Bulletproof For BJJ Podcast
This is the official podcast of the Bulletproof For BJJ movement. Hosted by JT & Joey. Each episode the founders break down problems that Jiu-jitsu people experience, giving guidance and tips to improve your training for BJJ. With the goal of helping every body on the Brazilian jiu-jitsu path reduce their chance of injury, improve their strength and mobility to become more resilient.
Bulletproof For BJJ Podcast
Fear, Loathing, and Jiu Jitsu in Las Vegas
Bulletproof Boys get down to the Brass Tacks on their Las Vegas Jiu Jitsu extravaganza!
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A good martial artist does not become tense, but ready. Essentially, at this point, the fight is over, so you pretty much flow with the goal. Who is worthy to be trusted with the secret to limitless power? I'm ready. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another Bulletproof for Bijet podcast.
Speaker 1:The highest of highlights from Las Vegas CJI ADCC. The trip was freaking epic. Now this is some of the behind the scenes. You didn't see it, so we're very lucky. We had young Jules and we also had our boy, jack Attack, who are our YouTube videographer assistants and they took some good footage. So you guys might have seen some of that, but there was plenty of stuff you didn't see. Yeah, check the vlogs, by the way, you've got some sick vlogs on YouTube, definitely, and we needed to shine a light on this stuff because some crazy stuff that went down and if you didn't see it or you didn't hear it, it was epic and so we need to bring a light on that. Let's go there. Highlights, baby, baby. Bring a light on that, let's go there. Highlights, baby, baby.
Speaker 1:Lucas canard with possibly the biggest upset of the cji, easily, my god. And if not, if not, both events, yeah, the submission of the tournament, bro, victor hugo, who I fucking love. Victor hugo, right, amazing guy. He's like. He's the guy at heavyweight. It's like he could have won it, like for everyone's thinking it's going to be him and niky Rod in the final Sure. And then Lucas comes out and he was a last-minute replacement. Yeah right, mason Fowler With Drew. He was injured. I did speak to Mason about that afterwards. I said what's wrong with you? No, he's fine. He's like have you.
Speaker 1:But then lucas gets the call up. Yeah, lucas gets, which I mean I don't know how craig figured the invites, but it was like holy shit, I, I don't know lucas, I didn't even know he would. He's competed heavyweight. He's here from sydney, like he's from our town. He's out at um sydney wrestling academy, yep, and so you see him about like at the subversion and stuff. And yeah, I'm like people are telling me he's a big guy, but I'm like I don't think he's like victor hugo, nicky rod kind of big guy, which he's not like.
Speaker 1:It was like watching an absolute match. Yeah, like he's a big dude, don't get me wrong. But but by comparison, physically, yeah, and he fucking throws the inside heel hook inside here. He snapped that thing on so fast, like you see, victor hugo Hugo was just caught fully by surprise. Yeah, it was fucking massive. That was, in my mind, equivalent in energy to when Heisam Reader submitted Cyborg in round one of ADCC two years ago. Yeah, it was kind of like one of the first early matches, yeah, and it was almost like everyone's kind of watching, spectating and then this thing happens and everyone's like, oh shit, yeah, that was enormous, it was huge.
Speaker 1:And uh, I mean, shout out to lucas, he did win, uh, 50k from newtonic. Sure did. Yeah, amazing, sure he invested that straight into cases of the drink. But it's funny, I was talking to james smith, um, after the event and he was like I went and rolled with lucas and I've been telling everybody that's, this is, these are james smith's words and who's one of the co-founders of newtonic. He was like man, I've been telling everybody like this guy's gonna leg lock. Somebody like this guy is is a surprising motherfucker, you know. And sure enough he did so stoked for him it was. It was an amazing moment.
Speaker 1:Who, um, who knocked him out in the next round? Uh, did he lose to hulk or inacio? He gets crossed by inacio. Yeah, potentially. Yeah, just didn't let him get to the legs, yeah, and just man inacio santos. Right, yeah, had that fucking prison yard vibe about him. That's mean, no, but he did. He was like hey, if I'm casting people and I need some Mexican gangsters from LA, I'm going to pick that guy. Bro, he was I know he's not Mexican as well, but full respect, he was a fucking wedge bro. Like him in particular. You're just like, that is the kind you do not want to grapple against. You do not want him on. You Like you'd almost rather a Nicky Rod or something, because you're like at least there's going to be some dynamic shit. Yes, yeah, but he was just like a crush, yeah.
Speaker 1:Now I want to go to a slightly different highlight. On the first day of Vegas, some edibles were brought to me. Oh, don't sing that, bro, please. I just lost about a thousand viewers. Nah, whatever, fuck, you Stay tuned. So, unbeknownst to Joseph, because we got there a day early.
Speaker 1:Jt's wife is a pusher. Let's just cut to the chase. She's a fucking pusher. She loves a good time. She loves it. Oh, edibles are legalized here. Great, I'll take everything. No, you made up. And then she's just like handing you these fucking. Yeah, she just like who wants it? Who wants it? Because so, yeah, my partner ola is always down for a good time. Uh, if you don't know already, she is polish by descent and has great tolerance for many substances.
