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Interview w// Chris Curtis before he takes on Roman Kopylov at #UFCVegas101
5K views
Jan 20, 2025
New Year and we're starting strong with an interview from top Middleweight Chris Curtis ahead of his January 11th bout vs Roman Kopylov. Unfortunately this went down before and after the Russian spy fiasco but Chris opened up about being an older fighter, anime's heavy influence on his career, what happened in those crucial last seconds of his last fight vs Brendan Allen, and how he's fluent in Hotep. Members get this interview early so make sure to join us to get our content before everyone else! (link below) 00:00 Mrs. Curtis loves Ange! 00:30 training through Christmas is pretty easy since the wifey is taking care of the holiday stuff 06:45 How is fight prep going for Roman Kopylov? 09:05 Why Curtis loves fighting in the Apex 12:40 Black don’t crack and Jess is immortal 13:30 Ange and Chris bond over anime while Jess stares blankly into the abyss 17:00 Imagine being Brock Lesnar 19:50 Why Chris prefers NOT to do interviews, he explains why. (thanks for making us feel special!!) 26:36 Fighting is the most addictive drug and it keeps him coming back. 34:50 Reflecting on his super close fight vs Brendan Allen and how that last 15 seconds played out. 39:19 Getting old sucks! 44:00 When he retires he’s doing the Ninja Turtles steroids 48:30 Ange will be waiting for her birthday shoutout 49:45 could Chris Curtis pull off a Kwanza Man gimmick?! Jess learns what a Hotep is. Powered by Duelbits. Join us:
View Video Transcript
0:03
yeah hold on yeah you did it yeah all right [ __ ] all right cool that confused me thank you
0:08
hey oh by the Ed my uh my girlfriend loves you she wanted to say hi oh
0:15
hi she's like I love watching her fight can I say hi I was like I love her
0:21
too a how you um [ __ ] tired man it's
0:27
what I'm trying to fix this we're what three weeks out I'm [ __ ] tired yeah how are you navigating with the
0:34
holiday season in Camp I don't I haven't I've trained every holiday for the last
0:39
17 years so it's no different to me like I don't I'm not a holiday person my childhood ruined that for me so like I
0:45
don't miss anything like yeah we're good we're good Christmas in the C's household was
0:52
a war zone and like no man it's uh like I think I was like 12 when the last uh
0:59
last time we celebrated Christmas and my mom canceled Christmas on Christmas Eve and I was just like okay like deal like
1:04
never again so like I've since 12 I've put no stock in Christmas at all but no it's fine were y'all being mad or she
1:11
just really like when we were young my mom had a crazy hormonal imbalance she's a
1:16
little bit insane we're terrible children sometimes but not that terrible but she had a crazy hormonal imbalance
1:23
and yeah she canceled Christmas on Christmas Eve and now at 12 and I was like you know what never again so do you
1:29
go crazy C for your kid uh for Christmas hi I don't I I don't so my oldest my
1:36
oldest son his mom is a CH was a Christmas person she Wilds out for Christmas every year and I'm like okay
1:41
you can take care of Chris fine she like Stephanie is insane for Christmas and then Lauren's been doing Christmas stuff
1:47
we've got Christmas decorations up I didn't know it was Christmas week until like she told me because she's like yeah
1:53
my par to be here I was like you're like on Friday I was like oh next Friday she's like tomorrow Friday and I was
1:59
like what day is it like where like I don't yeah I had no idea it was even Christmas like yeah so I've lost a
2:05
couple weeks of this month I don't know where they went but as well yeah it totally like I I
2:12
have been confused for a while now like not understanding what day it was and they're just like yeah it's Christmas
2:17
I'm like Christmas week I'm like holy [ __ ] I haven't I didn't buy anybody anything like I didn't buy a single
2:23
present I'm like no it's it's fine like you guys are okay well you're in a gym with a bunch of hooligans who probably
2:30
also don't know what day it is like it it's just you know what day of the week it is for training but you don't really
2:35
know anything outside of that yeah right I I acknowledge like I don't really like the present thing is weird to me I'm
2:42
like okay we had this talk I was like she understands I don't buy Christmas gifts I will buy you anything you want
2:47
at any given time of the year but don't expect me to surprise you like it's just not like no like it's I I don't I don't
2:53
do that like say what you want I will gladly go buy it for you but I'm not I don't do the surprise gift thing it's
2:59
it's very it's it's inefficient and stressful for everybody so like now I think you communicated that yeah
3:06
exactly we have to talk and it's like it's it's fine she's like you know what it's fine like she doesn't expect GIF
3:12
thing I'm not like a like a holiday gift person I like I try to do stuff all year
3:17
round all the time like small stuff and surprises but like when it comes like holiday gifts I'm not GNA stress myself
3:22
out trying to figure out what you may or may not like like yeah I buy stuff and
3:28
then I'm like you have my in you have my credit cards buy whatever you want like yeah knock yourself out that's a sign of
3:34
a mature relationship for sure hi bear bear is like talk to me hi
3:41
oh he's so cute hi so you have two kids yeah 17y old and a Oney old wow how yeah
3:50
it's great 17y old gives zero he's like he doesn't care he's he's 17 he's like he doesn't even talk to me right now
3:56
he's like his little girl he's at his little girlfriend so like all time is dedicated to his girlfriend now and I'm
4:02
just like wow like this is he's he was the biggest daddy boy's entire life and now he discovered girls and he's off
4:09
doing his thing it's it's funny because like we even called it we we on the phun with
4:16
him and he's like he's being brand new he's like going to bed early like he's showering more than normal and like the
4:21
stuff he asked me to buy like you know like cin I'm like what's going on and then were like this little girl go she
4:26
was acting brand new and there was a pause he didn't deny it was just a pocket BL I was like oh my
4:32
God that's amazing he hit that age oh
4:37
that's awesome well I think last time I talked to you he was like fifth or no it was a while ago he must have been like
4:44
14 back then yeah well now he's oh my God he's he's fallen into that age I'm like Oh my he's a smartass too like he's
4:51
that's my fault that's entirely my fa he's he's a huge smartass so it just
4:57
this the [ __ ] he says I'm just like oh my God like can't you're almost 18 so it's fine like it's I don't have to deal
5:02
with it like at 18 I can stop paying for things like You're you know like now you're on
5:08
your own get a job but like he knows too I'm holding over head the moment you turn 18 him like you get a job but he
5:15
he's a smart he's a good kid he's just a smartass oh that's kind of a good thing though right you appr he question like I
5:24
mean I always I rais him to question like question everything like if you don't like something like voice it and
5:29
ask and so it's great I believe it's in it's important to like you know raise kids who are comfortable questioning
