Straight Outta The Lair with Flex Lewis
7x Mr. Olympia 212 Champion Flex Lewis presents Straight Outta The Lair, the podcast that aims to bring you vital information for your life's ambitions, providing valuable insight from interviews of the many many different faces that walk through our doors at The Dragon's Lair Las Vegas and a few from the man himself.
Straight Outta The Lair with Flex Lewis
Chuck Liddell | Unfiltered Stories from the Octagon | Straight Outta The Lair Podcast
What happens when one of the most legendary figures in UFC history, Chuck Liddell, opens up about his wild escapades and hard-hitting career? Buckle up, because in this episode, Chuck takes us on a rollercoaster ride through his life, from the gritty streets to the glitz of Las Vegas during UFC events. You'll get a front-row seat to hear about his latest project "Out Cold," where he reacts to street fight videos and shares practical self-defense tips. Plus, we reminisce about an unforgettable fan encounter that ended with Chuck autographing a page documenting their fight!
Ever wondered what goes through the mind of a fighter in the ring? Chuck gives us an inside look at fight psychology and the intense training that shaped his career, from karate to Kenpo. He also shares hilarious and jaw-dropping stories from his career, including a dramatic front kick incident and a memorable event in Nebraska. Expect to laugh out loud at the amusing pre-fight stare-down tactics and learn about the intricate rivalries and raw intensity that define martial arts.
Join us as we celebrate Chuck Liddell's monumental impact on the UFC and MMA at large. We reflect on his wild adventures, from celebrity parties to fan challenges, and the transformative role of reality shows like "The Ultimate Fighter." Hear how Chuck balances fatherhood with his fighting career, the amusing requests from fans, and the surreal encounters that come with global fame. This episode promises a mix of laughter, wisdom, and nostalgia, highlighting Chuck's enduring legacy in the world of mixed martial arts.
straight out the land rock. It's cold in here, bro.
Speaker 2:Indeed, we got the ice man, chuck liddell, in the house to the podcast.
Speaker 1:My friend, thanks for having me guys, how you guys doing? Good man? Yeah man, this is a late one for us, man.
Speaker 2:It is, but it's totally worth it. We got our guy here. We got a big fight this weekend and exciting stuff. Man, Thank you for coming in First time to the Dragon's Lair also, right, yeah it's the first time here.
Speaker 3:This place is sick.
Speaker 2:Flex was trying to get you to do an arm workout. Before we started, his plan was lit.
Speaker 1:No, we've been trying to get you for a minute. We've been speaking about every time you come to Vegas.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm always so busy. Usually when I come out here, I'm running all over the place like a chicken, with my head cut off.
Speaker 2:Yeah, always kind of like I mean, and a lot of times you're here for the UFC events and I feel like they usually have you kind of moving around a little bit doing XYZ right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, Well, you know, it's one of those things I like to get around and I like to go do stuff. I'm out here doing it anyway, so I might, as things. I've got a bit of a busy thing. We're doing some of that. I do those out cold. I've got filming some of those, so we have some. I got a bunch of fighters in one place at one time, so it makes it a little easier to go do those. They're fun.
Speaker 1:Talking of which, for the fans who haven't seen what you're doing right now.
Speaker 3:Well they're. It's just reaction videos of us watching I don't know what people Alcohol flicks. So you watch, we're watching. They put together a bunch of fights, they're doing street fights, a bunch of crazy stuff. The guy put it together. Sometimes I'm like what? Like come on and it's like, but it's funny. We try to teach people lessons about street fighting and stuff, but it's fun.
Speaker 1:We have a good time with it. There's laws in street fights.
Speaker 3:No, there's no laws. Well, I'll give you one.
Speaker 2:There is actually a few laws.
Speaker 3:There were a few little rules, like if you're going to talk shit to somebody and walk up to them, get your hands up, that's it. You know what I mean? You'd be surprised how many videos they find of guys coming up. This one guy took all his stuff out of his pockets, put it on the thing and started walking. And the guy with his hands down? The guy just goes bop boom, bop, bop. What are you thinking? What did you think he was going to do? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:There are some rules, exactly right. I like to go into my negotiating and I just kind of do a thing here, so my hands are up. I usually talk with my hands.
Speaker 3:I used to be when I was a kid, but I give you, you step into my space, hey man. We can talk all you want from this distance. You move in one more time. It's going to start.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they cross the line as soon as they step into that bubble. It's like you're either fighting or you're not.
Speaker 3:I'm not letting you two-shot me. Yeah, I'm not letting you hit me. I'm not going to let you get a free shot at me, so I'll give you a warning. Hey, just come back in. Nope, yeah, what would be that first shot Elbow, ooh, almost always.
Speaker 2:Is it really?
Speaker 3:It's an ender, the guy I grabbed steps in one time. It was always when I was younger, it was always one time. And then hey, and they, hey, do that again. Man, it's on this, on, or what? This I put it up to him.
Speaker 1:That's my mic, chuck no. Boom, that's my mic, chuck no.
Speaker 2:I mean, I think it's pretty funny that guys, would you know, want to fight you in the first place. Well, you know the funny thing.
Speaker 3:This is like before. I was like, I think in my book I wrote about it like about one of the fights and it was. You know, I was probably 19 years old at the time. I just got done wrestling and the big thing I wrote about the fight. The funny thing was so I'm doing a book signing in San Luis Obispo and this is like years and years later, right, because I broke into the store. This guy waited in line probably two and a half three hours Comes up and says hey, man, can you sign this page? I'm like why this page? He's like because that was me.
Speaker 1:Oh no, I'm sorry, I was real asshole Wow.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 3:I'm all man. Thank you, man.
Speaker 2:Did you knock him?
Speaker 3:out.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Oh, out, out yeah. He paid for the book too, dude, but I mean, it was what I was saying. You know, yeah, kids fights, that happens. He was trying. Well, I'll tell the story. I guess.
Speaker 1:That's cool.
Speaker 3:So we were driving up and my best friend and roommate and you know he wrestled with me at college Pac-10 champ, he was there. I mean, his brother was in the middle of the street and there was a bunch of guys around him and they're talking shit to him. So, and they're talking shit to him, so we get out, we stop the car and get out. There's three wrestlers in the car. So we run up, what's up, and I had stitches under my eye from wrestling and we had to wrestle ASU the next day. So we're coming up and these guys start talking. I say, oh, what are you going to do with me? I'm 18-0 in the street. What are you going do with me? I'm 18 and 0 in the street. What are you doing? I'm I'm 218, 18, 0 in the street. I'm I'm 235, 23 and 0 in the street. I'm thinking to myself like that's it. We used to fight every week. I might have got that many fights a weekend sometimes.
Speaker 3:I don't know we were, we were maniacs back then, but, um, but so it's like, and they're talking, I'll say, my buddy, my eric, eric ericartz, was my roommate. He's like, hey, man, you can't, you can't. If you open those stitches you're not going to be able to wrestle. Man, just, let's just go, let's just get out of here. And we're sitting there and he keeps trying to talk to me and the guy's like, oh, go, nurse your stitches, pussy, and all this. And I'm like, all right, okay.
Speaker 2:I'm like alright, okay, I'm gonna go.
Speaker 3:Alright, he talked me into it. I'm gonna leave, I'm gonna let this go. Come on, greg, let's go. That's his brother who was there. Oh no, he's gotta stay. I'm like, oh, thank you, we're not leaving without him. And I'd say he came out oh, what are you gonna do? Back up, you step in again. It's gonna start stepped in. Back up, you step in again. It's going to start Stepped in. Boom, hit his head, there was blood. There was a pool of blood there from back of his head. You know how, when someone gets knocked out that floor is way worse than my head.
Speaker 3:It's so funny, his buddy ripped his shirt off.
Speaker 1:Oh, how cool is that 240.
Speaker 3:He rips his shirt off and comes at me. I hit him with a front kick. He flies back, comes at me. I hit him with a front kick and he flies back. He felt like this and sat on his ass. I go for an axe kick. I slapped him in the face. I just missed him and slapped him by foot and hit him in the face, just go wow, all right, yeah, let's go, guys. And that's the guy in the book. What the guy my book was? The guy here with elbow. Oh, okay, he was. He's like buddy, that was. I thought that was cool. I mean it was yeah, funny.
Speaker 1:So you were wrestling back then. So when did you discover I did karate?
Speaker 3:since I was 14. I did that first.
Speaker 1:Okay, so I was 12.
Speaker 3:Then I did wrestling when I was 14. You got into Kenpo later on, right, kenpo got in later on. That's what I did later, when I met John Ackerman and I started doing it with him. I started doing kickboxing and boxing.
Speaker 2:I still follow John man and I watch all his stuff. He's putting out those videos. He has all those street tactic videos. I don't know if you follow him, but like John's awesome.
Speaker 3:He's a maniac. I love John yeah.
Speaker 1:Can you remember an appearance we'd done together years ago?
Speaker 3:The one where we spoke, or the one a long time ago In Nebraska?
Speaker 1:Mamon, I think, chuck, I don't know if you just got the belt or you were the contender, I can't remember. It was like that period of time. It was right in there. I don't remember exactly Gunning for it.
Speaker 3:It was like 04 or 05 Right before. I think it was either right before I got to that, right before the. I think it was right before the show. So I think it was right before. I think it was right after, either right before or right after the Tito fight.
Speaker 1:It's that timeline. But him and I we'd work an appearance together and you know the cliche, you know we'll take a picture together. And of course I step up to Chuck, like going to do the whole bodybuilding forearm out, and Chuck faces me and I'm like You're like oh shit, we're doing this and I'm looking at him and I'm like, okay, this is going to end soon, right? Okay, I'm fighting. Because he was being himself.
