Easton Corbin | SAS CLASSIC

Transcript

The following program is a podcast, Wine.com Production from Hollywood, California, by way of the Broken Skull Ranch. This is the Steve Austin show. Give me a hell. Yeah, yeah. Now here's Steve Austin. All right, everybody welcome the Steve Austin show and come on TV to Main Street, Los Angeles, California today. I'm back here at the main Compound Re 16 Gimmick Street where it all started. That's right. I got a damn good podcast for you today. I'll tell you what, a couple of weeks ago they had UFC 226, and in the main event it was Stipe Miocic against my good friend DC Daniel Cormier. Now I say a good friend. I know DC pretty damn well. We talk every now and then. I'm a big fan of MMA about a big DC fan, and I'm a steep fan as well. Was a tough fight to watch, but I just had some kind of feeling that DC was going to be able to pull this thing off. And he did. And DC is a huge professional wrestling fan. So man, I tell you what, he has been grilled to death. He's been interviewed backwards and forwards and forwards and backwards, and I call DC and his phone went to voicemail and he doesn't have voicemail set up. So I just hung up. I said, Well, maybe he'll call me back. Sure enough, I was walking through the aisles of Home Depot about to head over to the men's room, which is way, way, way, way, way, way back, catty corner in the back, right hand corner and my damn phone goes off and it's Daniel Cormier calling me back and we sit there shooting the breeze and a guy came by today stole gold. I held up my phone and said, Hey, dude, I'm talking to Daniel Cormier right now. Could you pardon me just for a second? Anyway, sit and talk DC for a little bit. And hey man, I said, I know you're busy. A fight just happened. You're doing all kinds of promotional stuff, filming commercials. Everybody's grilling you to death, asking you about the fight. And I said, you got time to come on a podcast. He goes, Oh Steve, how about 10:30 in the morning? I said, Yeah, man, sounds good. And DC was in Los Angeles. He was flying back to, I guess he's over in San Jose area, flying back. I call him the next morning and I'll call him on the Skype system and it says No Caller I.D. I always like talking to DC and man, when you listen, those guys talk about me. They're on a scientific level. Me, I'm on the fan level. It's kind of like me watching pro wrestlers like DC watching me. So it's kind of a, you know, a little bit of a crossover now because, you know, my expertise is in that world has is in the professional wrestling world. So, man, I'm not the most technical guy in a fight system or the fight game. But you know, I know I know enough just to have a conversation, and that's what I'm doing today with Daniel Cormier. He is the reigning defending light heavyweight champion. He is also the reigning defending heavyweight champion of the world. And it's going to be interesting to see, you know, here in a podcast, you know where he goes from here. There's a super fight that was made that night. Brock Lesnar comes to the Octagon, pushes the hell out of Daniel Cormier. Damir sends him halfway across the octagon. I was laughing myself and Brock started talking trash. And this, he says, make it out of my octagon. I'm trying to take care of business here. So we'll see what happens with that fight. But we've got about an hour of a conversation with DC anyway. I'm looking forward to you here and my conversation with Daniel Cormier. He's always a class act. He's always full of stories, and he's one of the most articulate guys out there in the business. And I was asking him, You know what he's going to do when he gets ready to retire at 40 next year? The things coming up, he's looking for those big fights. He's setting himself up and we'll see where it goes from here. But I'm a huge fan of DC. I hope you enjoy the show. This is the Steve Austin show. Obviously, I'm talking to Daniel Cormier, a double champ, as Michael Bisping says. Light heavyweight champion heavyweight champion. I got a chance to watch UFC 226 Daniel man for some reason. I just had a feeling you was going to put together a game plan that was going to pull off a win. And I'm a very, you know, me as big a pro wrestling fan as you are. I'm just the same as far as my stuff, although I don't speak the language as fluently as everybody that you've been talking to does. But for some reason I just said, man and DC, such a damn smart fighter. I just figured you were going to dethrone Steve Babe before the fight. You even call it in the first round knockout. Yeah, the new that was lucky. That was luck. Were you just talking trash? No, you don't. On I saw some of the things that he did that might present a chance to land a big shot, but I didn't expect it to happen that that's not me. Connor McGregor started calling himself mythic back, right? Like Mystic, but guy, I call my shots and I think he may have gotten. Lucky, too. But if you want to take credit for it, we can. I knew that when we would get to the clinch, right? Go chest to chest. I figure that sleep always kind of backed out with his hands a little bit low. And you kind of chin up in the air. And I was like, Man, if he does that, I know that we can land one of these strikes that we've been landing in the gym. And if we landed right on, we could put him out. You're known to be a little bit of a slow starter because you're trying to gauge things, get a feel for what the other person's doing. Measure their strength, their power. And define your range. When you knocked him out in the first round, I mean hell of a shot coming out of the clinch with a narrow margin. Like, were you prepared to go deep into this thing and how did you feel going into this fight knowing, Hey, man, this is not a light heavy fight. You guys decided to stay heavy or heavier when you were at the 235 mark because you were wearing it. Well, you're knocking people out. Where was your gas tank? I mean, with with respect to knocking him out in the first round? How did you think if you guys went into deep water, how would you have fared not having to cut weight? No, I felt good. You know, I mean, I can fight five runs like that. It's difficult, but I can fight five rounds, you know? But honestly, man, into the first round, you start to breathe a little heavy, and maybe it was just him kind of getting that initial blow out and he was going to get a second win and be able to go five rounds. But he was already starting to breathe a little heavy. Even I was just getting started. I'm being honest. I didn't even feel like I hadn't even started to go into the reserve yet. There was no need to. I think you start going into the Reserve Bank about into the third round to get into fourth quarters when you got to start searching for that next year. And I hadn't gotten to that point yet in the first round. I feel like we were just kind of starting to pick up on his his simple really get an idea of where he was in terms of his movements in the Octagon. A lot of different things are starting to present themselves as we were going longer in that round, so I felt great. I felt I felt really good. I felt really sharp. I felt like it could have fought forever. So now that not me, not mid second