5:36
what they're told that being said there are some times that just do what I tell you and stop questioning me but you know
5:42
you can't have it all so I'd rather take an inquisitive quid than a one who blindly accepts orders that's awesome good good dadding
5:50
on your part I'm trying it's it's it's there there have been some missteps but like there have been hilarious missteps
5:58
so now you know we're trying uh dad program 2.0 so we'll see how this goes
6:04
yeah pig that's how it always goes yeah we learned hilarious mistakes from your brother didn't we like
6:11
yeah yeah you're had a lucky one right he's growing up rich he's fine like
6:17
Chris grew up broke little Chris grew up super poor bear grows up rich I'm like Chris gets mad too he's like that's I
6:24
didn't grow up like that I was like well Dad was poor when you were growing up so like times were changed oh man well
6:29
aware he's well aware as an as an oldest child I can relate to that yeah where
6:36
was this when I was like you grew up in a struggle like yeah you grew up in the struggle it's five yeah he's a good
6:43
sport about it he find he finds it hilarious and they get along great so it's that's
6:49
great well Chris thank you so much for joining us uh you have a big fight coming up against Roman copy love on
6:54
January 11th um tell us how's preparation going for that fight I saw
6:59
you were in Thailand for a little bit did you do a majority of your Camp there uh I split about like what four weeks in
7:07
Thailand and then came back for the last five so it did a big chunk out there for me it was really nice
7:13
uh nice to get out of you know get away from your comfort zone like go work you know copy is a big kicker really good
7:19
kickboxer so you know what let's just go get kicked by tie people and uh see how that goes so you know what feels good
7:25
it's definitely a confidence Builder you're like okay if I can get kicked by ties all day I can get kicked by this
7:32
guy for more of a striking uh fight or are you g to push the
7:37
grappling uh I'm always gonna punch people I me it's it's there's a lot I should grapple but like man I I I am who
7:44
I am I'm 37 I've been punching things for a long time I continue to punch things so we'll see if it gets froggy uh
7:51
if if if it comes down to grappling we can I'm trying to be more comfortable mixing uh my martialarts as uh as Henry
8:00
hoop says mix your masal lot as Henry hoop says but uh at the end of the day man I'm I'm always gonna be there for
8:06
striking battle so uh we we'll see what he what he brings it's something about when you double down I feel like that's
8:12
kind of a baller move like when you're just like you know hard move I'm just old I'm very old I'm I'm an angry old
8:20
man at this point I am old man Curtis it's like you could they like every if you wrestle be 10 times easier like yeah
8:27
but you know I worked a lot I just want to punch things like at this point in my life I just want to punch things like
8:32
that that's what brings me joy so you know we'll we'll see we'll see it all depends on how he comes to fight but
8:38
like you know when you fight Me For Better or Worse you know what my game plan is I want to punch you yeah well
8:44
stylistically it's a fun matchup because he doesn't seem to want to go to the ground either like I think you know man
8:51
he's been wrestling more lately so maybe it's just against like Caesar who knows but uh I don't know man hopefully we'll
8:57
punch each other a lot like the only thing is like I don't want to have to go chase them
9:02
around the ring like we're in the Apex which makes me happy I don't have to chase you the Apex there's nowhere to run the Apex I absolutely love the Apex
9:08
for that reason people hate it I don't want to fight there I love it that ring is Tiny there's nowhere to go I will
9:14
find you you can run but there's not you take one you take two steps back and you're on the cage you're on the on the fence so I love the Apex so hopefully uh
9:23
you know our Styles combined with that tiny ass cage is gonna make for a really fun uh really a really fun fight
9:30
there have been a lot of Fighters that kind of complain about fighting at the Apex and not you know feeling that energy that you get at the big arena uh
9:37
do you have a preference either way manam I fought like so before I had like
9:42
30 something fights before I got to the UFC I have fought in the smallest of venues I have small I have fought in
9:50
like gyms I fought in strip mall parking lots I fought on top of a strip club like I don't need crows like honest to
9:56
God it's it's funny for me because yeah are cool it's always fun but in there
10:02
you know I could be fighting in front of Jesus I'm not going to notice him like it's just me and you so I'm just one of those people like it doesn't I I like it
10:09
because especially when it's silent and it's that quiet in there there's no energy now we get to see like who really
10:16
like who really came to fight like there's no [ __ ] hul Mania or crowds getting you ready like no it's me and
10:21
you there's no external motivation like how motivated are you for this and I think that's that's a that's really fun
10:27
for me yeah you seem like the type that thrives in that violent in the phone
10:33
booth type of match and I saw your post recently with uh Buckley and you giving
10:39
them props to being kind of the same type of fighter dude I I I I love walk I'm so happy I'm so happy for that dude
10:44
man like I'm I'm so happy for Buckley but like yeah man like in in my UFC career is the one guy I fought so far
10:50
that felt like okay like I'm here to hurt you the same way you hurt me like we're not trying to like run around and do stuff we just tried to fight each
10:56
other and I love that and I absolutely love that and for me man I'm I'm somebody who thrives in the trenches but
11:03
I I am not this you know I'm not this beautiful you know fighter jet like new
11:08
fifth generation fighter jet I am an old tank like it's not may not get there at
11:13
the fastest but I'm just it's gonna be a pain in the ass to stop and like once once it reaches you you have to fight
11:19
now like I don't want to run around I don't want to do all this fancy stuff like no I just want to fight and see who
11:26
wants like my entire thing in fighting is like I just want to see who wants to fight more like I I don't want to
11:31
steamroll a guy and like you know people like strick want to beat a guy who's like helpless like no I I started
11:38
fighting because of like freaking anime and C anime and video games so I have that even at 37 I have this really
11:44
broken thing in my brain to where I want every fight to be that like you know I want this just shown in anime to start
11:50
playing and we're sitting here fighting to see that's you don't understand like I to practice today listening to the my
11:56
hero Academia soundtrack and to me like let's go like you say run I I want that
12:01
in my head and like it's got me in trouble before I've had coaches like hey it's not a movie like go fight so I'm
12:06
having to kind of balance those two but in my head man I I just want I want
12:12
that as weird as it sounds when I fight sometimes I'm hoping it looks cool for
12:18
