Tyron Woodley | Ep 102 | ALL THE SMOKE Full Episode | SHOWTIME Basketball

Published Aug 24, 2021, 4:10 PM

2 episodes, 1 day. On a special episode of ALL THE SMOKE, former UFC champ Tyron Woodley joins the show to discuss his SHOWTIME PPV boxing fight vs. Jake Paul and his MMA career. 

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Jake Paul has silently stalled his opponents, but his next test against Combat Sports legtion of Tyron Woodley, and he's his toughest yet. Now the fight critics that Jakecole shouldn't never take, He's here. He wants it more. Jake Coole versus Tyron Woodley Sunday, August nine at eight Eastern fought Pacific Lot on pay per view. Order now go to Showtime dot com slash PPB. Welcome to All the Smoke, a production of The Black Effect and our Heart Radio and partnership with Showtime. Welcome back to a special edition of All the Smoke. Jack, what's going on out there in Atlanta? My brother? What's going on? And standing? The weather are getting kind of bad out of him? Man, I gotta come back to the West Coast and get some of the sun and shine. You know what it's like one or two out here today. Man, you can have this ship. It's too hot. Man. We got a special guest today. Man, some of we've been wanting to get on for a while. It's finally worked. It finally worked him uh into the program. Man, Welcome Tyron Woodley to the show today. You shot down to Miami. You get that one on two and you feel like you're in the oram pit, the humidity. Take it out, take it out right quick. Ship out there. So you just mentioned so you're out there training in Miami for your training camp. How long have you been out there working? Man, I've been, I heard ship since I saw y'all at the Floyd fight. I've been since you Getting it in man, l A was really comfortable for me. You know, that's what was my second home. All my friends out there, the entertainment, the glares of women, the movies and TV shows and music, and um, I really want to just lock in. I know it's some kind of worried that Miami would be a place to lock in at, but for me, it was unfamiliar, you know what I mean. And I just didn't take the time to really get to know the city for all of you know, all the evening and you know, the weekend festivities. I just came to her to get it in. Absolutely. So what has been different? I mean, you've been in the fight game for a long time. You're actually our first martial lost artist on the show Turn Boxer. But what's been different about this training camp? Um? From training camps in the past. I mean, off, they jump just to the love, you know, to be honest, like, um, you know, I had a I had a great mixed martial career, you know, especially winning five world titles. But it got to the point where it became mature and it became something that I really didn't like at certain points in my life. And it was just the politics to being the bullshit, the drama. And then you know, you know, I thought the rubric to becoming the great was finding that the equal opposite that ship talk compressed conference, the big super fire and really getting the bag. You know, you know, it's kind of weird. Like in basketball, if you guys win the NBA Finals, you the fucking the champion. It don't matter if you've got a fire ass suit on. It don't matter if you can talk trash, don't matter if you driver Rose Royce. But it became more of an entertainment than it was a sport, and I was trying to juggle both of them. And then, you know, part of my career I kind of got lost. All I got lost into the bills and whils that went with it. And then you know, boxing gave me a fresh start, and I've always wanted to box. It's really the reason why I win in m m A. Because I was too in my opinion, too old to start boxing at three. But this gave me just new life, a new wind, and uh man, I'm having a blast training my ass off. I putting weight back on now, man, because I got so lean out here in freaking Miami. I'm out here looking like a Julian Salah. Okay, you've seen You've seen Bro face to face, you know, a couple of times. But what were you thinking when you first look into his eyes? Y'all did that first? Dad out? What was you thinking? He was just nervous, he was scared, he was shaking. He was doing what he thought he needed to do. Base up on watching us like that's to be real, you know. And when I say us, I mean professional athletes, I mean people that really do this ship for a living. I've been doing this before it was legalized. I've been doing it before actually it was gloves involved. So at the end of the day, it's in my DNA. I'm a fighter, That's what I do. I've been fighting my whole life. I've been knocking people off since I was in the elementary and middle school. So at the end of the day, he's walking around like a BT and cut video, you know, wearing what the culture tells him he should wear, saying what the culture tells him he should you know say, and you know, even all his antics and beating and streaming and yelling, you're watching the old ripped off m M A promo kids. So at the end of the day, when I got into his face, I felt a lot of uncertainty. Um, he's gonna come to fight. He's an athlete, he's gonna be in shape. It's gonna look like a boxer fight. But when you talk about what it means to be a fighter, what it means to come up against adversity and overcoming, what it means to be told you wanted to make it and you make it when it means to be you know, predicted and kind of you know, molded out to be a statistic and you overcame. All that's a fighter. He hasn't had to do that. So at the end of the day, all things constant, even if he's equal speed, equal power, equal technique, great coaching, great training partners, no injuries, and mentally ready to go to war. When you get down to the bare assensions of what would mean to be a fighter. He's gonna get his asked with on the corner, on the side, the back of the head, the elbow, the chest, the neck, you know, mean anything it takes. I'm willing to go there, and I don't think he is. You came into this sport with a heavy wrestling background, but by the time you climbed to the top of the mountain in the UFC, you were known as knockout artists, someone to do hands. So this transfer over to you. Uh, you know, I didn't think it would be as big of a deal as for someone else. You know, the last guy he fought wasn't really known for throwing hands. That's something you're known for. So you know, with that said, we got a chance to interview him a couple of weeks ago. Gave you a lot of respect, you know, saying he's training hard, this is gonna be his biggest fight. Outside of that, What have you thought about the back and forth? I mean, I think he's a great to me. I think he's like the fifty cent of this kind of era as far as going to push buttons and talk ship and promote and get a bunch of hype around different situations. What have you thought about just the back and forth. You've been in there for a long time, like you said, but it's kind of a new age of ship talking now when you you know, when you're dealing with the YouTuber that kind of does it for you know, for a living, you know, I mean, you're get him a little bit more credit than you know he's worth giving him. Theftft was a street guy and he was a stick up kare like he really really lived that life. And he because he knows he's from that background, because he probably not scared, he controlled the ship. Out of everybody, I would compare him more to a Takashi six nine, somebody that did you know the code, don't know the values, don't have nothing to lose, and he can he