round, he hit me with something and I started to get tired, though he goes as part of the finish. No, that doesn't mean that. That just means that at that point, I still felt really good. How confident did you feel going into that fight and did you feel at home being back in a heavyweight division where you're 14 or no? I did. You know, I feel good at heavyweight. You know, I cut a lot of weight. I mean, I don't even know if people some people are saying stuff like this. You gained 40 pounds since January. No, I didn't gain 40 pounds is what I weigh. I just put all that weight down to two or five. I lose 40 pounds regularly to fight in this weight class, so if not more, I felt good not having to worry about the nutrition, diet and everything. But, you know, early in the training camp, I was hurt. It was very difficult for me. Carrying the extra weight in my back always bothered me. I felt a little sluggish. But then as camp went on, I saw my body start to go, Okay, you can do this. You remembered it. You did this for the first 13 price of your career. You can do this, though you can fight every. And once I realized that in my body kind of got a little better shape and everything and it was all systems go. How long did you fight camp last two months or three months? I went. I usually start about three months out in what I call a free camp. I do a free camp. I don't just go right in the training camp. I do a pre camp where I start to kind of get in shape and and start to get myself training. And then about eight weeks out, that's when I start to hit it real hard. That's when I start to really try to push the cardio push. The conditioning was the sparring. A lot of that stuff honestly is is not, you know, it's what I do all the time. I always trade what whenever I'm getting prepared for a fight. There's just a little bit more focus on those other things, you know, the the conditioning and the timing and everything else. But I'm always in the gym. It's just a matter of me preparing myself for a fight. Man, I know you're getting a lot of air from your sparring routine, but just additional cardio to get the win that you need for a potential five round fight. What are you guys doing? How many hours are you in a gym a day in that last two month period heading into the fight? You know, I'm usually there. I usually get up at seven in the morning and I do some mid work. And then after the middle work, I jump on the treadmill for about a mile and a half mile. And then I then I go from 12 to two, and that's where I do my main training, right? My sparring, my jiu jitsu and everything else from there. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I do conditioning. I do. In Arizona, I invite work out on Friday, I usually jump on the track and run with my strength and conditioning coach Chris Camacho. And then on Tuesday and Thursday, I'm also with my coaches hitting pads and preparing, and then on Saturday I get in the pool, right? I work a really tight cardio workout in the pool with with Camacho. And then what you ever done work out because I was just on, I got an air assault bike, which is basically the twin of what you're talking about. And I picked out a workout, try to spool up my cardio. So I kind of know about that thing and how devastating it can be, what you want your workout routine, what you get on that cycle. I will be on Eridani for a minute and we try to keep the air going over 80 RPMs the whole time. Once we're done with the arrogance for that minute, we jump on the we get off, we do drills. Whether it's wrestling drills, jujitsu drills, hitting the pads, hitting the back kicks. We're just constantly mixing up those drills in between because Bob could develop this airborne workout and feels like that is the closest thing you're going to get to a fight in really, really hard breath and maybe like a little bit of time where you're still working, but you're not working with that intensity. But in the drills, I mean, we're still pushing it is probably the most intense 30 minutes that I have for all training camp, honestly. I that air time is no joke. We took that to the ultimate fighter and the kids were like, You guys are crazy, but the ones that embraced it. They showed in their in their preparation, in their fight. And how scientific are you with that bike? And as far as, you know, spiking your heart rate with respect to, you know, the work you're putting in or just from, you know, hey, here's a numbers standpoint. Disease heart rate is this does any of that ever come into consideration? It does. Camacho is really big on. He even had me sparring for a while with a heart rate monitor just because he needed to see where I was topping off, where I was like, what rages I was staying in during my sparring, I'm seeing how much it was dropping in between rounds hit. All that stuff is so key. If their heart rate is staying up real high, even in between rounds, you got props, you got problems getting into your fights if your heart rate not dropping a certain amount of beats per minute in between rounds. So when we found out how we when we start to get in real good shape, we start to see the heart rate really plummet. It's amazing how much goes down in a matter of one minute whenever you're in peak physical condition to go and fight for twenty five minutes. Great. You know, I'm glad you guys are keeping tabs on the numbers because I'm just a huge numbers guy. And like I said, I wore my heart rate monitor while I'm on my cycle and I do the same thing once I've achieved the task at hand. Man, I'm waiting to see what that recovery process is, and I know the more I'm, the more I'm in shape, you know, the faster that process happens. So what? Throw a couple of numbers at me, just as far as, you know, revving it up during a fight or on a bicycle, because normally you'd take 220 minus your age for your max heart rate. So 220 minus 39. But what kind of numbers were you hitting DC? What I do is, like I. I look at my resting heart rate. I know when it's resting and I'm between 50 and 60 five beats a minute. I know I'm pretty good. I'm pretty good to go. I feel like I'm in shape and I'm ready to fight. But then when I'm scoring right, that 50 and this is always the farthest thing. Whenever I get ready to score green and this is in the gym. I'll be at fifty five beats per minute and Bob Cook will have the problem with the heart rate monitor as I get in the cage because it's still a cage. My heart rate white is up to about night and he's like, He's like, You do it every time he goes. It is amazing that you've been fighting as long as you have, and you still get those nerves every time you go to spar. I do this little routine before I spar every time and I can manage my heart rate back down a little bit of breathing, a little bit of time like myself before I go into my sport. And then it usually was jumping to about one 50, 150 a minute when I'm in real, intense hard bar. And I was usually dropping about 50 per minute in between rounds, so I get back down to about 100 110, and as the round went longer, it may go up a little bit more like one sixty and then get down to about 120. I wasn't recovered as fast as the round went longer, but it was okay because I was still dropping 40 beats