Julius “Juice Box” Walker: From Small-Town Stardom to the UFC — And the Fight That Changed Everything

Julius “Juice Box” Walker joins Clinton Foshee on The Front Porch Chronicles for a raw, honest conversation about growing up in Springfield, Missouri, becoming a hometown hero on the basketball court, and chasing greatness inside the cage. He shares:

• How he became Springfield’s all-time leading scorer
• The transition from college basketball at Drury to MMA
• His rise to 6–0 as a pro fighter
• What it felt like to lose his UFC debut by split decision
• Why family, faith, and fatherhood keep him grounded through it all

This isn’t just another fighter story — it’s a real one.
This is about hunger, humility, and what it means to keep showing up after a loss.
Juice Box isn’t done — he’s just getting started.

🎙️ Listen now and get inspired by a man who’s fighting for more than a win.

#JuliusWalker #JuiceBoxWalker #FrontPorchChronicles #UFCFighter #springfieldmo
#FighterStory #ClintonFoshee #MMAJourney #FaithAndFighting #FighterMindset
#ComebackSeason #ufc #LegacyOverLoss #RealTalkPodcast #TheFightWithin #mma 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Front Porch Chronicles. I'm your host, Clinton Fochet.
This is where real ones pull up, take off the
mask and get raw and real today's guests. He's been
through pressure, he's been through everything, and we have him.
Julius Juice box Walker. Welcome to the show, my brother.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Yes, sir, thank you for having me. Man. I'm happy
to be here.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
We tried to get together like way back in the day,
and then I kind of disband the podcast. I used
to have a co host on and we kind of
went through like this little spot and we separate. I'm
going to take time and relaunch and get everything popping.
So I'm glad though, to finally get you on here.
You know, growing up. Let's take it way back, before

(00:48):
all the highlights, before all of the things. Back, young Julius,
what was it that motivated you? Man?

Speaker 2 (00:56):
I've always been he's been very competitive, you know, ever
since my entire life. I would say really Actually, more accurately,
I would say since I was about probably eight or
nine years old. I'd say when I was like really little,
you know, I was one of those kids. I remember
when I first started playing like soccer and basketball, I
couldn't pay attention long enough, I would be picking flowers
and stuff. You know, I was one of those guys

(01:17):
you know, but we got we got once I was
about eight or nine years old. I was always like, man,
I want to I just want to be the best
at everything. And you know, my dad and my mom
are both athletes theirselves, so i'd say, I'd say, really,
just my competitiveness has been the biggest thing that's motivated me.
And it's honestly what's got me into MMA, and it's
what's made me stick with it so strong. Is it's
the purest form of competition.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
Definitely, what what athletics do? Your mom and dad do?

Speaker 2 (01:42):
So, my dad was a soccer player growing up. My
dad's actually African, He's from Liberia. He came over here
as like a grown adult, so he grew up in
everything in Liberia, West Africa, and so he was a
soccer player. He played college soccer over here for a
few years. And then my mom growing up, she played
basketball and soccer, and like, they're both pretty solid athletes.
So it was I had some good geens.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
You know, I'm definitely good gens. You know, you made
a lot of noise in both soccer and basketball as
a kid, When did you start realizing you won a
lot awards all of that stuff. When did you start realizing, like, hey,
you know what I might I might be the man
kind of at.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
These Man, it's so funny because, like, from from my
own perspective, like it feels like my whole life I
look back and I'm like, I was always minimizing what
I was doing. So it's like from my perspective, I
was like, man, it's not even. It's not even that.
I would always find a way to be like this.
Whatever I accomplished or achieve wasn't special. I would say
by middle school though, sixth seventh grade, I started to

(02:42):
get really serious. I was like, all right, I want
to get a college scholarship to play Division one basketball.
And I ended up playing Division two, but I remember
that was like once I was in Millis, was like,
I'm getting a college scholarship. I'm going to go to
college for free and play basketball.

Speaker 1 (02:55):
What do you think made you minimize thing?

Speaker 2 (02:57):
I think part of it is being competitor. Anything I've
ever anytime I've ever hit a big accomplishment or something
that people will consider a big accomplishment, I've always just
wanted more, you know what I mean, I've wanted the
next thing because right now, it's like I get all
the time people congrats on getting signed, they're really happy.
But for me, right now, I haven't won a fight
in the UFC yet, So I'm like that that that

(03:20):
eats at me a little bit, Like wearing this shirt
right now, I'm like, man, should I really do? I like,
I need to prove that I should be in this shirt,
you know what I mean? And I for me, it's
like I always I feel like I'm always kind of
wanting that next thing. I specifically remember whenever my when
I was in high school, I set our school scoring record,
the all time leading scoring record. It's somebody, this kid

(03:41):
broke it, you know, darn him. But when I said it,
you know that kid, dude was his name is a
Meta Muhammad. The kid played at Georgetown and plays in
the know you're talking about, right, It's not too bad
that he broke my but he I will say, he's good.
He broke it. He did my four year record, he
broke it in three. So that that was the biggest thing.