can. He can do whatever you want to and still come out inside arena. I think it's important for the sport. I think it's important for the entertainment. And at the end of the day, you gotta see it for what it is. This is entertainment. This is we're entertainers. You know, this is not even really athletics anymore. Mixed martial art. It's not really athletics anymore when you really think about it, like it don't matter who's the best, It don't matter, like think about it. You know, like the sport, and I'm not knocking the sport. You know. That's that's what made me great, That's what made me the legend. That's what made me in a position right now, I can even fight a fight like this. But when the bells and whistles are gone and all the press conferences are gone, and you're left with people that are actually still gotta fight and win fights. Look at our champions, most of which you're that are non ship talkers, most of what should are non um us citizens that weren't born here. So when you really think about it, for instance, GHANDU is not gonna cell a fight like Conor McGregor. Neither is. You know, the guys fight against Brian Artega. Brian is like, you know you corny dude, you got weak energy, Like I can't even talk ship to you, like think about to look at look at the Moreno. I call him McK lovn. He's the nicest kid. He's doing hearts. It's gonna come up point in time where the motherfucker still gotta win the fight. And when you try to pose a fight against this guy, he said this about him. You're gonna end up with a Dustin Courrier, whether you're gonna end up with a Brandon Moreno, whether you're gonna end it with a frances and Galald, when you're gonna end up with people you know, like a kmarow Oostman that these guys may not have sauce, they may not have the ability, but it was never formulated to be just a sport. If it was, everybody who's the best would be accepted like a Steph Curt. It's not like that. You gotta be everything. And if you if you for one second think that this Jake Paul kid don't belong in boxing because he didn't start a shout of boxing the eight years old, you're sadly mistaken. Because guess what, who's gonna push his need on the pay per view. It's gonna be the biggest pay per view to you. This is the first time in UFC has ever said, oh, the biggest pay per view of the year. They have to do that. We're gonna do numbers on this fight. And I think you know the entertainment aspect is going to meet the actual sport aspect. He's he's gonna he's going to salute me. He better he probably played me on the video game, you know, growing up. He's going to he's going to he's going to talk about how great of a champion, how great of a striker, and he's going to reduce himself down to a Disney YouTuber. I didn't watch the interview, but I'm I kind of write what he said. I'm just his YouTuber and I'm just gonna this is my toughest match, and I'm gonna put him away and that because guess what if he does it now, he's beat this person he's built up. If he doesn't do it, well, I'm gonna try again. And you know what I mean That Dad and I took off. You know what I mean. It was a great try, and you know I'm going back after it. So I'm not playing those games. I know he out there training in his ass off from Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, got a whole bee hive with the cheerleaders. You a line to this motherfucker telling him he can do it, Tell him he can beat me. Tell them it's enough and it ain't It ain't enough. You don't have enough time. You need years. You need you need years to to gain ground of what I got in my mind and the in and the amount of violence I'm willing to produce in a ring like so, I'm I'm gassed up. I mean, obviously you gained the status UFC Champion, UFC legend. The one knock I've always had on the UFC because I'm a big UFC fan, is the amount of money you guys make. And if I'm not mistaken, this will be your biggest um purse. And it's really kind of outside of actual like real this is, you know, this is an entertainment. Still a fight, but it's more entertainment. Talk to me about what you think about, you know, hate him and love him Dana White in the way he kind of controls the money and certain guys eat and most guys really got to grind throughout their career, really really even kind of touch any real money in that sport. I mean, it's not really ground outside of your career. If you will, and to kiss the pinky ring, you know your your your life can change very quick. And then I just never was that guy. I never will be that guy too. I'm too expensive. The industry can never afford me. So at the end of the time, at the end of the um, at the end of the day, you know, I don't compare myself to Mohammad al Leave. But when I look at Muhammad Ali and I look what he's still for. He didn't do what was cool at the moment. He did what he believed in. People didn't like the way he talked about him and being the greatest. They didn't like the way he you know, he taught in and he went after the guys or show up the house and you know what I mean. He didn't like what he's still for, And you're like people. Some people didn't like when he changed his name to Muhammad Ali. But at the end of the day, people love him, and they worshiped him afterwards, and they're gonna worship him probably for the for the rest of our existence. We'll always know him as the greatest because of what he did in and what he did outside of the ring. In my mind, I feel like, you know, I'm never gonna succumb to something I don't believe in. I'm never gonna be silence. And if I'm silent is because I'm being violent. I mean I'm brewing up. I mean I'm cooking up up and me know, whipping up. And when I come out from that silent corner, You're gonna see so many different baths created. There, so many different avenues made for my people and my family. And you know, when I say my people, don't get a confused black, white, green purple. I'm talking about people with substance, people that stand for something, people that believe in treating people right because it's the right thing to do, not because it's a cute thing to do for a little pr So at the end of the day, Dana White not you know, we made millions of dollars together. Don't get that twisted. Don't think that I didn't make a fortune in the UFC. But at the end of the day, God willing, it is this time where I'm gonna actually get paid, where I feel like, at this moment of my life, I'm deserving to get paid. I'm gonna get paid a handsome person. I'm gonna get paid crazy on pay per view points because it will be the biggest payer view And y'all, motherfuck is better tune in August any night. I'm talking about gonna be there as listeners and viewers, which is me by the way too. I'm a big fan of the show. I watch it, you know, I take um inspiration something. You guys are are really finding a way to get great messages. I would be yourself. There's so many people that walk around every single day and there's something that they're not there's something that the nine and five told them to be. And I really respect you too because you did it your own way and people recognize real and real people funk with authentic and you know, I'm blessed to be on this show and blessed to you know, be able to use your platform to talk to these people. So I know y'all gonna be there. But I'm talking about people that's watched August twenty nine. If you're in Cleveland, Ohio, slide if you want to see a blood bath, if you want to watch them and TV where you can pause and pause and look away and go to the bathroom and you know