Speaker 1:And anyway, we went to the dispensary on the first day. There was one literally like two blocks from our hotel, and we went in there. She's like oh, just have a look, it looked super dodgy from the outside. You just had like windows all kind of plastered up. You get in, it's like an Apple store. Everyone's really nice wood finish. You're like, whoa, this shit's professional People are really friendly. Oh yeah, what do you think about this? I don't know. It was buy one, get one free. All I wanted three, three packs. And then he's like oh, do you want like three free packs? And she was like oh yeah. So she was like fucking santa claus with that shit. So I said to, I said to joey, I said, mate, let's, uh, let's, meet up first day in vegas before it all kicks off. Maybe let's have a beer or whatever. And Ola came and she's like hey, you guys, you should have some. And we kind of had half each.
Speaker 1:And the thing with edibles is I was already sideways because I'd had a couple of beers and after I put down the first beer because I'm like jet lagged and shit right, jet lagged as hell and and shit right, and you're in Vegas, so you're all fucked up, yep, even if you're trying not and that first beer I was like, oh, I'm fucking lightheaded and it felt good. But so I think, yeah, a couple of drinks down, and then I was like slipping us these gummies. And anyway, I don't smoke and marijuana is not in my vocabulary. Really. Oh, my goodness, I didn't even realize. I mean, we are squinty humans at the best of times, bro. I had the levi eyes on, bro. It was like I saw a comment, it was like we could blindfold you with dental floss. I was like I didn't, I didn't realize it and till we were like it was probably we're a couple more drinks in, a couple more edibles in, like we.
Speaker 1:And then we're sitting there and what was the moment, joey, where you were like we, we went for a walk because you just lost all the time you're always fucking wandering through all the hotels and we ended up sitting in like somewhere on the casino floor, but it was where their sports betting sports, right to the side, yeah, yeah, and it's like. I mean, it's not like a cool sports bar, it's just. It's just like they got this huge fucking screen that's like the size of I don't know a billboard, and it's got all the fucking horse races or whatever. You know, we're sitting, there's couches, and we're sitting there and I think you were talking a lot, as you do and I was just like sinking into this couch and I'm like, oh, jt won't stop talking. And then I'm like I can't talk. I'm like, oh, I can't get off this couch and I was like, fuck, this isn't the high that. I'm like this is I can't get off this couch. And I was like, fuck, this isn't the high that. I was like this isn't how I wanted to feel.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you brought me a drink. I brought you a beer. Well, I was like I was just trying to keep it going. Yeah, you did good, you're like I'll get drinks. I think I said I'll get them and I was like I just couldn't drinks. Yes, and you were saying the beer changed on you, bro, I'm like JT brought me this beer and I'm like you're like I got you an IPA. The guy said it's a good local one or whatever, some nonsense, and I'm like it tastes like syrup. I'm like it's just getting stuck in my mouth. I had a couple of swigs of it and I was like I can't, I can't, I can't, bro, no, we had, we had to call it.
Speaker 1:And then all this, like we were pretty, we're pretty fucked up at this point. We, we go outside it's quite bright like we turn towards the hotel and I was like, oh, take a photo and we're like just looking, looking super baked, but uh, anyway, it was good times. Those fucking edibles followed us around for the rest and all it was just like every sort of just at random intervals, like do you want one? And I was like, nah, it's breakfast, man, chill, it's 8am, I need to be able to talk today, I need to pay attention. Today. I think it got the Prince worse than us actually. Yeah, but he likes that, which I realized Because the next night we went out to dinner and Prince had him and he'd be like I'm pretty fucking high. He'd not say anything for like an hour and then he's like I'm pretty fucking high and then proceed to not say anything for the rest of the night and then the next day he's like I had another gummy and I'm like bro, you must love this shit. He does Good times.
Speaker 1:Let's go back to the matches. I want to talk about Levi Jones. Leary oh my God. Well, the big fucking highlight Bro him back taking Hulk. Let's talk about all of it.
Speaker 1:So Levi has been a friend of ours for a long time. We've both trained with him and actually helped him rehab his shoulder about 12 months ago. So it was great to do some work with him and just respect the hell out of him. And in my opinion and I say this with no shade at all when he won the Spider 100 grand a couple of years back in the Ghee, I was like it was probably about six years ago now. I was like that's it, like it's over now. When he beat Lucas Lepre at the Euros, I was like it's Levi time, but it didn't. Uh, lucas Lepre at the Euros I was like it's Levi time, yeah, but it didn't quite play out like that Right, like he didn't necessarily wasn't the didn't quite realize that potential.
