to 7 would be better.
It'd be better to have anotherhour in the morning.
You're gonna be more productivewith fucking 7 am to 8 am.
Then you are 11 pm to 12 pm.
So yeah, 7, 11, I like that.
Speaker 1 (49:46):
Question number four could prime hulk hogan beat up
two average guys in a fight?
Yeah, that's like that was a.
I don't know why that shouldhave been the first one.
That's a toss-up, like that's.
Speaker 2 (49:57):
I think so Average dudes yeah.
Speaker 1 (50:00):
Average dudes 100%.
He's dieseling them.
Last question here, jim Carreyoverrated or underrated?
He's incredible.
Speaker 2 (50:08):
I grew up on Jim Carrey.
Speaker 1 (50:18):
He's fucking awesome.
He's hilarious.
I like grew up mocking hismannerisms.
He's incredible.
He's a fucking he's.
He's great.
Speaker 2 (50:21):
Yeah, love jim carrey , uh, all of his work, um,
everything like that.
The truman show, like when Ihave the movie to show people
that I'm like have you ever seenthe truman show?
They're like.
No, I'm like then we'rewatching the fucking truman show
.
It's a mind fuck.
It's j Carrey, it's a classicJim Carrey.
It's fucking great 100%.
Speaker 1 (50:33):
Yeah, that's an underrated movie from him.
I don't think that gets enoughcredit, mind, fuck, yeah, 100%.
Well, that was the Fast 55.
I mean, he brought in some ofhis normal questions.
This is just a little taste ofthe mind in what I deal with on
a daily basis.
(50:55):
Johnny Fitty Falcone.
I went to college with this man.
I love this man to death, buthe comes up with the most random
shit possible and he texts themto me when they pop into his
head.
He'll text me like a random andit's always something dumb.
Who wins in a fight?
One gorilla or a hundred men,which is apparently a trend now
on TikTok, I've seen it allfucking day.
(51:17):
But like, yeah, so like hecomes up with this and we were
like what if we made a segmentin the show to end the show?
Just a fun way to end the show?
But, luke, I give every guestthis opportunity at the end of
every show.
Um, if you have anything youwant to get out there, any
fights, for any of your fighterscoming up for your gym,
(51:39):
anything like that, or if it'seven just a good message, I'm
going to give you about a minuteand the floor is yours.
Speaker 2 (51:45):
Cool.
Uh, chris Dragge.
Um, he's my guy.
He's like my main pupil.
Um, he is fighting Juneune 21stfor, uh, he's defending his 185
title.
Um, he's the man.
He's gonna take the dub.
We just got done with thecleveland golden gloves.
I'm affiliated with two gyms,so we just got done with the
(52:05):
cleveland golden gloves, butthose are always like end of
march to the beginning of april,three weeks in a row.
It's fucking amazing.
Right downtown, that's great,but that's a year from now.
Those are the two things I gotright now.
Speaker 1 (52:20):
All right, man, no worries, everybody go check
those out.
If there's anywhere where wecould stream the fight in June,
let us know.
We'll put that link in thedescription of the show here, or
get it to us.
I I'll add it in later.
I don't give a shit.
Sure, um, anything, um likethat.
I'm always looking to supportand help out any way that I can.
Speaker 2 (52:39):
So everyone go check the great one to him on the show
he's.
He's a great kid, yeah 100.
Speaker 1 (52:45):
I'm always we're always looking for, for guests
uh, always always looking forhim.
But that is going to do it forthis week's episode of the ride
home rants podcast.
I want to thank my guest, lukefresh hour, for joining the show
.
A lot of fun to get to talk toyou a little bit more about the
fight game and everything likethat.
We've had a lot of fighters andfight coaches on now.
(53:05):
Um, love talking to y'all but,as always, if you enjoyed the
show, be a friend, tell a friend.
If you didn't tell them friend,tell a friend If you didn't
tell them.
Anyways, they might like itjust 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 Bono.
I have a great guest for ustoday.
I believe he's coming to us allthe way from Cleveland.
He is a boxing coach and it isLuke Freshour.
Joins the show, luke, thanksfor joining, man.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Thanks, my man.
Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Hey, not a problem.
So for those of my listenersthat don't know, uh, about you,
you know, tell us a little bitabout yourself.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
You know, like, where you grow up, you know high
schools and and whatnot uh, Igrew up in madison, madison ohio
, which is almost like ashtabulafar lake county yeah um was
living in payneville city in myearly 20s and uh driving all the
way the west side to box um gottired like three days a week of
that so ended up just movingout here um right in a place and
(00:48):
then ended up buying a place afew years ago.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
So I boxed out of a old angle on the west side for
uh, for all my career, you knowall right on and uh, I must say,
do you have the best flow withthe hair in in the boxing game
right now, man?
I can see it coming out of theback of the.
It's an Indian's hat.
They will always be the Indiansto me Always, always.
But you know, besides being,you know, involved in the fight
(01:14):
game, you're also a realtor.
How did you get involved inthat?
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Man, I wish I knew.
You know it's a funny story.
Like we grew up having dinnerlike a family dinner every night
and we'd answer the home phonebecause we had a home in the
early 2000s and we'd be like,hey, you know, we're having
dinner, we'll call you back.
But whenever the realtor wouldcall because my parents flipped
houses at the time they wouldtake the call and I remember
(01:40):
being like I don't know whatthis realtor is or what powers
they have, but it must besomebody pretty important.
And uh, my dad's buddy ended upgetting into real estate.
He's my broker now and uh,didn't know what I wanted to do,
so was became a real estateagent when I was like 22,
started boxing shortlythereafter.
So it was very conducive with,like, the training and uh and
(02:03):
everything else.
You know it.
It helped tremendously to havea flexible schedule.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Oh, I'm sure, with the fight game, like I wish I
had that flexible schedule.
Being a comedian, you know you,you have to find that balance
to where it's like.
This is what I want to do, butI need to make ends meet at the
same time.
Um, and realtors, for sure.
We've had a couple of realtorson the show from Up that Way.
You may know her, wendy Kunesh,was on the show.
(02:29):
Yeah, she's.
I can't remember the realestate company that she works
for Up that Way, but she's inthat area and she's been on the
show a few times.
I love talking to you because Ilove knowing the behind the
scenes, currently in a fixerupper as it is, and, um, me
(02:50):
personally, never again.
Um, because it's just onenightmare after the next with
the fixer uppers, for sure itcan be like that for sure so you
know, you know with, withboxing, and you know, uh, being
a realtor, you know how do you?
how do you balance that rightnow?