what I mean, you know, send them to the ambalance with a nice lip prayer. Then you can do that too, but make sure you're tune it because it's gonna be something different than what you expect. It's not it's it's not the YouTube versus to TikTok's not the celebrity. This is a real motherfucker fight. It's gonna look like one. I promise you it's gonna look like a real fight. It is a real fight. And when it's done and it's over with, they're gonna be like Tyrant's gonna be a world champion in boxing. That's what Floyd said. I'm not training you so you can go out here and I know we're gonna get to that next and they have been saving that one. But he said, I'm not training you so you can beat this guy. As long as your mind is there and as long as you in shape, you're gonna beat this guy. But I want people to look at you. And your first flight said, no, this kid is gonna be a world champion. And my training camp has been nothing short of it. Love it. Uh. You're upbringing Ferguson, Missouri. Uh, the eleventh of thirteen children raised by your mother talked to us about your upbringing A little bit. Man. You know, I'm from Ferguson and and and normally I would say St. Louis until you know, Mike Brown got shot and you know it was killed. You know, I I dated a girl that lived in that building where he dropped that. And I'm with the many many late nights, you know what I mean. That courtrip, that courtrip was walking distance from my house. That was my streets. So it's not my neighborhood is not. The roundabouts is not. The subdivision like West Florison is what that courturip is. And I lived on the chambers of West Florence and I walked there, you know what I mean. When Tims was rough, I had to I had to pumping blast out one time, you know what I mean, when it was when it was when it was rough for me like that. So to see that that that type of thing happened in my city, to grow up, you know, gang banging from a family. You know, my entire family is you know e gross into the street life, and many of them still are. That's all I knew. That's all I saw. And you know I actually didn't take the right way. I didn't, you know, go and turn up the cheek. I was all about it. That was my life. I glorified the biggest deboy, that the person that had the most credit, that beat the most people up, that knocked people out. It's just always since I was a kid. You know, my big homie man, he was just known knock a police officers out, knocking out you know, anybody that he touched, they went down, and he had so much juice, and everybody loved him. They was scared of him. They feared him, and I always wanted that. And for me, I'm just a real blessing because when I was trying to get into the life and I was trying to sell drugs and I was trying to do things that I didn't mean for me to do. These people said, no, you're gonna go to college, You're gonna do something different. I'll take care of you. You may have to collect a little money here and there, claim my shoes, wash the clothes, and like, get done cooking. You know you gotta do this, but we're not letting you get involved. And there was many times where I tempted and each time the same message which told me it was guys and no, you're gonna be different. How wrestling going. When you're next wrestling match, who you wrestling against, and they will always push me in the direction, which I felt like at that time, I didn't want to hear that. Man, I was wearing hand me down close for my sister. I had holes in my shirt. I had to earn all my clothes for the whole week. But that's all the clothes I had. So I'm rotated T shirts. Monday, I wear this, Thursday, I wear that, flipped the jeans over, dout of it out, you know what I mean, while I stole my cousin clothes just so you know, I mean, I didn't have to wear the same ship. So I didn't want to hear that. And I'm trying to I'm trying to actually look fly, you know what I mean, these girls at school. So at the end of the day, I'm just more blessed and I look up to those people way more or than the Dana White, way more than you know, another celebrity person now, because these people took care of me when I was evicted, They took care of me when we was homeless, and took care of me when I was broke and I didn't have a means and I had to turn up for him, and I did it, and I went out there and I broke every high school record. I broke every collegiate record. I went to the University of Missouri when it was garbage, and I put them on the map, and I brought my dogs with me. My my Homian was supposed to go to Northern I was number one recruiting the country, and I told him, let's go over there and let's make a difference. Missouri is terrible. Out of ninety two schools were wrestling, it was seventy seventy second. They were the fucking doormatted the Big Twelve. And I brought home the first ever Big Twelve championship in the University of Missouri history, two time All American, and I went on and try to make an Olympic team. So you know, we created to I've been a trail blaser. This ain't new to me. So for me, growing up in Ferguson is everything to me. So you know, if if somebody got something to say bad about fergus and they really like saying your mama to me, and then we have a problem. Your first professional fight, I mean, you kind of took us where we're going next. We were gonna talk about college, but you took us already, but your first fight February seven, two thousand nine, you won't buy submission. What was it like when when when you finally step in the ring in your first real fight. You've been, like you said, you've been fighting since you came out the womb, got on the right path. People kept you on the right path. And when you finally make it to the top of the top and you're in that first match, what's going through your head and you finally and you and you end up winning in the first round as well? What was that like? What? I appreciate the research, you know, I mean, you're my homie. You could have just we could have had a casual conversation. Um, somebody called me Earliday for an interview, and I was offended because don't ask me bullshit that you don't let you could have just googled that, like don come on now, Um, But but you made that sound way more sophisticated. And what it was because we're not like you guys. There ain't no draft. It needs to be a draft. If a motherfucker right now from down the street and said hey, let me jump into this pro fight, they're a pro fighter. So the first fight that I fought on actually was promoted by being asking and a guy named Way. I thought this, he mean to cut you out, But I think I could have been asked. The way he went there, that was terrible, but but he he promoted the fight, and then, um, you know, I went out there. It was two years into making. All the fights got canceled. It's very difficult for a two time All American wrestler to get a fight against anybody. So you know, I had opponent's council, fights council, and it was really like when I'm not exaggerated, took two years for me to get to that moment, and when I got to that moment, it was nothing that's gonna stop me from one of that fight. You know, I hit that man so hard. I partially it wasn't a tap out through the due the arm or choke. I was punching this man out. He said, funck this. He started hitting the mask and I'm up, Now you ain't paying me enough. I told me he was a wrestler, and this dude hit me with the Holy Ghost. So it just felt good and I at that moment in time, my family was like, why are you doing this? Are you going through identity crisis. Why are you fighting? Why