Speaker 1:But here's the thing he has been training with Lachlan Giles full time for pretty much the last two years, like he's based himself in Melbourne. And then when we saw him combine bolos with leg locks, oh my god, yeah, game over him, heel hooking roberto jimenez like in that super tight and he would. Roberto's just looking at his leg folding inside out and he's just like just eating it. You're like bro, the next thing to happen is snap your ligaments and then, holy goodness, it's like that's dangerous. It's not just levi maintaining guard, it's him actively getting on your legs and threatening the hell out of you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the way he, the way he coupled like his bolo game with that roll back into the saddle was so fucking slick I couldn't even process it at the time. I've had to like thank god for instagram. People like we're drilling this shit that levi did at cj and it's like, whoa, look at that like it's fucking incredible. Um, that guy just has the best like upside down awareness of anyone, right, like I think that when you're looking at someone, it's like he's. It's like when you see like people tricking and gymnasts and stuff and they can like have aerial awareness. Levi's got this fucking upside down awareness. It's amazing, yeah, which is I mean you have to do bolos for a decade to to build that, right? Yeah, and he just his ability to pummel and just post and move and like his guard retention and I think it really showed against kate.
Speaker 1:Uh, ty rotolo. The fact that ty couldn't pass was exceptional. I didn't actually expect that. I thought invariably one of the Rotolos is going to leap just leap over Levi's guard. Somehow that didn't happen. And also, he wrecked Ty's knee in. I think it was in the first round where there was a big spinning exchange and you can actually see in the replay in Ty's face he's escaping but he goes, ah, like his knee kind of twists and extends and it's it's kind of like a twisting knee bar position. He gets out. Is it like an outside heel hook, do you remember? Yeah, it could be like he switches his foot and spins, but he's you can see his knee kind of hyperextending and then he does get out, but for the rest of the match he's not, he's not passing as well, and credit to him. He did the rest of the match right, like and it wasn't obvious that he was injured, but no, just no. I think it was more obvious to people watching on the stream. Yeah, yeah, um, and it was funny.
Speaker 1:I, I saw, uh, some, some people close to me were like fucking kade, like when kade won, how he was talking about like oh, you know, my brother got injured, blah, blah. It's like. Can't't Levi injured him? Yeah, like Levi busted him up. It wasn't an accident. Yeah, that's right, it wasn't a slip and just words of comments. I don't know. The guy's YouTube title is like CB67560 indiscriminate. Don't know who the hell you are. Look man, I don't hate to see anything. This guy said oh, you'd hate to see levi win the million dollars, competing like that. So shut the fuck up. Like it's jujitsu. Like levi was actually more attacking than so many other people. So if levi were to have won the million dollars and nothing else changed in the match between him and kade, I would be stoked because he was actually trying to get stuff done and and just prior to the Hulk match, right Like Hulk submitting Joseph Chen the way he did what an upset.
Speaker 1:That was kind of very surprising, right, yeah, because Hulk has a bit more of that traditional like take down, just hold you down. He was looking kind of lost for options, maybe pass, yeah, and then he just pulls out the calf, slice, knee crush. He's just like it's great, damn it. It was mad. And I said before the match between Levi and this is why I was blowing up so much you guys didn't see this.
Speaker 1:I said I think the only way Levi can really beat Hulk is by taking his back, because I don't think that was where back take came from. Back take Because I just I didn't see Levi getting under to the legs because Hulk just wouldn't let you. Hulk's just this fucking torso and he just hugs you, right. But Levi has amazing freaking back takes. So I just thought, well, if there's one way he could win, that would be how he could win. Yeah, I sent Levi a DM on Instagram shortly before the match and said don't forget the back take. Just to remind you, it's still on red. Yeah, it's like Joey said I'm pretty sure he saw the notification. But yeah, it's that K guard kind of spot over the arm. I can't make sense of that fucking back take at all. It's awesome and, man, it's amazing to think about his ability to control a match against someone who's so strong. And hulk had to cut massive weight to go under 80 he's.
Speaker 1:I also give levi the fucking bulletproof for bjj bonus prize for being the most handsome rig at the event. Bro, he looked dude, looks good. Yeah, fucking jacked lean, extremely handsome. More handsome than Luke Rockhold by far. No, actually, joe was saying how handsome Luke Rockhold was at the start. I've always thought Rockhold was a very handsome guy. However, spiritually, I don't think he's particularly attractive. No, there's a bit of a kind of bitterness there. Levi, however, is just good times.
Speaker 1:Xanadu Tell the story about Xanadu. Because Xanadu? Tell the story about Xanadu? Because we were there with Mikhail, yaya and Mon About the Xanadu thing. Do you remember the story? I'm probably going to cry when I tell you it was the sweetest tale.
Speaker 1:This episode is brought to you by Parry Athletics. Parry Athletics make the best no-gi training gear in the world of jiu-jitsu. They've been a show sponsor of ours for some time now. We love them. We love their gear. They make the greatest training shorts, both for in the gym lifting weights and doing your mobility as well as being on the mat. You can get 20 off when you use the code bulletproof 20 at checkout. Go to parryathleticscom and make sure to use the code bulletproof 20 to get 20 off. But here is the reason why this is going from Mikhail, who's been a training partner of Levi's for a long time. So please tell Well, correct me my recollection so when he was a baby, his mother would call because Xanadu means like perfect place, yeah, like a heaven, yeah, like my paradise kind of thing, and his mother would call him Xanadu.