Speaker 3:You know the funny thing, that's one of the things I learned from doing when I was. I learned to do. I was doing lines, like learning how to do movie lines, and I was trying to figure out how to do. How do you do these auditions? They're like it's just weird being like I, I'm fine with acting. When you're doing the scene, you get into it. But you got to have emotion on your face and you got this little scene and you're not really in the, there's no set, so now you're just two guys talking. But you got to act like it and I had a coach.
Speaker 3:I went to this guy, an acting coach, and he said well, the easiest way to do this for me because he did a lot of audition stuff and he's like is for you to think of what emotion you're supposed to have, and think and figure out what emotion you want to have, think of something that gives you that emotion, right. And then and and use that and then say your lines, right. And so I kind of thought about that and I'm like you know, I square up. I have people I want to square up all the time, right? So what if I kind of think of someone I'd like to hit like I don't like very much while I'm looking at them and give them a real look.
Speaker 3:You'll be surprised how many people do that and go man, that was scary, yeah. But I think it makes a difference Because every once in a while I've done it. I just wasn't thinking I'd just do it that way. Never get that from that. But when I give it to them and I look like I'm really thinking about hurting someone, people are like man.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's definitely thinking about somebody that he wanted to hit when he looked at me, totally.
Speaker 2:Who would it?
Speaker 1:be for you. Who would that person be?
Speaker 3:I really don't get into that, usually Not today.
Speaker 4:Not today Not today.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to cover that. I tried, chuck, I tried, I tried, yeah.
Speaker 2:I had to do it once too. I had to do a face-off with him once, and he came in all real on me and I did I was like oh shit, I thought we were friends bro.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely, but we're talking about that Definitely.
Speaker 3:But wait, talking about that's the thing too Like stare down, like those pre-fight stare downs, a lot of stuff. I thought it was the funniest thing when guys Like I got If you go back and look, I got Tito and Vanderlake To come after me I had to weigh in, like push me out of weigh-ins, right, because when we were facing off you want to know why they did that, both of them. The way I got them to snap and go is doing this thing I go.
Speaker 3:I just winked at them, pisses them off Because they want. They really want. I mean, it's their thing. They want you to be intimidated. They like to intimidate guys and they think you're going to. I'm looking at them like man. You really? Pele, tried to do that to me in Brazil Soccer player Jose Pele Jones, the guy I fought my second mixed fight. It was a 30-minute bare-knuckle fight down in Brazil. But the day before Dave Wayans he's got a couple of his buddies runs his shoulder and was squaring up like a dog. I'm like, bro, we're fighting tomorrow, we're getting paid to do this Can up like I don't know. I'm like, um well, we're fighting tomorrow, we're getting paid to do this. Like, can we wait? Yeah, I don't speak portuguese, yeah, I don't, I don't, but can we wait till tomorrow? I'm okay, you're not. If you're trying to intimidate me, it's not gonna happen. Like, I'm sorry to break it to you, I'm not scared.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I just I'm gonna, but I the thing like I, I don't I mean you guys, you all heat it up on a we're not fighting for another 24 hours, bro, Like I'm doing this for the fans, Any kind of staring or getting mad or looking angry. It's for the fans, bro, Like we're fighting tomorrow. I will try to kill you when we fight.
Speaker 1:Yeah, has anybody really got on your skin?
Speaker 3:no, going into fight week no, no, I don't like that, like I'm not an emotional fighter, I think emotion clouds judgment. That's why they call them nice men. Yeah, I think it clouds judgment. Now, me not liking you makes training camp a lot easier. It doesn't make it hard to get up for a training session because I don't want to give you an inch. I'm definitely not. I didn't have a hard time getting up for a training session because, now, because I don't want to give you an inch, I don't want, I don't, I'm, I'm definitely not. But I didn't have a hard time getting up for it anyway, I love fighting, but but but that's what it may be there. But, like in a fight, I'm I'm just trying to take you apart and hurt you. I'm like trying to end you. Like I go out there and I'm really trying to. How can I finish this? Now? I'm trying to set you up and do that. I'm worried about that. I'm not really worried about that.
Speaker 2:Some shit you said last week.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and people know me. Tito said something on the radio interview one time and we weren't even fighting and everyone wanted me to squash it at a club. This is a short version but you can hear it. I said, yeah, no problem. First off, this is hear it. And I said, yeah, no problem. Let me tell you what I'm talking about. First off, this is my girlfriend Apologize. Because he said I don't date white trash bitches like Chuck. On a radio interview I said this is my girlfriend Apologize. Secondly, you ever talk about my family and friends on a radio interview? Again, I know where you live. I'll come beat you in your living room. You got that. Oh man, sorry, I wasn't talking about her. I was talking about the idiot was talking about Juliette Lewis, because some thing said we were dating. I'm like bro, she plays that on TV. She's not a white trash girl, by the way.
Speaker 4:She plays them on TV sometimes. That's a part, that's a part, right, she's a good actress.
Speaker 2:His judgment of reality and acting is skewed, I guess, as you became champ and just to go back to this for a second, as you became champ, guys are still trying to come up and be intimidating. It's like they've seen you wreck some of the best fighters ever and they're coming up.
Speaker 3:I never had a problem with that ever. Every once in a while I think I had a couple guys that'd say something where I knew when I was younger I would have turned into a fight Because I liked to fight when I was a kid. But I was an abominable boy. I can always say I never made someone fight me. Now, I never let you out of it real easy either. I had guys start a fight with some kid. I walk up to him and go hey man, he don't want to fight you, but I will. I got no problem with you. I don't know what you kind of do now.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you're in a punk game hey, let's go. But you push it back, but most of the time they finally back down because most of those guys that do that they don't want anybody that really wants to fight.
Speaker 1:It's like that Joe Rogan story you told on the podcast about you've been in the club and some issue's happening and the next thing the guy stands up comes over. That's the true story, right, yeah? And then some guy was like, oh, chuckle it down, very good.
Speaker 2:I would expect so. Yeah.
Speaker 1:But for me I love, For I don't know like for that stuff.
Speaker 3:What I wanted to say is like I was, I got, I worked in bars for a long time, I got good at like and I learned it. It's not worth the escalating.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I know how to de-escalate things. So a guy come up and say something I could turn into a fight if I wanted to. Or I say, man, you sound pretty tough man, you should be in the the UFC. You're making good money now. And he goes oh, so excited I can be in the UFC and I can sit back down and drink my beer. You know it's relaxed.
Speaker 1:A little ego stroking, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:But you know, it's just easy.
Speaker 1:I mean it's yeah, has there been any? I'm sure there's been men over the years, but funny like fan stories that have happened with you, where people have come up and I have some why are you looking at J-Rock like that, I have some.
Speaker 2:Hey, hit me as hard as you can, chuck, tell these stories, by the way for the first podcast.
Speaker 3:What kind of stories are you looking for? Because there's a lot.
Speaker 2:I have seen him, the ones up and just like, punch me, chuck. Just punch me as hard as you can in the arm, kick me in the leg.
Speaker 3:I've had people actually come and have to remove guys from parties because they wouldn't stop bugging me to hit them Legit.
Speaker 1:So give me some stories that you've been present of.
Speaker 2:I saw one. We were in Beverly Hills, I think we were at Jesse Waits' house. We're all up, right, it's house. We're all up right, like it's like end of the night. We're all like banged out and some guy I didn't know who the guy was, but he wouldn't leave him alone until, basically, he punched him in the arm and the dude like couldn't lift his arm for the rest of the night. It's like what did you think was going to happen?
Speaker 1:You don't go easy on these guys right, when they want it, they want it they want.
Speaker 3:What if I decide to do it? But most of the time I won't let him. I like my face because, like you ever see, saw the one on, was it that it was at the Hard Rock? I'm not at the heart, I guess at the palms. When they had a heart in Huntington, yeah, yeah, yeah, when they had that show in there, I went and I asked me I'm out drinking, I'm having a good time, roll in there and go in there and I I can't think of the skateboarder guy that was with him. God, I can't think of his name right now Rob Dyrdek, no, tony Hawk's. I saw him at that. He was actually at the Tony Hawk thing. Later next week I'll think of his name, but anyway.
Speaker 3:So he had me come in there. He asked me to hit him on the arm and I'm like I'm not going to do it, I don't want to do it, I don't want to do it, I don't want to do it. So finally I was like okay, so I kind of give him a little one, right, and he goes oh, I'm kind of like, oh, is that it? I'm Wow, slid on the table and he was actually hosting the. He was the emcee for the Tony Hawk charity. So he couldn't pick the mic up. So he was there going, chuck, why'd you hit me? You asked me to, you asked me to. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I was, but I was drunk, sorry.
Speaker 1:So was I. I've seen a lot of leg kicks that have been thrown around with fans. Uskin fighters do leg kicks. I think that's worse. It's almost worse.
Speaker 3:Well, actually it's worse. Yeah, Because the thing is with that you're like. I can show you, I did it not too long ago Demonstration flex. No, I did it not too long ago. I mean the bruise on the side of his leg was this big from one kick and I mean that's probably it. But he's going to feel it for about up and going up and down stairs for about three weeks. Yeah, it's going to still hurt.
Speaker 2:Those leg kicks last, like it's. Yeah, if people don't.
Speaker 3:If people have never been kicked in the leg by somebody who knows how to kick, it's like getting hit with a baseball bat. I usually like doing liver shots too. I was at the DJ at some party we were at the Kentucky Derby pre-party. There I'm there and he's like hey, man, I think I can take a body shot from you. Can I try to take a body shot from you? I've been drinking, I don't want to do it. Come on, I can do it. I can been drinking, I don't want to do it. Oh, come on, I can do it, I can take it. No, I'm not, I don't want to do it. He goes. Can I at least announce that you're here to the crowd, okay, and he goes, get up there. And he goes. Oh yeah, I got Chuck Liddell up here and he's going to. I'm going to take a body shot from him. I'm like, oh really, so now, but and now I'm thinking he put me on blast in front of everybody. So now, now you got to do it.