(03:10):
Cause I know realtors don'treally have a set like nine to
five, but neither does boxing,so how do you mesh the two
together?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Well, when I was training and it's almost the
same schedule, cause you're atthe gym in the evening and it
can be difficult because that'sonly the same time, you know
people could see houses normallyis at the evening time, um, but
when I was training I kind ofwake up and get my road work in
um, or do yoga, like in themorning middays, answer some
emails and then if I didn't haveshowings, you know, I was at
(03:39):
the gym boxing, probably like atleast three days a week, um,
but if I couldn't, if I had ashowing, you know I would just
make sure to get some sort ofwork in around it.
And same thing.
Now, you know I'm kind ofdialed into upgraded industries,
you know, helping out boxing,being a boxing coach there and
doing privates and stuff.
And I'm at the point now in mycareer, almost 10 years, in that
(04:02):
I can kind of pick and choose,luckily, like I could, almost 10
years, in that I can kind ofpick and choose luckily, like um
, I could kind of tell peoplelike, hey, I have a commitment
tuesdays and thursdays.
I just tell them I have anappointment, more or less, like
they don't need the specifics,um, but you know, unless push
comes to shove.
Like you know, every once in awhile I have to cancel a private
or class.
But you know there are othercoaches there billy freeman,
(04:22):
justin Salisgar great strikingcoaches.
So between the three of us, ifsomebody misses it's really no
sweat.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Yeah, we just had Billy on the show not too long
ago.
The show just aired.
I know by the time this showairs it'll be a couple of weeks
by now, but great guy to talk to, loved getting the ins and outs
of the know of the boxing worldwith him.
And you know the fight game.
I'm a huge fight game fan.
I'm a huge combat sports fan.
(04:51):
Grew up taking Taekwondo, kindof started my love of, you know,
combat sports because it reallywasn't well known.
I mean, I was a teenager.
It was, you know, the mid tolate 90s Aging myself.
I was a teenager.
It was the you know the mid tolate 90s um, aging myself, I
(05:11):
know um.
But you know, fell in love withsparring tournaments that I was
in and, uh, probably shouldhave stuck with it.
Wish I would have, uh, didn't.
But I still follow everythingthat that happens in compact
sports.
You know you being, you know, aboxing coach, you know how did
you get involved in the sport Ijust kind of always was like, uh
, into it a little bit.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
My dad never had like really formal training but he
was just kind of like a strappy,like scrappy street guy, more
or less.
So we had a lot of like gearand outbuilding, um, double bags
, heavy bags and stuff and I wasalways kind of the kid who kept
like two pairs of 16 ouncegloves in my trunk and you know
we'd like go on the wrestlingroom and like Duke it out, like
(05:53):
always playfully you know what Imean Never really like
maliciously or anything.
And then later on in like mylate teens, early twenties, you
know the boys having the beer,same thing put them on the
backyard, just like classic shit.
But a good family friend ofmine, rick Lozada.
He was a coach at Old Angle,which is now, which is now Joey
(06:15):
Maxson Powell Police AthleticLeague Gym.
We were on West 25th, now we'reon East 49th and we rent from
the Ohio Technical College butum, but you know he was just
like a family friend and I hadlike a cousin going up to old
angle at the time and I was likeman, I'd love to get in there
and see what's up.
And I was 22, definitely later,um for sure later.
(06:36):
But um, trained from 22, had myfirst fight in the golden gloves
cleveland area golden gloves in2018 at 23 years old, um, and
competed until the going glovesin 2022 and covid was in the
middle of that and I had a nursenursing injury back in that,
but ended up like 20 fights whenit was all said and done and uh
(06:56):
then yeah, so met dj because hewould come out there when he
was still competing mma, becauseanother coach at old angle, leo
keglevik, was dj striking coachat Strong Style back in the day
.
So that's just kind of how I metDJ and he hit me up probably
like three years ago when I wasstill competing.
Even I was like, hey, dude, doyou know anybody looking for
like a boxing position?
(07:17):
I was nursing a shoulderdislocation at the time location
at the time and it wasdefinitely like what I needed to
like give my body a rest, butstill like teach and be involved
, and like let it heal but stilllike be involved mentally and
explain things because, like Isaid, I was still competing at
the time yeah, I feel like covidshowed people who they really
(07:41):
are.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Uh, you know it, being a comedian, like it's.
There's, like I said, it's noset day job, no set nine to five
.
You're not like, okay, well, Igotta go to the office.
On these days it's find workwhen you can.
You know kind of like fighters,find fights when you can.
Who's willing to take the fight?
And you know we had open micsand that, and then you know
(08:04):
everything shut down.
You know no, bars, which is alot of our, that, that's our gym
.
You know, going to bars doingthe open mics, testing out jokes
, that's fine, um, but then it'slike, okay, well, we got to do
something.
I mean, we can sit here and Icould write jokes till my hands
turn purple, but until you getout, there is it funny.
(08:24):
I mean it's funny to me.
I think it's funny.
I think it's fucking hysterical, but it might not be.
And then Zoom shows became athing I didn't even know that
that's crazy.
I did like two Because it's notthey weren't my company and I
know I'm recording thisinterview via Zoom.
But it's completely differentwhen I'm trying to tell a joke
(08:46):
and they have to have the crowdmuted because, like, it just
created a feedback and I feedoff of the crowd.
I do a lot of crowd work in inmy sets and you know that had to
have happened with you guys,with fight fans and fighters.
You know not having fans at the, at the arenas to start out
(09:08):
with when everything wasstarting to get back.
You know I liked watching theUFC on TV then because you could
hear the coaches.
You know you could hear morethe instructions they were
getting.
It was cool, it was a coolaspect of that, but that wasn't
the same level of fights in myopinion, because I feel like, as
a fighter, you're feeding offof what the crowd is giving you,
(09:29):
do you?
have that and how do you trainfor that?
Speaker 2 (09:33):
well, I mean, even for my first fight, like I have
a large sphere, a lot of friends, I mean I probably like 50
people at my first fight lost.
So that's always classic, youknow.
But like um, yeah, and itreally stinks because from the
golden gloves in 2018, thegolden gloves in 2019, um, I had
eight fights.
(09:53):
So I fought eight times in ayear.
We were getting ready to goopen division.
So in amateur boxing, once youhave six to ten fights, you
could elect to go open divisionand then after that you're you
could fight in tournaments,fight dudes.
With 50 fights, 100 fights, yougo nationals and stuff, and
that was the plan.
Like, let's get 10 fights, mycut and rick was out of.
My coach was like let's boogie,like let's, let's go, let's,
(10:14):
let's travel, and uh, literallygot to my 10th and 11th fight um
, in february 2020, 2020,february 2020, and then I had a
year layoff.
I fought once during COVID in agym setting.
Again, no crowd, it was just alive stream.
So my people were having awatch party.
(10:35):
I'd say my teammates cheer meon.
You don't really hear the crowd, but you still absorb the
energy.
At least I didn't.
You know what I mean Walking upand people cheering your name.
I kind of liked it.
