Ariel Helwani

here be Um, what are be come? Come get to the mic a little bit. Yeah, the Lord ain't gonna help you, just fix your hair. So we're good. Intern intern Intern B is on the way RB so um, text message, you're you're you're pretty good into text message and short tex. What's it called? Yeah? Him too? Abbreviation, So give me some abbreviations if you're talking to people that of your age and your circle, like, oh my gosh,

what what we it's called? OMG, oh my god. I guess l L is another one that I use kind of ironically. I guess laugh out loud l m F A oh excuse me. Wait, wait a minute, what's what's l l L M F A O. What's that mean? Hold on? You cuss a lot of your text message just in general? Why? Yes? Answer? She looked at me like, of course, why are you cussing a lot? How do you I'm sixteen? Oh my gosh, you barely gotta my pearls. Wow?

All right, So give me some of those that's not cuss works, it's not customers like, yes, because I used some of those and I'm thirty six, So give some like the new the new ones on that old timers. Yeah, m f R is for real, that's one. I guess. I guess it can also be Instagram. Yeah, I would have never got I would have guessed Instagram. I feel like we're missing that on the good ones because we don't want her cousin. That's what it feels like to

make I don't think so, Mom and dads. She lying, now, Yeah, the thing is she's trying to come up all those things that you can't decode those text mess That's what's that's what's going on. We're parents. That's the difference in this. And so those are my two are well, we appreciated thank you back, go back sitting your in turn chair. Um. So, so here's I have some text mesters on senior texting code.

All right, so I'm gonna say senior citizens. Yes, I'm gonna say it, and you guys have to guess yes, that includes you. Yeah, it does. Listen, don't get your don't get any your feelings right now? Okay? Sometimes Oh my gosh, l O L what does F you mean? Is that one? I'm just asking. Yeah, So I'm I'm gonna throw it out there and then you guys get the guests. All right, So first one A T D. Think about senior sentences. A T D. Uh uh? I got at the doctors. Are you looking about the doctors

right now? You don't don't cheat? Taylor at t at the nobody you know somebody's done a penalty when they put their hands up. That was the first thing she went to. So at D was at the doctor's. At the doctor's h b F f uh come on, best friends forever? So I got best friend fainted. What's senior senior citizens? Man, I wouldn't listen. I had a wrong game. I'm no, I didn't know. I'm go ahead. Here's one and I'm pretty sure your grandmother. We use bt W

bring the the cream of wheat, Willie, bring the wheelchair. Yeah, B y o T bring your own teeth. Why did you know that? So fact? I don't know. I was gonna say, bring you on testing ah CBM C b M yep, could somewhere. This is so sad covered by medicare. Oh my goodness, every senior citizen would know this, and if they even have a phone to help you. So c g U, I have no idea, can't get up. Brought you my life alert, all right, f w B get your minds out of go alright, friends with beta blockers,

all right? Last last I didn't know what the beta blocker is. I don't know either, but just heard of blue blockers back in today from a commercial. Alright, So every every I think every old person has found this. Um as as as as went through this fl W I W for what it's worth, kind of pass away, forgot where I was. No, God, that's wrong. It was r O F L dot dot dot c GU rolling on the floor. I can't get up. Yes, yes, good job, I mean it was it was in the last to dude,

it was go back and review good a context clues. Yes, this is the last one. This is the best one. G g P b L. I forget all those letters already, g g P b L. Gotta gotta go. Is bowling there anywhere? I gotta go. I gotta pass a kid close, gotta go, pacemaker battery low damn. That's hey, we cut to it. Do not stand by AGESM I just want to put that disclaimer out. No, I'm just saying it was it was. It was cute. I just was like, so there's some other was w t P last one?