(04:01):
That was like, dang man, But man, I specific remember
that day breaking the record, and my when I was
a sophomore, that was when I set the goal that
I was going to break that record. I went online
and I looked it up and I figured out what
it was. It was two thousand and forty seven points.
I'm a numbers guys, you know what I mean. And
I remember my my freshman year, I think I had
like two hundred or two hundred and fifty. I was

(04:22):
a point guard. I didn't shoot it as much, and
I remember calculating in my head, like, this is how
many points I need to score, and they're probably still
somewhere at my mom's house. I would have our schedule
and I would put how many points I had, and
then how manys have career, and then on the other
side would be how many I have left till I
break the record, and I would continue. I started doing
that my sophomore year. I was so I anticipated this

(04:43):
so much because I believe. I was like, I'm going
to do that. I'm going to break that record. And
when I broke at my senior year, it was like
literally I was like driving home from school, you know,
because there was a home game, and I was literally
driving home in just like nothing like I was like,
we have to win state or this is meaningless, and
we didn't. So it was like, no matter what I've
ever done, it's I've always felt like I need something more.

(05:06):
And I guess that's something that worries me because eventually,
you know, I have to quit doing all this sports
stuff and athletic shit, and I uh, I'm gonna be like, man,
I want to do more. You know.

Speaker 1 (05:15):
That's that's the hardest thing is finding And the reason
I asked that is finding that emotional balance because it's dudes,
especially like we're not taught those things. You know, you
were standout athlete young, What did that teach you about pressure?

(05:36):
How did that kind of mold you?

Speaker 2 (05:38):
I would say that because it's actually really interesting. I
have some buddies that also played basketball that started getting
into MMA, and I specifically remember one of them always
being like, man, this is so different because in basketball
it was a team sport and now in MMA it's
truly an individual sport. And I think it's interesting because
for me, I remember so my freshman year, I was able.

(06:00):
I started on the basketball team, but I remember the
only reason that I really started was because the kid
that was the point guard from the year before switched schools.
So in my head I was like, eh, you know,
that's the only reason I'm starting. But the going into
my sophomore year, I was gonna I was supposed to
still be the point guard. And we had a kid
that was about six foot six. He was our star,

(06:20):
star center that you know. He he kind of led
the show. Now the keep in mind, I'm not as
big as I am now. I'm still I'm like fifteen
years old. I'm like six foot one maybe yeah, But
he came out for soccer randomly that year and towards
ACL So then at that point I was the only
returning starter. I was the only person that came back
that really played a lot of minutes and scored very

(06:42):
many points from the previous year. So it was like
a lot the whole scoring loads shifted to me. So
it was like I was gonna be the one that's
going out there and shooting at twenty twenty five times
a night. I did not shoot it that much in
no way, but I nonetheless, you want exactly exactly, It
was like, now I'm the guy, you know what I
mean now, and and I'll be honest, like I had

(07:04):
good teammates in high school, but the way that our
team was set up, if I didn't score twenty five
or thirty points, we were not gonna do as well,
especially like my sophomore and junior year. And I specifically
remember going to having on game days like in my
junior year and specifically my junior year really and and
my sophomore year as well, thinking to myself, like, man,

(07:24):
what if I just don't have it tonight? What if
I go out there and lay an egg and we
just get blasted? And then every time it would come
down to it, I'd be like, all right, I'm gonna
step up and I'm gonna do my thing, and we're
gonna we're gonna do all right. And I think having
that amount of pressure on me as the like the
main star player like my for my whole last two
especially my junior and senior year, I was the dude
that the other team was game planning. How do how

(07:46):
do we stop him? You know what I mean? I
remember one time we played a school. I can't remember
what the school was, and I almost I have a
weird memory. I use her, but we're playing the school
and their locker room was so close that we could hear.
We could hear the we could hear their coach talking
to them, because our coach wasn't down there yet. And

(08:08):
I heard their coach go in there and tell them
start talking to him, like, hey man, so this Walker kid.
I know you guys are worried about him. He's averaging,
you know, twenty nine points and ten rebounds, blah blah blah,
this that and the other. But he can't go left,
So just force some left. He doesn't score, doesn't score
going to the left. And I remember hearing that and
being like, Okay, you know what I.

Speaker 1 (08:26):
Mean, I'm going left all day.

Speaker 2 (08:29):
All night long, like you guys were getting cooked. And
I think that definitely helped me. It prepared me. It
prepared me well to play an individual sport where although
you have a team behind you, it's truly all on you.
And I really like that aspect of it because now
it's like I train at Team Fusion, which is a
we're good, we're a solid gym, man, but we're a
local gym, you know what I mean. It's not like
I'm training at Extreme couture X and Wink or you know,

(08:53):
one of the one of the mega gyms. Where you're
I get to go beyond the mat with ten other
UFC fighters at any given time. Now, of course I
can travel to these places and get some working with
these guys because that's how the MMA community works. But
it gives me confidence in the fact that I'm like,
you know what, none of those guys get in there
with you, Like, it's it's you and me and the referee,
and I really I really enjoy that aspect of the sport.

Speaker 1 (09:16):
Yeah, me too. Who speaking of that, who is your
favorite person to spar with whenever you are you know,
who do you get the most from?