Speaker 3:Normally, if I did it with friends, I'd barely hit. I hit him, I'd just catch him in that liver shot. But I just I don't throw it real hard because I don't care if they go down or not. But this guy, if he could as hard as I could. He texted me. He was on his hands and knees for about 15 minutes and then he texted me and said hey, asshole, you broke two of my ribs. I'm like I'm sorry, that's why I was too low. He's like oh no, man, I'm just kidding, it's my fault, I'm an idiot. But he still broke two of his ribs.
Speaker 4:Yeah, but I broke two of his ribs. He probably thought he was trying to get you to. He probably wanted to shoot vodka out of your belly button.
Speaker 1:That's what he meant as a bodybuilder. Wrong party, wrong party, wrong party.
Speaker 3:I'm the wrong guy.
Speaker 1:Chuck, you've been and in my eyes you are one of the faces of the UFC that have truly pioneered the way you know. Growing up watching mixed martial arts all the way from pride to my gosh, I remember watching it on. We had to use a scrambler or something to get it because it was so illegal at the time.
Speaker 1:Me all the colleagues were awesome, so we used to watch them on um not a youtube, but like a version of youtube and it was just unbelievable and I remember my first seeing your first ever fight. I had to go back and find this. It was was I? Is it IVF? No, I, ifc, ifc, ifc. Which one? Ifc 6. And you're fighting and the guy got caught in a net.
Speaker 3:Oh, that's what I was talking about, not in Brazil. Yes, that was.
Speaker 1:IVC, ivc yeah, have you seen that fight?
Speaker 3:No, the guy was in the locker room. That was him. That's the one.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, so then jaw coming back together.
Speaker 3:It's one 30-minute round, bare knuckle.
Speaker 1:One 30-minute round.
Speaker 3:In a boxing ring, but they put a net. It's from the bottom rope on an angle and the funny thing is. So we walk it out and you know, Nick won kick out here.
Speaker 4:Yeah, he was cornering me. Oh, okay.
Speaker 3:He was cornering me, nick was cornering me, so we go in the ring and we get in there and we walk in and then everybody gets out of the ring. He's on the other side and the referee's in the middle and I look at Nick and I go hey, man isn't that his manager.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think he's refereeing. Come on, I'm like, okay, whatever, it was no joke. So he's in the referee and then we fight. But I don't know, maybe that's why I look back when I had him stuck Underneath the at the end he was stuck in the net and he was like a fish in the net and I'm just hitting him. I'm leaning out of the ring. He's like his feet, so like I'm hitting me. This guy's in the neck like by the way, have you have you? And have you ever seen um? You ever see the show martin? Of course, after you've had the one where you fought um marvin?
Speaker 3:no, no, it was, uh herns yeah, remember remember, do you remember, what his head looked like that, like the goofy thing? That's what that guy looked like. I saw him at that hotel, the next day and. I was like hey, sorry, what was?
Speaker 2:the net on the bottom, for Is that to keep guys from falling out of the ring?
Speaker 3:Yeah, from falling out of the ring, but it was from the rope, so it was like this. So it went this way. The edge.
Speaker 2:It was stuck in there.
Speaker 3:I got him stuffed underneath there.
Speaker 1:Let me see. Tell us, chuck, it's a 30-minute round, it's IVC, ivc, 6. And then just type in Chuck Liddell. We'll see if we can pull it up. But bro, this guy was literally in the net, couldn't move, and Chuck was over the net. I was over the net and this guy's like Trying to fight the neck and fight you at the same time.
Speaker 3:That was too. I went in and weighed in. I didn't know Like I didn't, I guess I missed out on it. I was fighting At that time, light heavyweight was 199. Or 199.9, right or 200. And I got there and I walked out 199. I'm like, ah, don't do that to me, I'll be right back. I lost. The last pound, came back out. I ain't playing that game with you guys. I was in mean shape back then. Yeah, it's great.
Speaker 1:Any luck.
Speaker 4:You have so many fights it's so hard to find the one specific fight. It's in Brazil, it's from hard to find the one specific fight.
Speaker 3:It's in Brazil, it's from 1998.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I did find the clip. It's out there. Yeah, it is out there.
Speaker 2:I definitely want to see it. I feel like I've seen all the other ones.
Speaker 1:It was dope Chuck, like Fighting back then To seeing the evolution of the sport. Could you ever imagine seeing this be?
Speaker 3:I thought it was a great sport. I always thought it would get there. I really thought it would take a little bit longer. I thought it was going to be after I was done. I think that reality show started coming out and then that was the Trojan horse to get a live fight on TV and get people to see what people are doing, Because people were still before that going around. I'm trying to tell people yeah, no, we're not professional wrestlers. No, yes, we train. I didn't just jump off a bar stool and go in there and fight. But people were still asking those guys and it's not like, do you just get off a barstool and go in there and fight? But people were still asking those guys and it's not like, do you just get off the barstool and go fight? I mean, they don't mean it, they mean it disrespectfully or anything. But it's like no, it's not like that.
Speaker 4:It's different.
Speaker 3:It's funny Because people don't realize sometimes how hard it is. How good guys are are how hard they hit. I don't hit the same. I hit very hard. So if I'm hitting, most people aren't used to even like leg checks or leg kicks. If you're not used to leg kicks, or if you've never checked anything and you've never strengthened your shins at all, I throw a leg kick. You'll check it once, you'll. You'll let me kick you in the thigh after that. You'd rather get kicked in the thigh than me kicking you in the shin. No joke, because it will hurt, no joke.
Speaker 2:And to it, to your point, flex, I mean you tito, that whole, that whole rivalry at that time I think is one of the things that really helped catapult the sport. Right, because there was the rivalry and then you guys went into the TV show and obviously the show is still going, right, like the show is still going. And I think that the show also gave background on fighters, right, because it was like oh there's these crazy guys going in and fighting.
Speaker 3:But it also let, because we were hitting a wall at the people that made the older guys that made decisions right at places, Like all the younger guys got us, they understood us. You know, like we know what this is. This is the new stuff. This is good, you know, but you couldn't get the. So but I think the numbers, the show did, I mean, and plus, and then how could you not? I mean, we finally got our free fight on TV, and then you have that fight with Bonner and Forrest, Like that couldn't have passed for a better fight.
Speaker 3:You know it's like a Gotti-Ward type fight and you know like where guys are just going at it. They matched up. Well, they did a little bit of everything. You know you couldn't have passed for a better fight than that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and also you and Tito man.
Speaker 3:The fact that the rivalry was happening and all these things together was like perfect storm that got us up to there, and then that, and then me and Randy two weeks later, yeah, and then it just went on and on, but that ultimate fight.
Speaker 1:I mean talk about Savage Rowe. I went back a couple of months ago and looked at that season and it was just chaotic, it was out-gall. I mean, you see, the guys who were in there, diego. Sanchez, forrest Griffin, mike Swick and these guys, all of them had Gregorian.
Speaker 3:By the way, these guys wanted to fight. It was 185 and 205. The guys Kenny, florian ended up fighting 145. Wow, they just okay. What's the weight class? 185?. Okay, I'll do it. It's happening Like.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:You know my buddies, you know, fought 45s and 55s. A lot of those guys went down there. You know other guys, you know, went to 170.
Speaker 1:You know. So it was crazy. What was kind of the funniest stories now that you can look back on from the ultimate fighter oh, there's all sorts of them.
Speaker 3:Why?
Speaker 1:I want to know ones that you've never talked about.
Speaker 3:That's why I don't, that's what I don't know. I I've talked about a lot of the ones I remember. Like you know, like I, I tell us, like I we got, I got an argument with, uh, second AD at one of the early fights. Kenny Florian was going out to fight. Right, he's getting ready to do a fight. Now, this is a fight that's going to be filmed and they're going to air it in a couple months, right?
Speaker 3:So this isn't like we're live on TV coming up and they had a guy to wrap the hands. He didn't show up, it was late and they wouldn't let me wrap the hands because they didn't really understand, because it was the first season, so they didn't really understand what it was right, they didn't understand what we were doing. So, you know, they come back there and I'm like, oh, hey man. And so he just, so I just got his hand. I'm like, oh, hey man, and so I just got his hand wrapped. They come out. Hey man, you got five minutes. I'm like, oh, man, we need about 15, 20 minutes to warm him up.
Speaker 4:Hey man, he needs cancer right now.
Speaker 3:What? Like? I got up, started walking up to the guy. I'm like, oh shit ran out, and so he went out and got the second aid. He, he went out and got the second AD. It was Andrea, who was a lady that worked there. So she came running up and I'm like, what are you talking about? And she goes oh, he needs to get out there right now. No, no. So I'm like, look, you hired me to be their coach, so I'm going to treat them like they're one of mine. All right, he will go out there when I say he's ready, or you can go ask him who they want to fire Me or you.
Speaker 1:Just get umped up.
Speaker 3:Me and her became friends later on. I talked to her later Look, I'm willing To do what you guys say to make a show. I know you guys are the guys that make shows. I'm willing to do what you guys want, but first you brought me in as a coach. These are fighters. They're not actors. They've got to fight on this show Because they wanted me to train them At the beginning. When it first started, it was like 60 days long and they wanted me to train them twice a day, every day. I'm like no one can do that and they're fighting along the way.
Speaker 2:Not only that, you're overtraining.
Speaker 3:I know, but they're fighting along the way. I'm like I can't do that to these guys. But they didn't. They just wanted content.
Speaker 2:They wanted to shoot for TV and I'm like, look this is what.
Speaker 3:I think. We got that back and forth. We got to the point where I said look, I get what you're doing, we can work on it. But I think they said when I came back the second time, they said I still have the record for the most broken rules. I wasn't good at listening. I wasn't real good at listening, but I'm not real good at that. It was a real adjustment period because I think Dana had to tell me and said hey, look you guys, you better understand something. These guys aren't like wannabe TV guys. Yeah, they're not normal people. These are real fighters.