the minute. Which is great, I mean, if I was doing a good job of monitoring and managing my energy to bring my body back down to a place where I can compete effectively. Hey man, a couple of months ago, I got a chance to take part in Raw 25 is at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and all I was going to do is go out there and give a stunner to Shane McMahon, invention man. And that glass broke. And you know, there wasn't a whole lot of words said between us. We were just go out there. We went over it just one time and I knew what we were going to do. And dude, as soon as that Glass broke, my heart started jumping out of my chest because I haven't been in a crowd. It's so damn long and the bar, it blew the roof off the place. So man, I was like in full BMF mode talking trash while I was walking down there and I hit the four corners and I was just supposed to stand there. And, you know, listen to Vince cut his promo and an offer of Shane, as you know, rather than himself. And dude, while he's talking, I'm sitting there trying to be cool as a cucumber. And I swear to God, if I had my heart rate monitor on, I had to be about 140 or 150. Yes. I mean, you were. You were. You were in the middle of the assault, right? You were getting defensive. You thought assault. D.C. It is scary when you're standing in the middle of a ring and my heart's beating so fast and there's no physical exertion. And I'm thinking, Dude, you, I'm trying to. If you watch, I'm huffing and puffing. I'm trying to get my heart under control. But my point is, man, that set nerves. I mean, that's a nervous energy, and I was looking forward to it and I wasn't nervous about anything. But that's what that I've seen guys at a WrestleMania moment, I see them walk down the ramp and they'll blow up just because of nerves. So I know that, you know, you're basically, you know, your name. It may go, but you love the best of pro wrestling. I just kind of want to throw that out there just from an entertainment standpoint, man, that the crowd and that nervous factor takes a toll on you. So my question to you is going out there, man. I mean, I'm guessing I know every fight is the biggest fight of your life, but I mean, man, you're the light heavy champion. You're fighting for the heavyweight championship of the world. And so how did you feel, you know, as you headed down to the Octagon, what were you thinking? You know, pre-fight there in the locker room and then I know you run your sprints. I want to talk about Brock Lesnar later. But what? What were you feeling just when you were in your zone backstage and then as you walked in that room because I'm assuming you're a professional, you've been doing this forever. But dude, how will you feel? It's a big moment. It's crazy to because it's the unknown, right? You're fighting the greatest heavyweight champion of all time. You don't. And everybody talks. I mean, like you said, know you're a massive fan of the sport. So you're in tune with everything you know, you watch and you see all the build up. And a lot of people are really into a free fight like, Wow, this is going to be a great fight. All you heard was he knocked out Overeem, he knocked out Fabricio Purdue, he knocked out this guy, knocked out that guy. And so the whole time, I was kind of thinking like, OK, how hard this guy really hit you? I'll say this guy be as powerful as their say. And if he is what happened the moment he made contact at the beginning of the fight, you know, so so I'm back there, almost making reasons why I'm going to lose. I'm sitting there going like nervous, just like, What am I going? What's going to happen here? This is a tough one, but I'm, you know, I'm like, Okay, I'm prepared. I'm ready to go in there. I start seeing on myself, Steve, I go, I go on. Thirty nine years old, done this forever. I've accomplished so much. Win or lose. This is it. I'm done. I don't need to think that I was like, You tell you all these things, but I only deal with anxiety anymore. I feel my heart attack back here and then. When they say, okay, we're walking these things because they always come get it. They always come and go. Time to go. And I'm like, all right. So me and my coaches, all we would get ready to go, they walk you to your mark and I look behind me and and it's all my coaches and Cain Velasquez, they're Luke Rockhold is there. And I hugged the boys and I take on that walk and I think to myself, What am I talking about? There is no place in this world. I would rather be because you hear your entrance music before you make the walk, and there's nothing like there is nothing like that. Music hits the speakers. I'm like, I don't want to go anywhere else. I would want to be anywhere else in this world. Then right here in this place with this opportunity. So I gather myself. And I'm just like, Let's go do this thing, man. Like, What am I talking about? This is what I want to do. Let's go. Let's go shocked the world. No. There's a crowd. Have any effect on the guys in the octagon because it doesn't ring man because you live and die for a pop when you make your entrance. Because I mean, we're obviously a more show business and y'all are all our entertainment, but this is professional fighting. When you're in there amidst the course of whether it's boos, cheers this out or whatever. Does a crowd effect the momentum of a fight when a guy starts lighting another guy up and all of a sudden that crowd will start coming because the UFC crowd is a very fickle crowd because you're going to have two outstanding fighters out there and maybe their styles kind of cancel each other out. So man, it's a chess game in there. I mean, the stakes are high and a crowd of start s**tting on him and start booing just because, you know, they're not having a slug fest. So does the crowd affect the fighters in the ring? Or are you thinking, Hey man, what the f of these guys, you know, booing or cheering about? Or do they come into play? They do. They do. I mean, you hear you definitely hear them when you're in there, you just you can tell when you land a good shot. You could tell when the guy lands a good shot on you, or if the crowd thinks that the guy landed a good shot on because they'll perform like you said they were they were. A lot of fans last weekend were very or two weeks ago, were very supportive of Siegfried Mielke, who I heard it. He CPAC pay, you know, but um, it's uh, it's a matter of how you let. The crowd affect what you're doing in there or your approach to the fight. I've been in a fight where we have examined the guts of what the crowd was. It is like you see in like in wrestling, they red hot. It was hot all night because we were just going at each other. But then we're not. What is the silver? They were restless. They were booing because I kept taking them down. But I wasn't going to allow that to dictate my approach to the fight because I knew that we had a way we were going to fight the fight. And that's what I was the victim. And man, what you say to step after that fight. You know, all I said to him, I said, Hey, good job, man. You know, s**t happens because he's a guy that I like. He's a guy that I respect a ton, you know? So he's just kind of tapped kind of just, you know, I