Speaker 2 (09:27):
No, for sure, man, I've it's it's been a good
like I've gone with gone with some really good dudes,
especially this camp. Because I was lucky enough to go
train at Factory X in Colorado, I did. I went
up there for a few weeks in April, and I
was lucky, and I've been able to go to Extreme
and spar there there a few times. Sparring with Sean
Strickland's an amazing experience. The dude, he's, uh, he's one

(09:50):
of those guys. But the thing is like, if you
come in there and work hard, He's the type of
guy to where he is going to go out of
his like he's he he'll go out of his way
to help you and support you, you know what I mean.
It's not like he's gonna pull any punches when you're
sparring with him. But if you go in there and
you give it your all and you show him that
like you know, you're actually about it, he's gonna be
a guy that's going to pour into you and help
you out a little bit. And then when I was

(10:11):
at Factory X, it was really really sweet to go
with guys like Cody Brundage and Dustin Jacoby because those
are two very very technical guys and they're both really
legit and they they man, they helped me out a ton.
So I definitely owe a lot of gratitude to some
of the guys I was able to spar with. And
then even even back home in my own on my

(10:31):
own team, there's a lot of great dudes that you
know they're coming up right now, but I'm really confident
that we're going to continue to turn out really high
level fighters out of the Springfield area.

Speaker 1 (10:41):
That's awesome. You know, a lot of people had this
perception of Shane strickling like he's douchebag and he's this
and he's that, and it's not really that. Most of
the time, those guys that do that are really that's
a shale and they're the most loving, carrying all your
dudes you were ever deal with. They just have a

(11:05):
shell up because they've been through some stuff. So let's
go back. When you think about that version of you
when you were thirteen fourteen, would you be surprised at
what you've become?

Speaker 2 (11:20):
I think I definitely think so. I was. I was
very interested in combat sports from a young age, like
I got into I got into like pro wrestling as
a small kid, and that kind of evolved into MMA
around that age of like you know, eleven, whenever it
starts to not be cool to be a pro wrestling
fan anymore at school, you know what I mean. True story,
especially especially where I grew in the era that I

(11:42):
grew up in with it being PG, I would say
that I would be at least a little bit surprised
that I actually went and did a combat sport because
I you know, I always thought it would be cool
to do them, but I never did, just because I
was very very into basketball from a young age, and
I was pretty sold that basketball was going to be
my path. And then I remember once I, once I
got to high school, once I got midway, once I
you know, getting a couple of years into high school,

(12:03):
I was like, Okay, I'm not going to be a
professional basketball player. I was like, but I know that
I can still get a full ride and I can
play four years at a good university, you know what
I mean, get my degree, and then I'll go get
a good job, and you know that's going to be
my path. I'll meet a nice girl, and that's that's
kind of where I thought that my life was going
to go. And then I went and I started playing basketball,
and you know, I got to go be a college

(12:24):
basketball player, and I just became a total jackass. And
it's funny. Most people don't get into fighting because things
are going right, and it's very very rare that people do,
especially the ones that stick with it. And you know,
that's kind of that I got led into it, and
you know, it's just evolve from there.

Speaker 1 (12:38):
You know who you The more that we talk, you
know who you really remind me of. I know this
guy personally, and he's one of the best guys. I
know Walt big pick at Harris if from Alabama Homewood
High School. He was a big time basketball player, big
guy athletic. The more that we talk and your energy,

(13:01):
the more it reminds me of him. Shout out wal
big ticket Harris. He's a firefighter. Now you're a husband
and a dad. What's been the biggest adjustment for you
in your household at this stage in your life and
being a fighter?

Speaker 2 (13:18):
Man? I would say, so, it's interesting. It feels like
I feel like it would almost be more fair to
ask my wife, you know, like because she it's interesting
whenever I met I met my wife whenever I was
I think I had a couple of amateur fights and
we started dating. I was still an amateur and so
she she ever since she's known me, she's known that
I've been a fighter and stuff. It's not like I

(13:39):
became a fighter while we were together and it was
a new thing. But like I always one thing that
blows my mind is I'm like, dude, how much laundry?
How much laundry she's gotta do? You know? If I'm
going out there and training a couple of times, and
here's the thing. Every time I go to the gym,
I got my rash guard and my fight shorts. But
then I'm gonna throw on, like, you know, an extra
change of clothes because you can't go home in your

(14:00):
in your gym gear. That's disgusting. So I'm gonna change
my clothes, and that's dirty. I do that two or
three times a day. She's washing four outfits a day.
But I would say one thing that you know, I
think for all fighters you can speak to it on
some level, is just being able to come home and relax,
because I think I think there's a lot of guys,
especially when they first start fighting, and that they think

(14:21):
they've got to really be just intense at all times
so that whenever they get in the cage, they're intense.
But I think if you spend all your time living
like that, it's really hard to You don't even have
a switch anymore. You you never turn it on and off.
So I think it's really important to remain calm at
all times. Not at all times, but remain calm as
often as possible, and trust that you can flick that
switch and you know what I mean, be ready to

(14:43):
go when the time comes. And I feel like as
I've started understand that it's made my home life a
lot better between like cutting weight and be being able
to not be grumpy and not care what you know,
like my wife and daughters are eating when I'm eating
my own stuff, and it's I think that's been able
to really help me like adjust to live in this
lifestyle because the goal is to do it year round. Well.