I'll be honest, not likefighting during COVID, because,
like it was just it was a hardspar is what it felt like
without a crowd, because a crowdbrings a lot of nerves too.
(10:56):
You know, it brings a lot ofenergy and a lot of glory when
you take the dub, but a lot ofnerves too.
So it was kind of cool.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
I get the nerves it's .
It's a little different for me.
I prefer this is going to soundso good.
I prefer the bigger crowds thanthe smaller crowds.
Smaller crowds are so tough forcomedians because laughter is
contagious.
Laughter is contagious.
You get one person that thinksit's funny and it just it's a
ripple effect.
More people start laughingbecause this part well, person
(11:27):
must be missing something.
It must be funny.
You get those small crowds andthe bombs happen.
It's tough for a comedianbecause, like I said, I feed off
the crowd and those nerves setin.
When you two or three jokes inand nobody's laughing, it's like
, ah, this is going to be arough 10 more minutes that I got
(11:49):
to be fucking up here and justnothing.
And um, I had it happen early inmy career.
And you know one of my buddieswho got me into into comedy.
He was been doing it for acouple of years and he finally
said like hey, man, um, I'mgonna tell you, you have like
two or three shows under yourbelt and you've killed at every
(12:13):
show.
Nice, it's not if you're goingto bomb, it's when you're going
to bomb, it's gonna happen.
Just prepare yourself now.
And I was like I, I don't know,dude, we've had some small
shows, we've had some big showsand I mean I bring the house
down every time.
And you know you had thatmentality, kind of like a
fighter after two or three bigwins.
(12:33):
You know you kind of get thatlike I'll take on the world
right now, I can fight anybody.
Yes and yes, I went to um it.
It brought a love-haterelationship to Youngstown, ohio
.
First, as I call it, away gamein Youngstown had a 20-minute
set.
Nobody laughed the entirety ofthe 20 minutes, the longest 20
(12:57):
minutes of my life.
And finally I was just so madat the end of it I just turned.
I said I'm Mike Bono, go fuckyourself Youngstown.
And I put the mic back in theyoung in the mike's dance or in
the crowd erupted in laughterover that that's hilarious and
it was just like that's what youguys like, okay, and from from
that show, my buddy actuallydubbed me the angry white comic,
(13:20):
from that little just outburstat the end, and 13 years later I
am still known as the angrywhite comic and it's just, it
sticks with that.
You have that like withfighters and their nicknames,
because you, we got connected,uh, via the, the latin assassin,
tony tortolisi, yeah, you know.
And fighters I love hearingfighters nicknames and how they
(13:41):
come up with that.
Um, first and foremost, did youhave a fight nickname, uh, when
you were boxing um, and how didthey come up with that?
Um, first and foremost, did youhave a fight nickname when you
were boxing Um, and how did youcome up with?
If you did?
Speaker 2 (13:50):
so, like amateur boxing, they really don't like
announce your nickname.
Um, you're lucky to get awalkout song.
Like I'm pissed.
I never got a walkout like agood, like a good venue, like a
good, um, promotional, dowalkout songs and stuff, songs
and stuff.
But uh, it's just an extralayer of planning and I've seen
how fight cards are, howstressful they are to plan, so
it's a whole other thing.
(14:10):
But, um, as far as fight name,I was kind of deemed like cool
hand, like cool hand luke, okay,so a lot of coaches.
I had a couple, had a couplecoaches called me cool hand.
Um, but it's not like not likea huge, it wasn't like a huge
thing, but like, yeah, I had acouple people call me cool hand
luke, which is like pretty young, like all right, cool, take
that yeah, absolutely so.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
How did?
How did you meet tony?
Speaker 2 (14:32):
let's get to that now um, man, how did I meet tony he
was just coming in with?
He was coming in with dj to oldangle, like years and years ago
.
You know, I probably owned tonylike eight years, um, and you
know, when dj like ended in hiscareer and stuff and didn't
fight anymore, like tony kind oflike took that torch and
started like going on, you know,and, um, I was just kind of
(14:56):
brought on to upgraded to doprivates originally, you know,
and I was like, hey, you know,I'm not interested in having a
stopwatch and like 20 women on aheavy you know heavy bags.
Like I want to teach like realboxing, and he's just like, no,
that's what I want.
Um, and then eventually thefight team just kind of started
to grow and I was like I mean,it's cool getting paid to teach
people how to box, but like Iultimately like want to work
(15:17):
with fighters.
Um, so, yeah, started workingwith tony, start cornering tony
and stuff and a lot of his.
Then they may fight Spartancountless rounds held mids for
him, countless rounds.
And yeah, for being a wrestler,his hands are sharp.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Dude, his hands are nasty.
I saw him Heavy-handed A coupleof months ago now at the
Mountaineer Casino in NorthwestVirginia.
I was at that fight.
I called that combo from hiscorner.
Were you there with him.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Were you in his corner.
He was switching.
His opponent was switchingsouthpaw.
We always won 3-2 on a southpaw.
So you jab, hook, get theoutside position, it sets up
your right hand.
And he was switching.
He was switching.
He was in southpaw when Tonykind of threw the combination,
(16:06):
but he like heard it and it wasalready in his head.
He kind of like flicked it andit kind of became like a long
hook and like an overhand rightUm clip this week.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
That was.
That was beautiful.
And I remember talking to Tony.
He was like, oh, my handsaren't that good.
I was like I, I I watched yourfight, dude.
Like like give yourself somecredit.
My guy Like that's.
And yeah, like I don't.
I don't know, like I, I knowwrestlers in MMA like want to
(16:32):
get to the ground.
You, as a boxing coach, whenyou're you're teaching boxing to
a wrestler, are you teachingthe striking to set up their
takedowns or are you trying tobe like all right, let's you.
You're gonna fight some peoplethat want to stand and they want
to stand and bang in the middleof the octagon or the ring or
whatever.
How?
Speaker 2 (16:52):
are you?
How are?
you coaching tony definitely alittle bit of both, you know.
So, like we're a wrestlingheavy gym for sure, like even
jujitsu, like we kind of deemourselves an american jujitsu
academy, like're going to bullyW and then try and choke you out
.
So I work with Chris Straggethere also, who is a 185-pound
(17:13):
local champion as well.
He's a two-time All-Americanand collegiate, so he's the man
too.
Wrestling.
A big thing is level changes.
I was big on level changes too.
And a big thing is like levelchanges.
I was, I was big on levelchanges too.
Um, feints and level changes.
You know, bringing the,bringing the guard up and then
jabbing the body.
Bringing the guard up, jabbingthe body and then eventually
shooting a takedown.
(17:33):
You know I mean overhand, youknow what I mean.
Like I'll have like chris andtony, like kind of flick the jab
, come to body and then like setup overhand and try and like
scoop positioning too.