never really like, you know, I said his coaches more and more more deep, you know, because Coach Marinelli and in all of his coaches are great guys. I said to them, You know, hey, you know, it's the game that we play. We've all we've all been there, but you know, he'll be back. It just it's it's a rough game because somebody has to lose and you obviously know what we do. But what if a guy like me brings a really, really solid guy? It's tough, but it is what it is. Do you think he underestimated you? I don't think you, the estimated me. I think he was just extremely confident because he should have been, because why would it be any different than what he's been dealing with? I mean, he has been dealing with the biggest, scariest heavyweight in the entire world for a couple of years now, and nobody's really challenged him. So why wouldn't he be super confident with a guy that's coming up to fight him in his division? So, yeah, he was just this is his confidence. I just think that people didn't understand how I was so confident also going into this big fight and I word on the street was, and you've said it in your interviews that you were knocking guys out in training camp. I mean, like Alvin, was this happening and you brought up the name of Cain Velasquez and Luke Rockhold later? Were those guys involved in the sparring? No. Yes. No. No, I. Luke. Luke had Luke had surgery on his leg. There's never been a day in the world will knock no cable out as well. So we're of 1000 go gave Velasquez. I'm just trying to survive. I'm like, Man, I know that if I can go with this dude, they'll right and go hard with this dude, Daly and survive. I'm not even talking about winning against Cain Velasquez if I'm just surviving against Cain Velasquez. I know that I'm beating the vast majority of the people in the world, right? That's another thing that gives me tremendous confidence going into this fight because I know who my trading partner is and I know how good he is. And still, to this day, I still be the baddest man in the world. There's nobody like you. This is the Steve Austin show. And when you said Steve Bates, greatest champion of all time in the heavyweight division show man, the way he's defended that belt and accomplished everything that he has, you'd think he would be in line for an automatic rematch. As other people have said, Hey, man, I'm deserving of the rematch and they've gotten those fights, and all of a sudden there's big bad as Brock Lesnar and all of a sudden he's in the octagon. I'm thinking, Oh s**t, here we go. And that that looks like that's going to be the next big fight, and it's going to be a huge fight. So where are you with steep wanting a rematch? Am obviously thinking he deserves a rematch and that Dana should grant him this. But the match between you and Brock Lesnar is absolutely huge. I a damn near every single pay per view anyway, but I'm damn sure buy that one. Obviously, he he feels he need. He deserves the rematch again for what he's done in the sport. You would think that he would get a rematch, but when there's a fight like Lesnar on the horizon, then you don't. They'll turn you back and honestly, look, they have a lot of really loyal fans, but you can't think for a second that if he would have won that fight, he wouldn't have wanted or taken the lead in the fight. It's the biggest fight in the sport outside of, like John McGregor, any fights at one hundred fifty five pounds. So yeah, I'm going to fight Brock Brock the big bad. So what former UFC champion? Obviously, the WWE Champion. I'm just a massive guy with a lot of fighting ability. You're not known Brock for a long time, and I'm excited to compete against him and really not compete against him. I want to put it on because when you beat a guy like Brock Lesnar, you really I mean, if I beat the most dominant heavyweight champ of all time and you couple that with a fight over Brock, they may call me one of the greatest every week. And we also had, let's just say it went the other way around. You say, let's just say stupid, what a knock you out. And then all of a sudden, here comes Brock Lesnar to the ring, to the octagon to make that fight. Was that a potential matchup as well, or was it strictly a thing between if you won you and Brock Lesnar? No. I mean, look, I think Brock, who picked me before the fight, right? Brock picked up a fight. So I think Brock, you and I know from being around Brock Lesnar, when Brock Lesnar shows up the whole time looking for a fight, right? He ain't just coming to watch the UFC coming, looking for a fight? Yeah. So when I'm in the octagon, is my music just got done playing? I'm in a very unhappy place because normally as the champion, you come out second, right? You don't get to stand there and wait for your opponent with the baddest man on the planet. He plays the heavyweight champ. So I go first and as I'm standing in the blue corner, I'm like pacing back and forth and I look to I look through the octagon and Brock Lesnar is just stare at it. But he's smart, right? Like, I'm trying to ignore Brock because I'm like, OK, I mean, obviously, I got something really important on my plate right now. I don't have time to be worried about Brock smirking at me right now. So I look over there, he's standing there, and you kind of like looking at me like, you know, you get this done, it's go time. But after the fight, I was like, Hey, get in here, me, you're here for a fight. We'll give you a fight. The one thing about us, man, like you, you won't find many guys fighters in the UFC that is aware of the fight. And we all kind of go to I was I was very aware he was there, and if he was there, he must have been looking for a fight. I would give it to him. I just didn't really remember how big he is until he walked into the afternoon. He gave me a pretty good shove, once again said that octagon and a little bit of horse Kardashev. It really reminded me a lot of when Tyson shoved me because he pushed the s**t out of me and we were roughly about probably about the same weight. But Brock came in our big as a house. He shoved you back a couple of feet. Surprise you. It surprised me so much because look like I said, I've no Brock for a long time. I've I've known of him and been a fan and we wrestled together when we were in college. So I know Brock Lesnar and he was coming into the octagon and thinking to myself, Let's go check on Seth. And, you know, if this fight is going to happen, they'll have a great visual, right. I think it's going to be a great visual. Big old Brock Lesnar in the Octagon with me and we'll go to the test, will join each other a little bit and we'll see what happens. Well, Brock Lesnar, Avenatti pushed me. I gave in hot too, and that's the thing I should recognize. I should have recognized that he was coming in as fast as he was. You know, I didn't. I didn't really pay attention. He pushed me. I can't. If I knew that he was going to push me, I would have kind of dug my feet into the ground so that he didn't. Miguel flailing like that, you know, I hate that it seemed like he threw me so far across the Atlantic. So then he said it to me because you feel that I'm like, Of course you feel strong. Was it wasn't ready for you to push me? Do you see that fight