Speaker 3:If you treat them like that, you're going to run into problems. I'm not, you know. It's like you might want to watch how you treat them. You know because they're used to that. There's a different, like that culture. Sometimes in Hollywood some of those like they treat those guys like extras and stuff in movies. Oh, first time I'll tell you. So. Cradle to the Grave, one of the first big long movies I was on. I was on how High before that for a second, but that was kind of a funny scene, by the way. I went and watched it. I was on there for two seconds, waited all the way to the credits.
Speaker 2:Didn't see my name on the screen. First movie, they misspelled my name. No, oh, no, come on, I'm like you made the Simpsons though, bro. I did no, no, no, that's later on.
Speaker 3:You made the Simpsons, well it's like I'm telling you like my first fight in the UFC, ufc 17. I'm walking out to the ring and my name's right everywhere else, right, I'm walking out and it's missing a D I'm L-I-D-E-L. I'm like, really, my grandma will roll over in a grave right now. I'm like, but anyway, I was walking out, but it's just. You know, people can't spell my name. Yeah, I mean, if they spelled your name wrong in the UFC, I was walking out, but it was. It's just. You know, people can't spell my name. I don't.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, if they spelled your name wrong in the UFC, I think that Did I.
Speaker 3:No, you want to do the funniest one where that was yeah, let's go After. After everything, this is down down the road. Right when I was working for the UFC, after I retired, they sent Sports Illustrated, sent me a Green Bay book thing that they had for as a gift and they, by the way, they put my, spelled my name right on what they sent. Well, they forwarded it to my house. My office forwarded it to my house. On the forwarding address, my name was L-I-D-E-L. Your office, my office, said that to me. I'm like the UFC office. I was working for the UFC.
Speaker 1:I'm like who is this guy?
Speaker 2:Who is this guy?
Speaker 1:Make sure you don't do this on my check guys, it's the same guy that done it when I was doing the walkout.
Speaker 3:Have you ever had anyone? The first time I went to Europe I got you to turn it to me when I was doing the walk-up. But no, have you ever had anyone? See, I have my. The first time I went to Europe, someone else bought the ticket right To go out to the train right?
Speaker 1:Oh, don't start with that shit. You know me.
Speaker 3:I know Chuck Liddell. They put on. No one said anything when I went there, took me about 45 minutes and I finally pulled out a magazine and showed them that that was me, because my name on my license is Charles. Yeah, so they're like someone bought Charles and they didn't say anything on the way in. But I'm trying to go home. I'm like guys, I got you, I'm here, I don't live here, I just need this passport. I'm from the US. I just want to get on the plane. Please, I'm from the US, I just want to get on a plane.
Speaker 1:It's pleased man, the amount of times my name has been booked by promoters as Flex Lewis and I turn up at the airport, I give my driver's license in there's no Flex Lewis. I'm like Stephen, yeah, and then one time, same like you. I'm like how can I prove that people call me? You know their connection is. So I had two issues that I got away with. One issue they wouldn't allow me to fly and I'm like you've got to be kidding me, because am I wrong? Because somebody booked me as Underflex Lewis. And then I've done guest pauses before and I've taken home whatever they've given me, like a little plaque. Thank you for guest. You know doing the P runs, felix Lewis.
Speaker 3:So that's my new Puerto Rico, felix. Anyways, in the early days I used to have, I knew like, okay, I'd go and they wouldn't have my name at the hotel that we were going to, because we did a lot of traveling and trying to promote stuff. And I go okay, try, l-y. Okay, r-y Okay. Yeah, that R-I-L-Y Okay, r-y Okay yeah, there we go. That's me, they're like okay, and then when I list all these different names, then I finally get the right one, okay. Yeah, that's fine.
Speaker 1:Chuck, have you had any issues like in people in hotels? I'll tell you why I ask that when they used to book me in for certain appearances whatever it be, classic international I'd get to the hotel because of situations of old and I'd change my name on the hotel room straight away. People would call my hotel room and ask me Flex, yeah, who's this? And I'm thinking it's reception. What shoe size are you Asking me like? I want to make you custom boots and I'm like who the hell is this? Twice? This guy found our. What hotel I'm in? Did he take the boots, bro? No, he wants to take a picture of your feet and send them to me. And I'm like ah, bro, who?
Speaker 2:is this. I told you you had a career in feet.
Speaker 1:I told you have you seen the mess in my feet, bro? Anyways, you ever had any issues like that? Hotel room issues, no.
Speaker 3:Thank God, actually I, no, not actually. He's like. Actually, actually, one of my idiot buddies was staying with me and I had my oldest son with me and we're staying in one of the big, huge rooms at Red Rock right, and I didn't even go out because I had my son. We were out goofing around doing stuff around there, probably we were bowling. My buddies went out, but it's a huge suite. I don't know if you know, I was with my son. We were out goofing around doing stuff around there, probably we were bowling. My buddies went out, but it's a huge suite. I don't know if you know those top four suites over there. They're huge, they're massive. So he was staying on the other side, went on that side, so I hear someone walking around out in the living room, in the living room, aaron, I walk out and there there's this bimbo, like I don't know, like whatever you want, but she's dressed like I mean like half her clothes on. What are you doing Like? What are you doing here?
Speaker 4:Welcome why are you here, hello?
Speaker 3:I'm looking for my buddies and I guess my idiot butt had left his key card in the jacket of what room we're in. I don't know what went on, but I guess he thought he was paying her to go out and then he just left. So she was coming there to collect and I'm like, look, you need to get out of here. So I look I got like here's a couple hundred bucks. Just kidding, he owes me this. I'm just like I'm going to call my guy. I mean, you know what, do me a favor If you want to. I'm going to go down and talk to the front desk or something. I'm like I don't care, go ahead. I'm like it's the Fertitta's house. They don't even care.
Speaker 2:They're not going to get mad at me.
Speaker 3:I'm like, yeah, and you're the whore. And then, oh, they're just threatening to have a guy come up. I'm like, bring him up, hey, you know what, go out and get him. But before he comes up, just let him know my name's Chuck Liddell. Just let him know that.
Speaker 2:With two Ds, yeah, two.
Speaker 3:D's yeah, two D's. Ask him if he wants and let's see if he wants to come up. Yeah, he probably did. He probably took a picture. Yeah, maybe. Yeah, he might have. He might have took a picture, but he was like they never. I'm like dude, but you need to get out. I got my kid here, I'm done.
Speaker 4:Get out.
Speaker 3:But like the idiot guy Left that's what I tell her, if you carry that around, it fell out of his pocket and she picked it up off the floor, but it had her room number on it because he left it in the jacket.
Speaker 2:I used to take pictures of the hotel room, so I had it in my phone. That was the only way I'd ever actually find my room later in the night.
Speaker 3:You know that's a funny thing. I used to do that too.
Speaker 1:Chuck, you know your stardom. I mean, it's global right. You can't go anywhere around the world Without people recognizing you, taking pictures and stuff. But what was the what was the part that you realized like, wow, I'm known globally and my face is, my head is being shaved. Kids are shaving their hair still like me, men are doing it.
Speaker 3:That was pretty crazy. Like seeing a lot of stuff was kind of nuts, I mean. The first time I really noticed I was actually it was after Ultimate Fighter started airing and I was in Florida visiting with the girl, mandy Williford the girl that was on the show and hanging out with her and we were walking through a mall and usually back then I could tell you that guy probably knows who I am, and that guy over there does, and that guy with the tap-out shirt, he knows me. I could walk through a mall and I could tell you pretty much who had a shot at knowing me. Yeah, and all of a sudden I got people walking by. I got you know 50 or later. Hey, you know, six is all. Hey, great fight the other night I'm. Wow, you know. Like, yeah, you got all these different people. I got random, like you're, like there's no way, how do you know who I am? I mean, I think an icon.
Speaker 2:I mean as short as that.
Speaker 3:I remember the first time I had a lady have me sign her arm and she pulls up and she has a tattoo of it's like a picture of me. She was like probably like 55. Wow, I had a tattoo, a big portrait of me on a tattoo on her arm, I'm like sure.
Speaker 2:If you're out there, dm us Granny. Yeah, we want to see this tattoo.
Speaker 1:Even if it's slightly soggy, we want to see it but honestly, brother, you became an icon.
Speaker 2:It's like it's infighting right, because there's names that come up from the past, like Mike Tyson. Chuck Liddell is right in that right. No, it's cool.
Speaker 3:It's amazing. And people ask me do you ever get tired of this? And I said, you know, not really, because, like it's a blessing to be able to make someone's day. Like, man, I was having a horrible week, man, and you know, man, now you made my whole week, man, I'm so better. Like I've had guys tell me hey, man, you helped me walk again. Like I don't know, I watched your video before I went into rehab. They told me I wasn't going to walk, so I'm walking, you know. So stuff like that, you know it feels good. I mean, I've got some stupid stories as people you know not understanding time and a place or just being overly like just assholes pretty much yeah, you're like eating when you're with your kids and they're like on you, but even that if I'm eating, I don't care If I'm not with a group of people and you're not interrupting them, because it bothers them.
Speaker 3:You're bothering them, not me. If I'm sitting by myself, sit down. If you're fans, sit down. I'll sit down and talk to you. I mean that's fine. I mean, but like you know, like you get some, I get guys. I've danced slow dance with a girl Tap on my shoulder. Can I get a picture?
Speaker 2:What? Yeah, you're like taking a piss.
Speaker 3:I've been two separate times. I was taking a piss and had someone get mad at me for not shaking their hand. I got my dick in my hand. Like I'm not going to shake your hand right now. Can we wait until we get out of the bathroom?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I will take a picture.
Speaker 3:I had one time where I was in Beverly Hills at one of the gyms I think it might have been any place, but they had a sauna right and there was about 15 people in there in towels or whatever, and some dude comes up. Hey, hey, can I get a picture? I kind of went um when I get out. Yeah, yeah, and he goes out, and then we're sitting there for a few more seconds and one guy goes. Was that awkward for anyone else?
