August 14, 2025 • 27 mins
BKFC fighter Anthony Yost joins The Front Porch Chronicles for a conversation that goes far beyond the ring. We talk about the grit it takes to be a present father, the courage to break generational curses, and the heart required to battle both in life and in bare knuckle fighting. This is raw, real, and unfiltered — the kind of talk you won’t hear anywhere else.
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#AnthonyYost #BKFC #BareKnuckleFighting #FrontPorchChronicles #Fatherhood #BreakingCurses #RealTalk #LifeLessons
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🎧 Front Porch Chronicles — real conversations on healing, growth, fatherhood, and fighting through it. ▶️ Full Episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thefrontporchchronicles
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🎧 Listen now and subscribe for more real conversations every week.
#AnthonyYost #BKFC #BareKnuckleFighting #FrontPorchChronicles #Fatherhood #BreakingCurses #RealTalk #LifeLessons
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-front-porch-chronicles--5999017/support.
🎧 Front Porch Chronicles — real conversations on healing, growth, fatherhood, and fighting through it. ▶️ Full Episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thefrontporchchronicles
🤝 Collabs / Booking: (949) 933-4349 • thefrontporchchronicles1@gmail.com
🔔 Subscribe & drop a comment—tell us what hit home.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's up, everybody. Welcome back the front porch Chronicles. I'm
your host, Clinton, Folks, Shay and we don't just talk
about what people do around here. We dig into who
they are as a person. And this guy has been
fighting in and out of the cage for a long time.
(00:21):
I've wanted to get him on for a minute. I'm
glad he finally got on. Tony Yoe's is in the house.
Thank you, brother for coming on.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Thank you for having me. Man. I know you messaged
me a while ago, and as soon as you messaged men,
I was like, yeah, definitely, definitely exciting to get on.
And I'm glad our time frames linked up definitely.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
So let me ask you this. Let's take it all
the way back. Who was Anthony Jost before the lights,
before the gloves? As a kid? Who was he? Man?
Speaker 2 (00:52):
It was just me and the boys. Man, I was
starting in sixth grade kind of me and my friends
started a skateboarding team, you know, one of them, five
or seven skateboarding shoutout Elbery and all my boys, and really, man,
we just I was just a skater. I was just
a skinny jene wear and long haired punk that like
the skater around town. That's what we did, man. You
know we had it's you know, like bonfires and stuff
(01:15):
like that, but really it was just we'd wake up
at the early as possible. We would all skate to
each other's houses, get together, and we wouldn't be home
till dark. This kind of video games and skating, that's
the that's the kid I was.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
I remember back in the day, Like when I was
a kid and I'm old, we used to have to
get out of the house and then you couldn't come
into the street lights come out. So it was the
same thing I was.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
I was the last generation, last generation that did that.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Man.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
I was born in ninety three. We were like the
last generation that was allowed to like go and bike
to our friend's house. And that was it.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Thinking back to being the keyid, what was the first
memory that really shanked who you are today?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
The real It's actually pretty personal. So it's kind of
cool that I get to say this is I was
in sixth grade and like, before I get started, I'm
not going to take any away from this guy. He
is my grandpa, but he was raised in a different timeframe,
and what really shaped me was one day I remember
slamming the door because my mom said I could go
out with my friends and he lived with us. He's
from Texas, Mexican biker dude, gloves, chain v neck, you know, suspenders,
(02:16):
have your set, biker biker stash, Mexican slick teared back
and I told him my mom said I could go,
and he said no, and I basically told him to
fuck off. I remember he gave me a look. I
told my friends to go, I slammed the door. He
chased me up the stairs, drunk me off the bed,
kind of picked me up, you know, kind of like
and then I remember upper cutting them and then crying
running out the house. The only thing I got was
(02:38):
a you remember them like CD like we'd burn CDs.
I like, all I collected man out of there, and
I just grabbed my c case ran outside. And that
right there really shaped me because in that moment, I
was like, if I'm willing to defend myself against my grandpa,
I'm never gonna let another grown man treat me this way.
So that right there, like he just he just he
was a hands on, discipline type of guy. But that
(02:59):
was a huge heart in my life where my mindset
was like flipped and I'm like, never again, well allow
something like this to happen. So that right there kind
of gave me that moment where I'm like, I'm gonna
shoot to get out of here. I'm gonna do whatever
I can to find my I don't know mus is
the right word, but to find a way to be successful.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Like eleven twelve, similar mine was a little bit older,
but probably was thirteen or fourteen finally stood up to
my dad and similar to you, I kind of was like, hey,
you know what that that switch flip and I was like, no,
I'm not gonna let anybody. I have to kind of
step up for myself. What was the moment in life
(03:40):
that you realize things aren't always gonna be fair? And
how did you end?
Speaker 2 (03:47):
It was around It was a little bit before that
happened with my grandpa, because my grandpa moved from Texas
in with us because at the time, I grew up
in a very I grew up with my grandma. Like
my mom worked a lot. I used to grow up
in my grandma's house. She watched me all the time.
And it was when she passed away and I was like,
how can somebody so sweet something like this happened to somebody,
(04:07):
you know what I mean, you know, and like now
I understand it when I'm older. But in that moment,
I realized, like, yo, life is just life is not fair.
She taught me love, real love. Even my mom and
them will say, you know, like she raised me up
until that point, you know what I mean. So like
when she passed away, it kind of really realized. I
was like, okay, okay, life, life is a little bit
different than I thought it was growing up, you know,
so I had to grow up quick.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
And how did that shift your mind?
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Being the oldest boy was kind of like, Okay. I
was at the funeral and I saw my mom, my, cousins,
all of them. It was just like, okay, it's not
it's my turn to step up, and it's my I
am the black sheep of the family and it's my
turn to change there As I've always had that mindset
of everything I've ever gone through and bad, was like, Okay,
now this is going to feel the fire to be better.
(04:51):
I'm gonna make it out of here. I'm gonna be
that one in my family that does what I can
to inspire everybody. So like that's even at such a
young age, I've always had, even if it was skating
at the time, I'm gonna be a parro skater, you know,
Like I put everything I could into everything I was
doing until I fell into fighting and I'm like, yeah,
this is it. It's always been what can I do
(05:12):
to make my family proud? Who make up for all
the bad things the elders you know, had to go
through or my cousins had to go through, the hunger,
the deaths, you know, shit like that, and just I
want Yeah, I wanted that pressure. I wanted that feeling
of like I'm gonna do this, even that's what it was.