W t P? What where's the prunes? Yeah, that's what we're saying. All right, Well listen, hey, if you don't know, now, you know, seniors have a abbreviation text code. Youngsters have abbreviation test code that obviously, uh has a lot of cuss words in it, but appreciate it. Hey, who we got coming up next on the Cut to It podcast? We have Montreal, Canada native and mixed martial arts journalist Ariel Helwani. Ariel is one of the leading voices in

the hand to hand combat sports world. Has been named m m A Journalists of the Year consecutively from two thousand twelve to two thousand nineteen, an old school Montreal expos fan Ariel Helwani on the Cut to It podcast. Oh it is an honor. Thank you, guys, I appreciate you having me. Well, we do a section called get I sed Up, and there's, uh, there's gonna be some random questions and no one knows what these questions are. When I say, no one knows, I have the questions

right here. I get all these questions randomly through miscellaneous, stupid, random places that you would not even think about. But then when I ask you, you will have a such a profound look on your face that that just gives me understanding that that was a damn good question. And I will say, I know. We're deep on the Cut to It podcast. So you're ready, I'm ready, I'm ready. Buckle up, butter cup, here we go. All right, let's go. Let's all right. What was your favorite child hood meal? Oh? See,

gave it to me. He gave it to me. This is deep, This is really deep. I thought you were going to go in a different direction there when you started, you know, pausing after each word childhood meal, probably pizza, every you know what I used to do as a kid and I think you would appreciate this. We had a tradition every Sunday night, uh in my house, we'd order from Dominoes. And I know Domino's isn't great these days, but the one near my house was really, really good.

And I know a lot of people don't like my toppings choice, but I will maintain today I die green olives and pineapple, a little sweet, a little salty, but now I could taste it right here in the back of my throat, taste so good. Don't don't you ever again on any podcast say the back of my throw and do that. Okay, don't do that right here? You know, you know what the tradition was. I'd sit with my brothers in our kitchen and we'd watch NFL Prime Time.

That was the Sunday tradition. Which historical time period would you like to visit most? Oh man, that is a tough one. Um. So you just thought you was going on so weak as dudes podcast. This is great, God, this is refreshing. I thought we're going to talk about boring career stuff sports. This is great stuff. Um. You know what I'll give you the I'll give you the one that first came to mind right off the top of that, that's what I would like, that's what we want. Yeah.

The first one that came to mind was, um May, that's when the State of Israel was was born, and I'm I'm proud of you. I believe strongly in the State of Israel. And that seemed like a really important time in my people's history, coming off the Holocaust in World War Two and they needed at home, and so I think it would be pretty damn cool to be there when the State of Israel was born. So that is awesome. Been at Israel? Love it? Oh wow? Um and uh for my son's junior senior year, junior year

of spring break? Uh, me and my son for Easter. Would you like to know where we spent our time at I'm gonna gainst Jerusalem. No, I wish okay um in Poland? Oh wait a second, you went? Did you go on the March of the Living? Is that what it's called the March? Did you did you go to like the concentration campt Oh? So I went wait what year was that? Uh? I probably went listen, Uh, Covid is screwed up my my my time back yonder that's uh,

it would be two years. It was he's a he's graduated, so about probably two years with COVID, so three years ago, okay, okay, So I went in he was ninety nine, he was three. He was too bad. That's amazing, though. Wow, So you went to out. I went to Auschowitz. We did that in the beginning of our trip and then we went to Iceland at the end because we kind of needed some something up lifting. It was it was awesome and it was depressing. Um we it was tough. What prompted

you to do that? I So the interesting thing is, h when I was you know, I grew up in l A and UM back when we were our ages, back in the eighties and nineties, that's when they talked. They taught history in its entirety. It was nothing about sex or um people's you know, sex or gender people's opinion. It was it was our history. It was history. Wouldn't it wasn't parsed out what they wanted to do. And so in most times back then you would always have

to read and frank and that's what it was. And so I've always had a really a very intellectual mind on the Holocaust. What has done the impact My ultimate place I would love to go is her museum, the museum that they made out of her home ne Netherelands. Yes, and so I'm just I love history. I love I'm

a little weirdo on like what type of history I love? Um, informational history, like something that I can gather and obtain, and how I can apply it to my personal life, for my business life in which that can cultivate growth in me. That is awesome, man, much respect. I went.