Speaker 2:Yeah, you're like I'd feel a lot more comfortable if you had clothes on. Bro, my gosh.
Speaker 1:I got my own stories, as you know why I took my tricep. But I want to go back to the fame side of things, because you went from having this mentality of chasing and climbing. There was fame, but it wasn't of the magnitude that it became right. But when that fame came, what kind of distractions came with it?
Speaker 3:Well, I mean, I think a lot of it was still the same, because I just kind of slowly got that way. But I mean, I think it's just you have more options, you have more options and stuff to do. It wasn't really, I mean, for me it was just there's more availability to different whatever you wanted to do. I was able to do more things, and also I was able to afford to do more things. We grew up poor and we didn't do a whole lot. It's a different experience sometimes.
Speaker 1:So you're living life as well as you're knocking people out yeah.
Speaker 3:I was good, you know. I think if I was in this era, I would have done, I would have fought a lot more.
Speaker 2:That's a great point.
Speaker 3:I would have been in camp a lot more, because back then I mean I fought. Basically I had a fight here in Vegas for Nick like an open hand strike fight, and then my first fight, real MMAma fight, was in the ufc 17 and then from there I went. I did a few other things, but for the most part I fought in the ufc, ufc or pride for most of my career. Yeah and so and so basically there's only so many big fights you have here, so I I fought on average probably three times, like three times every two years, pretty much. So you know, it was one of those things. But now I'm a guy that's willing to fight If I'm healthy after a fight like they.
Speaker 3:I loved when they offered me Guy Metzger after Randleman. I knocked Randleman out in a minute 18. Fast, yeah, and they needed a Pride, neededa fill-in for um to fight guy metzger, and it was in three weeks. And then we had to do like a three-way deal between the ufc, me and and pride. And because I had like a, because usc was going to keep, keep me, they wanted me, and I had a two-tier deal, like if I won over there, I got one tier. I lost over there, I had a different tier If I lost over there. I got a different tier. Then I went over there and three weeks later so I took a week off. John gave me a week off because I had already planned to stay out in New Jersey with my relatives. Then I got home. We took a week to put in the training camp, went out and fought again. Got paid twice. Got paid twice.
Speaker 2:At that time I made $10,000 and $10,000 and then $20,000 and $20,000. I made $60,000 in three weeks and that was more than I'd made in my career at that point. That Kevin Randleman knockout by the way so fast was super impressive.
Speaker 3:Kevin Randleman was a monster Unbelievable Coming down from head.
Speaker 2:I asked for that fight because they weren't going to give it to him.
Speaker 3:That was a scary fight. They didn't want to give it to him because they said, well, if you beat him, you're going to be in line. You've got to fight Tito. I said, yeah, of course he's got the title. Still, I want the title, I'm not not fighting him. Yeah, so I went out and I won him because he came down. He came down. Heavyweight champ was supposed to dominate, so I wanted the next guy to make it better.
Speaker 1:Were you friends back then, you and Tito, or the rivalry had already started?
Speaker 3:It comes down to friends. Here's the thing. What happened was we trained together a little bit. I mean, he started training with a buddy of mine and my buddy brought me in to help him. I was a sparring partner for a little bit and the thing was I beat him at everything I could beat him in a straight wrestling match. He was probably better at submitting people, but he couldn't do it to me. I'd sweep him If he started on top of me. He couldn't stay on top of me. At practice I won the takedown battle every time we trained. I think he got two takedowns on me the whole time we trained. Wow, and that was only when we were doing straight wrestling no striking.
Speaker 2:And that's impressive too, because he was such a good wrestler Both those times.
Speaker 3:Well, he's the style of wrestling I fight against. He's kind of a of a bully wrestler and I you're not gonna muscle me. I mean, I can throw me around, muscle me and wrestle me. You can't. If you're gonna beat me wrestling, you're not slick me, right? You know you don't get a. You don't get a muscle me. You're a meat, I'm a. I was a meathead, I was strong, I was flexible. You know it's really hard to bully me.
Speaker 1:Right and then sorry.
Speaker 3:So what happened was so when it looked like so, I went and fought, I won those two fights right, and then they had a last minute. They offered me what was his name? Now I can't think of his name, vitor.
Speaker 4:Belfort, they offered me Vitor to do.
Speaker 3:I think it was 37 and a half and it was like one of those is going to make it on to Best Damn Sports Show. So I was like, oh yeah, I want to get on that. So yeah, I'll do it. I'll do short and order. So I beat him there and then Tito jumped in the ring and said when he's done with Ken, he was going to kick my ass. He said that. And then all of a sudden, I go fight Babalu. And they're like, oh, you don't want to fight Babalu, he's got 10 straight wins. He's a beast. You don't want to wait.
Speaker 4:They were building him up.
Speaker 3:But you don't want to risk your title shot, just wait for your title shot. I'm like, no, I need to fight, I'll fight him. I got him, so I knocked him out with a head kick. And then, all of a sudden, tito wins against Ken and all of a sudden, instead of I'm going to kick his ass when I'm done with Ken, it's like, well, I don't know, maybe I ought to go to Pride or two, go to Friends.
Speaker 3:Tell me one time you called me for anything other than asking me to do something for business. Tell me one time you came. I mean, you come up and say, but he made it. And back then he made it sound like you know, he took me. I mean, if you talk to the way you listen to his interviews, back then it sounded like he took me out on the street, taught me how to fight, and he betrayed him. He said, oh, he used to sleep on my couch. Are you with him? Yeah, right, you know why? Because that cheap bastard wouldn't get me a hotel and I was willing to stay on his couch and eat his wife's cookies instead of feed me.
Speaker 3:I was a sparring partner, I was just being cool staying there. I didn't make it sound like I needed it. I had a house, I had a gym, a house. I was good, but it was like one of those things. But that was back right before that fight. Dana was like you got to get better at interviews, right, and Jim Gallo was my manager at the time and his sister did drama somewhere, but she was a drama teacher, did the drama from somewhere, like, but she was a drama teacher. She's like he's like hey, you want, you want to do like an interview, uh, like a coaching thing with her, and I'm sure that'd be cool. So we went in and and she kind of, you know, she's like like first, first off, you're speaking at a two. I need you at least at an eight, okay, so you gotta, you gotta be a little bit louder.
Speaker 4:Yeah, okay, volume, my volume's gotta to be up.
Speaker 3:And then the other thing he saw and she had me write out the 10 most common questions I'm asked at the time and she wrote out some. And then she looked at it and she said, look, you basically got two questions here and they're both dumb. So he's like so just answer yes or no and talk about whatever you want for about a minute and a half, A minute to a minute and a half. And if they're any good for these old school radio interviews, if they're any good, they'll take that and make it a good interview and they'll play off that and do that stuff Because I can talk.
Speaker 3:I mean, if you ask me, people back then would ask me these asked and answered questions. And you're like, um, yeah, Like do I, or do I want to make this guy sound like an asshole or because he's not right, but I, you know what do you want me to say? Like I mean I don't want to. They ask dumb questions, but that that really. And then they're like, man, you've gotten so much better at interviews. I'm like, yeah, man, you've gotten so much better interviews. I like, yeah, what I did was I went, got a coach. You guys, you can't tell me, just tell me, do better yeah, I'd be coming up to you going that your right hand sucks.
Speaker 2:We do better, do better yeah, I think I'm not telling you how, but go ahead. We talked a little bit about this with all Joe and Merab and it's like, know there should be some kind of media training. They're pushing you guys in front of the entire world and that's actually some people's worst fear is getting up and speaking in front of people, and so you know it's like that is a whole new thing that you have to like now deal with and now also be good at it, which I feel like that's tough for guys, especially if they're not used to putting on a show, except for when they just knock people out right. It's like they're more fight-focused.
Speaker 3:But the thing is for me I think some people get too into being a character or doing that the easiest thing for me is just me, Just be you, If you can just be. You answer the way you think. I mean there's little things you can. She did a lot of little things that she could help me. I don't want to hear it that way. You're my hero. I don't want you to say it that way. I want you to say it this way. I'm like you know. Hitting a guy in the street is not worth breaking a hand, and I'd be able to fight for a while. I don't want to feel like you're worried about breaking your hand. You know I want to. You're my, you're my hero. I don't want, I don't want to worry about that, so don't talk about that you know, I'm like well, you know I'm not really worried about it.
Speaker 3:I just I mean, if I, if I because if I punch you I don't care much about anything like I tell me, I tell because I, I tell people like, if I actually people get like I meet people, friends of my buddies, and we start talking about it and I'm pretty animated when I'm talking about something I'm into right and people like start going. I can see them going like we're getting like a little argument or discussion about something that we disagree on and they start going.
Speaker 4:I'm like oh, man, come on man.
Speaker 3:Don't do that you got nothing to worry about. If I hit you, your mom's going to ask you why I waited that long because that's how big an asshole you are.
Speaker 3:I mean, that's not my thing. I don't like forcing people to do things. I'm like the next thing you're going to give me an hour time. Why don't you just punk that guy? Why are you talking to him? Why don't you just punk him and get it? I, I the next. He's looking at me all the time about. Why don't you just punk that guy? Why are you doing? Why are you talking to him and just do that? Why don't you just punk him and get it over with? Because you know if, if I punk him, 99.9% of the time he's going to make the right decision. Has he done enough not to make it to the hospital?
Speaker 2:Yeah, Go ahead and have it that one.
Speaker 3:Has he done enough? But has he done enough for me to go to jail or get sued? No, so why I can always take it there if I need to.
Speaker 2:Well, thank God, you're not like that. There's always that.
Speaker 3:If they cross that. That's people got to remember, though as I've gotten older, the line's way up here. But there is a line, but without my family around or good friends that you're trying to hurt, you're going to have a real tough time getting me to do anything. I've had guys take swings back in the day before I was on TV. You sure you want to do that?