(05:32):
So I would have to say about ten or eleven
when she passed away, And then when that happened with Frank,
that kind of really like settled the deals, like Okay, yeah,
I can do this, Like I'm gonna do something because
I defended myself, and at that young and of an age,
it's like, shoot, if I can defend myself against a
grown up, I can do anything.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
So who was your first real example of strength and
what did they teach you?
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Without even saying it, that's a good one, my man.
I've actually never thought of that, but it would have
to be my father. My dad's always been I come
from a blue collar household, and my dad has always
done everything he could to work hard, Like even through
the times we only got to see him like once
a week and every other weekend, but the times we
(06:14):
were there, I mean, he sat out there and if
I wanted to be a pitcher in baseball, traveling ball,
he sat out there and let me throw twenty thirty pitches,
you know, NonStop, over and over and over again. I
broke car windows, you know, So like he just showed
me like what it was to I guess, be a man.
Be present, Yeah, be present. And he also did shoot
for his dreams too. My dad was a good ball player,
(06:35):
and he did try out for like the minor leagues
a couple of times. So he always kind of like
inspired me to shoot for my dreams.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Thinking back to how you were raised, what's one lesson
that you learned that you still use in your life today?
Speaker 2 (06:51):
I would have to say to just man, I've never
really you got some good questions. Man, I'm not even
really enjoying this one. A lesson that I take with
me now is I would have to say, keep going like,
no matter what happens, like my mom, I lived with
my mom, so this is a good thing on my mom.
But she was a single mom of you know, five kid,
(07:12):
and it was we lived from hotel to hotel. She
ran the hotel. So it's not like we lived from
room to room, but she ran hotels, so we went
jumped from there. But it just showed me that I
take that lesson with me that like, no matter where
I come from, I can I can do anything. And
my mom taught me that. One she she might not
have worked as hard, you know as my dad did,
but she also worked hard in a different way. So
she taught me some good value. But lessons that I
(07:33):
take with me now just.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Keep going can teach us things like on different ends
of the spectrum.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Not even trying either, you know.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Like that's what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
When I was younger, I despised him for its like
I only get to see my dad once a week.
I was like, he doesn't want to do much, you know,
stuff like this my mom blah blah blah. And like
now that I'm older, I completely realized, like my childhood
was never as bad as I thought it was, And
I really love the way my parents raised me, the
way they did freedom. Really, they just let me be
the person I am. Like. They let me go out
(08:05):
and skateboard and hang out. And I didn't have a curfew.
And you know, my siblings they did, you know, they
didn't get to go out like I did.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
It's crazy, yeah, And the things that we passed down
to our kids. I make sure that with my kids,
I'm present for everything, school functions, like you know, you know,
it's kind of like you I wanted to break that
generational curse stuff. So all of that stuff that I
went through as a kid, and the things that I
(08:32):
wanted and needed that I didn't get, I try to
pass down to my kids feeling wanted, feeling needed, and
feeling you know, yep.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Not so like a little bit like it's the little
things like every night, I make sure I tell my
kids good night every night. Me and my wife, we
have a routine. We go on there, we say good night.
I kissed her forehead. I say good night to my
little dog because he intends to jump up on me too.
But that's something like my parents can do. You know,
it's a little bit different. But yeah, that's just so
I do little things like that. It's like, I don't
spies them for it. It's just the little things like
(09:01):
that that I try to do different, be more present,
do little bit more things. I bring my kids, Like
my dad used to bring us to a softball games,
but then he went hang out with us. So I
bring my kids to our fights and we you know,
I do everything, they get to go backstage with us
and all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
And speaking of fatherhood, becoming a father change you as
a fighter and kind of in general in general.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
At the time, it didn't. I'm not even I look
back at it now, and it changed me in a
way where I was able to get sober. I was
into pharmaceuticals for a little bit. Yeah, for years, and
I've been sober since my daughter's been born and she's
gonna be twelve, and so it kind of bettered me
in that way. But it took some time to really
process of like what it meant to be a father.
(09:48):
I mean, I just don't think even now, I didn't
learn what it was to be a true father up
until the last couple of years, you know, into my
later twenties and you know, now early thirties, because back
then I would say it changed me, but I was
still just trying to my fighting. Even my fighting. I
was still smoking cigarettes. I was still going in there,
not training the way I needed to. I didn't start
taking it serious until my kid. I seen my kids
(10:11):
were old enough to realize what I was doing. And
now I put that example in there there in the
gym with us four or five times a week, they
train their coaches, my coach, you know. So like I
would have to say, it didn't change me as a
man or a father until recently. Honestly, I think the
most honest answer. When I was younger, I was just
like I think.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
I think it was one of those things that, in
no disrespect to our parents or that generation, didn't know
what it was to be present. We didn't know what
it was to show love and care about emotions, especially
as me and we weren't taught that, and like we
were taught, suck it up, pushed through.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Yeah, you know, your dreams don't matter, your feelings don't matter,
the only thing that matters is you're gonna go work
your ass off. You're gonna come home and hopefully your
wife has some food and you're and you're gonna tell
your kids good night. Being a blue collar worker, that
is the life I was raised and where like you
go to you work long hours, you come home, you
say good night, and sometimes on the weekends you do stuff,
but you do stuff for yourself. So like present wise,
(11:11):
you know what I mean. Like I said, my dad,
I seen him a couple times a week. He was
always at softball games, he was bowling, he was doing
stuff like that. So I try my best to be
as president as possible.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
What's one lesson that you hope your kids learn from
watching you chase your dreams?
Speaker 2 (11:28):
This is something I like to tell people, and you know,
I don't think I've ever said it on a camera,
but I hope they take what I this saying and
they ride with it. Motivation is a word to stop
you from chasing your dreams. Discipline is a word that
will help you achieve them. And I hope they take
one day they will completely fully understand what that means
and they ride with it the rest of your life.
(11:48):
Because nobody wants to get up and go to work.
But guess what, those are a necessity. So your body's
a necessity. You gotta treat your body like you treat
your bills, You get up, you go eat healthy, you
go to the gym. It doesn't matter if you're a
profighter or not a profighter. Your body, your brain, your heart.
There's a few things that you cannot replace, so you
need to take care of them. So discipline will get
you there.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
What's something that you've learned from your kids that has
surprised you?
Speaker 2 (12:16):
How to learn to love myself? That's really I can
don't really need to go into detail with it, I think,
because like it's one of them things where like I
just would as a parent, as a man, as even
with a mom. We have tendency to beat ourselves up.
