Issue 172

November 2018

"The California Kid" has accomplished a ton during his career, and he shared some of his magic moments with us in a quick five-minute round...

You were always the big face on the fight posters. What was it like, carrying the division, carrying the torch, and taking on all-comers over the course of your legendary career?

It’s just the real world for me. It’s all I know. Same old same old. I take a lot of pride in it. The sport has needed leadership over the years.

It needs people to help propel it. Ronda Rousey helped move it forward. Now Conor McGregor is opening a bunch of new doors.

I have been that guy that helped the lighter weight classes take off. I joined forces with guys like BJ Penn and others from the lower weight classes. I liked that role. I cherished that role.

We hear many fighters say they have played a fight out 1,000 times in their head before they step in the cage. Where did you fall on that scale? Do you believe in visualization?

I am a realist. You can’t control the entire fight. You can put forth your best effort.

I visualized myself being offensive. I visualized myself doing the things I want to do in there. Not necessarily the outcome but more the process.

I had a sports psychologist who was offering to work with people on my team. I said I would do it, as I’m always looking for an advantage. When I worked with her I remember whittling down my goals to specific things to have my perfect performance. So I visualized my perfect performance and not specific finishes.

It seems like the super fight and big payday fights are much more attractive to many fighters right now. To many, the title is not the end game. Has the allure of being a UFC champion worn off for many fighters in some way?

Yeah I think so. The title is something you are always looking at but the truth is, this past year, nearly every single belt has changed hands.

The undisputed champ is not necessarily the thing right now. You want people to watch your fights. The cool thing about this is the ability to fight in front of millions of people and have them see what you are all about.

To be in a position to make more money is more of a drive right now. Every fight is tough. The championship mentality, there is no secret about that. Many people have that. It’s something that is real in our sport. We want the big fights. We want the big paying fights and we want to do this thing big.

The world knows so much about you, but what is the most interesting thing that nobody knows about you?

My grandparents are immigrants from Holland. They had heavy accents, heavy Dutch accents. They were part of the resistance during World War II. They helped protect Jewish families from the Nazis and risked their own lives on many occasions. They were given an award. It’s on a plaque in Israel. They are known as part of the resistance and they are do-gooders.

It’s called Righteous among the Nations. My great grandfather on my mom’s side was an entertainer. He had his own show on Broadway. He was a singer and dancer and played a number of instruments including the trombone. He was on a few shows on television back then, too. He was a part of Larry Clinton’s orchestra. He was also Jackie Gleason’s understudy. His name was Ford Leary.

You are doing very well for yourself financially. What is the best advice you could give to a younger you?

Just be really intelligent about your money. As you get older you learn about taxes, about investing, about all kinds of stuff like that. Luckily for me I never made any huge financial mistakes but if I knew then what I know now versus what I knew when I got my very first paycheck it would have been helpful.

What was your favorite moment from your career?

It was my third fight in the Gladiator Challenge, it was on the outskirts of my hometown. I fought a guy named David Velasquez. It was for the Gladiator Challenge World Championship which meant a lot back then in 2003. It was on an Indian reservation. It was very intimate. I had all my friends and family there. It was the first time that I actually saw what I considered decent money. I sold so many tickets. I made a couple thousand bucks.

It was an eye-opening experience in that I thought that I might be able to do this for a living. I was well below the poverty line at that point.