Speaker 2:This is your last chance. Are you sure you want to do that?
Speaker 3:This is your last chance. Are you sure you want to do that, like you catch the fist? Yeah, kind of the same kind of thing. Are you sure you want to try that again? We're trying it again. It's not going to look so good.
Speaker 1:You missed the first time. Yeah, yeah, you missed the first time. Do you want to be in my book?
Speaker 2:No, you don't. Yeah, exactly If I could for a second. Going back to the schtick, right, Because I feel like a lot of guys nowadays kind of have to have that schtick and I don't know if that comes from WWE or whatnot.
Speaker 3:I mean, I ain't mad at them, though, because think about it.
Speaker 2:They make money that way. Right, it's like they're getting more people interested in the fight.
Speaker 3:Hey look, it's like Chael Taunton.
Speaker 2:He's great, no, no, his. He's great, no, no, his talking.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, but Chael did that and I used to make fun of him. I used to give him a hard time. I'm like, yeah, good thing you do that, because you're the boringest fighter out there. The way he's old, he's a throwback to lay and pray.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:You know, like he's like, but I mean he's, but he's a character, people want to watch him. But he's a character, people want to watch him.
Speaker 2:He had two title fights because of it. Colby Covington, all these guys, I mean there's guys who have put this kind of thing together and it's worked for them.
Speaker 3:I'm not mad at you for it. It helps you jump the line. I used to get ready back in the day. There's only about four or five, six UFCs each year. I used to get somewhat ready for everyone because if someone fell out, I wanted to be ready to go and jump in because I wanted to jump the line. I don't want you know you're down, I'm getting there, but I don't want to have to. If I can jump the line, if I can lip, I'm sure someone could talk me into lipping off the right way and I could jump the line. I might have been talked into it back then. I don't know. I'm kind of glad I got to do it my own way, but it wouldn't have been you though, chuck, yeah, no, but I still won't say stuff. I don't think you needed it.
Speaker 3:I was on Dancing with the Stars, right? So they're always asking me to say certain things while I'm training, while I'm dancing, because they want to get these sound bites, right. Can you say this? And there's certain things that they want me to say, like threatening, and it's not me and I'm not doing it because I'm not playing somebody. Hey, if I'm doing it and I'm actually doing a movie and I can act, I can be a character and do anything you want, but if I'm playing me, i't, and there's certain things I wouldn't do.
Speaker 3:And finally, one of the days I'm like dude, we're working out like six hours a day sometimes and I'm like you ask me one more time. I'm going to kick your ass. I'm telling you, stop it, stop. I told you I'm not going to say that I don't want it. You don't understand it. And when we got off the camera, he said look man, I'm not going to say that I don't want it, you don't understand it. And when he got off the camera, he said look man, I'm sorry, but I just I have to ask you or I'll get in trouble. I went oh okay, then we're good. I'm sorry, man, I just thought you were just being a dick.
Speaker 3:I'm my bad, I'm an idiot, my apologies. Go ahead, ask as much as you want. I'm just not going to, I'm just not going to answer. I'm just not going to repeat it. It's not going to happen. But you can ask as much as you want, as long as it doesn't get you in trouble. I don't want to get no one fired.
Speaker 1:Now that I know, still no.
Speaker 3:The answer's still no.
Speaker 1:The Dancing with the Stars Chuck. First of all, listen, I enjoyed that and see you up there.
Speaker 3:Well, it was great. We were still. That was still back. We're still trying. It's a new market, it's not our demographic, it's something People see that we're not. We're still fighting a little bit. Back then there were a bunch of Neanderthals that don't have anything else they can do right, so it was one of those things I still got. You know, they do some piece with me. My daughter painted our nails and stuff like that. It was cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I thought it was great for the sport Again. I mean, the sport has grown in so many different ways and it broke. You're one of the guys who broke it into all these different spaces, you know and I think that that was really important to do some pretty cool stuff.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you've lived a hell of a life. Yeah, I mean, I mean I could do my entourage, like that was. I bet I would ask everybody to get on that. Like I just I'm like everybody knew. Like I'm like, yeah, that's my favorite show. It's the last show. That was the last show that I I used to make sure I watched it on time, like Like I'd watch it every week on time.
Speaker 1:You know I didn't TiVo it. It was a funny idea. I loved it too.
Speaker 3:And then you had the pot and I got a part and I was hoping they were going to have me do like and I said I just want to walk on and say hi, vince, or something. And they said, hey, we're doing this punk show, why don't we put him? Make the punk him Perfect. It was awesome.
Speaker 1:It was great, great scene. Flex was doing a little Dancing with the Stars in here right before you got here, he's got some dance moves I'd love to see you on a little Dancing with the Stars. I was supposed to have gone on, believe it or not.
Speaker 2:You would have done good. I'm not kidding, he can dance, he's got moves.
Speaker 1:Well, a couple of drinks, but everybody looks good when they've had a couple drinks, right.
Speaker 2:You think you do Liquid courage.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the UK. I was supposed to have done Dancing with the Stars and it was right after Mr Olympia and post-Olympia you go on like a media tour and they couldn't align it, so I kind of picked up a few pieces.
Speaker 2:It must have been harder when you're that big, though, too, I still could move.
Speaker 3:No, I'll tell you the hard part for that. It's funny. Anna Turbin's guy was my partner and she said this interview and I was talking about it and she apologized because she realized she called me a Sherman tank and she's like I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it in any bad way, you're fine. I'm okay with being called a Sherman tank.
Speaker 1:I'd be calling a low risk.
Speaker 3:A lot worse. But she said the difference is the girls will back, lead the guys right, but with you. If you go the wrong way, I go with you. I can't do it, I just can't get there. Because, you can't pull. They can't pull you because you're so big. It's not as easy to back lead you, so smaller guys are easier for them to back lead. Usually it's the guys lead the girl, but that's the other way around, because then they know what they're doing and you don't Do you still have any of them, moves.
Speaker 3:You still be able to retain any of them moves.
Speaker 2:I don't think I ever had any of them moves. Take a crip, walk in here. Oh man, you could crip walk in here, oh man. But I do feel like the steps are very similar in fighting. It's just like learning patterns.
Speaker 3:When I went out, we'd already started working on. I forget what type of dance it was, but it was one with a lot of Pivoting and swinging around. I was like, man, that would have been a good one for me. That would have been Because it was a lot of the stuff that I do To get backing up and moving and getting angles on guys Right.
Speaker 1:So, but we never got to do it. I know you mentioned this earlier, but my gosh, how dope would it be to be in the Simpsons? I mean, we all grew up watching the Simpsons, right, and this?
Speaker 2:guy.
Speaker 3:The best part of that was, though. So I went to go to do a couple of lines I had at the studio, and they go hey man, they're doing a table read. Do you want to do the table read right now? I don't know, want to listen to the table read? Sure, so, for the next episode, not the one I was in.
Speaker 3:And so what they do in a table read, they have all the voices around the table and they go through the script and I'm watching and they're all in voice, right, character right, and hank azaria is there. You know, he does like a few of the guys in the bar, right, yeah, he's got a couple. By the way, this guy starts doing a conversation in the bar between himself in three different voices. No, amazing. I was like, wow, that is cool, because he's like he was switching back and forth, just like. It was like I'm like the same guys talking three different voices coming out, and I know and I was a fan of the show, so I know, I'm like, I know those guys, like I know, wow are you sitting in a room like everybody?
Speaker 3:table with everybody okay, so you guys are like reading with each other basically they were, I wasn't, but they know, no, I was there just going to go do like a sit on a mic like this and do like my line for the show, right. But they were in there for a table read at the beginning because they kind of work through the thing and they kind of make the final edits and they're like, oh hey, this works, this doesn't that kind of thing. You know they do that. That was a cool experience and he's a man, that guy's a stud, so he does more than getting up at half-blast.
Speaker 1:Does he do?
Speaker 2:I think he does more. It's like four or five voices that he does.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:It's amazing I forget now. That was back in the day when I watched that show.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I watched the behind-the-scenes of South Park the other day and the guy switching their voices. They do about six to eight. Yeah, Same thing with the family guy Seth McFarlane.
Speaker 2:He does like three or four of those voices himself. Yeah.
Speaker 1:He's talented, chuck, you know you've got obviously with you now, being in the situation you're in right now, watching it from the seats. Is there any athlete that man you just get amped for every time he fights? Or is there a few?
Speaker 3:Well, a lot of them. I mean. I love fighting them. I love guys that go out there and fight Like Poirot is, like he's such a nice guy too.
Speaker 3:You know, I went out and worked with him a little bit with Glover when he first started coming over. I was working with Glover when he first started coming over. I was working with Glover with him because he was coming over from kickboxing and they'd been working with him. He's just, he's such a nice guy and he likes fighting and he likes he's kind of like you guys kind of remind me of each other.
Speaker 3:I was going to say like honestly, because like he doesn't need a shtick, you didn't need a shtick because you're just a killer and I feel like he's like that and a nice guy too at the same time, and he trains with Glover, who's one of my favorite guys, and he used to be my sparring partner, your partner. Yeah, he's such a good dude.
Speaker 3:So you know so tough, same thing, Same type of guy, like he's so funny, like someone was telling me, like they told me that one time, you know, john gets nervous before fights, john Hackleman nervous before every fight. So they're walking out I don't know what fight it was, but they were walking out for it. I think it was Rampage, but they were walking out for it and one of the guys, glover's looking at him and goes I can't do this man.
Speaker 2:I can't.
Speaker 4:I gotta go.
Speaker 3:John. John's like he goes, just kidding John, let's go have fun. I'm dying that's how relaxed he is fighting, going out to fight Like he's just, he's fun. Glover's a good dude man.
Speaker 1:I know with Alex I've seen a couple of weeks.