But to see my kids watch me lose twice disappointingly
I got knocked out, you know what I mean, and
(12:36):
then for them to see that smile after I won.
But they still support me and they tell me and
they even after my losses, are like that it's fine,
we'll get back, you know, we'll get back. They taught
me how to believe in myself.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Wow, that's that's powerful. And you know it's funny. We're
cut from the same claw. My kid's same thing with
me is they taught me to love myself. And one
of the things that I learned from that is until
we fully love ourself, we can't give those things that
(13:09):
being present, like we talked.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
About, but absolutely I agree. It's like, how can I
give my family one hundred percent love when I only
love myself fifty percent? Like I'm not giving myself because
as much as people hate hearing it, I love my
kids and I love my wife, But in the end,
their voices aren't in my head. My voice is in
my head. I'm I should matter first because if I
work on my happiness, that allows me to open the
(13:30):
door for everything else to fully fall into place. I'm
a better husband if I take care of myself, I'm
a better father. If I take care of myself, I'm
a better coach, I'm a better team. But it all
comes down to looking yourself in the mirror and taking
care of yourself first.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Let me ask you this, if your kids were sitting
here with this today, what would you want them to
say about you as a father.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
That he tried That's it. You know. There's a lot
of things I would love for them to appreciate, but
I think for them to just know, like my dad
tried his best. If that was what they went with
after I passed away, I'll die happy, man.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Man. I talked to my kids all the time, and
that's one of the things that I tell them is
try just do your best.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
You're gonna fail a lot.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
End of the day, you're gonna win some, you're gonna
lose some. I'm gonna love you nonetheless, whether you win
or lose. Just do your best.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
That's all you can do.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
What's something that you're passionate about outside of.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Fight, honestly, helping others, there's not really. I started fighting
so young. Like my lot of teenagers, they live their
teenage years, they do their things. I've been in a
gym since I was fifteen. I did take some years off,
don't get me wrong, I retired, But like I really,
I'm really passionate about just this, like teaching people to
build confidence and to shoot for their dreams. I just
(14:48):
want to inspire. Doesn't matter what they're what they do, skating, drawing,
video games, football, I want people to just be inspired.
They're like, hey, this guy, he came from nothing, he
came from a small town, he was poor, blah blah
blah blah blah. You know, whatever people want to say.
You know because I this is the first time I've
really talked about my story like out there like that,
and I just wanted him to be like, well, if
(15:09):
he can do, at least I can try. All he
did was try, and he just never stopped trying. It
took me fifteen years, but I'm here.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
And it's crazy how people like us when you come
from nothing, when you come from struggle, when you come
from they always choose two paths, right, And sometimes we
have to go through the storm to appreciate the good absolutely,
(15:36):
And once we do that, people like us find it
motivating to motivate and help others. So like for me,
I tell my story. I got a pretty gnarly story.
But I tell people that story not because I want
attention to it, but because I want them to say, Hey,
if this guy went through all of this stuff and
he chooses to be a good person, he chooses to
(15:59):
get up every day when every statistic says he should
and do the right thing and try to help others,
I'd be okay with that. You know, if we were
to ask three people to best describe you, what do
you think that would stappen?
Speaker 2 (16:16):
I would have to say I'm loud, I'm good with people.
I'm really like just being. I don't like quiet rooms,
and I like to dance. People don't know, but like
if you were in our gym on a day to
day basis, I have my headphones in big headphones like
this head little headphones. But I am dancing, always dancing.
I am moving, grooving, so I think I would have
(16:36):
to say I'm loud. I'm good with people, and I
like to dance, not saying I'm good. But I am Mexican,
so it's in my hips, you.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Know, move like Jack Like yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Prefer Selena, you know what I mean. It's all on
my grandma. I don't remember it like fully, but my
parents used to tell me that. Like I used to
wake up, my grandm would put a cow head in
the oven, turn on some Spanish music and dance for
all morning. So I do like dancing.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
What's something that you do now that younger you would
laugh at.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
I cook, not a lot. I mean, I'm Gordon Ramsey,
but I do wake up every morning and cook my
wife breakfast. It's only sausage and eggs and then I'll
like throw burgers on. But I cook in a few
times a week. I think that is something I'd be like,
not a chance.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Not a chance. What's the hardest truth about yourself that
you've had to accept.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
I'm not perfect. I'm never gonna be perfect. I think
that's why I love martial arts so much, is You're
never gonna be perfect because there's always gonna be somebody better.
But I think that would be it is. It took
me a long time growing up, especially starting fighting so young.
I was pretty cocky. I mean nobody at sixteen years old.
They don't go in there and beat up grown men
for years on end, you know what I mean, and
broken down schools, and so it really just not being perfect.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
That's a struggle we all have because we have this
thing in our head that we always have to be perfect.
And I think it's kind of of those things that,
like you said, I think once you find self love
and you start to learn you love yourself, you start
to accept that I'm flawed and that's okay.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
People that are gonna love me are gonna love me regardless, absolutely,
win or lose. And the people that aren't aren't gonna
love you no matter how perfect you think you're gonna be.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
What's one moment or what was the moment that you
realize fighting was more than just a sport for you.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
I would have to say my first title fight. I
lost my first fight, and then I went on a
three fight win streak. I mean I used to fight
all the time. There was no commission back then in Iowa. Man,
I thought, I think the I thought it's Friday and
turn around fought the next Saturday. I think my first
year of fighting, I had eleven fights in a year.
So it was I was three and one. I traveled
to this guy's hometown in Iowa Waterloo, Iowa. The guy's
(18:55):
name is Joey Ala. We still follow each other. No
way we could fight now. Man, that dude's like, you know,
yeah jacked now. I mean I thought him when he
was like thirty five. So we went all three rounds
and it went to a draw. And I think in
that moment, I'm like, holy shit, this guy's been knocking
people out with head kicks. I'm just a kid with
a bowl cut blonde hair. Because we bleached it. I
was like I just did that. And in that moment,
(19:15):
I'm like I can do this. And that's kind of
where I've been at this whole time.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
If you ever had a night that you walked outside
of the cage and you felt like you were a
different man.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Yes, there's a few of them. There's a good personal
one would have to be the Aala one. I walked
out and I was like, okay, wow, sixteen years old,
I can do this. And then in Honolulu, Hawaii, it
was my second to last MMA fight. I traveled all
the way over there, and it was the first time
I got knocked out. Like I mean, I was out
for minutes, Like my wife told me they had to
(19:46):
come in and put water down my pants. You know,
I don't remember most of the day. I remember walking
out and then waking up on the back table like this,
watching myself on the phone get knocked out. So like
that one kind of like really changed like who I
was as a person, Like holy shit, like you know,
like my mind wasn't really the same after that until
I got because I didn't, you know, I had to
(20:07):
let it heal and stuff like that. But I think
that was the big one for me, was after I
got knocked out for the first time, that will that
will put a damper in a little in a guy,
you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
That would definitely, that would definitely make you see things different.