everybody else like I want it to be a movie for people watching and like I want to feel like I'm in a movie I love that experience so like you
12:25
know I uh I'm never going to grow up I'm 37 not gonna get any more mature than this but I I know what I like I just I
12:32
just like to fight man I like the thrill of it I like the way it looks in there I like the way people get to see it I just
12:38
[ __ ] love it I love that my uh my birthday is the day after your fight
12:45
yeah and I'll be turning the big four oh oh you before me what don't tell nobody
12:52
but I was
12:57
laughing both old we both go older are you are you yeah 41 I turned
13:06
42 January 30th what are you arean she's a vampire I'm just BL I am I'm
13:13
Immortal are you Italian what is this like I'm part of what's the other part
13:19
something's causing you not to age I'm curious It's the olive oil in her yeah
13:24
there's something causing you not to age like well I would never have guessed like yeah you up well congratulations
13:30
like good thank you thank you but I wasn't pushing for compliments but I
13:36
love them up wonderful impressive but what I was gonna say is I
13:42
was kind of doing the same thing with my last fight Camp I was uh watching a Heim made no EO for the first time the
13:48
littleon anime and I was just like yo I love this [ __ ] and every time I would do
13:54
pad work and stuff let me teach you something so I watched EO I first saw EO
13:59
when I was like 16 going CH with you by love so this is my computer room and above my
14:06
computer hey so I've got I've got EO [ __ ] everywhere in my house like I've got EO
14:12
shorts I got yeah so like that was uh I I definitely understand like I watch a
14:17
lot of a lot of fights I watch a takamura versus eagle fight takamura versus hawk fight so like yeah I am
14:24
right there I can see the the technique has uh trans
14:29
style like you're just like I have it's I laugh I tell people all the time I
14:35
gotten in this for the wrong reason like like Street Fighter Street Fighter and Tech can changed my life in the worst
14:41
way and I've just been living that video game high since I was like 12 and like it's just yeah it's so I'm glad I'm glad
14:47
there are others who like yeah like I've been watching the Endeavor fight the Endeavor Nom fight my favorite fights
14:52
and just say yeah just I drive to uh to practice listen to you say run so like yeah don't grow it keeps us young yeah
14:59
yeah no I love it I love it I saw your other post in what was it like uh all might in the big crater that was
15:05
Endeavor that was Endeavor yeah so it's weird like she laughs at me I'm an underdog guy so like
15:12
I'm an Endeavor guy over an all my guy like Endeavor is my guy like Endeavor Vegeta I'm always the underdog character
15:19
okay yeah I see that syo guy what you say I said I have no idea
15:27
what you guys are talking about yeah I'm sorry I'm sorry we speaking
15:34
Japanese it's all good basically you should watch more anime a little left
15:40
out so that is like actually I I now need to feel included so I should probably go watch it so we watcho you'll
15:46
love EO it's it's about boxing you'll love it it's it's heart we need we need to find something that's more like a
15:52
real housewives cuz they have like the little bit more drama Yeah the more
15:57
drama in out there too we got to find give Attack on Titan and just break her heart like yeah there you go oh my God
16:04
you would actually like cuz you like the Gory stuff like you like the boys and stuff right yeah yeah you like attack
16:11
Titan that first I couldn't get past the first season I was just like [ __ ] this it just
16:18
it just becomes a the longer goes on it becomes a bigger and bigger mind fuff and you're like what is it's insane it
16:24
gets wor I might like it actually I like Thrillers yeah oh dude so you you
16:29
actually would like Attack on Titan because it becomes a mind [ __ ] then the way the series ends you're just like
16:35
there's no happiness involved it's just heartbreak after heartbreak and then they just like once you're broken they just start stopping on you and you're
16:42
like why is this happening like just you you it's one of those shows to where you can't love any character because no one
16:48
makes it it's Game of Thrones kind of Game of Thrones has absolutely
16:53
nothing on the Heartbreak of Attack on Titan better inding I hope yeah it's oh
17:00
better ending like it's more Co cohesive but there is no joy in the way
17:06
this is damn and there's a monster that's uh
17:12
based off of Brock Lesnar yeah it's I mean there that's most things most
17:17
things so it makes it better there you go I always wonder what Brock Les doing
17:23
like she's out there being could you can you imagine you're just like at freaking like oh you go to like freaking uh Whole
17:29
Foods and there's just Brock Lesnar walking down the aisle right what do you do like he exists in real life he's he's
17:35
out there in like in the wild in like nature doing Brock Lesnar [ __ ] so what
17:41
don't know you just don't know but he hunts a lot what if you're like in the woods one
17:46
day you see Brock Lesnar like hunting you're just like no that's where that's where we'd see him just like dragging a deer carcass with like a gun slinged
17:53
over his shoulder that's how I wild I want to know what deer does it to notice Brock Lesnar
18:00
I don't care C I don't care how much camo you're wearing like there's that's a boulder that's a moving Boulder like
18:07
they probably think he's another like steer or something they think he's one of them what other deer gets shot by Brock
18:14
Lesnar deserves it like you look at Brock Lesnar like sir like you're like you obviously you can't you can't hide
18:20
that I would love to see him help like just watch him hunt like how because he's so [ __ ] big you can't hide that
18:26
mass like deer shot by Lesnar deserve it I'm like bro like you you weren't paying
18:31
attention like everyone else is probably like you know what don't go there that guy wasn't paying the [ __ ] attention
18:37
like that's what happens yeah he may have been up in one of those booth that they have in the trees though so there a
18:42
b in a tree there is a boulder sitting in a tree you're just like be time trees so
18:49
maybe they thought he was a bear maybe he was bearing once again leave like you deserve you just you were not on your A
18:56
game that day like no I'm trying I would love to see Lesar in a tree just
19:01
waiting deer just like no like absolutely not like that's fair yeah I just don't get
19:09
it like now I'm gonna be thinking about that all day so like yeah that's my new brand rot for the day it's survival of the fittest they deserve to die I just
19:16
feel like I just like he hunts he runs them down like shoot the dud just
19:22
chasing get the woods on it like a cheet
19:28
Lesnar like [ __ ] H popping at him like oh man that's terrify I would love
19:35
that yeah that could be a whole nature special he coulding de with his bare
19:40
hands you can narrate it that' be [Laughter]
19:47
great well this conversation got derailed but oh my bad
19:53
sorry is Flaming right now no it's awesome I love it I love it last time I talked to you with h Karen it was like
20:00