Speaker 3:Well, he changes with Glover. And I went out and was working on some of the wrestling stuff and just look, you know just little position things that can help. You know, like I'm not trying to change, he's a better striker than me. He's a better kickboxer than I am for sure.
Speaker 2:Wow, you're saying that even in your prime. If you guys were to meet up, well, that's a different story. That's a different story.
Speaker 3:That's a different story. But I would have wrestled him. We would have been wrestling. I'm not going to stand there and let that guy try to hit me.
Speaker 1:I don't think he's trying to Stand in front of you and get hit by you too.
Speaker 2:I was going to say he's going to say the same thing.
Speaker 3:You said yeah but I would try to Neutralize giving him that shot. I'd have a better shot of beating him. Being a smart fighter, you do that. I mean that's like Alex Overeem. When I locked out Overeem, he's a better striker than me. I took him down right away in that fight. No one ever sees it. I can only see a clip from that. It starts right when I'm walking and I'm hitting him with a straight right. But I took him down the first thing I did out there. I hit him a few times, scored some, got up and then he was thinking I was going to shoot again and I landed a punch. So I caught him good and then finished him.
Speaker 1:Well, he says he was a better striker than me and he's the guy who knocked him out. But I think we know the results there.
Speaker 3:I mean like if you look at his straight kickboxing, like he was, I mean if I sat there and if I let him relax in a kickboxing fight, be comfortable and be a kickboxer.
Speaker 4:I would have had trouble.
Speaker 3:It's like I remember Cain Velasquez fought.
Speaker 4:Júlio Santos.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, first time.
Speaker 3:First time he went out there and we were trying, he got convinced he was going to beat him striking, and I'm like I actually told him hey, man, you take him down a couple times first. Just please go out there. My advice. It sets up your other shots Well, and what it does with the straight strikers? It freezes them a little bit, it throws them off a little bit, which knockouts are a lot of times little fractions of time or something. So you freeze them up a little bit and it opens up things, right, you know. So, now that he's worried about being taken down, it opens up a lot more and it helps your defense, right, it helps your defense and your offense. So when Kane got knocked out the first time, when he went back and you saw him and he mixed everything together and then he did not give up. He did win with standing, but it was after doing everything.
Speaker 1:Yeah, is there any fight there that if you could go back in your prime, that you would just love to fight, just to fight that person? It doesn't matter. Like you know, obviously you're going to say you're going to beat that person because that's the Alive or dead?
Speaker 2:let's say yeah, alive or dead.
Speaker 3:let's say yeah, live or dead. I mean that one. I mean, if I hate those things because everyone's I but I I just think I would have matched up well with john jones, that's. I mean, he's a beast at what he does. He's good, great wrestler. Wait, anybody's good at making people fight when they don't want to fight, and I think I would have had a lot. He would have had a lot of trouble with me because of that. He wouldn't have had that on me.
Speaker 2:His height's always been a problem, and his reach has always been a problem.
Speaker 3:But my reach isn't that far off. John listed it at 76. It's about 79 and a half. The reason they listed it that way John was a little crazy with that stuff. John didn't want you to plan for a guy that long, because if they measured it and it was 79.5, they'd say 80. And if it's 80, they're going. Okay, we need a really long person to train with us. But at 76, it's kind of normal. It's a little bit longer, but kind of normal for his height. So no one's ready for it. And then by the time they figure out, I've actually sparred with some guys that were really good at distance. But since we're sparring, I'm not gonna mention name, but I'm. You know I'd land something. Damn it, damn it like because I can't. They'd be surprised I'm catching them and take them. They've had to take them a couple rounds to adjust and in most fights that a couple rounds to adjust and in most fights that couple rounds it's game over.
Speaker 3:It's game over. Yeah, or you're knocked out. It's just too late, you adjust too late, but I have a lot longer reach than people thought. But I think he would have had an exchange with me and it would have been trouble. That would have been a great fight, but like that when you do that, you can't really go back and do that.
Speaker 1:It's like I don't know, yeah, but I think, for from in your position right now, being as accomplished as you are, all you're doing, respectfully, is saying this is a an incredible fighter. I would have loved to just felt that power that he talks about, or whatever it would be.
Speaker 3:Or like yeah, I mean I would have liked to see if he could have, if I really was the matchup. I thought it would be for him Because you know, styles make fights in a lot of things A lot of guys are easier, like some guys, just don't. Don't stay away from that guy. If you can miss him, it's because he's not good for your style, you know? Yeah, styles make fights.
Speaker 1:Is there anybody that surprised you that you fought against?
Speaker 3:I don't know that anyone surprised me. I always expected guys to come out and fight and be tough.
Speaker 1:Not really, I mean they all got fucked up pretty much anyway, right, yeah, man.
Speaker 2:There was a period of time where it was like that Mike Tyson just tearing through people, knocking everybody out, and everybody was watching. Just watch that knockout man. They wanted to see you ice somebody.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what were you at with the time tires?
Speaker 4:We're at 1.12. Oh wow, when the players dwell.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're in that range, so we're probably like 10 minutes, 5, 10 minutes to wrap this up. Go ahead. Are you on, mike? I can't hear you.
Speaker 4:You can't hear me.
Speaker 1:I can hear you now.
Speaker 4:All right. Okay, so you faced such tremendous adversity and I'm curious if the rest of life seems kind of inconsequential or things that stress people out doesn't really bother you, based off the fact that you've just had to go head-to-head with killers, I mean, everything is different, man.
Speaker 3:You have to deal with different things. I mean there's different emotions, different stuff. Like you know, I've gone through some pretty stuff that sucks. You know it's still not easy Stuff worse than fighting for you. I love fighting, there's nothing worse. But the one thing I missed the most, probably when I retired, was that time, that 8 to 12 weeks of camp where everybody around me understood it and I focused on getting ready for that fight. I still had fun, did my thing with my kids and did stuff, but I didn't worry about anything and everyone knew not to bring me any problems. Unless you know like I tell people like if I'm gone, I don't care if my house is burning down, unless I can do something to stop it. Don't tell me, I don't want to hear it, leave me alone.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know it's funny because Flex I know that single focus and being able to and everybody got it around me too Like it's not, like you know. It's not like oh, come on, come drink with me, man, come on, you're not drinking with us. It's like oh, I'm training for a fight, oh. Oh, I've come to do this. I've got to go train, oh, okay.
Speaker 1:Oh, they don't ask because they know you're in the zone. They know you're.
Speaker 3:Once they figure it out, they're like okay, Chuck's in the zone, We'll deal with that later. Even the people around me are like okay, just make a list for me, Don will take care of it.
Speaker 2:We'll deal with this in eight weeks.
Speaker 3:That's what I never used to think I did. But my buddy's like oh yeah, you're always cool and mellow, but you were a different cat that last week. That shot is getting sharp Because you're at that point, especially the week before, because I stopped training the last training session, and then you're ready to go and now you're not using your energy for anything because you're kind of just cruising, doing a little workout here and there, but we never did anything big after that like 45 minutes of just kind of moving through the motions.
Speaker 3:so now I have all this extra energy and I'm sitting there and I'm like, and you're ready to go and you're prepped for a fight.
Speaker 4:So yeah, it's a.
Speaker 3:You get in a little mode.
Speaker 1:Is there one thing that you kind of took for granted when you were competing? I'm sorry fighting that. You wish you kind of know you were tired.
Speaker 3:Took for granted.
Speaker 1:Or something you miss as the fighter.
Speaker 3:Like I said, I just I miss it. People always ask me what don't you miss from fighting? There's nothing I didn't miss. I liked going to the gym and getting ready. I used to say I take a couple months off after every fight by taking off it didn't mean I was out of the gym.
Speaker 3:Taking off, I wasn't the focus of the time. Usually I had to be back by Monday or Tuesday to spar with someone because they had a fight coming up. Just because I was done didn't mean they're done. Time off to me just meant I wasn't the focus of the training camp.
Speaker 3:I always love martial arts. I love fighting, love. I mean I've been doing karate since I was 12. You know I used to and I always tell people like I, that's one of those things I used to do. I used to go to wrestling practice and I do my homework at school, go to wrestling practice and then I go to karate after I go to.
Speaker 3:I do for football season. I go to football and then I go to. I go, I try to get all my homework done. So I go to karate after you know. So I won't let it go. So, yeah, I love training and I always. I kind of figured out when I was young that if I train harder than these guys over here and I keep learning more, I can meet these guys that have been here a lot longer than me or have been here doing this longer or that're better than me. I can get better than them. I learned that I felt that when I was little. So I just always was always trying to get better, always improving, always getting better, always get better, because I wanted to be able to beat everybody and with the evolution as that sport grew, with all these different, you know, and that was the thing what happened at first.
Speaker 3:Remember when I first came into it, I was really. They're still trying to be like the wrestlers versus the jiu-jitsu guys the strikers. And then at that time there's the guys that have evolved and really figured out wait, we've got to learn everything, we've got to do a little bit of everything. And then there's the guys that tried to keep proving it was their style, and then they kind of faded out. It's their style because they.
Speaker 4:You have to adapt.
Speaker 3:Don't adapt. Adapt or die, especially back then, if you don't adapt. It was going so fast and you had to be decent To be a good fighter.
Speaker 1:You had to be decent at everything. Was it hard to get training partners back then who were specialized in certain things to bring them in for camp?
Speaker 3:Everybody was trying to figure out how to do camp. I mean, we were figuring out how do you mix wrestling and striking and jiu-jitsu. One of the best adjustments we made was for sparring. When we were doing sparring you could shoot any time. So you didn't get—because the problem is a lot of guys would get— we'd get in a kickboxing stance, get comfortable in kickboxing and then when we wrestle we get in a wrestling stance. Then when we fight, we're in the middle somewhere. Now you're timing things off.