You know what I mean angles andpositioning.
So it's like I'm like Iultimately want your jabs to be
good, your hooks, uppercuts,right hands, all that.
But I'm like I your bread andbutter.
It's to win.
And do I love it when our dudeslike, when, like or set up wins
(17:57):
from, like knockouts and shitthat I call like, yeah, like
tony doing that.
That was like probably like oneof my proudest moments not my
proudest moment, like as a coach, and like my short career.
You know, I'm 30.
So I've really only beencoaching and cornering boxers
and MMA fighters for two, threeyears.
We also had ronald costaneda umthe cuba missile crisis.
(18:19):
I called his last knockout, too, from the corner and he heard
me and he just came right overto me after the win.
He was like you called that,that was you like I just
implemented and like for being a, I mean, I'm a young coach.
I'm a young coach.
You know like I kind of startedfought since I was 27.
Um, I won the golden glovesopen division.
I'm a two-time golden 27.
I won the Golden Gloves OpenDivision.
I'm a two-time Golden Gloveschampion.
(18:41):
I won the Golden Gloves OpenDivision in 2022.
Coming off a year layoffshoulder dislocation.
I fought two nights in a rowFriday night, a fresh guy.
Saturday night, another freshguy.
Got to buy the finals.
Beat them both and I wassupposed to go to Tulsa,
oklahoma, for national goldglove tournament to represent
Cleveland in 165 pound divisionand just had had a bad feeling.
(19:01):
Just had a bad feeling.
I was like man, I dislocated myshoulder like four times in a
year.
I felt like I got lucky,winning again, just like as far
as like it not coming out.
And then um opted to not go tonationals and like two weeks
after I was supposed to gosparring a girl light in the gym
and she just punched myshoulder and came out and I was
like yeah, it's probably yeahit's probably a rat, you know.
(19:23):
So coaching is obviously thenext best thing and it's pretty
much healed now.
You know I'm always toying withthe comeback.
You know it's always being like, oh, it'd be cool to have a
little pro debut or something.
You know I had 20 fights.
So, um, I started I, you know,I took my first three, three
losses Back to back to back,lost my first three fights in a
row, which was hard, you know Iwas 23 years old Lost my first
(19:44):
three fights.
It took a gnarly hit on myconfidence, like inside and
outside the gym, and I was likeman, like I don't know if this
is for me, but I told myselfwhen I started I'd do it five
times.
My fourth fight was a knockoutKnocked a dude out.
Fifth fight got stopped.
Um, but by the time I won thegolden gloves in 2019, one year
later, I had eight fights.
My record was four and four.
(20:05):
I was a gold glove champion.
I was like, all right, I'm backto zero and then after that, I
kind of went on like an eightwin streak, ended my career.
You know, 15 and five was myfinal record, which, starting oh
and 3 I'll take, starting late,take.
You know, I came back from loss, so I came back from injuries.
Um, you know, one of those yearswas covid, another one was like
(20:26):
a injury, so no sooner, youknow.
So it kind of went by, it wentby in the blink of an eye.
And that's something I'm reallybig on with my fighters now is
everyone fights for a reason,nobody's perfectly happy in
their life and chooses to get ina cage or a ring and get rain
damage and try and hurt somebody, like, and that's something
that I didn't realize, that Ithought boxing was an outlet but
it was a distraction and Ifound that when I stopped
(20:49):
fighting, you know, and so I tryand sprinkle in a little bit of
that to my fighters.
I'm like, well, why are youdoing this?
You know, I try and explainlike, like, even we were saying
like nerves, I try and reshapethat um, big on custom auto and
tyson, like their relationship.
I've read like countless bookson those dudes and cuss would
always be like, listen, likefear.
Fear is excitement, fears youstepping out of your comfort
(21:12):
zone.
You know, a gazelle gets struckwith fear before a lion attacks
it and it gives it boosts ofadrenaline that could save its
life.
So I always try and tell myfighters that to like reframe it
you know what I mean like youcould either succumb to that
fear, you could use it to youradvantage.
I just help them like they justneed you to do like you getting
on the stage and calm it'salways gonna be nerve-wracking,
it's.
It's like that just means you'redoing something that's worth
(21:35):
doing and out of your comfortsucks.
You know what I mean.
Of course we get used to it,but it's like if you're not
pushing yourself and trying todo like different things, you
know, and coaching has justhelped tremendously with the
transition.
Um, and all my coaches wereolder, you know, they were all
in their 50s, 60s, 70s, even 80ssome of them.
(21:55):
So it's like they could neverspar me, so like it was all it's
.
It's awesome.
Like I have I have a shinerright now you know what I mean
like I'll still get in there andyou know, and just be like
listen, I could show you timeand time and time again, but
like if you can't get it down,I'm gonna dust off the gear and
show you how effective it is,because I know I would learn
when, ultimately, things wouldhappen to me Like damn, how do
(22:18):
you do that?
Like that cracked me, like howdid he do that?
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
And that's really the best way to like go about that.
I feel like A hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
You brought it up with with comedy with me.
The first time I got on stage Ihad crippling stage right.
Crippling stage right, like Iwould pass out if I was up on
stage and a bunch of people werelooking at me.
And then I decided to give it ashot with being up there by
myself with a spotlight on meand a microphone.
(22:49):
Now I showed up to this barlike an hour before the comics
were even supposed to show upand I just started pounding
beers and I had to be completelytanked to get on stage.
That was the only way I couldget over the nerves and just get
up there and tell my jokes.
And now I look forward to it,you know, but like you said,
(23:09):
getting out of your comfort zone.
Last year I did a show that Iwas super nervous to do, worked
with a company, slapstick Comedy, out of Columbus, ohio, and
they were putting on prisonshows.
No way Went to.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
North.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
Central Correctional Facility and got to perform for
400 inmates and it'snerve-wracking because I do a
lot of crowd work and you knowit brought me out of my comfort
zone, One of the most rewardingshows I had ever done in my 13
year career.
All 400 inmates came up to usafterwards, shook our hand and
(23:50):
said hey, you know what youmaking us laugh, for these two
hours just gave me six moremonths of peace in here, Sick.
That was more to me than thepay I got for that show and
that's a feather in your cap.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
Like you don't know how far like comedy is going to
take you.
Like, and that's things I tellfighters.
I'm like listen, win or lose.
Like you find the gold gloves.
Like that's a feather in yourcap, like people know what the
gold gloves are, you know.
I mean like that's no matterhow things go, it's like that's
a cool opportunity yeah, it was.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
I was.
I was excited that they theyasked me to do it.
Um, got to work with, uh, a bigname comic, um, the room ripper
is is his, is what he goes by.