this and just it's really fun getting to know you because I feel like I feel like if we were at the same gym we'd be
20:06
friends oh we have a great time it's funny because uh Lauren's like
20:12
give an interview and she's like yeah because I have I haven't done interviews at all I've sworn off doing interviews I just I just don't anymore and she was
20:18
surprised I was like it's Angela Hill I have to like she's the homie she's like oh that's fair okay I have sworn off
20:24
doing interviews AB like absolutely people ask I'm just like no no no interest at all why is that is there a
20:30
particular reason yes I I love fighting right I absolutely
20:36
love fighting and like that it's weird because I I was always the guy going to
20:42
other people's hometowns to fight so it's always the you know the guy come out of town so I I came up without a fan
20:48
base really it just wasn't I I never had like the arena full of people cheering
20:53
for me so getting fans and even more so than fans of the
20:59
tractors is weird for me and I realized that like my I've went my entire career without it so suddenly having it now was
21:06
like it's really mentally kind of like puts me in a weird place and I I just don't like it and then I realized there
21:12
are really cool F interactions with but with Sports MMA but Sports in general I
21:18
think there's a lot of like weird parasocial relationship expectations between fans and Fighters and I think
21:25
when you put yourself out there too much like yeah it does increase your presence but it gives people this really
21:32
strange like I guess they feel entitled in like entitlement to you and with that
21:39
entitlement people start saying really weird off-the-wall [ __ ] offthe cuff [ __ ] and I'm like we're not friends like
21:47
they're and like so another weird thing people call me Kurt and I'm like understand that like my friends call me
21:52
Kurt like if people message hey Kurt I'm like don't do that like that's like my friend called me Kurt like that's not
21:58
and then that's what made me realize like okay like the love that too much interaction with you gives people that
22:05
like comfortability and step over the bounds and normally it's fine whatever but people get comfortable saying some
22:11
really off the--all [ __ ] and I'm like for me for my own to help with my
22:17
love of fighting I have to kind of back away from that because like some of those interactions really start kind
22:23
they drain you and they really dra wears on my like desire and love to fight and
22:28
like this is this is what I do man like I I love fighting damn near more than anything else like and it's uh it sucks
22:36
for me and I realized early on that it was the some of the fans just killing my
22:42
like desire to fight and my love of fighting so I kind of back away from it for me and like it's been it's been a
22:47
lot better don't engage with it back away from it I will engage with fans but like I keep it very measured and I I
22:54
just feel better and I I do have some amazing fans I talked to some some people but like you know there are fans
23:01
you know have like my private information like talk whatever I love I have some really great fans but overall
23:07
it's just more it feels important to me to shrink my circle so that I can protect that energy so I can like keep
23:12
my love of fighting instead of like being burned out just like letting these people get to me I feel that that's that's uh it's
23:20
funny how sometimes getting fans on your side can be draining and people that
23:26
think it's the other way like oh watch my haters I hate my haters blah blah blah but it's like your lovers too it's
23:33
all all of it man I don't think people really so like I it's G sound every time
23:39
I explain this it sounds worse than mean to be sound a dick so like my prasis with like not this isn't it's GNA come
23:44
off worse than it means but like most people look at social media for example most people are never goingon to have
23:50
more than what a thousand followers any given time 2,000 if you're lucky like you're so you're interacting 2,000
23:57
followers you interact with maybe 50 people online when you start interacting with thousands of people who know who
24:03
you are it's something most people will never have to deal with so you I you have people come to you talking about saying [ __ ] to you like blah blah blah
24:10
and then they're like oh why are you getting upset with the fans like it's not upset with just you I have to deal
24:16
with 25,000 of these messages I don't care who you are eventually it starts to
24:21
grade like it's like you know I don't care how mentally tough you are dealing with 50 people cool 500 people okay
24:29
25,000 people and now it's just grading on your nerves and it's like it's not even just to you I'm not mad at you I'm
24:36
mad at dealing with all of this and but it's something that most people will never have to deal with so they're like
24:41
oh you let things get to you like no I deal like I deal with this on a constant basis I'm just just tired of it so it's
24:49
I think that a lot of fans don't realize just how much you have to deal with on a regular basis and for I guess there are
24:56
people who can do it for me I'm like nope not me because like I I'm from I'm from Cincinnati still like don't let the
25:03
the voice and the pretty hair fool you I will fight you like I will fight you for no reason like I will absolutely fight
25:09
you like I have I I am really financially very well off but I
25:14
hopefully you know by the end of this contract I'll be I you know I'm gonna retire I'll retire a millionaire so the
25:20
thing is I now have the means to come find you and I will and like and so like
25:26
I have to understand that like you know there are some parts of me that are always in Cincinnati you're that you I'm
25:32
gonna have that in my heart and part of that is like bro we will straight fight you so I'm like I can't get involved in this because I had found people like
25:38
I've been buying tickets and my girl is like what are we doing right now and I'm like pack the baby up we're going to
25:43
like so and so like he's like she's like what are we doing like why so I'm having to learn that like okay like you can't
25:51
feed into that part of yourself so a big part of that is just stepping away putting up boundaries it's it's it's
25:56
helped a lot it's really helped me like get back to my love of like fighting I don't watch YouTube videos about me
26:03
anymore but I don't like like know I hire no I seriously hire a little kid
26:08
from India like not not even being racist a kid from India hit me up one day it's like sure he runs my he part of
26:13
my SE access to my social media he just like go he just like uh moderates my
26:19
Social Media stuff so like [ __ ] I don't want to see he just gets rid of it for me I'm like yeah he'll send me messages like nothing important came up anything
26:26
important comes up send it to me so there's so much [ __ ] never even see and it just makes my life easier cost me
26:31
like a hundred bucks a month like great investment like yeah yeah no that stuff can absolutely be draining um you
26:38
mentioned retirement though so I've seen on your Wikipedia that you've retired
26:43
multiple times and me I I recently retired and unretired after about a month so I'm just wondering what is what