doesn't happen where you drop back down to light, having to defend that belt? And if you did or when you do, dude, how tough a cut is that going to be now that you're back home and feeling good in the heavyweight division? It'll be tough, but it's always tough. I mean, as well documented how difficult it is for me every time I go to school. You know, this is this will be nothing new. The next time I have a light heavyweight fight, I'll go down there, make the weight and I'll fight. I just don't know who it's going to be. I feel like the light heavyweight division right now. We don't have many contenders. I mean, I was in is a tough guy, but his opponent is for a lot of the fights, so I don't even know if he's going to have an opportunity to earn that title shot the rematch between him and I. I was watching the clip today, and I think I guess you had mentioned that Shogun who could be next in line if you were to defend that belt? Yeah, he is. He fought well. You know, Shogun has won three fights in the row, and if he beat this kid today or tomorrow, well, I think Sunday, Sunday would be Sunday, who just knocked out Rashad Evans, that's four in a row. So that would make him a contender for the title. And he's a legend in a guy that I've been a fan of mine my entire life. No, you get a chance to fight a guy like Shogun. Take it. So we'll see what happens. But somebody's really going to have to, like, separate themselves from everybody else in order to give me a call back to fight. But I have no problem against it. Not. I do want to keep this belt. I don't want to have to give it up because the UFC doesn't believe I can make the weight, I can make the weight and I can go fight back when you want a heavyweight championship. It just seemed like it was one of those surreal moments, and I hate that word, but I'll use it and he's almost like, you believed it, but you couldn't believe it and just happy as hell. Now that has sunk in. You know, you've had a couple of days to really digest it. Kind of get back to your normal life. How you feeling about what you've accomplished? And you know, I when I was at my wrestling career, I was so far in the forest. I couldn't see the trees. Were you at, man? I'm trying to look back and take it all in because you're right. Like, sometimes you're riding so hot, then that you really don't take a moment to see everything you know. Like, I mean, I'm in a situation now where I've done something that was so unbelievably unexpected that I needed to just stop investing it a little bit. That's that's what I'm kind of starting to do now. You realize that what we accomplished on July nine was a really, really big deal, and we need to appreciate it, appreciate the UFC for giving us the opportunity. Appreciate it for going into a fight where he had everything to lose in very little today. So appreciate my coaches, everybody, my wife, my family for just support me believing in my dream. It was a big deal, Steve and I really needed this because I've been a light heavyweight champion of three years. There's always been that don't think Typekit a title, and now I have something so completely opposite from him or separate from him that no one can ever question. You know, Jon Jones could have handled Steve the way you did, and I got to be honest with you that that that Jones is a phenomenal fighter, and I think that he would present a lot of problems for a lot of guys. So I don't question whether or not he could have fought in this successful games. I just don't know he would if he would ever take the risk of trying. He said it himself. It's one thing to fight at heavyweight. It's one thing. It's another thing completely to fight a really good heavyweight. So it never seemed like you truly had any intention of going up there. Well, I'm the champ now, so he wants to fight a day at the light heavyweight division. What about Jon Jones has been your kryptonite? I don't know. I really. I mean, is it mental? No, no, no, no. I always feel in the fight, at the fight. I always feel like I'm going to win the fight. I don't know. There is a lot coming at you when you fight in that. Regardless of my feelings for him as a competitor, as a person, there's a lot coming at you. You know, he does. He does a lot of things. No, and I believe that's why I was so confident and really the punching guy. He's a wrestler, you know, whereas with Jones, there's just so much more. There's punches, there's kicks, there's knees, there's elbows. There's just so many different things coming the entire time that you fight in. So I think that's what makes it more. I don't I'm not a delusional guy, I know that it would be a tough fight. Have you done a few punk? Does it change that much? You know, but I do believe that ad that way, even if I still feel I can get it done. Amen. Referee Marc Goddard was giving a couple of warnings about the app approach and Jon Jones. You're always going to hear about that. So certainly there was people when I'm reading all the comments on YouTube, I mean, I spoke this about that man. Take me through these things or what are you, what you were doing or what you were feeling or how it was happening? So what happened was I I I posted when I was what the referee warned me a number of times about keeping my hands close was like, Keep your hands close, keep your hands close. But I try to gauge my opponent, you know, I'm normally the shorter guy in there, so I try to gauge where my opponents are. So I try to get my range by grabbing that thing was deep, was coming in and we were grabbing at each other. Goddard was very aware of my hands being open. On the one time that I poked him in the eye, it was. It's a combination that I do a lot, right? I thought the inside leg kick. And then I throw a right hand from the switch that that time my hands came open because honestly, in the practice, with 16 ounce gloves, there are a lot of times where I feel like my hand is open when I'm doing it once and I'm almost like my training partner. But that time the my my finger poked him. But then, even right before the finish, him and I went to a combination where I did the same combo inside leg kick, right hand from the switch fans. But my hands were close this time and it was just a clean punch. That's my fault. I should have kept my hands close, but by no means was I trying to coax cable and I was crazy. I even believe that no, I didn't figure was either no on one, a slow motion replay I was watching. There was one where you really threw a big right hand and it almost was like, like you said, in 16 ounce gloves. It's almost like you were just trying to. You had made full extension. It was almost like, you're just trying to go a little farther to extend your range and the fingers came out. And so I just kept making up excuses. I'm just saying that's what it looked like to me. Yeah. So how does that bother you when you. There's a lot of people, you know, there's a man of one foot in our box out this ad, he got it from John Jones. Does that take it or make it any less satisfying for you? The fact that there's a few people out there like, Hey, man, oh, it's going to be at? No, I mean, it's unfortunate because no matter what people say, well, you know, I did get poke in the eye. You