don't you just be a wrestling coach? And I'm like, nah, but I felt like I can kill somebody with my bare hands, and I feel like I start praying about it, like God, is this right? Is this? Am I doing the right thing? Is it's wrong? And and they were quickly reminded that we've been warrant since the beginning of time. David was a warrior, you know what I mean. Think of Samson, he was a warrior. God created us. I'm not I'm not claiming off into being the next Bible coming out, but at the end of the day, war is a part of our blood. And I'm fighting for my family. I'm fighting for what I believe, and I'm fighting for people that grew up in Ferguson. I don't think it's possible. I'm fighting for people that's been taking advantage of manipulated, you know what I mean. And it really passed over and and someone told you you couldn't do it. That's what I'm fighting for. So it is right, and that's why I'm gonna chosen one m So you make your strike debut a few months after that at the Crib in Missouri two June six, two thousand nine one by submission. Now you're on the biggest stage. After you won that fund, you signed a six six fight deal with Strike Force. Did you kind of feel like at that point you had made it or what was your thought process when? Uh? When when you won year of Strike Force debut. You know what's funny is, um I went out to San Jose and then um I was at a gym called a k and um I didn't know who that gym was. I think I had my pro debut that we talked about a minute ago. I went out there and I was training, and I was like, everything to me was a tryout. So I'm like, these motherfucker's trying. They trying to test me. So I'm gonna ham every chance I got. And when I got out there, it was Bob Cook, it was Javier Mendez. You know, these are the guys that coach Dane Cormier. These are guys that coached you know, um you Kabib Domanga made off h Daniel CREMI wouldn't even didn't even want to fight then because he was like, man, you crazy. But they ain't new the animation man left, so like this, this was like literally the infant stage of my career. And I went out there and I turned up. I was rough, I was green, but they saw I had it in me. So we get to the fight and I'm weighing in. And the way it's set up is the undercard of all the Strike Force fights were basically a local promotion. It wasn't like strike Force or Showtime picked us and shout out the Showtime because guess what, that's where I started. That's from back in. But anyway, I'm at the way in, and um, I'm at the way in. And Bob Cook is a matchmaker as well. He remembered me from the gym and he came up with Scott Coker and he said, who do we need to talk to about a six fight deal? Which now we're at the way ins, Like I said, with ship my manager right here, in my coach right here, let's get a cracking right down. We stayed up to three o'clock in the morning. I waited in three o'clock in the morning, I ake my deal. The next day I went out there. They put all the cameras on. You can go and look at it right now as God is my witness, Google rise and start tiring with the that's before that's before I signed the deal officially. That's before they even knew about me. I was an undercard fighter, and I promised you historically that was the first time in the history of combast words that somebody from a locally promoted undercard. They were in the meeting and Scott Cooper said, is there anybody that that we should be looking at it on the undercar And Bob Cook, because he remembered the way I turned up at a K, he said, it's one kid. This kid right here is gonna be the Nick Diaz killer. Nick Diaz was a chap at the time. He said, he's special, He's different. If is anybody who ever look at you need to look at this one kid. I was doing this contract. My lawyer was doing the most. I said, let me tell you something, God or construed this dog. I'm not no damn fad or a mainly and Milianko Federal was a good at the time. I said, we're signing this fucking deal at three o'clock in the morning. I'm gonna whoop this motherfucker, asked tomorrow, and then I'm going on and we're gonna turn up. And that's exactly what happened. I went ten fights in a row with strike for us. Everybody was getting stopped, everybody was getting finished, and they coined me as the best athlete in the sport, the one to watch out, the rising star. He's the number one person that you need to look out with. He will be a champion, they said the local ago two thousand nine. What do you are you twenty eight at that point? Yeah, I'm twenty eight at that point. Okay, just according to biologically, but as far as body, youth and just you know, being green in sport, I was. I was a baby. I didn't you ever beer yet, but you were. You might have been a little, you know, a little late to start, but I mean that's really when you hit your athletic prime as an athlete. Though was a nine range, so you're right in prime for him, So it's not surprised at all. Go ahead, Jack, So what would you just Okay, I know you we bought from the hood, and it's a it's an old term of I'm like a pit bull ready to scratch. Yeah, and I know you know what that means when uh, a young T. Woodley. How could you best describe him? Was he a young people boy ready to scratch. I never scratched, always big. I never scratched, like from the beginning, like like when I came out, you know what, you know what scratched me? Scratched me to scratch out the corner, you know what I'm saying to the next dog. But but I was always little though, So I was always little, so I couldn't scratch. I had to I had to go out to the biggest person always and had the bikes or I had to send a message. When I grew up, I was tiny. I was a hundred and twelve pounds with my freshman in high school. And people always tried me, and I'm like, you can try me, but I'm gonna suck you up. And people were looking because I was so little, but I still my ground. I meant it, and I was not losing no street fights to nobody. So at the end of the day, like you know, the young tyrant that he came out blazing like everybody used to always be like just weather the storm, but nobody could actually weather the storm. You look at all my beginning fights. When he said, are you ready or you ready go the second he'd do like that, you see somebody spread across the cage, octagon or whatever the hell they call it, and you see somebody just swinging. It may have been technical and may have may have not been the fanciest Floyd Mayweather, you know, razzle dazzle, but it can't even augusta wind. It was enough to make him off from holdong hol on, Now what's going on right now? And I and I just came out with that tenacity, and then I learned the skill and then I learned the technique, and then I had the i Q, and then I had the skill sets, and then I had the game plan and the coach and the training partner and the mentality and I put that in there. But it came a time where I kind of buried a little pit bull for a little bit because I saw, you know, you started getting good technically, and you're like, I just want to make everything a chess match. Now. My coaches brought it out. Floyd said, no, Doc, He said, hit this bag with them UFC punchers. He said, you boxed the myths, but you fight this damn back. Exert yourself, exert yourself, exert yourself and he's still there, and I'm like, what I'm gonna do, not exert myself before in front of Floyd Mayweather? Like no dog, Like all I found it and guess what that pit bo had to scratch and I found and I dug it. So this whole training camp we kept that thing. And UM, that's gonna be the