26:52
brought you back and what made you retire and have a retirement in the
26:58
future that you're thinking did you watch the usyk fury fight this past weekend no I missed it no so Tyson Fury
27:07
after the fight said something that like I've always said which is great to hear people understand man and he's
27:14
like he said like after he fought Dylan white he retired he's I meant it he absolutely meant it boxing he's like
27:20
fighting boxing fighting is you know it's it's a hell of a thing it's when it's good it's great when it's bad it's
27:27
the worst you can possibly be he's like you know it eats your soul mentally physically everything and he's like when
27:34
I retired I meant it but the issue is this is the most addicting drug there can possibly be and there's nothing
27:41
quite like this to where no matter how bad it gets and you walk away it is the single most addicting thing in your life
27:48
like for me I don't smoke I don't drink I don't party like fighting is my soul
27:54
like this is I don't so I'm I'm I always say that I'm very fortunate that I've known what
28:00
I wanted to do since I was like 10 years old I've always known I wanted to fight people I didn't know I'd be in the UFC I
28:05
thought I'd be more like Tekken but like Street Fighter like having the world just fighting people but that is highly
28:11
illegal so but you know but I always always knew though I wanted to fight people like so I've been grateful so
28:17
since 10 years old like I've kind of had a onrack mind to what I wanted to do who
28:22
I wanted to be and how I've seen myself and you know as you get older that Vision morphs change and a lot of people
28:29
know what they want to do when they're young but I've always kind of kept the goal
28:36
and I've I everyone sacrifices in their day-to-day life but I'll say I have
28:43
sacrificed just an ungodly amount for this I've lost so much time with my
28:48
oldest son which I regret so much um I dated the same girl off and on for God
28:55
like 15 16 years it was like my my first real girlfriend we met in seventh grade and our
29:02
engagement ended through KN a small part to fighting and like you know so we dat for D from like 15 to 30 and my
29:09
engagement ended because of fighting I lost that I've lost friends I've you
29:16
know I've had uh people pass away that I wasn't there for because I was too busy
29:22
fighting I've missed funerals I've missed birthdays I've missed holidays I've missed births
29:30
you I don't know how to walk away as much as I want to and like there are time there are so many times when I just
29:36
been burn out you think you're never gonna get the shot you deserve I was the number one ranked guy in three continents in three on three continents
29:44
for years couldn't get a UFC shot and you're just like why am I doing this but you keep pushing on after uh when I got
29:51
signed the pfl actually had really big reservations about going to pfl because I was like you know it's 170 in a
29:57
tournament setting I know it's going to be really hard in my body and I was like if I [ __ ] this up I'm never going to
30:03
get signed to UFC [ __ ] it up so like you know I ended up uh losing in the in
30:09
the semi in the uh semi-finals and then they called me back out as I was leaving the building to go fight as a backup so
30:16
I went did that everything was going good so it didn't go good so I get knocked out and I'm for the first time
30:21
I'm just like bro like I'm never going to get signed now there's no [ __ ] way so like why why don't you walk away and
30:26
go spend time with your family and like you know I got a kid who's growing up and like you know why not go Salvage the
30:32
rest of your life everything you leave behind because like unfortunately think people don't what we don't talk about as fighers I'm sure you I'm sure you two
30:38
have done this I know you have how many times have things your life been falling apart and you're like I'll fix it after
30:45
I make it I'll fix it after I fight I'll fix it after this Camp I'll fix it after this opportunity and how long do you do
30:52
that like do we do I've done it for years I know everyone does it every fighter does it the issue is like no one
30:58
tells you especially when you're young you don't realize that by the time you think you can fix it it's too late it's
31:04
broken you can't put the pieces back together again so when I've retired I've been like why not like like Chris like
31:11
go Salvage what you can but the issue for me is at my core more than Chris the
31:18
person Chris the dad you know Chris the whatever I see I identify as myself as
31:24
Chris the fighter but I have the worst Batman mentality ever where Bruce way like no Bruce Wayne's not the real
31:29
person Batman is Bruce Wayne's the costume like in my head Chris the fighter is the real person Chris the dad
31:36
and Chris everybody else is kind of the Mask you wear like at my core I've always considered myself Chris the
31:41
fighter so like the scariest thing about retirement is realizing that you have to be somebody else and I talked to force
31:48
Griffin about this last week actually he's laughing he's like yeah man you got worry about you when you're done I'm 37
31:54
I figur I got three more years in me like three more good years in me I still feel good but uh picking up more injuries than I used to thank God I
32:01
recover fast it's not quite as fast as it used to be so I'm trying to figure out now how to
32:08
balance being Chris thether and keeping that fire versus having to understand that like soon I have to transition into
32:15
whatever comes next but when your entire life has been one thing and you've
32:20
identified as one thing and you've built your entire life around being one person
32:25
who are you after this and like that's what makes for reement scary and that's why I think we all come back because at
32:31
our core anyone that truly loves this anyone that pushes how many fights do you have uh Jess how many fight did you
32:37
have uh 20 something I kind of lost how many have you had
32:43
Angel um yeah it's in the 30s yeah I'm
32:48
I'm like well under my 40s of just professional fights so we put we've all put a decent amount of time in and like
32:54
our lives in this so like isn't it weird to think what do I do when this is gone
32:59
this is this is for me this is all I've ever known 12 years old 10 years old it's all I've ever wanted to be so it's
33:06
terrifying and like part of me does lose sleep over it like what do I do when it's like what am I when it's gone but I'm looking out you know my
33:14
I've got my kids I've got people that love me you know start starting to kind of transition from the mindset of just
33:20
being Chris the fighter so like yeah man like retirements is is scary because
33:25
this this is a drug not only is it a drug it's an addicting addiction but it's it's your personality it's who you
33:33
are as a person for some people and for me you know I built the core of my entire being of being a fighter so like
33:39
man retirement never lasts because you're like once you're done you're looking around you're like I don't want to be a regular person like this sucks
33:46
I've got no other useful skills I'm like oh this sucks so you always come back so hopefully in the next three years I can