know, those things hurt. That's the, you know, because he's my fellow competitor and I don't want to think that he got a raw deal, but I would never, ever do anything like that purposely. I was just trying to gauge my range in the fight. And what do you weigh in at right now? Well, the same do 45. I don't really gain much. I to stay around this area, you know, unless I'm really, really big, you know, so use about the same 2.5 area. But there was a time in training camp that you were around two thirty five, but you guys just said, Hey, man, must stay heavy, you're feeling good, you're carrying the power or you're you're showing more power, you're knocking guys out. How hard is it to maintain that when you get when I start to lose the weight, it's because I'm making a conscious effort to do that. The coaches just noted that when I was when I was heavier, my punches were having a little more of an effect on my training partners did. When I start to lose weight, you know, some of my partners who are very good fighters in their own right. They give me a ton of problems when I'm fighting a tool. But when I was up at heavyweight and I was heavier, it just seemed like I was controlling the action a lot better. And that's what that's what the coaches were really happy about and after the coaches wanted to keep going as we as we went to our training and then I was just thinking about this one, it seemed like and I was watching a lot. A lot of you know, your colleagues break down his fight or analysts, but it seemed like it was a lot easier for it. It seemed like it was a lot easier for it seemed like it was a lot easier for you to get in range was steep than it was with the two fights with Jon Jones. Was that part of the lessons learned from fighting Jon Jones or just something with wished the way steep fights? Or am I totally wrong on this? No, you're right. The range was easier because at heavyweight, they're bigger. They're a little bit slower. So like I said, you know, with Jones, there's a lot coming at you. You know, there's a lot coming at you. He's throwing a number of different strikes. Me, the fast guy for, you know, he's sort of five pounds the lull, but he's only 205 pounds knowing you fight, it's total. Forty five pound man that's used to fighting other two hundred forty five pound to 50 60 pound men. They move a little bit different. They react a little bit different. And it was honestly coming into me what made the race easier? You know, he was he was more than willing to engage me in the type of fight that I wanted. So it made me getting close to him a lot simpler. So that played into your game plan. The fact that he was engaging you? Oh yeah. Oh yeah, if I could quite close. I'm usually doing pretty good is steep. It was more than willing to fight me, and I was watching one of your interviews. You said, when you start walking guys down, they tend to start fading. You started walking steep down. Did you feel him starting to fade or you were causing him discomfort or angst? Yeah, you could tell. I could feel it. I could tell. I could tell that he was starting to not not only get a little bit tired, but they go from more often to defense. How do I survive? Just those types of things, though? You can, you could see it in the way that they're fighting, you know? And honestly, when you're constantly on the defense, you get more tired, right? Because you're never dictate. You're always kind of reacting and responding. So I like to walk guys down, and when I start feeling like, OK, that can't really hurt me. This guy's not going to do anything that's so damaging. I won't be able to continue. I start to really find my fight, and I feel like that's what was starting to happen towards the end of the first round. You know, he is a great fighter, but I do feel like the longer that fight would have gone, the worse it would have that organ. Very interesting. You said into the fight, you know you like to start slow feel a guy out gives you range. See what he's bringing? How long did that fight go by before he started hitting you with those shots? A. Couple of good ones. But yeah, hey man, this guy, I don't hit as hard as I thought it was going to hit, and that's with respect to how hard. Yes. I'm just saying that's what you said. It wasn't what you want. It wasn't a ton of bricks. Well, it was because like, that was just one combination where he went one two, one two and then the second one, too. I didn't see the punch right and it landed good and it landed clean, but it didn't kind of make me go like. Oh, my goodness, Dan Henderson does it. Yeah. Then Henderson hit really hard. It's like even from the clinch, I was like, Wow, this dude, it's hard. Like, I could tell that this dude had a lot of power. I never really felt better in this fight with this win. I know you were just in Los Angeles. I was talking to you yesterday when you called me back. I was in Home Depot trying to get a barbecue pit. Yeah. How much? I know you do a lot when you walk in old people, people see you like what don't call the old people were the ones who did call me, and I said, Hey, man, I'm talking to Daniel Cormier. So he popped on there. You've got all these media obligations, you know, following up on the fight everybody wants to hear from, you know, two division champ, obviously, you know, recently crowned heavyweight champs. Are you doing all that? But man, I've been so happy to see you get a lot of the endorsements you've gotten because it's always nice to get a payday from outside the octagon or from the squared circle where I came from. How do you like it stuff? I mean, that's got to be it's got to be gratifying. It's got to it's got to be, dude. Just you just got to like that, that Ronda Rousey thing where you cross over and all of a sudden you're doing commercials from everybody. That's you enjoying that. I'm enjoying it. You know, I feel like that's just another source of income for my family. Another way for me to provide, you know, ultimately that that that the goal, you know, make make a life for your family, my wife and my kids. So we're there, OK, you know, and that that is is is better than anything I've ever done athletically. You know, the idea that I can give them and provide for them in a way that they can live a life that me when I was a kid that only dream of and wish for, you know? So yeah, yeah, all these things are great, and I love that I'm getting these opportunities. Hey, man, I had a Post Malone on a podcast about a year ago. It cruises up to my house in a Rolls Royce Wraith. It was about $300000 car with 218 backs in my life. Are you spending your money on cars? Are you? Are you? Because I know that you're pretty resolute in retiring at 40 and maybe, maybe get what two big fights left or whatever it is, do you say? But how have you been with respect to the business of your money? Because everybody says in wrestling business, Hey man, it's great that a bonus, but I just don't do it for free. I love the fight game is a different business, but you're a fighter. That's what you do. That's what you love, but you damn sure don't want to do it for free. You learn the business end of it and get the big paydays when you can, because that's what it's all about. It's about