And a lot of people, once they get knocked out,
give up.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Absolutely, same way with people get that first loss. A
lot of people can't handle that first loss. You know,
you look at is he is, he wrote off all
those wins, he lost that one, and Dan, he's kind
of like, oh, yeah, I don't know if he'll I
don't even know if he'll come back.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
I think he like he accomplished what he did, and
he's like, I am happy with it. I did what
I needed to, you know. And I think even as
a man myself and as a fighter, we need them
losses man for our mental state, because they teach you,
like they teach you who you are. They really do
on the inside.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
And and I think they teach you who you are.
And I think it's good as parents for your kids
to see you get knocked down and pick yourself up, man,
dust yourself off, and keep going and striving to be
and do better. It makes it recognize and see those
(21:19):
things and push through, you know, with their life. If
you could talk to the version of you before your
first fight, what would you tell that kid?
Speaker 2 (21:28):
You know, that feeling in your gut. That shit never
goes away. I'm thirty fights in and even my last one,
walking out to fight Chachi, I was like like, you know,
but like I learned to control it more now. But
I think that's what I would tell them, and be like,
you know, that nervous feeling that means you're doing something
you love. Don't let it. Don't let it affect you
down the road, which it did. I let the nerves
(21:50):
get to me a lot in my early career as
a kid. I was sixteen, seventeen, early twenties. But I
think that's what i'd tell them. They're like, Yo, that feeling,
I shit, don't go away, my man, suck it up,
keep going.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
My first MMA fight, I remember we trained, we trained,
and I came out there and I'm like, kind of
that the nerves. I'm like, oh my god, but you're
trying to look tough, your your family's there, and then
it's like you get in there and that cage closest
and you're like, what was I supposed to do? Again?
(22:21):
And then you're like all this stuff is running through
your hand, and then you're like, I don't want to
get knocked out. My people are here. I ran across
like we were at the club all three rounds of
my first fight, like I was in the hood. There
was no I would love to tell you it was
skilled and it was whatever it was not it was
backyard uh raw.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Yes, I did it all the way up. I thought
that way. When I found in California against Mike, I
went in there like we had this game plan and
that shit went out the window. Like I even talked
to Scott afterwards, Dude, I was like, do you might
I'm I was nervous. I was like I was walking
in the back of like who who, like barking and
like looking at Mike and like walking around like I
(23:05):
bumped into the security guard and he's like, were you
talking to me? I was like, no, not my bad man,
not my bad you know. I was like, this is
for my bloodline, this is for my sister, like because
like you know, my sister just passed away. So I
was like just amping myself up and this it went
in there and out the window. Man, there's a street fight.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
When people talk about you twenty years from now, what
do you want them to side that.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
I was one of the most purest skilled bare knuckle
fighters they've ever seen, and I was able to come
back from two devastating knockouts. I got knocked out in
twenty three seconds in my first one. I got dropped
in my second one a minute twenty three. But I
was able just a tough cookie man and able to overcome.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
If you could sit down with the sixteen year old
kid that's making bad choices.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
What would you tell him, like any kid or just me,
any kid? Whatever you're going through, a man, it's gonna
get better and uh and if it doesn't, then you
got some time. You're gonna go through some struggles. Life's
gonna hit you hard. But shit happens. Man, It's okay
to let out some tears, get up, dust yourself off,
keep being the best version of yourself.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
You know, if finding was gone tomorrow, what's the next
chapter that you would write? Like career pathwise, just in life?
What is it you would do if there was no more?
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Probably get into sales, my man.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
What would you want to say?
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Well, that's why I'm kind of glad we talked. I
got a big interview tomorrow. Getting out of the blue
collar world to sell insurance. Oh never, I had to
go buy business attire man. I don't have business attire.
I looked it up on Google's like what is business attire?
I was like, ooh, that is not pants. Yeah. I
was like, oh, I guess I gotta go buy a
button up in some dress pants. But yeah, I think
(24:45):
I think that's because it deals with people and I
just like being and talking and being around people. So
I think that'd be the next chapter I'd have to be.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Yeah. I think you're super authentic and that in this
world is a rarity for people to be raw and real. Yeah.
So you know, that's what I love about this show
is it's real people, real stories. M You know, I
want to thank you for coming on, keeping it honest
(25:15):
and just being real today. You know, for everybody listening.
Your fight doesn't have to be in the cage to matter.
Sometimes the toughest rounds that you're gonna go through are
the ones that nobody is gonna see.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
It's the quiet ones. It's the days you look yourself
in the mirror. Them are gonna be your toughest days.
And if you can't look yourself in the mirror, well
you better start doing it because that will help you
out drastically too. You need to start talking to yourself.
I carry a journal, my man, people don't. People think
it's crazy, but I have been writing in a journal
every day. If I touch the journal, I write the time.
So let's say, like every morning I wake up at
six thirty, I say, wake up cooking breakfast for family,
(25:53):
and I give a little note of how I feel.
Nine to thirty rolls around, just arrived at the job site.
This is how I'm feeling. This is what I'm gonna
try to get done today. Know so, like I keep
track and I just that right there has helped me
out on a mental states. Keeping a journal.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Everybody go follow Anthony Anthony. What's your You want to
give him your Instagram handle?
Speaker 2 (26:11):
All my handles are bare knuckle underscore Tony with two whys.
And there's a reason I have two whys. If you
guys have never watched the movie You Got Served from
the early two thousands where that girl's name is beautiful,
Well guess what I'm Tony, you know, so I put
two wys. So yeah, it's bare knuckle underscore Tony with
two wys. On my Instagram, my TikTok, my YouTube, and
then my and then my Facebook is just Anthony the
(26:34):
Devil's Advocate. Yost is my fight page.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Go follow this man, cheer him on. You know, I
appreciate you coming on again. You're gonna knock it out
at the interview tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
If you need anything for me, let me know. You're
always welcome on the front porch. Man.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
I appreciate you allowing me to come on and just
have a you know, talk a little bit and just
kind of bullshit, you know what I mean, Like that's
what I like to do, and I just I do agree.