Um, and he's done shows withlike earthquake, def jam comedy,
like hbo specials, like thisguy has been around the block
(24:45):
and you know I got to work withhim for a couple hours and you
know, bounce ideas off of himand like he even came up to me
after the show and he was justlike you see what works now I
was like, yeah, dude, I mean Iknow I need those thriller jokes
.
I normally do crowd work.
I was super nervous to do crowdwork and you know you're
talking to comic, you're talkingto convicts and you know and,
(25:07):
but they were all superappreciative.
13 years I had never been askedfor an autograph.
I signed 400 autographs thatthat day and you know it was
just like I don't even know, Idon't even know how to fucking
sign my name now, like I'venever been asked for a goddamn
autograph in my life.
And you know it was a coolexperience but it definitely
brought me out of my comfortzone and, like you said, now I'm
(25:28):
like all right, what's the nextbig step?
You know, in comedy you evercome up to Hilarity's.
I have not.
I've messaged them every monthwith my availability and it's
just the comedy game.
It's a tough business to getinto.
I'll tell that for anybodythinking about it, as you can
(25:49):
probably hear my wife laughingin the background.
But it's rewarding, but at thestart of it just no, Not a lot
of money in it.
There's rewarding, but at thestart of it just no, like not a
lot of money in it.
You know there's that it's atough thing to get into and it's
show business.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
You need to be good at both.
You need to be good.
You could be good at the showbut not good at the business
aspect.
Or you could be good at thebusiness aspect and get a ton of
shows, but you bomb every timeyou're on stage.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
So a lot of fighters, you know, yeah, and I'm sure
you see that and you know.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
That kind of brings me to my next point.
Like you know, how do you thinkthat boxers translate into the
mma arena?
Speaker 2 (26:31):
well, like I.
So, for instance, like chris,who you know, chris, who's a
fighter at our gym, I'm justlike dude, like take boxing
matches, take as many.
Like this isn't your forte, butit gets you under the lights.
You know, like you could, youcould grapple a lot and it's
sick to grapple, it's sick tolike take you know, jujitsu
(26:53):
tournaments and stuff like that,but those are when you grapple,
that's a match.
You know what I mean.
An tournaments and stuff likethat, but those are when you
grapple, that's a match.
You know what I mean.
An mma fight is a fight.
A boxing I mean it's a fight.
You know like the nerves are alittle more real.
I'm like if you got under thelights, you won, I don't, I
don't care.
You know what I mean.
Like you're, it's gonna onlyget you better for your mma.
And it's like, dude, low risk,high reward, 12 ounce gloves and
(27:14):
headgear.
Like you're fighting noheadgear, and like four ounce
gloves in mma.
So it's like low risk, highreward, even if you have a great
fight, you implement some ofthe things I tell you in the
corner, you're able to calm downon the corner more, you're more
receptive.
All of that is going totranslate.
All that's going to translate,especially being a wrestler.
I'm like you know, allow, likea wrestler heavy gym that we are
(27:36):
, I'm like I want you guys to beforced just to stand, you know.
So I think it translates well.
Translates well because it'slike you, you have to set up
your takedowns.
You can't just like tap glovesand dive in.
You got to set it up andideally, it's like.
You know, we are a wrestlingheavy gym like.
I can't stress that enough.
(27:57):
So it's like when people lookup their, their opponents,
they're like, oh, he's going towrestle me, he's going to
wrestle me.
When they come out, they startsticking nice jabs.
Sticking nice jabs, boom,there's the right hand.
They're like, oh shit, andthat's going to force the dude
to do something he doesn't wantto do, likely.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
So it's like they're gonna be gone fucked and you're
gonna beat them, like you'regonna beat them psychologically
too.
Yeah, absolutely.
And I, I get that.
I know I'm not the cleanestcomic in the world and you know,
forcing myself to do, uh, acouple years back now, a pg-13
show, uh, which no cussing, Imean a little bit sprinkled in
here and there they were okaywith, but like, definitely no
(28:43):
f-bombs.
And you know I don't evenrealize.
I say it half the time, likeit's just, it's ingrained into
like my vocabulary and it'd behard, it'd be really.
It was tough and again broughtme out of my comfort zone.
Love the show, you know.
Loved having kids at the show.
That was an awesome experience,you know, um, but I get what
(29:04):
you're saying.
With wrestlers and being outside, you know like they want to
shoot for their steak does, butnow I'm forced to stand and
throw hands.
It's only going to make itbetter.
They, they did that, um, at mytaekwondo gym and for a month
straight they brought in a uhjujitsu specialist and now,
(29:25):
instead of throwing kicks andelbows and jabs, now we're on
the ground.
Yeah, now what do we do?
And most fun I had was whenthey brought him in, you know,
getting to learn a differentskill set and had I gone
anywhere, it taught me how toset kicks up for takedowns.
(29:46):
I never thought I would.
That would translate becausenow I'm lifting one foot off the
ground, now I'm off balance,yeah, and you know.
But somehow me, being the lankyguy that I am, I mean I'm six
five.
Back then I'm 6'5", back then Iwas 155 pounds.
At 6'5" I'm skin and bones.
That's insane Skin and fuckingbones.
And it translated intojiu-jitsu because I have these
(30:09):
really long, fucking dry legsthat I could pull guard real
easily and then set up trianglesand arm bars because my legs
were so long and I could keepthem away with my legs and I
learned how to use those.
And wrestlers they want tograpple.
But being in MMA and having aboxing background, it's got to
(30:36):
help.
Guys just want to want to wantto stand and and throw hands and
I get like with mma.
You know you hear the crowdsbooing when guys are on the
ground.
I was watching fight night lastweekend or a couple weekends
ago now, but when this airs andit was grapplers, they were,
they were on the ground and thecrowd instantly started booing
and it's just like you don'tknow, you don't see the art form
(30:59):
that's happening here.
It looks like they're justlaying on each other, but
there's so much happening thatyou can't see, and it's just,
it's become more entertaining tome Because it's chestnut
checkers.
Yeah, absolutely, and I get it.
Fight fans they want to seeguys stand in the middle of the
ring, like max holloway and them, and just throw caution to win
(31:24):
no blocks.
We're just throwing hands, ofcourse, and I get that.
But I've seen a lot of boxersnot do well in mma because I
feel like once they've gottentaken down, like like that's.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Or leg kicked.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
You're heavy on that front and like that's something
like I try and like let peopleI'm like listen.
Like if you jab and you sit,come up and like raise your knee
, you know what I mean.
Like let somebody know.
Like let somebody know like Iwill check your kick, like a lot
(31:59):
of things I'll be like youdon't have to show somebody a
technique while it's happening,like you could just show them
that you'll do it, you'll becapable of it.
Like you come out and you'removing your head, like all those
dudes head movement's good, youknow what I mean.
Like even though you're justdoing it.
So I'm like like that's onething.
Like, yes, you know.