dollar signs. So have you been responsible on the back side of managing your money and make it grow and work for you? Oh yes. So right now, I am the owner of three pokey restaurant called Tokyo. There's one in Florida California losses. They're doing phenomenally well. Question one in Miami. Then I also have two barbershops down in Southern California, where the guys are just crazy and it's just super steady and real estate business ventures. I just do a lot of different things to try to make sure that we're diversifying their money just being safe. I mean, I don't buy much. My wife has a nice car and I got I got a truck. I mean, I've always I thought when I thought that I would ever have any money, I was like, The first thing I'm buying is a didn't bar. I thought a Range Rover. I was my dream car. I bought me a Ford Ford Raptor, which is a badass truck. And that's it. I bought a house and, uh, just just the things that I need for my kids. Now I'm able to send my kids to a really, really good school. And those are the things that matter because, you know, once I'm old and retired and hopefully this education that these kids are getting at the school will pay off, they can start taking care of me. That's good to hear, man, because just coming from the world I come from and you know, I've seen, as you know, a fair amount of my guys as well, you know, you go through a hell of a career and some of the guys in our business, you know, either don't pay their taxes or get on a bad habit of something or it's the car thing, you know, sudden, they just don't they don't think about Uncle Sam. They don't think about the future. And someone's had a tremendous career. And two years later, it's just like, Man, well, what did it do with all of the money? So did you got to be so responsible about that? I'm glad you're doing that. Before we go, I want to ask you, have you been able to watch WWE and check out the success at Ronda Rousey has had? Because I think she's doing a phenomenal job. Interesting transition. I know she's a lifelong fan, just like you are. Have you had a chance? I know you were busy with that fight, but a chance to watch what Ronda has done in WWE. It is ridiculous how good she is so fast. Oh, I believe it's ridiculous, you know? You know, I got to be honest with you, like the way that I watch WWE. So not nearly as much as I used to, because I feel like. The writing in everything, the storylines aren't as strong as they used to be back in the day, right back in the day. It's always the strong man you knew when you tuned in on a Monday night. You're going to be entertained. You're more invested in the stories and everything. But I do believe that they're doing a good job writing Ron's story and also highlighting her strength when she's in the race, right? She when she wrestled in that match with with Kurt Angle and Triple H them in the very first match. You know, I thought did everything she could have probably done the day she walked into the performance. So they highlighted all of her strength and she's just getting better. It is amazing how well she's doing, especially knowing how long she's been a fan of the product. You know, it's it's refreshing to see, and I'm just so happy for Ronda that she's happy because at that point by the time she was done fighting, it didn't make her happy anymore. And you don't want to see that framework. As you can tell, she's having a good time, and she's a lifelong fan. I think because she's been a fan for so long and specifically of Roddy Piper, who is tremendous as an entertainer. Yeah, she understands what the business is about. So I think through kind of like osmosis thing or the fact that she watched it forever and was a fan, it was something she was really passionate about. She kind of picked it up. But also I think this, you know, in in professional wrestling, you know, basically it's a simulated fight and you're trying to tell a story. You're trying to take this crown on a ride. UPS and downs. You're telling a story most times between, you know, good versus a bad guy or good versus evil, but also you change that B.S. Let me say this. Let me say that you single handedly have completely changed the dynamic of professional wrestling, and I don't think it's ever going to go back. I don't think it's ever going to go back to the way it was before. When you, when you and Bryan have walked out of the Hollywood blondes and everybody booed you because that's what they were supposed to do. But now when you became Gokul Steve Austin in the film, go wait a minute. I know I hate the guy, but he seemed pretty cool. And then you got a whole Bret Hart thing back in the late 90s. Everybody started treating Bret as the bad guy. You have the good guy. I don't think it's ever going to go back because I go through this season. I listen to Kevin Owens this year, but then they go. All the people that my son loved as a kid, right? John Cena, Roman Reigns, they get booed out of the building, but the guys that are kind of despicable get cheered in that because of you. He says the business is the business that before his big. Think about it all those great heroes from back in the day, right thing. And when the Steiner brothers would have clean cut boys Michigan, the wrestlers and the Hulk Hogan and all these guys that just were Hacksaw Jim Duggan was a good guy represent the United States of everything, and everybody hated demolition and everybody hated 109 and everybody. They would get cheered in this day and age. They would get cheered because you take the crazy I. I watch it and I'm like, This is insane. That just really did start during your run. I mean, you left a lasting impact on a business that's been around forever. Makes me very proud about that. Yeah. But you know, I always deliberate and I'll get off this real quick. But superstar Billy Graham was the guy that I was. But when Vince Senior had superstar Billy Graham, he was this heel in New York City and the territory. But they were selling out the garden and he became so entertaining, the people started really liking superstar and then back then beat him. And, you know, all they had to do was kind of, you know, change his opponents into being heroes. And he would have been a baby, so he would have been 20 years before me. But but that never happened. But going back to it, I love, you know, I certainly changed the business for better. For worse. I don't know. I just know I had a good time and I had a good run. But but just going back to Ronald real quick. I think that because one of the reasons she's so natural to the ring, in my opinion, is because she's had so many big fights. Some of those fights didn't last long. But but there were those holy s**t moments, which she understands because she was there when the crowd just went apes**t. I mean, whether it's grabbing, you know, like seven arm bars in a row, people just showed themselves because it's like a holy s**t. She did it again, she did again, or we're just waiting to someone over. So I think that translates. I think she has a feel for what, you know, as a big moment or a pop because she's again, it's a simulation of a real fight, but she's lived those moments and she understands those moments because she got that organic true