I represent the everyday people. I'm just a guy. I'm
just a blue collar worker. I'm just I go to
work like you guys. I work in the heat, in
this Florida heat, and I'm just a dude from a
small town of eighteen thousand people that had a dream
(27:14):
that just never stopped trying.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
I appreciate you. I'm cheering for you. The people are cheering.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Thank you so much for coming on. Brother. I appreciate you.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
I appreciate you, my man. Thank you so much.
What's up, everybody. Welcome back the front porch Chronicles. I'm
your host, Clinton, Folks, Shay and we don't just talk
about what people do around here. We dig into who
they are as a person. And this guy has been
fighting in and out of the cage for a long time.
(00:21):
I've wanted to get him on for a minute. I'm
glad he finally got on. Tony Yoe's is in the house.
Thank you, brother for coming on.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Thank you for having me. Man. I know you messaged
me a while ago, and as soon as you messaged men,
I was like, yeah, definitely, definitely exciting to get on.
And I'm glad our time frames linked up definitely.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
So let me ask you this. Let's take it all
the way back. Who was Anthony Jost before the lights,
before the gloves? As a kid? Who was he? Man?
Speaker 2 (00:52):
It was just me and the boys. Man, I was
starting in sixth grade kind of me and my friends
started a skateboarding team, you know, one of them, five
or seven skateboarding shoutout Elbery and all my boys, and really, man,
we just I was just a skater. I was just
a skinny jene wear and long haired punk that like
the skater around town. That's what we did, man. You
know we had it's you know, like bonfires and stuff
(01:15):
like that, but really it was just we'd wake up
at the early as possible. We would all skate to
each other's houses, get together, and we wouldn't be home
till dark. This kind of video games and skating, that's
the that's the kid I was.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
I remember back in the day, Like when I was
a kid and I'm old, we used to have to
get out of the house and then you couldn't come
into the street lights come out. So it was the
same thing I was.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
I was the last generation, last generation that did that.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Man.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
I was born in ninety three. We were like the
last generation that was allowed to like go and bike
to our friend's house. And that was it.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Thinking back to being the keyid, what was the first
memory that really shanked who you are today?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
The real It's actually pretty personal. So it's kind of
cool that I get to say this is I was
in sixth grade and like, before I get started, I'm
not going to take any away from this guy. He
is my grandpa, but he was raised in a different timeframe,
and what really shaped me was one day I remember
slamming the door because my mom said I could go
out with my friends and he lived with us. He's
from Texas, Mexican biker dude, gloves, chain v neck, you know, suspenders,
(02:16):
have your set, biker biker stash, Mexican slick teared back
and I told him my mom said I could go,
and he said no, and I basically told him to
fuck off. I remember he gave me a look. I
told my friends to go, I slammed the door. He
chased me up the stairs, drunk me off the bed,
kind of picked me up, you know, kind of like
and then I remember upper cutting them and then crying
running out the house. The only thing I got was
(02:38):
a you remember them like CD like we'd burn CDs.
I like, all I collected man out of there, and
I just grabbed my c case ran outside. And that
right there really shaped me because in that moment, I
was like, if I'm willing to defend myself against my grandpa,
I'm never gonna let another grown man treat me this way.
So that right there, like he just he just he
was a hands on, discipline type of guy. But that
(02:59):
was a huge heart in my life where my mindset
was like flipped and I'm like, never again, well allow
something like this to happen. So that right there kind
of gave me that moment where I'm like, I'm gonna
shoot to get out of here. I'm gonna do whatever
I can to find my I don't know mus is
the right word, but to find a way to be successful.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Like eleven twelve, similar mine was a little bit older,
but probably was thirteen or fourteen finally stood up to
my dad and similar to you, I kind of was like, hey,
you know what that that switch flip and I was like, no,
I'm not gonna let anybody. I have to kind of
step up for myself. What was the moment in life
(03:40):
that you realize things aren't always gonna be fair? And
how did you end?
Speaker 2 (03:47):
It was around It was a little bit before that
happened with my grandpa, because my grandpa moved from Texas
in with us because at the time, I grew up
in a very I grew up with my grandma. Like
my mom worked a lot. I used to grow up
in my grandma's house. She watched me all the time.
And it was when she passed away and I was like,
how can somebody so sweet something like this happened to somebody,
(04:07):
you know what I mean, you know, and like now
I understand it when I'm older. But in that moment,
I realized, like, yo, life is just life is not fair.
She taught me love, real love. Even my mom and
them will say, you know, like she raised me up
until that point, you know what I mean. So like
when she passed away, it kind of really realized. I
was like, okay, okay, life, life is a little bit
different than I thought it was growing up, you know,
so I had to grow up quick.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
And how did that shift your mind?
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Being the oldest boy was kind of like, Okay. I
was at the funeral and I saw my mom, my, cousins,
all of them. It was just like, okay, it's not
it's my turn to step up, and it's my I
am the black sheep of the family and it's my
turn to change there As I've always had that mindset
of everything I've ever gone through and bad, was like, Okay,
now this is going to feel the fire to be better.
(04:51):
I'm gonna make it out of here. I'm gonna be
that one in my family that does what I can
to inspire everybody. So like that's even at such a
young age, I've always had, even if it was skating
at the time, I'm gonna be a parro skater, you know,
Like I put everything I could into everything I was
doing until I fell into fighting and I'm like, yeah,
this is it. It's always been what can I do
(05:12):
to make my family proud? Who make up for all
the bad things the elders you know, had to go
through or my cousins had to go through, the hunger,
the deaths, you know, shit like that, and just I
want Yeah, I wanted that pressure. I wanted that feeling
of like I'm gonna do this, even that's what it was.
(05:32):
So I would have to say about ten or eleven
when she passed away, And then when that happened with Frank,
that kind of really like settled the deals, like Okay, yeah,
I can do this, Like I'm gonna do something because
I defended myself, and at that young and of an age,
it's like, shoot, if I can defend myself against a
grown up, I can do anything.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
So who was your first real example of strength and
what did they teach you?
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Without even saying it, that's a good one, my man.