Speaker 1 (15:03):
Number one, one of the things I've always noticed with
fighters who have longevity is a solid woman in their
corner is colossal. And number two is having that soft
spot with kids. Constantly being angry and constantly being in

(15:23):
that mindset. Bro, it is taxing, like you have to
be able to, like you said, flip that switch. And
if you can't flip that switch and you just leave
that switch on burnout, you will not There's nobody that
is going to You can't drive it. It's like a car.

(15:44):
You can't do one hundred and twenty non stop and
expect the engine not to blow. What kind of as
a father, I know we kind of beat on emotional space.
What do you try to do different with your daughters
as far as like an emotional space and you know,

(16:06):
helping them evolve emotionally.

Speaker 2 (16:09):
Man, I would say that, it's almost like it's interesting
because as much as you know I might be teaching
my daughter, I think sometimes she teaches me because you
know she she my my oldest. So I've got two
I've got two little girls. My oldest is five and
a half and my youngest is not. She turns one
of a few weeks after the fight, and my oldest daughter,
you know, me and her mom didn't end up being

(16:30):
didn't end up being together. My wife is I've got
my youngest daughter with my wife. Oldest daughter's mom actually
passed away this past April. I no, I appreciate it's
it's just really interesting because my daughter is able to
show so much grace at times, you know, with me
that it's really really blown my mind because I specifically
remember I was I was cutting weight and I got

(16:51):
really frustrated with her one time. She didn't really do
anything wrong, she was just being a five year old girl,
and she literally asked me, she said, Daddy, why are
you frustrated with me? And I thought about it for
a second. I was like, you know, baby, I'm sorry,
I'm a little bit stressed out, and I'm sorry that
I got frustrated with you, and her response was like
her response was like, you know, daddy, I'm really sorry

(17:12):
that you're stressed, and she gave me a huck and
it was just one of those moments where I was like,
she she is showing me so much grace in these moments,
you know, and she's able to process and deal with
things like she's she's five and a half years old
and she's processing losing her mother, and obviously she only
understands it on some level. She doesn't she doesn't fully

(17:32):
understand that, but she's she's really shown me a lot
of like being strong isn't necessarily always the dictionary definition
of it, and she's helped me understand that in order
to in order to deal with things and grow as
a person, you can't necessarily just push everything down you've
got it. You've got to take a head on. You know,
you can't ever you can't ever be brave if you're

(17:54):
not a little scared. So I think that's that's really
a big thing that she showed me. The first I
heard that Pourier said that to that's where that's where
I think.

Speaker 1 (18:03):
That's what I love that your honest enough to say
you know what that wouldn't mean. My oldest daughter, she's
twenty one now. Her mother passed away when she was fifteen,
and she moved with me at that time, she was fifteen,
she was confused, like there was so much going on,

(18:25):
and to be honest, as a as a father and
as a man, I was confused and lost because I
never was brought up to know what love and relationships were,
or what it is to have emotional security, or to
provide emotional security or all of those things. So when

(18:45):
you said that, the hair set up on my arms.
Because my oldest daughter, like your daughter, shows a lot
of love, grace, and mercy and has taught me. I
can't even put into words of the things that she's
taught me are how grateful I am for her, and
I tell her like that all the time. Whereas the

(19:08):
old me to be honest, I was raised not to
be like that, Like I was raised to when your
parents says do something, you do it. So I had
that mentality as a parent. So I had to evolve
and kind of, you know, be and do better. What's
a win that nobody sees but means everything to your family?

Speaker 2 (19:27):
Man, I would say, Man, gosh, you know, I think
one big one for us is like in that time
after the fight, whenever, whenever, whenever I come home and
win or lose, you know what I mean, just being
able to almost take that big deep breath of like
everything is relaxed, and now I'm able to able to

(19:48):
almost like chill for just a second before that void
within me starts to be like, Okay, now I need
another big goal to strive for. And I think one thing,
that one thing that's been that's been nice lately that
I'm still trying to master and I'm hoping that moving
forward that I'm able to I'm able to continue to
master it is I'm really trying to find a way
to still be able to have still be able to

(20:11):
not necessarily get down, because sometimes for me, I can
get a little bit down and dark whenever I don't
have a fight scheduled because I need that date. I
need that, I need that almost like it's a purpose.
But with having a family, having a wife and daughters,
being able to be like that's my purpose, you know
what I mean, as being a husband and being a

(20:31):
father focused on that, Why why do I have to
have a fight to feel like I have a purpose.
Why do I have to have a fight to feel
like I am obligated to work hard in every aspect
of my life, Because one thing I've noticed is that
fight camp will bleed over into my life. I will start.
I truly believe I'm a better person when I'm in
fight camp because I just work harder in general. And
I really think that a win for me that I

(20:52):
don't think I've necessarily fully achieved yet for me and
my family is whenever I get to the point where
I live the lifestyle and that there's no up and down,
and that I'm able to continue to feel fulfilled and
feel purposeful even whenever I don't have a fight schedule,
and then I'm still working towards that even whenever it's
not necessarily on the docket.

Speaker 1 (21:11):
Ooh, I like that. I like that. You know, speaking
of fights, you know your your first fight was a
short notice fight, which is a lot of people don't
know is super difficult to do. So kudos to you
number one for taking a short notes fight. Put me
in coach. You know, it was fight of the night,

(21:32):
but unfortunately things didn't go your way. What did What
was it that you learned from that process because it's
a different it's a completely different.