Speaker 1:Means like perfect place, yeah, like a heaven, yeah, like my paradise kind of thing, and his mother would call him Xanadu because that's what he was to her. All right, god damn that hits so deep as a father. But so, yeah, and so you know, for him to carry that as an athlete, god damn it's beautiful. Yeah, look at me, I'm fucking. I've got to hold it back, bro, shit, hold it in son Cut to me. I don't give a care about that shit, because I was like yo rip Cade Rotolo's leg off. That's what I was like Take it back to Zeniters.
Speaker 1:And the crowd was like USA, usa, I'm like why you always got to take it there. Yeah, why does it have to be a nationalist? Why is it going to be a nationalist thing? But what was so interesting was the cji crowd was really mixed. There were like clearly wrestling crew there, because jason nolfe was in there as a elite level wrestler from, you know, penn state and and a legend within the sport. Also you had um pat downey, so there was like wrestlers in the context. And there was another gentleman who was also a high level wrestler I've forgotten his name. Back to the highlights.
Speaker 1:So Cade versus Levi for the final, and I didn't actually expect it to be fireworks, I expected it to be a little bit style versus style, which is, the unpassable guard versus the dynamic passing guy. Yeah, and that's pretty much how it played from the beginning. It was one one Like one round Cade, one round Levi, yep, and or it might have been a split decision. I think Levi won the first, or maybe first and second, yeah. But here's the thing the crowd was behind Cade and Cade was. And here's a like Cade didn't go into Levi's game. He didn't want to engage his guard, of course not. And Levi didn't go into Cade's game, right, he didn't stand. Well, no, he did. He did stand up. No, he did momentarily, but for like 95% of the match. He's like I'm playing my guard game. So I think they both had, they both were equally respecting each other of game.
Speaker 1:But then, um, there is something about like pulling guard. That isn't is kind of passive, right, even it's not, it's not, that's bullshit, that's a bullshit. Take, it is not passive, okay, craig jones, how has craig jones won in the adcc? Oh, of course, but I'm not. I'm not saying that the guard is not an aggressive thing or that it doesn't, or that you don't.
Speaker 1:You're saying from appearances, yeah, from a spectacle point of view, it's more exciting for most people to watch people stand up and go take downs. And I think the difficult thing here was it was directly following Tackett and Cade, yeah, which we've got to say was probably one of the greatest no-gi jiu-jitsu matches of all time. Like it's right up there in terms of exchange back and forth craziness. That felt like… that was pinnacle. That was the best match. In my opinion. It was like the most exciting match out of the whole tournament. But you know, people got to play their A game right. You've got the two best guys in the world. You can't like I would never hold that against him.
Speaker 1:But I think, yeah, from that kind of, from that outsider's view, that there's always like a bias towards the person that doesn't pull guard being like more action driven, even though actually, if you look at it objectively, cade was not bringing more action. He disengaged. I think Levi tried to bring more action and every time levi would go to his leg he'd just pull out. He just, you know, you know, he just he would just disengage. And he actively turned his back like there was no, no penalties there, right, like obviously, uh, kade, like he turned his back like take my back. He'd do that like three or four times from from what was. Like he just turned his back like, yeah, come, no, take my back. He'd do that like three or four times From what. He just turned his back like, yeah, come on, come, take my back. And then this should be very telling as to why I would actually believe Levi to have won the match.
Speaker 1:Cade went all right, I'll play guard. Oh, you forgot, son, you forgot Levi's got pressure passing dog and he came up and he went to the leg drag. And you're like, oh, got pressure passing dog and he came up and he went to the leg drag. And you're like, oh, he might pass. And then kate's like, oh, no, no, no, I'm gonna stand back up, yeah. And then levi's like, okay, I'll play. Guys, didn't you say ty was yelling like don't do that again, kate. It was like it it's you know. Kade made fun of him and said oh, you know, like it's so easy to just pull guard. It's like, bro, it's actually not, it's just levi makes it look so like he just does it so well and definitely towards the end of the match it was getting a bit stalematey. But in truth, if you look at the rules under cji, really levi should have won because he was the one who was actually trying to do stuff, whereas kade was just sitting on the guard and he actually didn't didn't successfully pass or even try to pass in that last round.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I did feel otherwise. I felt that I was like I think it goes to Cade. No, I knew Cade would win. I knew Cade would win. I don't think it should have gone to Levi. I was like I do need to watch it again. But I was like, yeah, but people are torn right. It seems like there's 50-50 people like fuck, yeah, cade. People are like, no, levi got robbed. Yeah, I think if you go back, you look at the scoring and you watch the match with no sound, no commentary, levi wins. Whatever your personal bias is about guard passing, it doesn't matter. Levi did more. But, understandably, cade is the number one guy in the world right now and Levi couldn't quite successfully implement his game. So there, world right now and Levi couldn't quite successfully implement his game. So there it is.