Speaker 3:That's why I try to tell people Bill was talking about striking. I'm like, oh, it's not like boxing. Well, you can't strike like a boxer in a kickboxing match Because, guess what, I'll kick you in the leg. I'm going to kick you in the leg. I'm going to do that a couple times and you're not going to want to fight anymore. I mean I always said like, if I fight a boxer in a kickboxing match, you got one round and knock me out. By the end of that round you're not gonna be able to put enough weight on that front foot to to knock me out. So I mean, it's just, it's one of those things that people. I always get that thing with people about the striking and your striking is different from me?
Speaker 3:yeah, because gloves are different angles and and it's just, you can't stand a certain stance. You got you got, you gotta worry about wrestling, you gotta worry, you got to worry about everything. So it changes the timing a little bit and everything you know. But so it was always hard to to adjust. So I, my timing got better with my wish, because I was finding a hard part. I was had a lot of knockouts and kickboxing. I was having a hard time transferring it over and then when I started doing that, so now I, now I'm training, so I, even after that, when I work with a couple of good boxing coaches, I'd start at the beginning I'd just say, hey, man, this is my stance, you can't change that. After that I'll listen to everything else, I'll take any advice, but I'm not changing my stance. I mean, obviously, if I went back to boxing or back to kickboxing, I'm hoping it's changing my stance, but as long as we're doing MMA, this is my stance.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it worked out, definitely worked out. Obviously, now with Tyed, you've got this incredible legacy People still talking about your highlights, as if it happened last week.
Speaker 3:You know it's a surprise, we were just talking about this, my girl um, we're walking out. I'm walking out of a pizza place and you know there's a it's right right after the high school football game or something and there's a bunch of kids could have been like probably eight to about 12. There's probably about 10 of them out there in front of the pizza place where our parents are inside, and we're walking out, hey that's chucklin, oh like what are you 10.
Speaker 2:it's kind of cool. It just happened when we were in the gym right here. The general manager was like dude, he's like he's freaking out bro yeah he's like my dad is the biggest fan.
Speaker 3:I get. I get that a lot. The, the. That was for the first time. Hey, you're my dad's favorite fighter. I'm like, oh great.
Speaker 4:I'm not that old.
Speaker 3:But now really I get it a lot and the cool thing about it is I've had people tell their dad they're into MMA and they go oh you gotta check this guy out. So all they've seen is a highlight reel of me knocking people out. So that's kind of nice too. Or I get a lot of people like man hey, I had a lot of good times with my dad watching you fight. That's good, thank you, and that's cool.
Speaker 1:That's really cool, Super cool. Talking of which and it's a nice segue how does a dad know yourself with two kids? Right, you have two kids.
Speaker 3:Well, I have five, total Five. I got two younger ones, I got 11 and 12.
Speaker 1:Well, wikipedia needs to change that fucking thing. Oh dude, wikipedia's been wrong forever. Oh gosh.
Speaker 3:Someone asked me who's this and they said it was my karate instructor. Like on there, it was on Wikipedia. I'm like I have no idea who that is. That's his claim to fame.
Speaker 1:He's telling everybody. I don't know how he got it up there, but okay but as a dad, how did that affect you when you were in your prime? Did that affect you at all? Being a dad, balancing life and fighting um?
Speaker 3:when I was, when I was fighting, I had two kids that were with their moms. They were with me here and there, but they weren't with me a lot. They moved away. So I spent time with them whenever I had them. It was great. I have a good relationship with my oldest daughter just got married. That was cool. Oh congrats. Yeah, she's awesome.
Speaker 1:That's cool Brad, to be Chuck Liddell's daughter.
Speaker 3:Yeah, she's in like neuroscience stuff. I think it's doctorate Beautiful.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 3:I've got some good kids.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we were talking just before we went on air About the kids, and every time we talk, we talk about the kids. That's why I brought it up.
Speaker 3:I used to tell people too, training camp was great for the kids Because I'd be gone. I mean, to be honest, I'd train eight hours. I remember Tito would say I'd train seven, eight hours a day. I'm like bro, I was on your couch that time, I don't remember. Are you counting driving to and from the gym and to interviews and all that stuff? Because I mean he'd go running and then he'd do like a striking workout and a wrestling workout. But I mean legitimately, maybe three hours if you're not, unless you're counting the full warm-up and everything, maybe.
Speaker 3:But like I was saying, saying even during training camp, I'm gone for a couple workouts a day for now and then, and then the rest of the time I play with my kids. I go out and play in the pool and go goof around and joke around. My kids were spoiled kids back in that day too, and all my fighters that are at the house would be my oldest daughter. Hey, can you get me this, can you get me that? Go get this, play this game with me. And they're like okay, she was like running the whole place. It was funny.
Speaker 2:I was going to say maybe he was doing the eight-hour arm workout.
Speaker 1:Nobody wants to touch that Chuck. Can I land in this? Oh, a funny thing. I don't know if you've seen this. I'm probably people sent it. Have you seen that guy kicking off in Walmart? He was like oh, I tried, chuck. You know, chuck Liddell, I trained that guy?
Speaker 3:Oh dude, I just saw that. Yeah, that guy's hilarious.
Speaker 3:You don't know him right? No, not at all. That's book. No, we trained once for a second. Yeah, yeah, oh man, I used to get that on. I don't know how many times I had people come to me hey, my buddy's just borrowed you. And I'm like, oh yeah, tell me. I said hi, I can. Then they'll try to dig into it. I'm like, okay, bro, like um, well, uh, they told me oh yes, his name's this. I'm like, oh yeah, I told him. I said hi, and I'm like they want me to acknowledge. Like'm like dude, I'm trying to be nice. I don't know that name. And if he sparred with me Unless he one time sparred with me At a class or something and I was just doing a thing he wasn't my sparring partner. No, no, he was your sparring partner. No, he sat in the seminar. If he was my sparring partner, I know his name. If you say his name, I will know it.
Speaker 1:Because I picked him up off the ground.
Speaker 3:But I had my guys. I had my guy. They're friends of mine.
Speaker 2:When you share blood and sweat, that's how it works, man, the funny one.
Speaker 3:Hey, you used to date my sister. What's her name?
Speaker 1:Oh, Actually, I do know you could call it date.
Speaker 3:I don't know, I could call it date.
Speaker 1:That's her claim for fame, bro. That's her claim for fame, Rock. Anything else in parting questions before the pod lands the plan.
Speaker 2:I wanted to bring this bad boy up here, since you had it here in the office. I mean, you're an action figure, bro.
Speaker 1:How cool is that, though, bro? Let's be honest, it's awesome.
Speaker 2:When I say my boy's got his own money, my boy's got his own money.
Speaker 1:Yeah, as you guys know, if you've been and seen the office tour that sits pridefully on top of the VHS, ufc sets, that's one of my favorite fights the card collection. That's one of my favorite fights because I remember being around all the boys during that time. Everybody was talking about it and everybody can tell you where they were when they watched that Chuck Tito fight.
Speaker 2:It was the hypest fight UFC had ever put on. I mean, Ken and Tito had a good rivalry, but that, I feel like, was game-changing.
Speaker 3:Oh, you want to hear something funny? That's a funny thing from that. The first time we fought, we had to do the pictures for the thing, and this was back in the day when they actually used real cameras and they had you both there Real stuff. It took about three hours because they shoot a bunch of shots shots Because they don't get to see if they have the shot. It's not like now where they go, take three shots and look, okay, I got it. So we're doing that and we didn't say one word to each other. And the only time we broke a little bit we touched noses and we both kind of went. It was pretty funny, but we didn't say a word.
Speaker 1:The whole time broke a little bit as we touched noses and we both kind of went it was pretty funny, but yeah, we didn't say it worked that whole time. Well, that's become one of them legacy fights that everybody talks about, no matter how old it is.
Speaker 3:That's going to be talked about in 20 years time hey, you know, the funny thing is like people say something like I'm a bro, like I don't hate him, like I just, yeah, you're tearing up't hate him. Like, I just don't care enough to hate him. I mean I wish him the best. I heard he's a good dad. Give him that Good. I mean I don't want anything to do with him, I don't, but I got nothing against him. I mean it's like hey, bro, it's over, we're good.
Speaker 2:I saw the special, the documentary on ESPN. It was great there's a documentary called Chuck and Tito.
Speaker 1:It's 30 for 30. Yeah, 30 for 30. I have not seen that. It's great. I should have.
Speaker 3:They did a really good job actually of kind of glossing over the whole thing and the growth of the UFC and kind of putting it together it was a really good job they did on that.
Speaker 1:You'll like it. I love all that stuff. Again, it doesn't matter how old that was shot, because it's still so relevant and still so exciting to watch something that you already know the outcome of. I think the behind the scenes of that would be definitely interesting. 30 for 30, yeah, okay, check it out. Well, chuck, man, I really appreciate it. Man, I know that you literally got off the plane and came here straight away. For me, man, it means a lot. Finally got you here to the gym after us trying to pull this off. It's been a while it has. I've been trying to get him here and it's not because he doesn't want to come here, it's just. His guy is like two passing ships. I'm here, he messaged me.
Speaker 1:I'm in Vegas, I'm not in Vegas, I'm in Vegas. And then he said, bro, I am slammed, I can't get over, maybe before the end, and I'm like I'm not going to see him, but we've done it tonight, and that.
Speaker 3:I appreciate it much, thank you.
Speaker 2:Thanks for having me Any parting words. My man, no brother, Thank you for coming.
Speaker 1:The Iceman in the Honored to again see us go from that square off in Lincoln, nebraska, to now have a friendship and see what you've done through your career, now into retirement, all the things you've achieved and being a true pioneer of leading all these opportunities to all the fighters that are now just having these incredible new opportunities. And you were that man that opened the door for so many. So you've been a true pioneer. You're a legend of the sport, the champ and everybody's you know, everybody's favourite fighter on the scene. My friend, so honoured to have you here. Thank you for chopping it up so late and it's been a blast, my friend. I truly appreciate it indeed thanks, Brian this is Flex Rock, the Iceman.
Speaker 1:We are out.