Speaker 2 (21:44):
Thing, one hundred percent. Man, I would say the biggest
thing I learned from that fight and that that whole
ordeal was just too for One of the importance is
staying grounded, which I felt like. I felt like I
did a decent job of it, But part of it
was because it was just so fast. There was an
a lot of time for me to build it all
up in my head, and when you enter the UFC,
it's a bit of a whirlwind. The medicals are a

(22:06):
lot more expensive than they are on the regional scene,
so you've got to get those medicals done quick. And
for me, it was like I got the fight on
Wednesday evening and I needed to fly out for Seattle
on Tuesday, so I needed to get And also, if
I remember right, that the Monday was President's Day, so
a lot of places were closed on that Monday, so
I wasn't able to wasn't able to really get I

(22:27):
needed to get those medicals done Thursday and Friday, so
it's like doing medicals. I had to crash cut some
weight because I was a little bit over what I
really should have been at that time, and uh man
it was just it was so fast. That would be
the aspect that I learned from all that was just like, dude,
it's all the same at the end of the day,
you get in the cage and fight. And as cool
of his experience as it was to walk out in

(22:49):
front of you know, seventeen or eighteen thousand people and
fight in the octagon that I watch on TV all
the time, as cool of an experience as that was,
it was still just a fight. I mean. Then, I
would say from the fight itself, the biggest thing that
I learned was that I have to create and mold
a style that's sustainable over the course of the entire fight.
Because if you look at my record, you know, I've
got a lot of finishes. All my pro wins are

(23:11):
by finish, and all but one of my amateur wins
were by finish. I had one decision win as an
amateur and the whole fight my shoulder was out of socket.
I popped it out in the thirty seconds into the
first round. See, and like I've lost. So I've had
five fights go to decision and I've only won that one.
You know, all four my losses in MMA are all

(23:32):
decision losses. I mean, I think with that what I
finally started, it's like, dude, my style obviously it generates
finishes at times, but it's not always sustainable. You know.
I went out there against Menfield with the intent of
pressuring him, holding him on the kid and dragging him
into deep water, you know what I mean. But I
didn't necessarily have what I needed to sustain that over
the course of three rounds. So you saw me have

(23:52):
this huge adrenaline dump midway through round one and then
be somewhat gassed for the last two and a half rounds.
And I think a lot of that came from I
remember it was specifically I came over the top with
an elbow and then I threw like a three two
or a one to two or something like that and
hit him pretty clean, and I remember seeing his eyes
kind of go like his eyes got wide, and I
was like, oh, man, that rocked him. And he hit

(24:14):
the cage, and I think he probably would have fallen
over if it wasn't if the cage wasn't there, you know.
And then I and in my mind, I'm like, oh
he's rocked. I'm gotten, and I go to shoot the
double because I'm thinking, I got him rocked, I'm gonna
drag him down, and I'm gonna finish the fight on
the ground. I'm gonna get on top of him, and
I'm gonna ground and pound, because if you look at
my fights, that's how most of them go, you know.
And I dragged the guy down and then I ground

(24:35):
and pound him, and I'm thinking, oh, man, even though
we're in the UFC, I'm still about to come out
here in two three minutes and you know, drown this
guy and ground and pound him. But whenever I shot
in on that double leg, he was not done, you
know what I mean. He was still ready to go.
He was still fighting, and he thought he stuffed that
takedown pulled me right up. And I got real close
on that takedown too. I almost drove him over, and

(24:55):
he pulled me right up and separated, and I remember
being like, crap. It was It's almost like whenever I
hit him with that punch, Mentally, I was like, this
fight's over, and it turns out no, it's not. You're
not done. You've got to do something else. And I
think I wasn't necessarily ready for that to happen. I'd
never never hit somebody with that big shot and it
didn't just finish them off. And I think that I
think that that showed me I've got to develop a

(25:16):
style where mentally I'm preparing to go out there and
dominate you for three rounds, you know what I mean.
I'm not going out there to beat guys up in
the first and if I do beat them up in
the first, it's a bonus. So I think that's that's
one of the big that's one of the big things.
That big things that I learned from that fight was like,
develop a style that's sustainable over the course of fifteen
to twenty five minutes.

Speaker 1 (25:35):
Yeah, that's that's huge. And it's different. It's kind of
like how they say, like how you were talking about
the difference between D two, D one whatever, it's a definite.
It's like the same thing with baseball. It's like TRIPAA baseball.
Compared to the major leagues n naked people, a lot
of people get so caught up and which you not,

(25:57):
but a lot of people get caught up in and
successful in the regional scene and just think that they're
going to roll into the UFC and it's going to
be the same thing and it's like, bro, no, you
didn't come out victorious. How do you handle the disappointment
from a loss?

Speaker 2 (26:15):
Well, I would say, you know, my first first few
losses in MM, that was really tough. And after at
one point, you know, I had lost three out of
four as an amateur and I was four and three.
So in my head, I was like, man, I'm about
five hundred, you know what I mean, I gave this
a tribe blah blah blah, and those thoughts started to
cross my mind. And I think one big thing for

(26:36):
me was I had to shift from a results oriented
approach to a process oriented approach and focus on focus
on just getting better over time, and focus on like
becoming a better version of myself necessarily than winning and losing.
And I think that really applies to almost everything in
life in general. But I think once I kind of
developed that, it made it a lot easier to deal

(26:58):
with the ups and downs that naturally come with the sport.
And then with this last one, I would say, man,
the biggest thing that helped me deal with losing was
that fifty thousand dollars bonus check.