33:52
figure that out you know what else makes it so hard to walk away when you have some like young hot person coming to the
34:00
gym and they're beating up everyone and then you [ __ ] them up you're
34:05
like got it I'm not done there are days I've actually I've
34:13
absolutely executed the entire gy and then there are days I can get beat up I'm like huh all right yeah there are
34:19
some days I I can actually beat up I'm like this did not go as planned like everything feels bad I feel old today
34:26
but then there are some days when like you know everything clicks into place and you're like oh I still got it but the issue is like you know as those days
34:33
where you you were the uh nail not the hammer become more and more now you're like oh did I risk that happening on a
34:39
fight day like that's when you're like oh man you go out there on a fight day
34:44
shit's not cooking in place and you're like [ __ ] all right gotta make this happen so as you're when when you're younger man you're you're very rarely
34:50
the nail but uh as you get older you're like you start having more and more mail days did you um ever go on the detail
34:58
about what happened in at the end of your last fight you mentioned injuries coming a little easier and you took that
35:04
last one short notice and it looked like you were taking the last round away like
35:10
it I knew it was super close but like when Dam it literally literally I was we
35:16
were I remember watching that last round and everyone was just like oh [ __ ] I think he's got it and then you stood up
35:22
and wounded and so yeah yeah turns out
35:27
so I took that fight I had the the isram fight like pretty much in the works but
35:34
I uh I was gonna fight Isam I can't I mean a butcherer his name I can't remember his last name butam iov I think
35:41
whatever I was gonna fight him they're talking about that and then that came up so the issue with me taking the Bron
35:47
Allen fight was I had just resolved like okay I talk to the pi staff and I've always been really small 185 so we're
35:54
like we're gonna spend some time getting you big like we're gonna get big they they wanted me to get above 205
36:00
I've walked around under 205 my entire 85 career usually about 200 pounds 195
36:05
so we're like we're gonna get to like 210 maybe and we'll feel good so I was kind of out of the I wasn't training as
36:11
much I was just lifting kind of spending time my family and then that fight came up so I was like I can do it so I'm
36:17
still in shape good the issue was apparently you can't stuff two weeks of cardio and like running and everything
36:23
else like you can't stop a camp into two weeks at 37 years old because 36 because
36:29
your body just doesn't do that anymore so I was running so much and doing like so much conditioning and running and
36:35
everything and training like the entire time my legs were killing me like the entire like lead up to that I was like
36:41
Oh my legs are gonna fall off but you know we did massage everything we did fine but I I knew my hamstrings were I
36:47
knew everything in my legs were tight uh last 15 seconds man I defend it's good I get up as he's holding on he's trying
36:53
he's trying to pull me back down I stand him up and he's really he's really trying to pull me down so I'm like I am a grown man so against my own like
37:02
judgment I just I just [ __ ] deadlift him I just [ __ ] pull him up like a [ __ ] clean like if I get like a zerra squat just pulled him
37:08
up physically muscular wise was fine but my leg was still he was like trying to like trapped my leg so as I did it I
37:15
essentially did it on one leg with a fully stretched hamstring and it just shredded part of my hamstring like you
37:22
so your hamstring is three attachment points it's like a there's like two on the inside one in the back my middle
37:27
attachment point didn't even like tear like this it just came apart like a Twizzler oh my God so that's what
37:34
happened I stood I just pulled him up and it was just too I guess just too much stret from the fight and the
37:39
conditioning to where it just came came apart like a [ __ ] twizler so that was bad it happened and I felt it in my leg
37:47
and I was immediately like like that doesn't feel great but in my head I was like Chris youve won this fight just
37:53
don't fall down if you fall down like you'll lose so in my head I was like if you can just stay up you win this fight
37:59
there's no way like you've lost this turns out I was [ __ ] wrong and like judges suck and I hate judges and I love
38:06
Bron all BR all's a friend I [ __ ] love Bron all we're gonna be 76 arguing about who won this
38:12
fight it's Never Gonna Change like I sh all the time I love him to death but
38:18
like yeah man turns out I absolutely shredded my hand the middle part of my hand I forgot what it's called stopped
38:23
carrying already but yeah just gone now am I going to need surgery they're like not really anything to put back I'm like
38:29
what does that mean like yeah well on the plus side you have two other attachment points that are strong so you
38:35
just build those up be like yeah that middle part's gone on the flip side I feel good I feel great and I've got
38:40
better flexibility in my right leg now that's I was
38:45
gonna Silver Linings yeah so we need that and I so we I I came back from that
38:52
fast I got cleared to fight I was going to fight uh Uh Kevin Holland I mean I
39:00
get I heal fast like they were even the pi is like you made a really fast recovery like screw it so I cleared to
39:06
fight Kevin Holland the day after I signed that fight I'm uh training with uh what's name Cal and I threw a kick
39:13
the last kick in the round he happens to just step back slightly and I just shatter like I like break my foot and I
39:19
tear the tendons in my foot godam but different leg different leg just I'm
39:27
like just I but my poor legs have been through hell like this last like year so
39:34
yeah man getting old sucks getting old definitely sucks anybody like young Fighters watching this do your recovery
39:39
work young because if you I never did recovery work until like the last year because I keep I keep [ __ ] hurting
39:46
myself but yeah that [ __ ] uh don't take advantage of being young because that [ __ ] goes away and then you're just crippled and old so like be your Cy work
39:54
guys it's definitely one of those things that make you feel mortal all of a sudden when you suddenly have aches and
40:00
pains I think uh last year or or a couple of years ago I pulled my back for
40:05
the first time and I I pulled my back doing the dumbest thing I was getting
40:11
ready for sparring and I was kind of rushing and I reached for my 16 ounce
40:16
glove I picked up 16 ounces and pulled my back picking up 16 ounces and I was
40:22
so mad I was just like stuck bent over like Adam help
40:27
I don't know what to do it's great man as as you get older
40:33
like weird [ __ ] just starts hurting you like the other day I know I think I wrestled uh wrestled on Monday and then
40:39
I wake up I go to bed Monday and I I felt like my back and shoulders hurt I wake up Tuesday I couldn't look to the
40:45
left and I'm like oh this is like this is just how I am today and I was stretching like I could not look to the