I've actually never thought of that, but it would have
to be my father. My dad's always been I come
from a blue collar household, and my dad has always
done everything he could to work hard, Like even through
the times we only got to see him like once
a week and every other weekend, but the times we
(06:14):
were there, I mean, he sat out there and if
I wanted to be a pitcher in baseball, traveling ball,
he sat out there and let me throw twenty thirty pitches,
you know, NonStop, over and over and over again. I
broke car windows, you know, So like he just showed
me like what it was to I guess, be a man.
Be present, Yeah, be present. And he also did shoot
for his dreams too. My dad was a good ball player,
(06:35):
and he did try out for like the minor leagues
a couple of times. So he always kind of like
inspired me to shoot for my dreams.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Thinking back to how you were raised, what's one lesson
that you learned that you still use in your life today?
Speaker 2 (06:51):
I would have to say to just man, I've never
really you got some good questions. Man, I'm not even
really enjoying this one. A lesson that I take with
me now is I would have to say, keep going like,
no matter what happens, like my mom, I lived with
my mom, so this is a good thing on my mom.
But she was a single mom of you know, five kid,
(07:12):
and it was we lived from hotel to hotel. She
ran the hotel. So it's not like we lived from
room to room, but she ran hotels, so we went
jumped from there. But it just showed me that I
take that lesson with me that like, no matter where
I come from, I can I can do anything. And
my mom taught me that. One she she might not
have worked as hard, you know as my dad did,
but she also worked hard in a different way. So
she taught me some good value. But lessons that I
(07:33):
take with me now just.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Keep going can teach us things like on different ends
of the spectrum.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Not even trying either, you know.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Like that's what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
When I was younger, I despised him for its like
I only get to see my dad once a week.
I was like, he doesn't want to do much, you know,
stuff like this my mom blah blah blah. And like
now that I'm older, I completely realized, like my childhood
was never as bad as I thought it was, And
I really love the way my parents raised me, the
way they did freedom. Really, they just let me be
the person I am. Like. They let me go out
(08:05):
and skateboard and hang out. And I didn't have a curfew.
And you know, my siblings they did, you know, they
didn't get to go out like I did.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
It's crazy, yeah, And the things that we passed down
to our kids. I make sure that with my kids,
I'm present for everything, school functions, like you know, you know,
it's kind of like you I wanted to break that
generational curse stuff. So all of that stuff that I
went through as a kid, and the things that I
(08:32):
wanted and needed that I didn't get, I try to
pass down to my kids feeling wanted, feeling needed, and
feeling you know, yep.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Not so like a little bit like it's the little
things like every night, I make sure I tell my
kids good night every night. Me and my wife, we
have a routine. We go on there, we say good night.
I kissed her forehead. I say good night to my
little dog because he intends to jump up on me too.
But that's something like my parents can do. You know,
it's a little bit different. But yeah, that's just so
I do little things like that. It's like, I don't
spies them for it. It's just the little things like
(09:01):
that that I try to do different, be more present,
do little bit more things. I bring my kids, Like
my dad used to bring us to a softball games,
but then he went hang out with us. So I
bring my kids to our fights and we you know,
I do everything, they get to go backstage with us
and all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
And speaking of fatherhood, becoming a father change you as
a fighter and kind of in general in general.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
At the time, it didn't. I'm not even I look
back at it now, and it changed me in a
way where I was able to get sober. I was
into pharmaceuticals for a little bit. Yeah, for years, and
I've been sober since my daughter's been born and she's
gonna be twelve, and so it kind of bettered me
in that way. But it took some time to really
process of like what it meant to be a father.
(09:48):
I mean, I just don't think even now, I didn't
learn what it was to be a true father up
until the last couple of years, you know, into my
later twenties and you know, now early thirties, because back
then I would say it changed me, but I was
still just trying to my fighting. Even my fighting. I
was still smoking cigarettes. I was still going in there,
not training the way I needed to. I didn't start
taking it serious until my kid. I seen my kids
(10:11):
were old enough to realize what I was doing. And
now I put that example in there there in the
gym with us four or five times a week, they
train their coaches, my coach, you know. So like I
would have to say, it didn't change me as a
man or a father until recently. Honestly, I think the
most honest answer. When I was younger, I was just
like I think.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
I think it was one of those things that, in
no disrespect to our parents or that generation, didn't know
what it was to be present. We didn't know what
it was to show love and care about emotions, especially
as me and we weren't taught that, and like we
were taught, suck it up, pushed through.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Yeah, you know, your dreams don't matter, your feelings don't matter,
the only thing that matters is you're gonna go work
your ass off. You're gonna come home and hopefully your
wife has some food and you're and you're gonna tell
your kids good night. Being a blue collar worker, that
is the life I was raised and where like you
go to you work long hours, you come home, you
say good night, and sometimes on the weekends you do stuff,
but you do stuff for yourself. So like present wise,
(11:11):
you know what I mean. Like I said, my dad,
I seen him a couple times a week. He was
always at softball games, he was bowling, he was doing
stuff like that. So I try my best to be
as president as possible.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
What's one lesson that you hope your kids learn from
watching you chase your dreams?
Speaker 2 (11:28):
This is something I like to tell people, and you know,
I don't think I've ever said it on a camera,
but I hope they take what I this saying and
they ride with it. Motivation is a word to stop
you from chasing your dreams. Discipline is a word that
will help you achieve them. And I hope they take
one day they will completely fully understand what that means
and they ride with it the rest of your life.
(11:48):
Because nobody wants to get up and go to work.
But guess what, those are a necessity. So your body's
a necessity. You gotta treat your body like you treat
your bills, You get up, you go eat healthy, you
go to the gym. It doesn't matter if you're a
profighter or not a profighter. Your body, your brain, your heart.
There's a few things that you cannot replace, so you
need to take care of them. So discipline will get
you there.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
What's something that you've learned from your kids that has
surprised you?
Speaker 2 (12:16):
How to learn to love myself? That's really I can
don't really need to go into detail with it, I think,
because like it's one of them things where like I
just would as a parent, as a man, as even
with a mom. We have tendency to beat ourselves up.
But to see my kids watch me lose twice disappointingly
I got knocked out, you know what I mean, and
(12:36):
then for them to see that smile after I won.