Like you have to have great,you know like leg kick, defense,
takedown defense to be asuccessful boxer.
(32:20):
Like I would never even fathom.
Like I grew up wrestling like alittle bit, did it for like a
year or two in elementary school.
I understand it.
Like even jujitsu, likefighting is fighting.
Like I don't know how ortransitions or what, but like
when I'm watching it I'm likeman, if I was that dude, I would
try and do this and I don'tknow how or how to go about it.
But then they start to try anddo that.
(32:42):
I'm just like okay, I have amild understanding of this Right
.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
Right, yeah, definitely, definitely helps,
for sure.
And you know, like, like I said, you know, I, I, just I, I love
everything about the fight game.
I've always been ingrained, uh,with the fight game and that
now, with that being said, whoare some of your favorite boxers
of all time?
Speaker 2 (33:05):
marvelous marvin haggler.
Yeah, just the middleweight erain the 80s was just fucking
sugar a leonard, tommy hearns,robertouran no one was afraid of
their fucking taking a loss.
They all beat the fuck out ofeach other.
They all fought a bunch oftimes Like it was incredible,
you know what I mean.
Like I think Floyd Mayweatherkind of like he didn't ruin
(33:27):
boxing, but like some of thegreatest ever had losses, you
know, and it's like people arelike oh, it's easy for you to
say you fucking took three in arow for your first three fights,
but it was just like so I neverwas undefeated.
So I don't know what it's like,but what I do know it's like I
got better.
I was more hungry with off of aloss than I ever was a win.
(33:50):
You know you're more confident,but it's like you're way more
hungry and you learn more fromlosses.
You learn way more from lossesand you learn more from losses.
You learn way more from losseslike, um, I always tell like my
fighters now I'm just like theexperience of fighting is life.
In a 5, 10, 15 year period, ifyou're lucky, like condensed,
(34:10):
there's gonna be high, highs,low, lows, there's gonna be
setbacks, there's gonna be glory.
There's gonna be things thatjust don't go fair or go your
way and you're gonna have tofucking live with it.
And these are all things thatyou can summon strength from.
When your mom dies or your kidgets into a terrible car
accident, god forbid.
Like life is just weird yeah sowhen you choose to once do
(34:32):
something hard, that is fighting, it's a choice and then you
could summon strength from thatwhen life is inevitably weird or
hard, like down the line.
So those are the things I tryand like really implement in
coaching.
You know what I mean Likevisualization.
You know like right after I getsomeone warmed up mitts, you
know their adrenaline's goingand I bring them into a back
(34:53):
room somewhere quiet and I'mlike, hey, take like three deep
breaths And're like what I'mlike yeah, you like take the
tongue off the roof of yourmouth, relax your jaw, and
they're like okay, and I'm likeclose your eyes and let's
breathe and like, yeah, I'm likeyou know your opponent looks
like, you know what the venuelooks like and say they're in
the blue corner and visualizeyour success out of the blue
(35:17):
corner.
I talked to him real calm.
I talked to him real calm andthey got a bead of sweat coming
down their head because we justwarmed up and they're about to
go fight.
You know like you couldvisualize your success in a
fucking cage or a ring.
You could visualize yoursuccess in anything.
So it's like these little tipsand like tricks that I try and
like, show people, I'm like, no,this, no, this isn't, this
(35:38):
isn't fight.
This is bigger than fighting.
Like, yeah, I care about yourjab, I care about your uppercut,
but I care about the man thatyou are when you're done.
And have you, have you grown?
Have you grown through theprocess that is fighting, and
are you going to become a betterperson after?
And and that's really what myjob as a coach is like flat?
Speaker 1 (35:57):
out.
Holy shit, I wish I didn't haveany more to to to go with this
show, cause that is a phenomenalanalogy.
And that was, yeah, I, Ihonestly, now that you say that
I, you know, I think back and Ifought 29 times in Taekwondo
(36:17):
Sick, it's a lotekwondo Sick,it's a lot, 28 and one Sick and
I lost on fight 29.
And, oddly enough, it told thestory to Billy and it got a big
laugh out of him, which it getsa big laugh every time I tell it
.
Yeah, but driving to the venuewith my coach and my other
(36:39):
teammate that was fighting inthe tournament with me and she
and I were ranked as the top twoin Taekwondo at at the time.
So I was like, look, we'regoing to end up on opposite
sides of the bracket if it comesdown to both of us in the
championship round.
I'm not going to hit you hard,don't hit me hard, we're going
to be tired and let's thetrophy's coming back to our gym.
(37:03):
Anyways, who gives a shit?
Who gets it?
She's like deal, fate has it.
We're in the championship roundtogether and at first we're
we're kind of just like taggingeach other with jabs.
We're kind of just like taggingeach other with jabs, a little
leg kick here and there, andthen, out of nowhere, I must
have tagged her a little harderthan I thought I did and I saw
(37:23):
the blinders come on, yeah.
And next thing I know I had myhands low, because I always did,
because everyone was shorterthan me.
And next thing I know I felt apressure on the side of my face
and my eyes are opening.
There's five people standingabove me.
She had kicked me in the faceso hard and her one foot didn't
(37:44):
leave the ground, just a perfectroundhouse right to the button
Drop me.
That was my one loss and in myfucking head I was like I don't
like this feeling.
I don't ever want to have thisfeeling ever again, and I think
that's what stopped me frompursuing the fight game.
You know, after 29 fights, howold were you when you were
(38:07):
competing?
I'm 36 now.
How old were?
Speaker 2 (38:08):
you when you were competing.
Speaker 1 (38:11):
I was at that time, I was 15.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
Yeah, that's a hard pill to swallow, as a kid too.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
Especially a 15-year-old dude.
You get knocked out by a girl.
It sucks.
Now this is one of those chicksI'd run from in a dark alley.
She's tough as fucking nails.
I'd spar her all the time atthe gym.
They're like why are you alwayspicking cassie?
(38:40):
It's like because she hitsharder than most of the other
guys in here good she's good.
She's gonna make me better.
I'm gonna make her better.
We're the top two rank peoplein taekwondo right now, like in
in the studentville ohio area.
Like why?
Why are you like who cares who?
I'm sparring yeah and yeah, shewas, yeah, she was the one
(39:02):
knockout and never fought againafter that happens, dude, I've
heard of, I've heard of thathappening.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
Like people are just like 18 and oh, then that 19th
fight, dude on the button.
And they're just like, yeah,fuck that, yeah.
And you're still like in, likeyou're just inflamed, that like
your ego's inflamed.
You're just like, oh, you thinkand you're invincible, and,
especially as a 15 year old,like your fucking hormones are
going crazy and shit like thatwould.
That would suck, that's a.
That's a hard age, that's ahard loss and a chick like
(39:32):
that's a pretty naughty trifectafor sure it was.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
Yeah, it definitely yeah, it definitely was, and it
still sticks with me.