difference from my my, my last few lessons you guys may have view in the UFC versus this session. I'm about the T shirt in this boxing mesh. I got a question. So, I mean you mentioned early on a dog maybe not as technically sound as you learned to be. I kind of feel like in the NBA, as talented as you are, it takes you about three, four, maybe even five years to understand how to play the NBA game. You could be a super athlete. But until you kind of you you get those years under your belt, you know, around your four you start seeing you know, you start really seeing the light as a fighter. What is it? How long do you feel like that process? How many fights did you feel like you you know, kind of had to get under your belt until you really started figuring out, like, I know, what the funk this is all about now. Our sport tastes long agough to be honest, because you think about the sport of person jiu jitsu, eight year old man doing that, it's you know, it's it's not so much about how much you weigh in the force you can apply. It's about if he wants to go this way, let them go that way, but let me have three or four things for him wants to get on that side. So our score, Um, the guys are really peeking between the ages of thirty five and probably my ages when you go. That's what Anderson Sylvia was as best. That's when Daniel Cormier was his best. Because you have the equal part of that pitboard that you started with. You gain the skills heet, you've got the experience now because you've been in there with the grades. The older you get, the better you get, the higher the competition. So the more complex of training camp is and the tougher the fight is. Once you actually get in there, you don't lose that experience. Jake doesn't have that. He's never been in there with the Robbie Lawlers, the that your born killers, the fucking guerrillas, the Darren Tills, the up and coming fighters, the legendary fighters, the Hall of Fame fighters. I've been in there with all of them and now on one of them. So at the end of the day, our sport, I believe that if you started young as a freestyle fighter, meaning that you don't come in with a base, it's gonna take you ten years in my opinion, to really get to that point where I'm looking at you like I will look at a Max Holloway or something like that. If you come in with a very very you know, great amateur wrestling career or a very high level boxing career, only those two because those boxers drill all the time. So when it comes down to drill and wrestling and jiujitsu, there you send the custom to drilling a football player. And if you a heavyweight, that's different, you know what I mean. I feel like the heavyweights to do better coming from other professional sports. But in general, I would say ten year mark is the mark where you really really started to like, you know, become untouchable. And then if you can take care of your body, don't flows your body with fucking p ds and sterborates and all this other stuff, and you actually maintain a good humble mindset, and you're learning skill sets as you go prior to your twelve and fourteen markets when you're gonna go to That's what I feel like. So you mentioned it earlier, shout out Showtime. Obviously they pay because they pay us. But you made your Showtime debut in two thousand nine, almost a twelve years later, you're back on Showtime in the biggest fight of the year in boxing. How does that feel? It feels amazing, because you know they really they give you a chance to be a star. If you're a star, you'll start. If you're not, you're not. But at the end of the day, you gotta be a lot of that chance to show. And I feel like the promotion, I feel like all the even just the posters, even just the like I don't know if you guys saw the promo, but if you haven't got a chance of thirty seconds, you know me will sh It's scrolling on I g so you look at it's just like he's selecting somebody. He selected me. I can't see him. I'm on the other side. I graphically, motherfucker, I select you too, and then we're going to wore a boom. He's this a polarizing figure out of YouTube sensation Boom Tyron Woodie. Now now they're making it known that this is a motherfucking fight. Y'all said, oh, you'll want to do but at least this kid he stepped up. Let's be real. He didn't have to pick me. He could have paid Tyson Fury because they could have picked the other little belt or dude, he could have picked some other person. Boxing usually builds up. This motherfucker's stepped in front of a real person that is going to try to knock his head off his neck, and you gotta give him credit. Forward. So now the promo was shown us this is a fight. So you spent three years oh nine to two thousand twelve and Strike Force. What was that transition like to the UFC. Uh? You know, obviously if UFC is at the top of the game or you know, the top of the pyramid when it comes to m M A fighting, What was it like when you finally made that transition? It was? It was? It was it like a high school to college jump. You know, we kind of say sometimes that college to the league jump is serious. Like, what kind of difference did you see in fighters from the UFC opposed to the Strike Force. No, I mean we blessed. We blessed the UFC. They're lucky to have us. We we came and we put swag into the organization. Our belt was better, Our walk Toway division was way deeper. Our championshi were better. Like you gotta do your math. Came Alaska's strike for us. Day Cremier strike for us, the Man, the new strike for us, Rhonda Rossy strike for us. Mr Strike for us. We can him over and every took named. Robbie Lawler, strike for Syrol Woodley, strike for us. All of the champions at one point in time were from Strike for US, and we came over. We had the best year in two thousand and ten, were the best heavyweight division. We had fighter and the ankle. Daniel Cormian was the alternate pick. He wasn't even in the tournament. He got in because somebody got injury. He had Josh Barnett, you had, you know, everybody could think of. Dan Henderson was strike for us. All these different people were in Strike for us. So at that time that we came over, the UFC they bought us because we were too big of a competitors they had a lot of injuries, that had a lot of fight cars go out. They had a lot of lackluster fights, and we was lit. We was cracking. It was the craziest year ever so for us and for me particular, I had one tended. Oh, I was undefeated. I never saw myself losing in the sport. And um, I got knocked out in the world title fight, my first world title fight. I got knocked out, first and only fight by kids came to already had a shelf in the gym for the belt. I never thought I was gonna lose, and I got crushed, and I was kind of depressed, and you know what I mean. I went in a little corner for a minute, but I said, fun that man. I came out and I had to show people. So my first UFC fight, and never forget it, I fought against Jay Heron, which was my dog by the way, I knocked him out in thirty six seconds and this to the day, one of the fastest, most electrifying blitzers across the octagon. I pushed them so many times and I had to let people, I say, guess what wealth the way So I'm here now and everybody data pulled me into the back. He said, that's how you do it. That's how you show two million people what it's all about. We're gonna take care of you at the UFC. Love your tenacity, love your your abilities. Man. You everybody's talking about showing the internet out of all. So I had to let my fucus know. And that's that's kind of what I did in my