Speaker 1:I've had that situation a couple of times recently where I've come to training with some water but I haven't had any electrolytes, and I've finished training and I've had to go to a convenience shop and buy myself some kind of sports drink. Usually, a Gatorade cost me like seven bucks. It's small and it really doesn't contain that much of the good stuff that I'm looking for, which are the electrolytes. Sodi, on the other hand, is my partner when it comes to hydration, and I'd simply just run out of it and it sucks because I got to go buy expensive stuff that doesn't do anywhere near as good a job. I'm super stoked that we've been restocked with the Sodi and now I can be properly hydrated when I train jujitsu. This has always been an underexplored aspect of my training and I'm so stoked that we now have these guys in place to support us and also the listeners of the show. So if you want to be hydrated on the mat so that you can perform at your best and have the best mental clarity while training, get yourself some Sodi. Go to sodicomau that's S-O-D-I-Icomau. Go to sodicomau that's S-O-D-I-Icomau. Get yourself some delicious hydration salts and use the code BULLETPROOF15 for 15% off. Go to sodicomau. Get yourself hydrated.
Speaker 1:Oh my goodness, cji after party, because this happened before day three. So I was able to have a chat to Adam Jones. Adam, you know Adam Jones was not happy with me after the the, the bad stuff I had said about his brother misinformation I was spreading, apparently. And you know I apologized to him because I'm friends, I have been friends with Adam Jones, I got love for the guy. We were training partners. He's a good dude. So I bumped into him at the airport and I said, mate, apologies to you and apologies to Craig too. I'm happy to take that. So I want us to be cool. So he wasn't real happy with me at the time, but he had to think about it. He came back to me said fair enough, man, that was a good move. I appreciate that. Buy us a beer at the after party, which I did. And we were there at the after party.
Speaker 1:What they did not tell us about the after party is that you had to wear long pants. I didn't know this Because I'm like it's a jujitsu after party. You know, like who cares? Like it's Vegas People wearing socks and slides in the casino, who cares?
Speaker 1:I could not get into the after party because I was wearing shorts. I had to go to the gift shop and buy ladies at leisure wear hammer pants for $110 so I could get into the club. And I said to the bouncer bro, you better let me in. Man, I just spent this money. I left the tags in, by the way. But he let me in, thankfully, and so so did Julian. You look pretty good in those, like. They didn't look bad on you, okay, felt like I dream of genie type shit. And they're okay. It felt like I dream of genie type shit. And then some other guy too All three of us bought these ladies at leisure wear pants to get us into the fucking club.
Speaker 1:I mean, that's a rookie mistake, eh, showing up to a club in shorts, maybe, maybe. I just thought, ah, it's jujitsu. I didn't understand that they had just gotten a spot within this much larger nightclub. Yeah right, so that was my misunderstanding. But we got in. So you know you get into the. What time did we get there? It was like midnight or some shit. You guys were there a bit earlier. I got the fucking traffic on the strip. We got there like quarter past. Yeah, big club. It was actually quite hilarious.
Speaker 1:We were in the line and the line's like a group of guys and girls and they were all dolled up like ready for a big night. I wasn't really sure, but they didn't look like jiu-jitsu folk. And then Craig, kind of Craig walked in and was kind of standing sort of around and people were just like all over Craig and this and he's on the phone and big smiles and photo. And these people behind me were like I could see they were just sort of enamored by him. What's going on? And they're like, excuse me, he's like who is that? And I was like funny, you should ask he's an Australian grappler. And they're like what is grappling? So I gave them the little synopsis and they were like, and I was like, so this is his party. And they was like so this is his party. And they were like, oh cool, did you show them any birimbolo? Did you pull guard? I was like let me take you through the whole live stream right now while we're in line. But it was happening.
Speaker 1:I actually thought we were in the club. We weren't. It's in Wynn, it's a big casino hotel, and so we made our way through. You just weren't in the VIP section or whatever. No, no, no, we weren't in the club club. There's like an outdoor bar area and there's tables like craps and blackjack and you're like, oh, wow, this club's popping. There's like pools and fountains. I'm like, wow, this is great.
Speaker 1:And then I was chatting with Adam and Mikhail and we're kind of hanging out and having a couple of drinks. Straight away, the prince goes to the tables, jack followed him, and then they're like, oh no, the club's in there. And I was like, oh shit, and there's just this line, the most epic line, snaking through what I thought was the club but was like the outdoor area. And they're like, oh, if you want to get in there, you got to join that line. I was like, no, we've got Adam Jones as an ace up our sleeve, he'll get us in. So anyway, it all played out. We're having a couple of drinks, we're having a good time seeing heaps of people from the event. It was cool.
Speaker 1:And then finally went to the head of the line where the security kind of letting people in and they gave I think they gave Adam like four wristbands, so it was himself, his partner, ash, mikhail and Mon and they were gone. I mean the anticipation. You're like they got up to go and you're like, come on, let's go, like we're getting in and we get, and we snake through and we get to the front of the thing and the rope opens, yeah, and those four go in, rope closes. But uh, it was. It was quite funny because eventually, over time it just opened up right. So there's towards the end, like it was just just opened up right. So towards the end, like it was just opened up, and so there was a section which Craig had sectioned off, private section for the CJI crew.