I'm 36 now and you know itstill sticks with me two decades
later.
Yeah, and you know as I, that's.
All I remember about that fight, yeah, is lowering my hands
seeing the blunders come on,waking up, that's the one you
(40:00):
don't see coming.
That's it.
I threw a jab.
I must have caught her wrong,or I threw it harder than I
thought I did.
It's still a funny story,because now all my friends get a
big laugh oh, you're gettingknocked out by a chick Like,
yeah, stay in the ring with her,let's see.
Let's see who who's awake atthe end of that fight, cause
(40:21):
it's not going to be you.
Speaker 2 (40:23):
You transitioned into a comedy easier because you
could like again someone,someone's strength.
Like I've been in front of acrowd.
You're like I've been knockedout.
I've been knocked out by a girlin front of a fucking crowd.
What's the worst thing that'sgoing to happen on a stage.
I'm going to bomb, like do youthink the trials of like martial
arts have given you confidence,at least early on in your
comedy career?
Speaker 1 (40:42):
like starting out 100 percent um my.
My wife always says she doesnot know where my confidence
comes from in myself.
Speaker 2 (40:53):
Well, you're 6'5" too .
Speaker 1 (40:56):
That helps a little bit.
Because of her I'm a little bitmore of a normal weight at 210
pounds, but that definitelyhelps.
Thinking of that, I got knockedout by a girl.
What's this fucking bum who'ssitting here in a bar not
laughing?
Oh, who gives a shit?
Yeah, and it definitely helps.
(41:19):
But you know, I always tellpeople you know, like, like, how
do you meet your confidence?
Well, I love me, I think I'mfantastic, and that's all I need
.
You know, I don't care if youlike me, I like me, I think I'm
awesome.
Yeah, and you know it's broughtme to.
You know, still, I mean 13years and I'm still considered
an up and coming comedian.
(41:41):
Yeah, but you know, it'ssomething I'm always going to be
pursuing regardless, Becauseyou still feel alive.
Speaker 2 (41:48):
Like that's probably my hardest thing right now about
like not competing is like II'm trying to find something
that like I want to feel likealive doing again you know what
I mean.
Speaker 1 (41:57):
and it's like yeah, the adrenaline rush that I get
after, after a set is good orbad, honestly.
Yeah, if it's a good set, Iknow, obviously it's a little
bit more.
And you know, I know sleep'snot happening that night, uh,
because I'm I'm too amped up.
Um, if it's a bad show, moreand I know sleep's not happening
that night because I'm tooamped up.
If it's a bad show, I'm stillamped up.
(42:19):
For another reason.
I'm like, why didn't thisfucking joke work?
Now I'm going over things andI'm going back to the drawing
boards with jokes and that.
But yeah, it definitelydefinitely helps out.
Having that martial artsbackground Taught me a lot of
discipline, and that was what myparents were, the ones who
(42:41):
actually, you know, I don't wantto say forced me into it, but
they were like, look, you'regrowing way too fast, you've hit
two growth spurts already andyou're already taller than what
the doctor said you were goingto be.
Uh, yeah, the doctor told me Iwasn't going to exceed five nine
by the time I was 21, I was 13and I was over six foot.
(43:02):
Um, yeah, so, so wrong and sowrong.
And you know, I I had to learncoordination.
So like, well, let's put themin some martial arts or
something.
My mom suggested ballet atfirst and my dad was like
absolutely not.
So my dad suggested martialarts as the next best thing and
it's helped out tremendously.
Speaker 2 (43:27):
I got a black belt in taekwondo and it's something
that Black belt in anything isan insane achievement.
It's so cool.
I'm going to be the 50 year olddude like in a room full of
like kids at a dojo taking likekarate.
You know, like like flat out,you know like I think that
shit's cool, it's, it's, it'sjust yeah yeah, I started, uh,
at 12 and I had my black belt at14.
Speaker 1 (43:50):
wow, um, yeah it.
It was supposed to be likeit'll take about three years to
probably get to be a black belt.
I mean, that's just a typicaltransition and I don't know what
it was in me, but even as a12-year-old I said what's the
fastest anybody's ever gotten ablack belt?
And they're like well, aboutthree years.
(44:11):
I was like so that's the mark tobeat like if you think you can
get it faster than that, by allmeans shoot for it.
Don't be disappointed if it'sthree years.
I was like I won't, but I, Ilike lofty, go that as a 12 year
old, you know what I mean.
Like that that's not what Ishould be thinking about, yeah,
and that's just kind of been mymindset, and like that's why
people ask all the time like whyare you still pursuing comedy?
(44:33):
Like you haven't.
You're still considered anup-and-comer.
You've been doing it 13 years.
It's like, yeah, look, look,look at some of the guys that
have their netflix specials.
They're 37 to 40 to 50 to 60years old.
I can, as long as I can stilltalk and stand like I'm still
trying to make a room full ofpeople laugh and it's the best
(44:55):
rush I've ever had.
Speaker 2 (44:57):
Yeah, and you're not getting brain damage.
Speaker 1 (44:59):
Right, yeah, I get to stand there with a microphone,
like no, the worst thing I haveto have is somebody throwing
something at me nowadays ortrying to Will Smith me, you
know, I don't know, like that's.
Speaker 2 (45:15):
I mean I think, yeah, like a like that's.
I mean I think, yeah, like alot of, I grew up, like it said
in madison, so kind of likehunting and fishing, and after
my career like transitioned backand I'm novice, I'm not like a
big hunter, fisher like, butlike it's a similar.
It's a similar primal rush.
You know what I mean that'slike and you and you hear, hear
dudes will be on Rogue andtalking about, I mean I know
(45:36):
Gerald Spahn.
He fought out of Strong Stylemaybe five years ago.
He dipped his toe in stand-upand stuff, you know, and I had a
little run at it and stuff.
And I'm like man, I alwaysthought that that was cool.
I'm like, yeah, that's gotta bethe same.
Speaker 1 (45:52):
I would encourage anybody to just go to an open
mic night, sign up and just geton stage.
Yeah, it's, it's an experience,it's something you can cross
off a bucket list.
If you don't want to do it, ohwell, you can say you tried it.
You can say you know, you cansay you did it and it's fun.
(46:13):
Everyone was shocked at mebecause they were like okay,
this is your first time going onstage.
I can tell you're nervous ashell, you're sweating.
Before you even get on stageYou're probably going to bomb.
We'll put you up first and thenwe'll kind of come in and save
the show.
I was like it's your show, man,I'm just here to fill a spot.
I'm cool, put me up wheneveryou want to put me up.
(46:35):
Went up and absolutely murderedthe room To the point where
everybody after me didn't do aswell.
They had funny jokes, but aftersomebody who kills like that,
end the show Because you're notgoing to get any big laughs.