40:50
left so Tuesday I just sparred unable to look to the left like it's just you accept this is who you are now you're
40:55
like all right luckily we had Sergey [ __ ] a giant uh heavyweight like cracked
41:01
my spine and like kind of moved it back but yeah all Spar him I just can't look left I'm like all right well new plan
41:07
like don't Circle that way like Circle right so that's so funny I wouldn't have expect him to be like a chiropra day you
41:14
know he's just giant rushing like no come here I help you and I'm just Pi me up like you just picture him giving like
41:20
a bear hug and just fix he did he just picked me up and like shattered my spine
41:25
it worked I was like thank you it's weird man like when I thought walk I came I fought uh no it was
41:31
uh who was it it was Gaston I had a really bad hip injury so like this is
41:37
great getting old again I was I was like 36 I went to the When We Were Young
41:42
Festival like the emo Festival out here like throwback Emo music oh I always wanted to go to that oh loved it loved
41:48
it but it went on for way too long so I'm once again it's When We Were Young because we're all old as [ __ ] now so
41:54
leaving the festival after like walking around and standing for seven hours I stepped off a curb jammed my hipbone
42:01
into the socket bruised the hip tipped off top of the bone in my hip and like
42:07
so yeah so I mean that entire Camp I had one I couldn't do like I couldn't I [ __ ] you not I couldn't walk around for more
42:13
than 10 minutes without having to sit down I would go to the store and have to sit in the floor middle of the store I couldn't walk and uh you know they did
42:20
St cells everything and what put it back was I was wrestling one of my last like two weeks of uh training and guy shot on
42:27
me and like he took he shot hard enough to it put it it like moved the hip back in and like it readjusted and I was like
42:34
oh God I can move again but yeah you just I I stepped off a curb after
42:39
standing around for too long and just destroyed my hip like so yeah I don't go plac I can't sit down because I'm that
42:46
old I I learned this years ago like I I need to have sitting room at all times
42:51
especially when you dress up with your like high heels your crazy like high heel shoes just like gets down with the
42:58
high heels man I'm ma'am I am learning finally even now Lauren we got age Gap
43:04
so even now she realizes that I hurt myself if I go do things if I walk around for too long she you can train
43:10
all day but God forbid you're walking or standing for more like an hour at a time something B I get
43:16
hurt yeah it doesn't sense it's I I don't know man it's it's the greatest thing ever it's just being Fighters like
43:22
for me like for me people laugh because like you see him walk around the gym be like you look like petrified wood yeah
43:27
like you move you move like petrified wood but on the mat I can float but the moment we're not training I I can't move
43:34
I'm just like H like a gargoyle it's it's crazy you're like Yoda you just need a little warm up you walk around
43:40
with the cane but as soon as you're warm you're like all over the on it's it's it's a prequel bro drop the cane pull
43:47
the Sabra I will go hands down but the moment the moment this is over like give me the cane yeah everything stops I'm
43:54
like broken like it's absolutely insane oh one the joys of getting old I guess I
44:00
don't know we'll figure it out yeah you got this you got this I've told everyone the moment I retire I'm
44:07
doing all the steroids I refuse to feel bad like when you so is I came up I came
44:15
up broke so like when everyone was doing steroids pre usada I just didn't know because I was poor and they never
44:20
occurred to me and then once I found out everyone's on steroids the aada came so I couldn't do steroids anyway so I'm
44:25
excited I want to see how big I get I want to see how good I feel I can't wait the moment the right way go to an HRT
44:33
Clinic get your blood work do all that stuff do it the right way ma no no see you don't know me at all you remember n
44:39
you remember Ninja Turtles the movie The Secret of the Ooze yes I want you I want to open a case like smokes and it raises
44:47
up a [ __ ] Hamburg like Soviet Union case with a hammer and sickle it raises a [ __ ] tub of like green goo I want
44:53
to inject that [ __ ] into my face like I don't want whatever the Soviet Union had like give me that give me that vial I'm
45:01
gonna feel great
45:06
my I want that [ __ ] Super Shredder had like Shredder then you join pfl again and
45:14
you'll be I get you right back yeah if I unretire as a heavyweight you know what
45:19
[Laughter] happened you [ __ ] like look at y Romero
45:26
how do you get that big like that Chris spent two years in Russia came back giant like yeah yeah
45:33
everyone knows I'm EXC I am excited like oh dude I'm gonna be like whatever the
45:38
Russians have I want I can't wait yeah or the Chinese too they they but I think
45:44
you got to get in young with the Chinese like I think that's like gene therapy like they're like you're like six years
45:51
old they're like actually they're like [ __ ] doing test on you like yeah they start young I feel like they do that in Russia too well know in Russia they grow
45:58
you from a test tube and then they in a tube like injecting you with [ __ ] so your entire life you're like uh all they
46:05
give you the uh the uh lotion with the steroids in it but I want the Ooze man I want the
46:11
[ __ ] ooze I want to smoke and it be like fluorescent green and you're like is that healthy I'm like I don't
46:18
know it's radioactive but that's that's how you know it's good yeah my insides
46:23
will melt in 10 years but before that happens I I'll be a god I can't wait
46:29
superhero I can't wait I absolutely can't wait like would you do that like yes yes I will trade like I will trade
46:34
those 10 years like everything it's gonna be great I'll be fighting crime and [ __ ] it's wonderful oh I can't wait
46:41
I'm really excited for you I'm excited for your after fighting PL better than everyone
46:48
talk I would have a cape it be great I I'm exited blink man over here realize your
46:55
Batman aspiration out here just whing out like oh it's just Chris it's G be crazy my my son
47:02
laughs because he's like I want to like own a cabin in Alaska when I'm old am I gonna live with you he's like yeah like
47:08
you know I'm gonna be like crazy like running in the lake like screaming at people he's like yeah just old man Curtis so like you know he my son
47:15
accepts I'm gonna be insane he he accepts it he's like you're gonna be insane it's fine I'll take care of you I'm like good kid a yeah he sounds yeah
47:22
he's just like it's fine he live with me we just tell the neighbors like don't mind you
47:28
that's awesome well Chris thanks so much for your time I I feel horrible keeping
47:33
you this long on Christmas Eve I'm not doing I don't do holidays I told
47:41
you differently no so once again show you guys like Lauren does things there's
47:47
like trees one piece bag all that stuff that's cool I did nothing I I funded
47:54
this and that's that's my that's my thing I swipe credit card but I I have no hand in any of this I feel like you