Speaker 1 (27:08):
Fifty g's always hell. A lot of people get caught
up in wins and losses. And I'm not saying that
it's okay to take an ill, but it's the process, right,
and it's the longevity, and it's building habits, tendencies and
traits that does that. And you're not gonna just come

(27:30):
out and get fifty dubs, and especially not at an
elite level. You're gonna have to kind of learn on
the fly and you're gonna have bumps and bruises. Literally,
what in your life, what's been one of the lowest
points that you felt and what did you do to
help pull you through?

Speaker 2 (27:51):
Man? So, I would say there there's been a couple
of times for me, the first being after I stopped
playing basketball. I played. I started off at Jerry University,
which is a Division two tool here in Springfield, and
I played my first my freshman year there and I
did okay, you know what I mean. I played in
almost every game, you know, I was able to you know,
and for a freshmen it's not bad. We were a

(28:12):
good team. We made the D two National Tournament. And
going into my sophomore year, I think I was convinced
that I was gonna work really hard and be the
new guy and be a star just immediately and it
was just gonna come easy to me. And I think
that once I when we started the season and everything
wasn't just handed to me on a silver platter, I
started to kind of lose, lose all of that work ethic.

(28:34):
I mean I wasn't. I wasn't really I wasn't really showing,
you know, showing any real true work ethics. So it's
like I wanted things and I wasn't putting in the work.
I was looking for an outcome, and I wasn't putting
in the input that I needed to get that outcome.
And then you know, I quit Drury's basketball team in
the middle of the season. I went in there and
I told the coach, I'm just done. I mean, I

(28:55):
decided to go transfer to the rival school almost to
try to you know, I didn't even I didn't need them, really. Yeah,
I transferred to the main rival school, SPU, which was
thirty minutes nor with another D two school. It's in
the same conference. And I was like, you know what,
I'm really going to stick it to him here, you
know what I mean. And I went up there and
I just wasn't. I was never focused. I didn't I

(29:15):
didn't stay on. It got in a little bit of trouble,
you know, my the Rainy, my oldest daughter's mom. I
found out she was pregnant. You know. I was like,
oh man, now this is tough. SBU is a Christian school,
you know what I mean, Scholarships out the window, don't
have basketball anymore. I'm dealing with a pending case for

(29:36):
having some weed in the car. And it wasn't it
was twenty nineteen, so you couldn't just have some weed
in the car. Yeah it was too much weed, but
I should, you know what I mean? But I so.
I at that point was like I was very lost
and I didn't I felt like I felt like I
had just completely screwed everything up. And it's funny because
it was literally nineteen years old, about to turn twenty,

(29:58):
and I'm thinking, oh man, I'm cooking, and it's like, dude,
you're literally still a child. And I think that one
was tough for me. And one thing that really helped
me get through that was picking up MMA. I started
MMA probably three or four months about three months after
I stopped playing basketball. I'd gained quite a bit of
weight and I was so depressed and when I picked
up MMA. It helped me a lot, and then I'd say,

(30:18):
the other time I've had, you know, the other lowest
point in my life would be after me and Rainy's
mom broke up. I had a really really hard time
dealing with that. I mentally was a little bit broken
for a while, and I developed this image of myself
in my head that I was a bad guy, you
know what I mean. I was like, I'm going to
be a bad boy now, you know what I mean,

(30:39):
I'm going to try to be some fake gangster. And
I was doing MMA as well, and I think that
contributed to it all. I was like, I'm a fighter,
and you know, I'm tough, and I do you know
what I mean? So I thought that's what I needed
to do. And then, you know, for one, my wife
and her family became involved with our gym, and they
were her at the time, I'm her mom was in

(31:01):
charge of a local Christian school and they started doing
their PE classes at our gym, and so I became
I met my wife and at first we were just
friends and everything, and I met her and her family
and I came and I started working at that school,
started being the PE teacher, and math teacher at this
Christian school here in town. And I heard I remember
I heard my wife's mother story, so my now mother

(31:22):
in law's story, and meeting my wife, it almost was
like a thing that motivated me to try to be
a good person again. And I really credit her and
her family a lot for motivating me to you know,
pull myself out of that hole and stop just you know,
I was self immolating because it was what was easiest.
It was it was easier than trying to exactly. It's easier.

(31:46):
It's easy to just you know, say oh, I'm a
bad guy. You know.

Speaker 1 (31:50):
Rather, anger is the easiest emotion. Anger is the easiest emotion,
and unfortunately, anger is the quickest emotion that we're taught.
Like if you think about it, it's you're told no,
you've got whoopings, all of these things you're not taught. Yes,
you're taught no as a as a baby. And then

(32:14):
you know, so you naturally become Kudos to you for
uh stepping up and stepping out of that mindset and
evolving for your wife and now for your daughters. That's
I mean, big respect for me. So you know, yeah,

(32:36):
you know, there's a lot of pressure on social media
these days, with athletes specifically. I tell people this a
lot of time. I do real estate and it's very
competitive and so social media for fighters literally for everything
now you have to have a presence. But I find

(32:56):
a lot of people get caught up in being cloud
chasy as opposed to being authentic. Sometimes it's those people
who will cloud chase off of your name or you
can kind of feel that they're doing different things. How
do you kind of give the stiff arm to that man.