Some of them were even like man,who put this fucking running
order together in this.
Like Jesus, like this firsttimer comes up here and
(46:57):
absolutely has people in tears.
And now, how old?
Speaker 2 (47:00):
were you when that happened.
Speaker 1 (47:01):
Uh, so I would have been 23.
Speaker 2 (47:06):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:07):
Yeah.
Yeah 23 years old Just 23 yearsold buddy of mine needed to fill
a spot in the show but houndedme for months.
I was like fuck, I'll do it foryou.
As a fraternity brother of mine, I wanted to help him out.
13 years later, here I am stilldoing it, still kicking, still
running at it.
But look, we are running downhere near the end.
(47:29):
I feel like I could talk to youlike all fucking night.
Just looked at the time, like,oh shit, we're running down near
the end.
I feel like I could talk to youlike all fucking night.
Just looked at the time, I waslike, oh shit, we're running
down near the end of the showhere.
I do got to get this lastsegment in here and it's a
segment everybody loves.
We've been running this showfor four years now and coming up
on five and everyone loves it.
And that is the Fast Fitty Five.
And that is five randomquestions from the wonderful
(47:50):
manager of the podcast, johnnyFitty Falcone.
And for the new listeners outthere, these are kind of rapid
fire, but, luke, you canelaborate if you need to, but if
you are ready, these questionshave nothing to do with what
we've been talking about for thebetter part of an hour now.
So if you're ready, man, allrighty.
(48:11):
So question number one oneswhat are your thoughts about
geese?
Speaker 2 (48:17):
geese, I fucking hate them.
I almost ran one over on theway to the gym today.
It's a shame that they'reendangered.
I would fucking if it was themiddle of the night and I had
three drinks in me and I wasdriving.
I would fucking run one over ifno one was around.
That's what I think, geese theshit's around.
Speaker 1 (48:34):
That's what I think he's the shit's everywhere.
Speaker 2 (48:42):
It's slick like.
Speaker 1 (48:43):
I love that answer to start this off.
It's to do a whole otherfucking yeah, it's a whole
nother show in and of itselfwith the rant.
I could go on about geese.
Uh, question number two isfishing a sport.
Speaker 2 (48:50):
Yes, yeah yeah, I'm an avid fisherman.
I'm fucking novice.
I was fishing yesterday.
I caught my first steelhead,like first four steelhead this
last week.
Nice, um, it's a sport.
Speaker 1 (49:03):
It's not like a fucking, you're sweating, but
like it's it's, it's a sportyeah, 100 not like total bias
opinion, but you're goodquestion number three if, oh god
, how does he?
If you had a perfect time to goto bed and also get up every
morning, what time would that be?
Speaker 2 (49:25):
you had to get eight hours, especially with fucking
training.
So like 11 to 7.
I'm a realer.
So like I'm like midnight to 8,but 11 to 7 would be better.
It'd be better to have anotherhour in the morning.
You're gonna be more productivewith fucking 7 am to 8 am.
Then you are 11 pm to 12 pm.
So yeah, 7, 11, I like that.
Speaker 1 (49:46):
Question number four could prime hulk hogan beat up
two average guys in a fight?
Yeah, that's like that was a.
I don't know why that shouldhave been the first one.
That's a toss-up, like that's.
Speaker 2 (49:57):
I think so Average dudes yeah.
Speaker 1 (50:00):
Average dudes 100%.
He's dieseling them.
Last question here, jim Carreyoverrated or underrated?
He's incredible.
Speaker 2 (50:08):
I grew up on Jim Carrey.
Speaker 1 (50:18):
He's fucking awesome.
He's hilarious.
I like grew up mocking hismannerisms.
He's incredible.
He's a fucking he's.
He's great.
Speaker 2 (50:21):
Yeah, love jim carrey , uh, all of his work, um,
everything like that.
The truman show, like when Ihave the movie to show people
that I'm like have you ever seenthe truman show?
They're like.
No, I'm like then we'rewatching the fucking truman show
.
It's a mind fuck.
It's j Carrey, it's a classicJim Carrey.
It's fucking great 100%.
Speaker 1 (50:33):
Yeah, that's an underrated movie from him.
I don't think that gets enoughcredit, mind, fuck, yeah, 100%.
Well, that was the Fast 55.
I mean, he brought in some ofhis normal questions.
This is just a little taste ofthe mind in what I deal with on
a daily basis.
(50:55):
Johnny Fitty Falcone.
I went to college with this man.
I love this man to death, buthe comes up with the most random
shit possible and he texts themto me when they pop into his
head.
He'll text me like a random andit's always something dumb.
Who wins in a fight?
One gorilla or a hundred men,which is apparently a trend now
on TikTok, I've seen it allfucking day.
(51:17):
But like, yeah, so like hecomes up with this and we were
like what if we made a segmentin the show to end the show?
Just a fun way to end the show?
But, luke, I give every guestthis opportunity at the end of
every show.
Um, if you have anything youwant to get out there, any
fights, for any of your fighterscoming up for your gym,
(51:39):
anything like that, or if it'seven just a good message, I'm
going to give you about a minuteand the floor is yours.
Speaker 2 (51:45):
Cool.
Uh, chris Dragge.
Um, he's my guy.
He's like my main pupil.
Um, he is fighting Juneune 21stfor, uh, he's defending his 185
title.
Um, he's the man.
He's gonna take the dub.
We just got done with thecleveland golden gloves.
I'm affiliated with two gyms,so we just got done with the
(52:05):
cleveland golden gloves, butthose are always like end of
march to the beginning of april,three weeks in a row.
It's fucking amazing.
Right downtown, that's great,but that's a year from now.
Those are the two things I gotright now.
Speaker 1 (52:20):
All right, man, no worries, everybody go check
those out.
If there's anywhere where wecould stream the fight in June,
let us know.
We'll put that link in thedescription of the show here, or
get it to us.
I I'll add it in later.
I don't give a shit.
Sure, um, anything, um likethat.
I'm always looking to supportand help out any way that I can.
Speaker 2 (52:39):
So everyone go check the great one to him on the show
he's.
He's a great kid, yeah 100.
Speaker 1 (52:45):
I'm always we're always looking for, for guests
uh, always always looking forhim.
But that is going to do it forthis week's episode of the ride
home rants podcast.
I want to thank my guest, lukefresh hour, for joining the show
.
A lot of fun to get to talk toyou a little bit more about the
fight game and everything likethat.
We've had a lot of fighters andfight coaches on now.
(53:05):
Um, love talking to y'all but,as always, if you enjoyed the
show, be a friend, tell a friend.
If you didn't tell them friend,tell a friend If you didn't
tell them.
Anyways, they might like itjust because you didn't.
That's going to do it for meand I will see y'all next week.
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