Speaker 1:And I made my way into the club with Ola and I found Owen, owen Flanagan, and he was. He had drinks in and he's waiting for the bathroom. He's lying in the bathroom. I'm like, hey, how are you going? Yeah, good, having a chat. I was line for the bathroom. I'm like, hey, how you going? Yeah, good, having a chat. I was like, oh, mate, I have.
Speaker 1:Like he looked really good and I thought he could have done better in the tournament. You know, it's like, yeah, but he's such a chill human he didn't care and I said, oh, man, you, what's happening? Like, what's going on? He's like, oh, if you see charles around he's, he's like a rabid dog. You know, I gotta fucking call charles out.
Speaker 1:Man, the whole event, we're at the same two events. He came up, he, the whole fucking time, the whole thing. And we texted on Instagram yeah, man, I'll see you there. Cool, I'll be at that for sure, we'll see each other there. Make sure you let me know where he's sitting. And we fucking didn't ships in the night. Where was ya? Didn't see him the whole weekend, gave him a hug, lovely guy. But yeah, he was. He was on a different level, he was in a different dimension, I believe good man. And I said to Vegas does to a young man.
Speaker 1:I said to Owen, I said what's going on with chat? And I was like I think you are, you need to talk to Craig Jones. And he was like what does that mean? I was like I mean I think you have to go talk to him and he was like is that a euphemism for doing some blow? Let's go talk to Craig Jones. I was like that's classic, he's such a funny guy. Owen is a Dude, he's a mad funny cunt.
Speaker 1:And then, yeah, eventually got up in the section and James Smith was there, hodger Gracie was there randomly. I saw Fuck, he's tall. Huh, he's such a big rig, he's so tall. Gucci Smoothie was there just thrashing around. Who's that? Founder of Street X. Oh, yeah, okay, just thrashing around his rat's tail looking classy. No, it was cool.
Speaker 1:There was a lot of that makes a lot of sense that the owner of Street X has a ratty. Yeah, doesn't it purse finest. How good? Uh, no, I think they got great. Looking shit by. They got great. I really I'm like that brand, the shit that I see from their instagram ads. I'm like good on you guys. Yeah, like this shit looks awesome and it's an australian thing and you're like that's mad. It's got like some kind of x factor to it. They're doing great.
Speaker 1:And then, at a critical point, I mean we must have come in late, because I saw james smith, I saw dearon, I saw like their kind of crew. Yeah, I fucking went and harassed that guy. Yeah, I complimented him on his touch. I don't know. He posted some weeks ago him playing a soccer match, okay, and I was like motherfucker's got a touch on him. He's good, eh, yeah, good. And I was like and I don't know if he fucking it was probably hammett, I was probably everybody was. I think the only person who wasn't Hammett was Kenta. He was like the only one there who was not drinking, still having a good time. He doesn't drink, I don't know. He just he just yeah, he was just super chill, but it was nice to like.
Speaker 1:I actually had a chat to Craig. Very briefly, I got a minute with him, did you? Yeah, Cause I, you know I had chatted to Adam and we're good. Shout out, adam Jones, he's savage. I love your mullet, by the way and I was like no, I want to go talk to Craig because I wanted to talk to him.
Speaker 1:Just, you know, like, whatever it doesn't matter, like you know anything I say I think doesn't mean shit to Craig anyway, he doesn't pay attention. But I just want to say to him like, and I did. I said say to him like, and I did. I said mate, and actually when I went up to like shake his hand, he was like oh, get away from me. Like he's like nah, like I was like bruh, come on. And I said mate, you know what you did with cji.
Speaker 1:It's changed the game, you know. You gotta, you gotta see that for what it is, it's fuck. You can't, you cannot, deny what has been done. You got two grapplers, paid a million bucks each and everyone else got paid and you put on this amazing event. And also, can we just say he's like thanks for telling me. I just didn't know, he knows, he knows, but I wanted to, I wanted to give him his props and I also I was like man, I gotta apologize, you know, I talk a lot of shit about you, probably like I talk more shit than you deserve. And he said to me nah, mate, I probably deserve it. And I was like you fucking cunt. Anyway, I was like cool man and I was like look, you know, I it. There's no point in me talking shit about you, like what you've done has changed the game. I think it's fucking rad. So just want to give you respect. Man. He's like thanks bro, shook hands, little hug, whatever. He's like fucking, have a good time. Man. I was like cheers bro.
Speaker 1:And in person, craig and I have never really had any disagreement person to person, you know. So that was cool. In person, you've never really had any disagreement, no other than like me trying to rip his foot off or him actually ripping my leg off, you know. So where's it all come from? No, all come from, no, I just think it comes from us being very different people. We're just very different people, you know. And then you know and that's okay, I can accept that he is a rock star and that's how he lives his life. And I'm I'm captain, get your hydration in. I'm captain, dad. You know I'm misresponsible, so and that's totally fine, because I am trying to and what we are doing is trying to help folks be healthier, and Craig doesn't give a shit about that and that's fine because what he's done has still been net positive. For jujitsu, yeah, even though you know he lives his life how he does, you know.