Speaker 2 (33:20):
Luckily, for me, like I don't think I necessarily had
to deal with an incredible mint from my inner circle,
and I think that's good. It showed me that, you know,
I've got a solid circle. But obviously it's one of
those things where you know you have those people reach
out to you that it's like wait, what you know
what I mean, Like, you know, and you know, you
hear these things of you know, someone saying, oh, some

(33:41):
and so told me about you that you guys are
good buddies, and I'm like, oh, you know what I mean,
that's news to me. But it's one of those things
where for me, I think, like, at the end of
the day, I've as ive as I'm focused on a
small group of people, and I really try to keep
it that way, and I've really had to learn to
I've really had to learn to focus on the family,
you know what I mean, focus on focus on the

(34:03):
people around you that have that have proven that you know,
they care about you and what's best for you. So
at the end of the day, everyone should act in
their own best interests. We'd be a little bit foolish
not to. But you know, there's there's gonna be people
out there that will put your own best interest, you know,
at heart as well whenever they act towards you. And
I think that that's really important to find those people

(34:25):
and you know, stick close to them and really be
wary of just everyone around you in general.

Speaker 1 (34:31):
One especially when you get this first dub. You know,
we talked about Christian schools and stuff like that and
your faith. Has there been a moment when your faith
became real?

Speaker 2 (34:44):
I'd say for sure, there's been a lot of I've
had a lot of times on this journey where I've
just had some really really good fortune and things have
happened at times that you know, it's it's almost like
there's no there's no other explanation for this right now.
You know, I remember it was a few weeks before
I get signed to the UFC. I'm preparing for that fight.

(35:04):
I about a year before I made it, but about
a year before I get signed, I truly made that
decision that I'm going to really go all in on
the thing. And I was working. I was working at
a insurance company, and I selling insurance and financial products
that I have a finance degree because I did go
to college. But I decided to quit all of that
and dive in, you know, with my and you know,

(35:25):
luckily I had like my wife was behind me and
she kept me going through a lot of it. But
I remember going into that, uh it was obviously it
ended up being me preparing for my UFC fight, But
in my mind, I was preparing for another fight and
just a regional fire where I wasn't going to make
no money and I was struggling, for sure. I was
struggling hard. And I remember going on a podcast and

(35:46):
it was it was in town. It was a guy
that I know here in town. He had sponsored me before,
owns a company called Sunsoular. I thought I was just
going there to go on a podcast, you know what
I mean. And I was struggling at the time. I
was struggling big time, and I remember it. We get
midway through that podcast, then he frigging pulls out the
big check, you know what I mean, and gives me
two grand and says, hey, man, guess what you pick

(36:08):
a UFC event and I'll take you. We'll go sit
on the floor together. So he ended up. He he
got tickets for us to go to you know, UFC
three thirteen in Vegas. And I specifically remember that day
just being like, man, what am I gonna do here?
You know what I mean? How am I even gonna
make it to this fight? And at that time, you know,
two grand was dang near what I made in a month,

(36:28):
you know what I mean. So it was like it
was just it was huge for me at that time.
It was one of those things that showed me, you know,
maybe you are on the right path. And then I remember,
really not long ago at all, now, you know, whenever,
whenever Rainy's mom passed away, that that hit that hit
all of us really really hard, you know what I mean.
And I was very very I was I was down

(36:48):
and low, you know, and I it wasn't two weeks
later that I got the call for I got offered
this fight with Sir Kara, and I think I needed
that at the time. I really did, obviously, you know,
it gave me something, It gave me a little bit
of an outlet. And I do think there are things that,
you know, I still got to go back and try
to unpack after this fight, you know what I mean,

(37:09):
and really clear up the mental space, because I'm not
going to sit here and lie and say that, you know,
everything's just normal and that I'm just okay, you know
what I mean. I still still that my heart still
hurts as far as that whole situation goes. But I
think that it was one of those things where it
gave me something to It gave me something to push
towards that I that I needed a little bit at
the time. And you know, now, I think I'm going

(37:31):
to get through this and I'm going to be able
to I'm going to be able to, you know, get
myself fully in that in that mental space where iyme,
you know, able to deal with things you know and
exactly and to start to truly unpack these things.

Speaker 1 (37:47):
It's something, It's something that I steal. It's been six years,
seven years, and I still, you know, struggle with so
anything that I can kind of help do, I'll kind
of share more or with the story off air mm hmm.
But yeah, anything I can do, I'm here to help.
What's something that you are unlearning as a man today? Man?

Speaker 2 (38:13):
You know, it's I think I've I think I've had
to kind of unlearn that not processing emotions is how
we have how to be a man, you know what
I mean. Not that men aren't sad, that men that
men don't you know, go through the ups and downs
and obviously you know it's it's everybody says that now,
you know, But when it comes time to actually, you know,

(38:35):
deal with something, it's really hard. H That's definitely something
that I'm in the process of unlearning as I go.

Speaker 1 (38:42):
You know, what do you pray for these days?

