Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjqBXAFlrTc
the Joe Rogan experience. How old were you when you had your first match like that? My first professional was 19. 19. Fight King Zulu with 120 fights and four draws. Only 120 victories. He was a big guy, too. Yeah. About 210, 220 and about uh Yeah, he was a big guy. How much do you weigh at the time? 174. Those uh matches are still available online. people can watch them. Yeah, it's pretty cool. I think so. Yeah. Is it wild looking back at 19year-old you fighting Zulu was a maybe the biggest experience in my life because at this point I felt like I was good. I was able to to fight well but I didn't have the experience. So, and then one day I get home, I saw my father talking with his Zulu's manager in Brazilia, the capital. And the and the guy tried to bring to invite my somebody's of my father team to fight Zulu. And my father was saying, "No, I don't have nobody. We don't fight valud for so long. Nobody's training for." And I I get the idea said, "Hey, dad, pull me in. Pull me in. Pull me in." So I immediately asked him to and he looked at me and he mentioned to the to the Voldemar Santana said yes but I have my son here at 19 years old he want to try and the guy said no Mr. Master Gracie, this is not a fight for him to try. The guy is very tough and this and that. As the guy tried to pull my father off the deal, my father becomes more excited to the No, but I think he going to go handle the challenge this and that. So, he's become excited with the the situation. So, and then we set up the fight. One month later, I was there to fight and uh we start the fight and he has a trade trade uh like a one move he does which grab you with the hands between your legs and lift you up and throw you over the only back on the floor. And as he approached that, I moved back, block his his shoulders, and hit him with the knee right on his face. Was the best knee I could possibly give in somebody. And I expect him to just I expect to win the
fighting right that in that moment. But he just shook he stood up, lifted his head, shook spit a tooth, and start back ready again to go, you know. And then I felt like was really serious and the thing was much serious than I expect. And for the next 10 minutes because was 10 minutes rounds for the for the end of the round we just engage and fall on the ring and come back in and back and out and a lot of a lot of commotion a lot of strength. And in the end of the round I kind of crawl into the corner and I said to my dad, "Dad, I quit. I don't I cannot go anymore. I'm tired." And my dad not even listen to me. He said, "He's tired than you. He's worse now. You're going to kick his ass, do this and that." Said, "Dad, I'm serious, man. I'm dead. I cannot go." And then my brother holds throw me a bucket of ice and water in my head. I go and then bing the the bell rings and I push in again and like my dad said, I could beat the guy in three minutes because he was already tired, wasted, too. So when I grabbed his back, he could not escape and I put him to sleep. And uh and then I confirmed my worst enemy was in my mind was the my enemy was in my brain tell me I have to quit. I have to so I decide and that day never hurt my my mind tell bad things to me anymore. So either I going to die or I don't go. But if I go I cannot say oh I think I had enough. I think it's time to. So this was the worst enemy I could have. And from that day on, I decide to either go to putting every tank on it or don't go at all. So it was easier for me because I would start to to to deal with one enemy only, not two enemies, the my mind and my opponent. It's probably the most common thing that happens to fighters is they they lose faith in themselves or they they start to look for a way out. Yes. That's pretty much uh because you don't see the other side. You see yourself and you see tired. You see with problems. You start to see the negative aspects of you and you're not putting yourself like the guy has the same problems. He has the same idea. So you have to keep going here as everything is normal and it's hard to to people relate to that. You
know when you start to get in the problems you start to see yourself bigger than the other ones. you know, more problems and more and that's not going to be the the right way to resolve the matter. It's interesting that you figured out how to handle these things uh on your own, too, because this is uh it's an area that fighters seek psychological help with now. They hire psychologists and they they get hypnotized and they do all these different things to try to figure out how to stop that negative conversation in the mind. How to stop those negative voices and how to not give in to that weakness that wants you to quit. Yes, this power we all have within. But some people don't even go for that and they they seek for different people to help them which is good too. But once you become more intuitive, when you become more enlightened with your own potential, you able to resolve all the matters yourself, you know, because it's all about your mindset is how you think and how you believe and what you ready for and what you prepare for and how you able to to accept and surrender everything around you and that these moments that where you do want to quit whether it's in training or in competition For people who understand that and have experienced that and have overcome it, life becomes easier. Yes. I think you know martial arts when practics with with a complete idea is a metaphor for life. You know you become a good martial artist you become a good person. you you're gonna become a happy person because you want to be able to to conquer your your happiness outside of the mat and to deal with your demons. Yes. Some people never fight those demons. They never So when something happens to them in life, some adversity comes up, they're not accustomed to handling it. Yes. And we're seeing a lot of that now with this uh pandemic. We're seeing a lot of people freaking out because they've never really experienced any true adversity in their life. Yes. No, it's not only for that but because they don't ever thought about how to resolve those problems you know
they just thinking the problem is there what I going to do but they don't thinking about how I can control the situation how I can be on top of this how I can you know just defend myself from those demons and and and if you don't see the perspective of how I can resolve my problems you allowed yourself to to to put your problems in somebody else hands to resolve for you. And it's all about perspective. It's all about focus. Watch the entire episode for free only on Spotify.