48:01
technically helped yeah that that you know what that was my argument like this like I I I did help in my own way and I
48:09
think that counts and that's all that matters we all came together for this that's what the holidays are all
48:16
about coming together it's teamwork and like you know I did my part and her part was the
48:22
decorating and the picking the ornaments and putting them up and cleaning up afterwards my part was to pay for it hey
48:29
there you go everyone wins everyone wins it's fine yeah well
48:38
SE well I'm excited to see um you know what you bring to the table next year
48:44
right before my birthday I'll be happy early birthday
48:49
too in the cage I'm expecting yeah at least a shout out especially if anime
48:56
[ __ ] I am sure I am like 95% sure we're gonna give each other CTE so I will
49:01
absolutely try but like no promises but I will try my hardest to remember that all right that's that's enough the fact
49:08
that you said that now is enough you don't have to worry about it I'll throw it up in the interviews
49:14
before the fight like yeah fight interviews there we go yeah there you go don't tell them I'm 40 though just be
49:20
like you have guess um 27 Angel Hill 27th birthday like you can pull it off
49:25
it's fine it's fine of a sudden on my tail of the tape I'll be like 27 now 28 recently
49:32
SC scratch it out I'm down for it nice nice I can't wait to see what you guys bring to the table I feel like this is a
49:39
great match up for you so I'm super excited to watch it and I hope you have a great finishing of your fight Camp
49:46
thank you guys thank you thank you for having me uh happy holidays Merry Christmas whatever you do like Hanukkah
49:51
K Quanza know oh yeah you know one more thing I was uh I was thinking man you
49:58
would have a great origin story because like with the whole Trump stuff now that
50:03
yeah well like now it's not even like a character to be a mega guy like I feel like col's character is dead now because
50:11
like the entire UFC is Maga I felt like there would be a great chance for someone to come out as like the super
50:18
woke villain dude no I'm already the woke villing you know I'm moving to Thailand right oh really why Mar yeah
50:26
and we're filling out the yeah moving in March yeah nice over there good for you
50:32
yeah I'm just like you know what I uh you know I'm G take a little break from the craziness I'll come back when the
50:37
smoke settles and uh the fires gone out see we're Thailand for a few years like yeah dang dang well you'll be a
50:44
billionaire over there so happy great I love it yeah I'm already I'm like I'm
50:49
super rich I love it yeah well I was going to say um cuz I I already have
50:55
this in my Amazon cart but you know how everyone like all the Russians and people from different countries get to
51:00
wear the cool hats I wanted to get the woke like doiki hat like oh dude dude so
51:07
I so understand I can do a great hotep like I full hotep I do great I do a
51:14
great hotep and like people like I I will [ __ ] with anybody and like so I am well known for like Hing people and
51:20
they're just like yes do you know what a hotep is no I saw the look in your face
51:25
I was waiting for somebody to explain you're around Vegas or New York and you see like the black dudes and the Shiki
51:31
with the an necklaces like brother brother brother let me tell you a second let me talk to you one second my brother
51:37
you do Brazilian jiu-jitsu which comes from the swah word baju which means
51:42
protect family so what I'm telling you my brother is Brazilian man stole Jiu-Jitsu from the black man who stole
51:48
from the Japanese man but baju is the black man's are and you're just like everything becomes about like everything
51:54
was stolen from black people like it's like it's people like the hots are like super like black people were first and
52:00
we invented everything and they like you know the black man invented space travel my brother you're like
52:05
do like how do we do this because in Africa my brother we would take a herb and would send our spirits to the spirit
52:11
plan you're like oh my God like you [ __ ] people so are wild they they
52:17
have the hat in the AR like oh it's great Hots are wild like I love it I'm a very good hotap I love doing hotap [ __ ]
52:23
some of my friends so yeah I love it next time if we see those guys in Vegas we'll hold hands and then they'll have a
52:29
lot of [ __ ] to say about us walking by oh dud I I I have like we've gone on
52:36
Fremont Street I've been with Lauren he started to say something had to look at him like bro I will drag you on the side
52:41
of his concrete like don't start with it like they they have an issue with everything I had to look like I will
52:46
drag you on concrete like don't don't ruin everyone's night because I'm going to jail you go to the hospital like don't do this like they they know when
52:54
to stop but like a Hots are insan good times though like if you have an hour find Hots and listen to them they will
53:01
blow your [ __ ] mind to get your number too that probably the first thing they did also
53:08
like yes yes they will like they like oh like the white man has ruin blah blah blah nobody's looking they will ask for
53:14
your number like hey hello my sister I can see from a Royal
53:20
bloodline see the Majesty in your face the way you oh my God
53:25
[Applause] that is [ __ ]
53:31
perfect oh my so oh my God I went to college in New York so there was a lot
53:36
oh oh I'm so sorry it was art school too so I was always walking around Harlem with a bunch of white kids and then
53:44
always oh my God new New York is like hotep Central so like that like I appr a
53:50
hotep temple there like yeah it's it's it's absolutely Wild I
53:56
could only [ __ ] imag I was God I remember going on Time Square with Hots I was like y'all just out here like there's like Waring groups of Hots don't
54:04
get along with each other it is amazing that's the West Side Story I yeah yeah
54:09
that is that is and West yeah I'm gonna write that myself like hotep Westside Story I'm
54:16
gonna do that yes so you can practice that whole spill during your next press
54:21
conference if you're forced to do interviews just uh you know go into
54:26
I I have hotep my we through interviews before like so my next interview session like hopefully I'm working on just doing
54:32
an entire interview based on movie references it get to see like how much people catch like yeah so I I put
54:38
together a bunch of like the soundboard [ __ ] I can say so I'm really curious is like if I get a chance can I can put
54:44
these stream together an interview with just movie references is it all like Denzel Washington mon monologue random
54:52
my my ADHD is absolutely crippling and like this is what I spend my time doing I don't sleep I'm just like can I stream
54:58
together an entire press conference with movie quotes and yeah I think we'll try it like yeah I love that I love that
55:04
well I can't wait to see it thank you guys for having me seriously I appreciate it thanks for all
55:11
your time man and uh yeah enjoy the rest of the grind and can't wait to watch you fight yeah good guys happy holidays I
55:19
will see you later
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