Speaker 2 (38:46):
Man? Really? Just you know, I would just say piece
and piece piece for those around me. Man. I I
would love to I would love to get get myself
to a position where my family doesn't worry about you
know anything, you know what I mean. I'd love to
I'd love to be in a position where, you know,
my wife can my wife can relax a little bit

(39:09):
and enjoy enjoy some things for herself. She she is,
I think she sacrificed more than anybody and all of this,
you know what I mean, Her and my her and
my daughters more so than me. I'm over here pursuing
a dream and getting to getting to fight for a
living and train for a living and be a professional athlete.
You know what I mean. A lot of fighters talk
about how much they've sacrificed, but you know what I mean,

(39:31):
training hard is not sacrificing, you know what I mean.
My my wife, you know, and I'm dealing with the
uncertainty of it all, dealing with me being up and down,
supporting me through all of that. She's the one that's
really really sacrificed for me to even get to this position,
and she's the one that provided me with the base
to get to this position. So I would say, if

(39:51):
there's anything I pray for, it's just to you know,
maybe at some point she's able to, you know, do
something for herself and you know, reap the rewards of
everything that she's given up for us to pursue this
dream together.

Speaker 1 (40:05):
You know, what's one belief about yourself? That you need
to let go of.

Speaker 2 (40:11):
Man, Well, here's one actually. You know, this is so
funny because we kind of talked about this today, me
and the lady. We talked about this today. We I
always I've always had this belief that I'm a little
bit of a smart ass and I don't, and it's
led me to at times sometimes like sometimes I could
tell somebody something, you know, I heard them say something

(40:31):
wrong or do something, you know what I mean, and
I just don't, or I purposefully act like unintelligent, you know,
because I don't. I'm worried about people's insecurities. And I
think that that's one thing, is that at some point
in life, you can't you can't spend all your time
worrying about other people's and securities and stuff like that.
So I think that's probably that's probably one thing that
I would definitely have to find a way to let

(40:53):
go of.

Speaker 1 (40:53):
That's the hardest one because we're taught, we're taught that
taking care of self is selfish, but that's not. That's
there's so many things that we were taught coming up
that we need to throw away. That would be one
of them, because like, you have to speak your truth
and if you can't speak your truth because you're worried

(41:16):
about other people's insecurities, it's only going to create a
mask or veil for you, because then you're hiding behind
what you truly feel. You know, if you could talk
to that sixteen year old version of yourself just for
one minute, just for one minute, what would.

Speaker 2 (41:36):
You tell them? Man? Probably nothing, probably nothing. He's got
to figure it out for hisself. I would I would
worry that I would tell him too much. And you know,
you know, I screwed up a lot. You know, I
say that everybody screws up a lot, but I needed to.
You know, It's I just turned I turned twenty six
last week, so it's like sometimes I got to remind
myself of that. But like, man, I only have so

(41:58):
much perspective, you know what I mean. And it's not
like I've been around that long, haven't. I feel like
I'm just now hitting that adult status, you know what
I'm saying. But I uh, some of these young guns
are calling me an unk. Now. It's like, dude, come on, now,
you're a child if you call a twenty six year
old and hunk. For anybody that swiped my story, yeah,
for anybody that swiped about my story and called me

(42:20):
an unk man, get out of here, bro. But man,
I don't know. I just think like sometimes sometimes I've
gotta Sometimes I think I needed to screw up. I
needed to go through some of the ups and downs
I went through, and sixteen year old me like, he's
gonna have to figure that all out for hisself.

Speaker 1 (42:36):
I feel the same way. I feel like God puts
us through trials and tribulations for us to evolve, and so,
you know, at times we feel like this is the
worst thing in the world, but we need those failures
to come back stronger and be successful.

Speaker 2 (42:56):
I might tell him to go buy some bitcoin, though
you know what I'm saying. I tell them to go
buy some bitcoin or some Tesla or something. Maybe go
buy some in the video, like go get in there, bud.

Speaker 1 (43:05):
Apple, all of that. All of that. You know, when
the noise fades, the lights go out, your name isn't
trending anymore. What do you hope your daughter's, your wife,
and even your critics say about you?

Speaker 2 (43:22):
Man, I hope that, I really hope that they say
that I was a genuine fellow that gave it as all,
you know, and I think if that is one's legacy
as an athlete and as a person, they kept it
real and they tried their best. You know what I mean.
I don't think you can ask for much more. So
I agree, Yeah, that's what I got. Like, It's like
I want to be I want to be that guy
that people were like. You know he was. He was

(43:44):
a real one and he tried his springing best. He
gave it all every time he went out there, and
that's all you can do.

Speaker 1 (43:48):
Sometimes people get caught up, so caught up in wanting
to do everything, they end up accomplishing nothing. Jack of
all trades, master of nine. So bro, I super appreciate
you coming on, not just for showing up, but showing
up the way that you have with such humility, grace,

(44:10):
and sharing your story with me today. The world needs
more young guns like you as somebody that's gonna fight
not just in the cage, but for purpose. Man, we
live in a very unauthentic world and so to have
somebody that is authentic. Thank you man for pulling up.

(44:31):
We will be cheering for you in a couple of weeks,
and that you are always welcome on the front porch.
We are signing off and keep it real, keep it rooted,
and we'll see y'all next week on the front porch.