But they still support me and they tell me and
they even after my losses, are like that it's fine,
we'll get back, you know, we'll get back. They taught
me how to believe in myself.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Wow, that's that's powerful. And you know it's funny. We're
cut from the same claw. My kid's same thing with
me is they taught me to love myself. And one
of the things that I learned from that is until
we fully love ourself, we can't give those things that
(13:09):
being present, like we talked.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
About, but absolutely I agree. It's like, how can I
give my family one hundred percent love when I only
love myself fifty percent? Like I'm not giving myself because
as much as people hate hearing it, I love my
kids and I love my wife, But in the end,
their voices aren't in my head. My voice is in
my head. I'm I should matter first because if I
work on my happiness, that allows me to open the
(13:30):
door for everything else to fully fall into place. I'm
a better husband if I take care of myself, I'm
a better father. If I take care of myself, I'm
a better coach, I'm a better team. But it all
comes down to looking yourself in the mirror and taking
care of yourself first.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Let me ask you this, if your kids were sitting
here with this today, what would you want them to
say about you as a father.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
That he tried That's it. You know. There's a lot
of things I would love for them to appreciate, but
I think for them to just know, like my dad
tried his best. If that was what they went with
after I passed away, I'll die happy, man.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Man. I talked to my kids all the time, and
that's one of the things that I tell them is
try just do your best.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
You're gonna fail a lot.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
End of the day, you're gonna win some, you're gonna
lose some. I'm gonna love you nonetheless, whether you win
or lose. Just do your best.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
That's all you can do.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
What's something that you're passionate about outside of.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Fight, honestly, helping others, there's not really. I started fighting
so young. Like my lot of teenagers, they live their
teenage years, they do their things. I've been in a
gym since I was fifteen. I did take some years off,
don't get me wrong, I retired, But like I really,
I'm really passionate about just this, like teaching people to
build confidence and to shoot for their dreams. I just
(14:48):
want to inspire. Doesn't matter what they're what they do, skating, drawing,
video games, football, I want people to just be inspired.
They're like, hey, this guy, he came from nothing, he
came from a small town, he was poor, blah blah
blah blah blah. You know, whatever people want to say.
You know because I this is the first time I've
really talked about my story like out there like that,
and I just wanted him to be like, well, if
(15:09):
he can do, at least I can try. All he
did was try, and he just never stopped trying. It
took me fifteen years, but I'm here.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
And it's crazy how people like us when you come
from nothing, when you come from struggle, when you come
from they always choose two paths, right, And sometimes we
have to go through the storm to appreciate the good absolutely,
(15:36):
And once we do that, people like us find it
motivating to motivate and help others. So like for me,
I tell my story. I got a pretty gnarly story.
But I tell people that story not because I want
attention to it, but because I want them to say, Hey,
if this guy went through all of this stuff and
he chooses to be a good person, he chooses to
(15:59):
get up every day when every statistic says he should
and do the right thing and try to help others,
I'd be okay with that. You know, if we were
to ask three people to best describe you, what do
you think that would stappen?
Speaker 2 (16:16):
I would have to say I'm loud, I'm good with people.
I'm really like just being. I don't like quiet rooms,
and I like to dance. People don't know, but like
if you were in our gym on a day to
day basis, I have my headphones in big headphones like
this head little headphones. But I am dancing, always dancing.
I am moving, grooving, so I think I would have
(16:36):
to say I'm loud. I'm good with people, and I
like to dance, not saying I'm good. But I am Mexican,
so it's in my hips, you.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Know, move like Jack Like yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Prefer Selena, you know what I mean. It's all on
my grandma. I don't remember it like fully, but my
parents used to tell me that. Like I used to
wake up, my grandm would put a cow head in
the oven, turn on some Spanish music and dance for
all morning. So I do like dancing.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
What's something that you do now that younger you would
laugh at.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
I cook, not a lot. I mean, I'm Gordon Ramsey,
but I do wake up every morning and cook my
wife breakfast. It's only sausage and eggs and then I'll
like throw burgers on. But I cook in a few
times a week. I think that is something I'd be like,
not a chance.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Not a chance. What's the hardest truth about yourself that
you've had to accept.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
I'm not perfect. I'm never gonna be perfect. I think
that's why I love martial arts so much, is You're
never gonna be perfect because there's always gonna be somebody better.
But I think that would be it is. It took
me a long time growing up, especially starting fighting so young.
I was pretty cocky. I mean nobody at sixteen years old.
They don't go in there and beat up grown men
for years on end, you know what I mean, and
broken down schools, and so it really just not being perfect.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
That's a struggle we all have because we have this
thing in our head that we always have to be perfect.
And I think it's kind of of those things that,
like you said, I think once you find self love
and you start to learn you love yourself, you start
to accept that I'm flawed and that's okay.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
People that are gonna love me are gonna love me regardless, absolutely,
win or lose. And the people that aren't aren't gonna
love you no matter how perfect you think you're gonna be.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
What's one moment or what was the moment that you
realize fighting was more than just a sport for you.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
I would have to say my first title fight. I
lost my first fight, and then I went on a
three fight win streak. I mean I used to fight
all the time. There was no commission back then in Iowa. Man,
I thought, I think the I thought it's Friday and
turn around fought the next Saturday. I think my first
year of fighting, I had eleven fights in a year.
So it was I was three and one. I traveled
to this guy's hometown in Iowa Waterloo, Iowa. The guy's
(18:55):
name is Joey Ala. We still follow each other. No
way we could fight now. Man, that dude's like, you know,
yeah jacked now. I mean I thought him when he
was like thirty five. So we went all three rounds
and it went to a draw. And I think in
that moment, I'm like, holy shit, this guy's been knocking
people out with head kicks. I'm just a kid with
a bowl cut blonde hair. Because we bleached it. I
was like I just did that. And in that moment,
(19:15):
I'm like I can do this. And that's kind of
where I've been at this whole time.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
If you ever had a night that you walked outside
of the cage and you felt like you were a
different man.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Yes, there's a few of them. There's a good personal
one would have to be the Aala one. I walked
out and I was like, okay, wow, sixteen years old,
I can do this. And then in Honolulu, Hawaii, it
was my second to last MMA fight. I traveled all
the way over there, and it was the first time
I got knocked out. Like I mean, I was out
for minutes, Like my wife told me they had to
(19:46):
come in and put water down my pants. You know,
I don't remember most of the day. I remember walking
out and then waking up on the back table like this,
watching myself on the phone get knocked out. So like
that one kind of like really changed like who I
was as a person, Like holy shit, like you know,
like my mind wasn't really the same after that until
I got because I didn't, you know, I had to
(20:07):
let it heal and stuff like that. But I think
that was the big one for me, was after I
got knocked out for the first time, that will that
will put a damper in a little in a guy,
you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
That would definitely, that would definitely make you see things different.