first fight. So I was already coined is as someone to look out for. And then I took a bump my last fight and strike for us. I lost and then they got bought out. I didn't get a chance to redeem myself. So when I came to the UFC, I had to turn up mm hm. So fast forward three years later. You know, you have a chance to become the walterweight champion. You defeat Robbie Lawler and UFC two oh one. What do you remember about that special night? I just remember about the night that. Um. I feel like I had been in this position before, and you know, I didn't want to I didn't want to shoot down my leg this time. I want to make sure I got it done. You know, UM, I always used to imagine the n C double A's and wrestling, and they got that one mat to one stage. You come in there and get everybody came running from one corner, stumped on the mats, and I just knew I was gonna see that at least by my senior year and win the n C Double A title. And I never got that. So this was my version of that. And when I got to that point where I was in there, I'm like, it's nothing, It's nothing that's gonna stop me from when there's nothing that's gonna stop me from, when there's nothing that's gonna stop me from whinning. And I just remember being so determined. I just remember that that the thought of defeat was not even in my mind. It was like, what Ron and I gonna do it in? That's all. I kept thinking, what round am I gonna do it in? And um, you know, I got the opportunity. I sensed a little fear in him. I did a couple of things that really, you know, I saw a showcasing on the wrestling and Robbie, remember we should be training partners, We were teammates. He was a buddy, and my kids loved him, my ex wife loved him. They we were fans of him, you know what I mean, because it's such a humble guy, and I saw a level changing, like I was going for a shot. He dropped his hands like overly compensated because he remember those hours in those days when I throw him around like a rag doll and wrestling, and he was really scared of it. So I said, oh, so I shook it off, circled around to the right, came back right in front of him. I did that same lovely change. He dropped them hands and I went outside his head, bob and he was down. Then I just do a couple of extra on hers, just in case, because he was tough. And then at that point, like the just a lion jumped out my body. And it was like everybody that said I couldn't do with everybody that thought he was just gonna knock me out. I've been down for eight months. I was injured, and everybody has so much to say. And I didn't deserve this fight, and I was gonna lose. And I was a fucking speedbag. I was easy walk. He was just gonna mark me, and I was just really like I said, let me show you, motherfucker's how great I am. And that's probably why I like that Mohammad Ali quote the most. What was the biggest difference from training from boxing to from m m A to UFC. What's the biggest difference, I think the biggest. The biggest differences in MM may we get a lot, we get away with a lot. So when I boxed, some coaches are working with us. They don't want to one. They don't want to lose as a card too. They don't want to, you know, change what we've done and our stances are a little bit more wider. You know, we're able to throw punches, more sharp punches and make noise and it look cool. But they're more on extending your punches. Everything has to has defense before defense afterwards meaningful punches. Where are you putting and why are you throwing that? You know what I mean? Every time somebody throws something, don't just make a miss, make them pay. So I think the suicidens of boxing. For me, it's been great to learn. I love it, but it's also been the most difficult because I got so many years conditioned and allowed to throw techniques with one hand down, not pivot in the lead, narrow being on why target, because I could always tell my coach Brown coach Eric Brown in l A, Well, I'm set up this way because if he kicks my leg, I can just turn out and check. Or if I need to get a take down, I can take him down. Or if he comes for a shot, I'd need to be squared to to to defend him. Or you know he made through an elbow instead of this, So this is why my hands position like. We got to make a lot of excuses and box him. You don't like when I when I get off here, I'm gonna take a nap and I gotta go spar pro boxing. And the last time I coach had you lost two of these rounds. This is why this is what you did. You were winning this round. This is where you gave it away. This is where you let him look like he was more regressor. So I gotta I gotta compartmentalize that when I go onto the night, I'm not gonna lose one around to night. Yea, So Floyd was giving you advice, obviously, it kind of made it seem like you. You mentioned earlier that he wanted to kind of prepare you to be a champion. So is he training you? Did he give you advice, like, how is Floyd helped you prepare for this fight? Yeah, we I checked in with Floyd weekly. His his trainer on G teams. You guys may know his trained and Floyd Mayweather. He trains Javonte Davis. He trains Adrian Browner, and he's one of the top trainers. You know, he was one of the top boxes at the time when he was competing. So the first time I trained with with Floyd, he was there, he was one of the facilitate most of the mint. They both was evaluating my technique, my shot of box and my bag work and just making notes. And then I trained with both of those guys again, and then Floyd told him, he said, I want you to stay here in Miami. I don't need you traveling. I don't need you moving around. I need you to be here for him every day. Everything he need I needed him to have in like Clockwart every morning, he run with me. Every day we're working out. He's calling him a Sean cool. He was a part of the reason why I didn't go out to l A said, can you do this remotely? I want you to stay put. You know what I mean. I haven't been home to see my kids. I missing it out of my daughter and my son's so at the end of the day, Um, you know, I had a conversation with Floor which I can't share yesterday. But Floyd don't sunk around man when you when he feels like you his people, he don't play like he makes it happy. He moves mountains. And it was something small, but he turned up as if it was like something fucking ginormous, and I'm like, man, this is motherfucker. Don't working around about me. So he I think he. I think he respects how professional I am, how hard I'm working, and just from the reports back from GT how how good I'm getting to be honest, I don't know how to have supput it in such a sharp period of time. Switching lanes a little bit. Uh, you do a little acting in your spare time. Tell us how you came up on that straight out of Compton role, and how how was that experience working in such a legendary movie. You know, my my Homilynoing was doing some in the Stone choreography for and I was kind of joking when I find out he got it. You know, he's also sistered and directed Cobra Kai you know as a phenomenal director now, but he started as a stunt performer and stunt coordinator, second Union director, and then he moved up to director. So I remember sending them pictures are like me dressed up as a gang banger and media red flying on me in blue and I was like, well, fuck, you better put me in this movie or I'm beating your ass. Like that's that's literally what I thought. And then I was I was kind of like, of course I wanted to be in a movie. But then I actually kind of was sending into him kind of like funny. But he started