Speaker 1:And so we're at this big fucking party. Next minute there's a call for the fucking strippers and everyone bails. I was like, wow, follow Hodger Gracie, come on, ola, let's go. We left Jack and the Prince on the tables. I think I can't remember what was going on there. They were still playing. We just kind of got I got booted out of the blackjack area. They're like, hey, they're like this is closing, the bar's closing, shit. But they're like but no one else can have drinks. Yeah, and so we I mean, at least for us we ended up out of the club and following this parade, but then it just kind of was like the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, like follow me to the strip club and then just disappeared. And then we kind of ended up at a bar and we just hung out there and somehow Joe knew everyone this is the thing I've got to say people and the thing is underestimated.
Speaker 1:Joe, when he's on one, he makes friends with everybody, even people who had nothing to do with jiu-jitsu. We're just standing at the bar and three random guys walk past. He goes hey, what's going on with Steve Jobs right here? And this guy's like, oh, what's up, my guy? And then his mates knew you and I was like how the fuck? Well, his mates listened to the podcast, didn't they? I don't know, I think that's what it was. Maybe one of them yeah, steve Jobs is California cat. He had a long sleeve, black top on, like looks like Steve Jobs clearly Turtle make. Yeah, real nice guy. And then, yeah, I mean, yeah, I fucking.
Speaker 1:When I'm it's a fair call. When I'm up there, I like connecting the dots and shit. Well, because it can be a bit stale at events like that, right, everyone's like trying to have a sick time, but everyone's a bit uptight, trying a bit hard. Yeah, and it's kind of this, this human condition, where we're like particularly in like australia, america, where we really want to have a good time and but but we're like kind of too uptight to like go and talk, don't want to be silly, or yeah, you know so. So, and I'm often reflecting on that. So I'm like I'm gonna get a little bit lit here and then I'm gonna fucking go and do the thing and like just start up some conversations with random cunts.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it was good, it worked out well. Yeah, joey was basically like the Australian Fonz. He was just like hey, hey. And then fucking, wizard of Ozbeck walked through. Yeah, he's a dude Christian, shout out to that guy and he's one of the kind of James Smith, yeah, those guys. But he was just cruising through and I was like, bro, I fucking love your takedown shit. I love watching your takedowns on Instagram. He was really lovely. He'd done well at the Open. I don't know what he placed, but he'd kick some ass there. Yeah, he's a super tough grappler. He's at Hodger Gracie's too. I think that was the connection, the Hodger Gracie jiu-jitsu connection.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and walked the prince and Jack. At this point Julian had gone home sensibly, had gone home early, and when I had last seen them, jack was up a stack and the prince was down to his last chip and I was like, oh, this is, I'm going to leave now. Prince took a couple of L's and then it switched. In the time that we didn't see him, prince just came out flush with cash and Jack's like I might have some chips left. No, not at all. So the tides had turned, the tables had turned, but we have to talk about the next day, because the next day history was made.
Speaker 1:Adele Fonarino that's a pretty good impersonation of the ring announcer. Yeah, I didn't roll my eyes, fucking hell. Adele was sensational. She was on it, she came in, she was switched on. So what did we see? Did she submit? No, she didn't submit everyone.
Speaker 1:Her semifinal match was Four out of six Ref's decision, wasn't it? Four out of six, four submissions out of six matches, yeah, matches, yeah, wow, no, I think. In her semi-final she went to the leg leg attack and the girl fell. It was actually an atos teammate, I believe. Oh, yeah, so she's submitted. In the final beer basilico with the, she won, I think.
Speaker 1:Submission of the tournament with the um mere lock, which is the overhook armbar right. That was close guard her category and that was quite fast. That was like within the first couple of minutes, yeah. And everyone was like, oh, that was like within the first couple of minutes, yeah. And everyone was like, oh, because Bia is like a beast, a real beast, so that was going to look like a real problem. And then everyone was like, holy shit, she just won gold. And then so I was able to.
Speaker 1:I was backstage, I was exploiting my backstage pass to just loiter and I got some quick footage with her, which will be up on the vlog very soon, and basically I did a little interview with her and she's like, yeah, I can't believe it. Like she's just, you know, adele's incredibly humble human. She's like, oh, it's amazing, this dream come true. She's like I'm thinking I'll just do the absolute just for a laugh.
Speaker 1:She was the smallest person in under 55. She's literally the lightest person in the lightest category. It's hard to to uh grasp how small she is when you see her on um social media, because she just, proportionally, she's just a human right. Yeah, you just oh, yeah, she looks like a regular side. And then you see her out there standing next to some of the other athletes and you're like, oh wow, she really is quite a bit smaller but she's strong as bro.