pop when she was thrashing people as a fighter. And then again, she's been on the down side of that as well. And you know, she and not only just at at the at the UFC level, I mean, even all the way when she was in the Olympics, you know, it's like for her whole life, she's been in front of crowds. Yes. So she understands what people want to see. You know, it's not like she gets, you know, sometimes you'll get people that start and you'll watch, like, I got it. I got a friend right now that's going into just let me try out of WWE Big Heavyweight from Duke University. You name it, Jake after this. So I want to be strong looking kid. Good looking kid has the tissue in the body to do well. What? He hasn't really performed on a massive, massive stage like in Olympic Games, like the UFC or anything like that. So it's going to be interesting to see how he transitions. I know it'll take a little bit of time, but he fully can get it. I think he'll get it in time. But would a person like Ronda when your whole life is essentially on display? It doesn't matter what you're doing, you're pretty comfortable in the environment. Okay, man, I agree with you. You said you're going to retire at 40, so I don't want to run off in the sunset. I'm not ever going to talk to you again. But if you do indeed retire at 40, so many people that enter the wrestling game don't have an exit strategy. Obviously, you're outstanding at the analytical game commentating show where you go into that or you're thinking something else, or would you consider anything in the squared circle? Well, you know, I would always consider that, you know, I've always loved Rec since I was a kid. So of course, if I had an opportunity, I would definitely look at it. But for me, it's a commentary. I mean, I already doing right now I'm I'm regularly part of the commentary team for the UFC at the pay per views of the events. So I'm going to do that also, you know, I'm the head coach now at a high school, my own in Gilroy. I'm the head wrestling coach at Kula High School, so I'll coach for fun and then I can just really focus on my family and like spending more time with leaner. My kids are now really getting into athletics pretty seriously. My daughter is a crazy little gymnast. My son is wrestling football and baseball, so we have a ton of stuff that's going to keep us really busy and I'll work on the TV side of things. I'm not dealing with the family man. That's an awesome game plan. Before I let you go when your kids are watching dad fight. I mean. How are they are they as nervous as Longtail quadruple rocking chairs or, you know, they're veterans now they've grown up watching you? You've had so many big fights, so many big moments. How are they? I know they were just basking in the glory just like you with that big win. How are the kids? They said, They're crazy. You know, we don't let them sit too close to the octagon, right? Because you don't know what's going to happen. It would have been horrible for my kids to be in the arena when I got knocked out by Jules last summer. So we try to keep a little. Put them in with the rest of the family. And then after the fight, they come down the octagon side. But they said, my daughter's is going to go back to the group that is like, lose it the whole time. And my boy could not be prouder. He. Nothing makes him happy to say that the UFC champion. Nothing makes my boy prouder. Did say that outside of me because my dad beat some wrestler still being a wrestler or something because he's a huge wrestling fan himself. Yeah, man, Steve, I've been on this crazy ride that I could have never imagined growing up in Lafayette, Louisiana. But you know, I'm lucky enough to have been lucky enough to experience them. And, you know, when it's all said and done, I'll look back and know that I had a good right, right? Just like you said. Look, it was a good ride. I had a great time and we're just lucky man. We're the lucky ones. Amen. For signoff, where can people find you on social media, where there's Twitter or Instagram or whatever? Your DC underscore me on Instagram ET on Twitter, and just Daniel Cormier and me on Facebook, man, just all over the place. Give me some support now. Appreciate the ones that have already started doing it or been doing these matters. It's a pleasure talking to you. Obviously meant fan for a long time. We've got a chance to meet. I've been friends for a little bit. We never see each other. But man, I'm so proud of you and happy for you. And just to watch the body of hard work and your butt end from your days in Lafayette and going back and watching all of your amateur wrestling stuff. And I'm just I'm so happy for you. You keep riding the lightning bolt, as Dusty Rhodes would say. Thank you so much, Steve. Appreciate it, brother. All right, buddy. Get me to go home customer. Wrap up his podcast and ride off in sunset for I do that, I want to thank the reigning defending light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and my guest today. It's always fun to talk to Daniel, who's had such an outstanding, unbelievable career, and we'll see where it goes from here whenever he decides to step out of the octagon. He will be busy as hell, doing analytical work and all the other things he's interested in doing. He's just a real, bright guy, a good head on his shoulders, just low key, and it's just a lot of fun. So DC, good luck in all your future endeavors. Brother, Man, Pro Wrestler DevCon forward slash Steve Austin has AMA Broken Skull Ranch t shirts and if you like APAs, I got a good one for you. Broken Skull IPA from El Segundo Brewing Co. You can find out here in Southern California and Whole Foods and Total Wines. If you don't live in Cali, you're probably s**t out of luck. And if you're looking for bad a*s pocket knife, I've got two for your consideration. Cold steel, broken skull, knife, cold steel, work on Mars Knife and you can get them a new Amazon store. Amazon has the best price of both knives. Just go to Amazon.com forward slash shop for Slash Steve Austin, and I want to say one more. Thank you to all the fans sponsors of Steve Austin show, especially Buffalo Wild Wings, Quip Toothbrushes, TrueCar and Geico, as I'm able to do this podcast for you twice a week for free. Please support them because they support us and you could find all my sponsors at podcast Whatcom under the Killer Deals button at the top of the page. Folks, I am on social media. I am on Twitter and Instagram and my Twitter handle and my Instagram handle is at Steve Austin BSR Post till next time. My name is Steve Austin and I will get your a*s down the road. This has been a podcast. One Production download new episodes of the Steve Austin show every Tuesday at PodcastOne dot com. That's podcast Omnicom. Stream the biggest blockbusters this summer with popcorn summer movies on Pluto TV experience non-stop action with the first foreign Mission Impossible movies and Top Gun. Laugh out loud to comedies like Anchorman, The Legend of Ron Burgundy and The Backup Plan with thousands of free movies. That's something for everyone. Available on live TV and on demand, download Pluto TV on all your favorite devices and start streaming now. 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