sending those pictures to Ice Cube and f Gary Gray, and then f Gary Gray and Cube said, I like his look, we want to pick They picked me for the for the movie. It wasn't based on M M A. It wasn't based on you know, who I was, because I wasn't really nothing at that time, to be clear. So they picked me because I had a very convincing look. And then actually once I got there, I was supposed to do a different role and I was like, they wanted me to cut my beard off, and I'm like, oh ship, I long a Doug, come my beard off and then at the very last minute, Cube said no, I want him to play t Bone from the Lynch Mob right, keep his beard. So I went from a couple of days to six weeks with a supporting role. I got my little bars under my lines. But I was in so many different seas in the movie, so that's kind of how that came about. And I don't do acting on the side. I'm a artists all around. I do everything on the top um. The sport and mixed martial arts is the art that I started first, so of course I'm gonna be further along. But music, movies, producing, podcasts, and television show writing, all those forms of art I participated. And I don't allow people to to minimize or to try to make me stay and just punch or staying just due to work behind the desk, you know. I mean, anything that God gave me, any gift that he gave me, I'm gonna pursue. And I'm good at all of them, but it's gonna take more time for some of these. It's like an equalizer. You don't kick them all up at the same time, you know what I mean. The dial for wrestling was there first, and then it was mixed martial arts and then after I smoked Jake on the twenty ninth of August and Cleveland, Ohio. You're gonna see that one jumped up real quick just because of the platform that is given. But musically as an actor, as a writer, as a producer, and soon I probably end up directing. Um, you're gonna see all those things go to the top and to the point where you just give me credited as an artist performing art. And I picked the canvas. You don't pick the canvas, you know, And that's that's that's what I want the fans to know about me. How did you get the nickname that was on one? Uh? It came from just basically, you know, I was t Wood and you know, my my, my guys just call me hot Sauce. Ain't because I joked him and I was like when Ben Aston was a wrestler and all these other guys like, what's your nickname? I said, well, don't call me coach because I was just your teammate five minutes ago. I said, if you're gonna call me something, to call me coach Hot Sauce. I was joking, and they started calling me hot sauce, and I'm like, I'm not from another damn hot sauce because at that time it was and one cat, you know what I mean. So I was like, no, I can't do that. You know. Then when I right before I switched from Strike Force to UFC, I wanted and I wanted a new slate. I wanted. I wanted to I didn't want to be t Wood the more. And then um, I saw thinking about my life and diversity and why I came from and how many times I was never supposed to make it. I was never supposed to be here. I was never supposed to, you know, make it out of why I even lived at let's know, graduated high school, college or do anything. And I feel like God chose me for this. He chose my life, He chose my body as a vessel to use. So when people see me run across this cage or knock somebody out or you know the capitate Jake Paul, they're like, man, how And I'm always say him. So I feel like he shows me for this. You know, he put me in position to do this. He gave me the right resources, the family, everybody in my family. But like you said, I'm gonna liven or thirteen. They didn't go to no band camp, they didn't go to the track and field camp. They couldn't do basketball, we couldn't go to the movies. We showed on each other in the live room. That was our apollo. So they invested it to me. And when they did that, I felt obligated to turn up for our last name. And I did so. And and now my family model for my kids, just make your name great. My son is a four parte students senior in high school um recruited by Yale, Harvard, Stanford, North Korea, North Carolina, North Dakota State, Kansas State. He's gonna go to Vision one for football and he's made his name great. And my other sons a soccer player ten years old on the select team. My daughter is a recording artist. She's also just you know, a whole personality. She's the one that really shot a camera in front of her. And my other son is the fifth fastest running back in the entire country at thirteen years old. So my kids have made their name great. And they learned from me. They learn from my mistakes, they learn from what I did well. But one thing they never seen me do is quick ever fact alright, quick hitters. Now we're coming down to the end of the interview. So first thing to come to mind. Let it go, Jack, go ahead, you got him top five rappers of all a time. Oh we gotta go with number one. I gotta go with tupac Um. Nobody moved moved my spirit and just made me really listen to him like that, I'm gonna jump around a little bit. These are not like in order. After that he number one for me always, Like Kendrick Lamar, he was so creative, almost introverts to the point where he was almost a genius where he just couldn't even socialize normally. Um. And then she just because not so much about the lyrical he was. He was lyrically phenomenal. But what he's still for he actually gave away and showed people how to get to the bag and how to uplift the community. He showed it. Um, joining the Lucas is a home of mine. But also I just love his consistency and his persistence as a MC, his ability to change his flow, how fast he can wrap, how slow he can wrap, what he can talk about the beats, the concept of visuals. He's he's an artist. Um, you know, he should really consider acting. I don't know if he has or not, but he's a phenomenal artist and here recently, to be real honest, like, I've just been listening to a lot of drill music because my mind has just been kind of you know, in that position, just the one that just fuck him up. So, um, when I think about drill music, you gotta just go ahead and go one of the ogs, like the locks, because I don't know if y'all saw what happened the other day with Jada. Kiss is a whole other dude, And I want to say, oh, another something else, but I really he was that, and he was that as something so I want to he wasn't. He was always someone I looked up to and I thought he was phenomenal. He's never had a bad verse in my mind, but the way he handled that, the way he performed that, his tone, his delivery, he didn't forget one line of no Worse, and his mixtape Ship was on the on the heads of most people's deluxe albums. I really now think that he's now on the top five there a lot, so Jenny Kiss gotta get in there and we got to say shout out to Marathon clothes and I got my box and you see i'm fitted today. I ain't open my box. Yes, shout out Marathon, but also too we had a chance to have We had Jada a week before the the verses at the garden and he was excited. I thought it was dope because if you look at everyone had Dip set, everyone had Dip set on. Dip Set's gonna do this, Dip said, it's gonna do that. Jada really came throughing fucked all that ship up, yeah, Dip said. Dip said, I mean, I'm a fan of different They're great entertainers, but they're not better wrappers. Yeah. Not not only that, Like this is the thing if I was, if I was, then which I'm not them, there them come out off the gate. I really mean it, um, Dip said at them. You know, hey, mab From the