And a lot of people, once they get knocked out,
give up.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Absolutely, same way with people get that first loss. A
lot of people can't handle that first loss. You know,
you look at is he is, he wrote off all
those wins, he lost that one, and Dan, he's kind
of like, oh, yeah, I don't know if he'll I
don't even know if he'll come back.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
I think he like he accomplished what he did, and
he's like, I am happy with it. I did what
I needed to, you know. And I think even as
a man myself and as a fighter, we need them
losses man for our mental state, because they teach you,
like they teach you who you are. They really do
on the inside.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
And and I think they teach you who you are.
And I think it's good as parents for your kids
to see you get knocked down and pick yourself up, man,
dust yourself off, and keep going and striving to be
and do better. It makes it recognize and see those
(21:19):
things and push through, you know, with their life. If
you could talk to the version of you before your
first fight, what would you tell that kid?
Speaker 2 (21:28):
You know, that feeling in your gut. That shit never
goes away. I'm thirty fights in and even my last one,
walking out to fight Chachi, I was like like, you know,
but like I learned to control it more now. But
I think that's what I would tell them, and be like,
you know, that nervous feeling that means you're doing something
you love. Don't let it. Don't let it affect you
down the road, which it did. I let the nerves
(21:50):
get to me a lot in my early career as
a kid. I was sixteen, seventeen, early twenties. But I
think that's what i'd tell them. They're like, Yo, that feeling,
I shit, don't go away, my man, suck it up,
keep going.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
My first MMA fight, I remember we trained, we trained,
and I came out there and I'm like, kind of
that the nerves. I'm like, oh my god, but you're
trying to look tough, your your family's there, and then
it's like you get in there and that cage closest
and you're like, what was I supposed to do? Again?
(22:21):
And then you're like all this stuff is running through
your hand, and then you're like, I don't want to
get knocked out. My people are here. I ran across
like we were at the club all three rounds of
my first fight, like I was in the hood. There
was no I would love to tell you it was
skilled and it was whatever it was not it was
backyard uh raw.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Yes, I did it all the way up. I thought
that way. When I found in California against Mike, I
went in there like we had this game plan and
that shit went out the window. Like I even talked
to Scott afterwards, Dude, I was like, do you might
I'm I was nervous. I was like I was walking
in the back of like who who, like barking and
like looking at Mike and like walking around like I
(23:05):
bumped into the security guard and he's like, were you
talking to me? I was like, no, not my bad man,
not my bad you know. I was like, this is
for my bloodline, this is for my sister, like because
like you know, my sister just passed away. So I
was like just amping myself up and this it went
in there and out the window. Man, there's a street fight.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
When people talk about you twenty years from now, what
do you want them to side that.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
I was one of the most purest skilled bare knuckle
fighters they've ever seen, and I was able to come
back from two devastating knockouts. I got knocked out in
twenty three seconds in my first one. I got dropped
in my second one a minute twenty three. But I
was able just a tough cookie man and able to overcome.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
If you could sit down with the sixteen year old
kid that's making bad choices.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
What would you tell him, like any kid or just me,
any kid? Whatever you're going through, a man, it's gonna
get better and uh and if it doesn't, then you
got some time. You're gonna go through some struggles. Life's
gonna hit you hard. But shit happens. Man, It's okay
to let out some tears, get up, dust yourself off,
keep being the best version of yourself.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
You know, if finding was gone tomorrow, what's the next
chapter that you would write? Like career pathwise, just in life?
What is it you would do if there was no more?
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Probably get into sales, my man.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
What would you want to say?
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Well, that's why I'm kind of glad we talked. I
got a big interview tomorrow. Getting out of the blue
collar world to sell insurance. Oh never, I had to
go buy business attire man. I don't have business attire.
I looked it up on Google's like what is business attire?
I was like, ooh, that is not pants. Yeah. I
was like, oh, I guess I gotta go buy a
button up in some dress pants. But yeah, I think
(24:45):
I think that's because it deals with people and I
just like being and talking and being around people. So
I think that'd be the next chapter I'd have to be.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Yeah. I think you're super authentic and that in this
world is a rarity for people to be raw and real. Yeah.
So you know, that's what I love about this show
is it's real people, real stories. M You know, I
want to thank you for coming on, keeping it honest
(25:15):
and just being real today. You know, for everybody listening.
Your fight doesn't have to be in the cage to matter.
Sometimes the toughest rounds that you're gonna go through are
the ones that nobody is gonna see.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
It's the quiet ones. It's the days you look yourself
in the mirror. Them are gonna be your toughest days.
And if you can't look yourself in the mirror, well
you better start doing it because that will help you
out drastically too. You need to start talking to yourself.
I carry a journal, my man, people don't. People think
it's crazy, but I have been writing in a journal
every day. If I touch the journal, I write the time.
So let's say, like every morning I wake up at
six thirty, I say, wake up cooking breakfast for family,
(25:53):
and I give a little note of how I feel.
Nine to thirty rolls around, just arrived at the job site.
This is how I'm feeling. This is what I'm gonna
try to get done today. Know so, like I keep
track and I just that right there has helped me
out on a mental states. Keeping a journal.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Everybody go follow Anthony Anthony. What's your You want to
give him your Instagram handle?
Speaker 2 (26:11):
All my handles are bare knuckle underscore Tony with two whys.
And there's a reason I have two whys. If you
guys have never watched the movie You Got Served from
the early two thousands where that girl's name is beautiful,
Well guess what I'm Tony, you know, so I put
two wys. So yeah, it's bare knuckle underscore Tony with
two wys. On my Instagram, my TikTok, my YouTube, and
then my and then my Facebook is just Anthony the
(26:34):
Devil's Advocate. Yost is my fight page.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Go follow this man, cheer him on. You know, I
appreciate you coming on again. You're gonna knock it out
at the interview tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
If you need anything for me, let me know. You're
always welcome on the front porch. Man.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
I appreciate you allowing me to come on and just
have a you know, talk a little bit and just
kind of bullshit, you know what I mean, Like that's
what I like to do, and I just I do agree.
I represent the everyday people. I'm just a guy. I'm
just a blue collar worker. I'm just I go to
work like you guys. I work in the heat, in
this Florida heat, and I'm just a dude from a
small town of eighteen thousand people that had a dream
(27:14):
that just never stopped trying.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
I appreciate you. I'm cheering for you. The people are cheering.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Thank you so much for coming on. Brother. I appreciate you.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
I appreciate you, my man. Thank you so much.
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