Speaker 1:That clothes guard is just like a fucking vice, yes, and when she gets the overhook, like it's you and you could see. Like after what she did in the final when she submitted bia and then she came into the, uh, into the absolute, people were just like wanted no part of her clothes guard. No, she was getting stalled like, yeah, the, the, the bigger women were actually legit kind of intimidated by her ability to, yeah, get the leg lock or, um, get the, get the arm bar, yeah, like we saw like in the final huh. We saw, like the classic stalling strategies we spoke about on the other app be a mosquito, yeah, the lady goat, yeah, and dude, she also. She did the similar to like levi, with underhooking the the arm, not the leg, for the k and then rolling the leg over. She almost had the armbar like that's, that's what she's very well known for is just being able to armbar pretty much anyone and she just locked in and just wouldn't let her have it. So she turned it into a triangle and then she just controlled the match from there and she held that trunk for like five minutes right and a long time.
Speaker 1:Man, I just really wanted her to to win on the finish. But the fact that she could even make the final of the absolute which is amazing and then be intimidating one of the best female grapplers of the last 10 years is amazing. And then be intimidating one of the best female grapplers of the last 10 years is why she has her name the lady goat. And then beat her Like it was now. It was on deductions Beer. Mosquito got penalized twice for stalling rightfully so, because she just sat there and did nothing and Adele just kept moving forward and kept trying to push it.
Speaker 1:And, man, it was mind-blowing to see that and be there on that day and just be there firsthand. I was just like. It was like a dream come true. It's like watching Lachlan Giles when he won his bronze medal and he had that run. It just set your heart on fire because you know the person, they're your friend, you've trained with them, and then they achieve something which seems impossible. Yeah, they make it a reality. Yeah, and they beat multiple world champions on the path. Yeah, it wasn't like a. It wasn't like, oh, you ended up in the final and it went your way. It was like no, you dominated, yeah, and to be who she is, and I think probably a little bit slept on.
Speaker 1:I don't think anybody expected her to achieve what she achieved in the manner in which she did. And so now she's double gold. Her weight, 55 and absolute champion, is is remarkable, and she's called out fion. Oh, my god, what God, what a fucking sandwich. It was so good. It was so good because that's that. That is a funny moment because Fionn was actually there in the crowd and she didn't. She didn't know it, and so Adele didn't know she was there. She didn't know she was there and so, but they weren't putting the flow cameras on her really wishing I was really wishing. It was like bring her out, yeah, bring her down from the stands. Let's have the face off right here, because I don't know if fion is necessarily going to go back to do any kind of adcc thing.
Speaker 1:But you know, adele very humble in her acceptance and she's just like, oh, wow, I'm just stoked and, yeah, this is so great. And then she's like, well, there's someone out there. Yeah, let's talk about it. Yeah, I like it. She's, she's humble, but she seems to be, at least in the last kind of year or so, like embracing a character with the daddy thing, and I think she's got some more. Like you know, she's only partway through that transition. I think you know a little bit, maybe lose a little bit of the humility and bring out a bit more of the fuck. You I think is like lose a little bit of the humility and bring out a bit more of the fuck. You I think is like oh yeah, I'm excited for it. Like, and I and I don't know I, you gotta be like, if you want to fucking like, like step up to like this. I don't know this level that's only reserved for the special few.
Speaker 1:You have to go beyond just being like a good sports person. Yeah, you know. Like a good sports person. Yeah, you know, and you look like craig status, gordon ryan status. It's like when you become, when you play that role, and I'm like fuck, yeah, you can do it, adele, like you got the jiu-jitsu to back it up, you have the permission doesn't mean you become an asshole, you just you just play the role. Oh, you know, or be an asshole, whatever, like it's. That's one way to go right. Be competitive, like not just in your jiu-j but in your mentality, like I found the post-match speeches were just so boring from so many people.
Speaker 1:I've had adversity in my life. No one loves me. I overcame. There were so many people talking about adversity in the last 12 months and I'm like I mean, fair, is this a formula? Maybe you've all been through some shit. No, but it was like why is everyone coming out with this same story? Yeah, and then yeah, obviously, thanks God, thanks family, and that's yeah. And now actually I'm going to say the whole speech in Portuguese Dude.
Speaker 1:You had 10 minutes, like you had your moment. You know, like maybe we need to get some subtitles, but what was great is what makes competitive sports so great is rivalries, right. And so for Adele to call out um Fionn, fuck, yes, that's exciting, cause she fought Fionn when she was probably a little bit green and Fionn kind of squashed her, and now she's really she's unlocked and she's the champ now. So that's like that's a tasty matchup and I believe that we are going to see some awesome rivalries going forward with a lot of the matches that went down Because it was so many exciting moments, but we wanted to just shine a light on Fucking Fuck. Yeah, big ups, adele. History being made Made everybody proud. It was amazing. There it is. Folks. Now, if you love this kind of chat and you want to get more of it, we would like you to like, subscribe, follow all the good things. We appreciate it. You, thank you.