beginning they waited until the end was too late that there was so many nails in the casket by time they got to them songs, and it was like it was to the point where I felt like had they did that, maybe it would have been different. But I still don't think it was enough. It was. It was when when they were DJ Tech shout out to him. I don't even know him to shot him out, but I'm telling you, every time they wanted to change the direction and to order the sequence, he was right there. Um Santanna said something about do they even like the ladies? Said, do I like the ladies? Boom? Mary J Blige booms, j Low boom. He was like, we got Grammys. What you talking a carry? Yeah, Like like there was instant like oatmeal, and I just feel like that level of entertainment and entertainers and real bars matters and just styles peple Like I was, I was kind of want to see how people we're gonna deal with Jim Jones balling songs versus I get high. They could have lot. They should have just let them go heads up because they was gonna head up on I g anyway. Yeah, yeah, Jada Kiss and Cameron, But you can't really put Cameron on the same level Jada Kiss because at the time Cameron came out, we didn't hear before and he had he was super drippy, super crafty. But um, like Jada's iconic, He's legendary, he's classic, he's Timeless. You can go back and grab some of those records from twenty years ago and they can go head some with a lot of records now. So overall, I like the band. So I liked it back and forth. I like what it did for the for hip hop, for for you know, New York City in particular, but in general. Jada Kiss just as a different monster man. He came out like crazy, crazy shout out Jada Kiss. Episode dropping soon. You can go back to one sporting event and watch it live. Which one would it be and why any sporting event? Hey, Mike Tyson against Holy Few when he beat his here, I want to see his face and when he was thinking when he did that, Like what went through his mind? That saut I'm black blacked out off, like not not nibble my man, he beat that motherfucker off. So I gotta be that one, like I wanted to say, I was there and I saw it. Soundtrack to the lead up to Your Big Fight three songs and three all the that same rotation to this ask whipping You're about to give Jake Um ambitious of a Rider, tupac Um. It's a song, Yeah, Kilmo, Kilmo is a song pop smoke new album called thirty. It's basically somebody if you think it's weep all up. Um in my track, I gotta track called Go Big and I can't announce the feature on it. We're about to shoot this video Monday. Um, but the dude. The dude only make kids only platinum songs. But it's a song called Go Big, produced by Hitmaker and Chris Sewn. Those guys are phenomenal. Shout out to them. Make a sound. Um, but it's really an anthem song. It's really a license songs and it's encouraging everybody. Fuck winning the title, fuck being this and being good. Let's go big and everything. Let's go big on the podcast Let's Go Big, Yeah, go big on Big And it's a really motivated song. This last two years has been shitty for a lot of people, pandemic politics, and we've been down now with timeing to level of Let's go big. It's trillions out here if people, if anybody can put a big toe on them more, I can. So the god Big song is gonna be an anthem. You're gonna hear the lock onoms, You're gonna hear it on your speaker, You're gonna hear it everywhere, So that's gonna be dropping right before the fight. It's going to be the walkout to the fight. I'm gonna save the feature for for later on. You guys, mean, y'all see it. It's gonna be very very sooner for the moment, and I'm excited about that. So yeah, go big. We're going to season three, so we're gonna go big on big two. Boom boom, there we go. Top five Dinner guests Debt or Alive? So at dinner Debt or Alive? Who who you plus five at that table? Oh? Debt? A live wiz, never been in a bad mood around him. Wis Khalifa shout out to him. He gave me my first super cool, super super super great at business, but also good at keeping all money and bringing his homies up, bringing his family forth, and it's teaching them way to make money legally. Um, Jamie Fox, because he's a comedian, he's an actor, he's a singer, he's just a fire ass homie. So definitely him. Who else? I gotta get some females in here. I'm trying to pick somebody that ain't brewed up because I don't want to disaffect nobody. Um, Nil Long, I know she got a man, but she's just so classic. She just get better with time. And um, you know, she's been in some remarkable films and she's just really made culture shift in a whole different way. So Nil Long, Um, let me see, let me get some athletes in this mug. I'm gonna just invite my tool armies right here we're doing. That's fine, barns and stack. Now we up. We're gonna medicate again. Yeah, the person, the person that we've been attitude that so we gotta hold up. There we go, and I'm I'm hold myself to that minus the others. I can't vounce with others I get with and Jamie. But Nil Long, maybe out we put enough. We definitely pull it up for sure. Celebration. If you can have one guest on all the smoke, who would it be? But before you answer, you have to help us with your answer. All right, all right, I have to help you get the person on there that that's smart. You guys are real smart for that. Um, you see, who can I get on your show that I think will be dope? I would say Floyd Maywell? Has he been on there. Yere good call my dog Floyd. Hey tell Floyd will come wherever he's at. Two were in there. I'm gonna do my best to try to make that happen. Appreciate it. Closing thoughts, Man August twenty night, Ohio. Lights on, bells about to ring. What could we expect that night from you? Closing thoughts August twenty nights, Cleaveland, Ohio. You're gonna see Tyron. Would look up at the sky. He's gonna take a deep breath, then free it in that fresh wind. The Holy Spirit will into my body and it would be lights on and would very very quickly be lights out and nothing that. You may not see any celebration. Let me see Stone Cold walk off. Because I am a champion, and champions wins fights. I'm gonna go out there. I'm gonna do what I'm supposed to do. I'm gonna salute my coaches, I'm gonna hug up my family, and this is the beginning of my new reign. You will see me at the top for a very long time. Biologically, I can give a funk less about what the a say. My mind, my spirit, my body, everything is in tune. I'm excited about the opportunity. I'm blessed to get a second chance. This time, I will do it the right way. I would get glory where it goes, and I'm gonna let people know what's possible. Pretend your solo cameras, Jake, we gave him the same opportunity. What you want to say to him, I ain't got nothing to say to you. I'm gonna show you. I'm from the show Me stay m M M. August Showtime pay per View, Cruiserweight Boxing Mega event Time and would leave versus Jake. Paul Sunday will be front row everyone, all of our fans. Make sure you tune in Showtime pay per View. Best of luck to you, Bro. Appreciate you. When you get back to l A, I got something waiting on you. We're gonna get up burnt until then, Bro, best of luck. Appreciate you. I appreciate it. Appreciate it. Good luck. Take This is all a smoke. A production of The Black Effect and Our Heart Radio in partnership with Showtime

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All The Smoke

ALL THE SMOKE pairs two of the most outspoken and controversial players of their time. Known as fier 
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