I grew up Um going to Jewish school and in the eleventh grade we had to apply to a trip called the marchin Living where they took a select few of us and we went in April, so around the same time that you were there, Um, and we went to Auschwitz. We went to Poland we were there for about eight nine days, and then on the back end they take us. So it's kind of it's exact same thing that you did, but at a different place. We needed some uplifting after that because it was very depressing,

a trip that changed my life forever. We went to Israel to celebrate Israel's independence, so uh, it's around its birthday May and then we go there and uh, I don't know if there's two days that go by that I don't think about being in those you know, gas chambers and seeing the scratches on the walls or all the shoes, the shoes man, silver, it's tough. I would I would talk a one living on this earth would go on that trip and to give you some perspective

about how precious life can be. You want to talk about even something so talking about Israel, my son Peyton, my son Boston, and my daughter Um I baptized him. Yeah in the Jordan River. Wow. Yeah, when we were on our trip back in two thousand and eight. So that's great, man, respect that's cool, all right? Uh? And then last one, you being a Canadian, what do you love about your hometown? Oh, man, I love a lot about my hometown. Yeah. Yeah, Montreal, the greatest city in

the world. I will say that I love how um, culturally, culturally diverse it is. I love that, you know, there's French speaking people there, there's English speaking people. You go there, you think you're in Europe. Um, it just feels, you know, America, God bless. It can be a bit of a melting pot in in Canada and in Montreal. I feel like everyone is sort of accepted for who they are and where they come from. And it's a lot of immigrants, and it's a lot of people from different backgrounds who

speak different languages. Everything has to be bilingual. I just love how different it is. Uh, And so it's an expectation. There areals of what you're saying. I don't know if it's an expectation, but I mean, like half of the day, by law, if you live in Quebec and the province of Quebec, half of the day has to be in French. So it doesn't matter what kind of school you go to, your school day has to be in French. And so you're just grown up, you know, you kind of you know,

I'm still figuring out English. Yeah, it's just a great thing. In fact, that was born French, like my first language for life, for six years of my and you listen, I just you know, you know, uh was French and now I can hardly speak it because I haven't been home for twenty years. Victim, Okay, exactly. No retention in the Montreal school system. Listen, I'm messing with you because I done some research on you. Man. I got some questions. I just got some questions about your personality, which is

it's very intriguing to me. It is, I can I see this interview as a why receiver me and you're the dB, You're the d okay, So in other words, your the fon digs. My man, you know the Bills are about to win the Super Bowl. I don't know if you know this. I'm a lifelong Buffalo Bill fans actually actually didn't care. But continue, I mean, are you Jordan Jordan Poyer? I don't know. That's not a good one because he used to play for another team before he was with Buffalo, used to play with you. Should

I'm talking about that. I'm talking about the two thou one Buffalo understand. But if but if you're if you are technically rolling with a dude that has a history with me. You a guy you may be counting on when you when you when your game comes my game. He may be liked you. Just say, well, Steve now won't like Jordan. He just had to cancel that order from Amazon. Street lights her own. That's right. I love cut to it, and I love it even more when you download us and subscribe and you can follow us

on social media too. Smithie where where at? That's at cut to it on Instagram? What about Twitter? At cut to It Facebook? Cut to It featuring Steve Smith singr. What about online? And you can follow us at cut to It podcast dot com, where you can buy merch and you can subscribe to us wherever you listen to podcasts. I got all my answers questions. Um, yeah, I got all my questions answered. That's what I'm here for, a brother, cut to a podcast dot Com. I love starting this

off this way. I love asking this way because with the right people you ask this question in the right manner, they light up and they talk about it. So where are you from and the place you call your hometown. I'm from Undo, Quebec, Canada. I was born there July two. I'm extremely proud to be from Montreal. I'm extremely proud to be Canadian. Um for many reasons, but one of the reasons why I love Canada so much is because Canada was a place that accepted my parents. My parents

aren't from Canada. My mom is from Beirut Lebanon, and my dad is from Alexandria, Egypt, and my parents had to leave the Middle East in the late seventies because of the rise of anti Semitism there. My grandparents in nineteen eighty were kidnapped by the PLO because their neighbor in Beirut wanted their jewelry store. He wanted the location, so he called the PLO to come kidnap them in

the middle of the night. Ji POLO was the Palestinian Liberation Organization uh and so they were, you know, in many respects, a terrorist group that just clashed with the Israelis and the Jews, and that's part of the reason why there aren't any Jews left in Lebanon anymore. Um. And so luckily they were let go after a week.

It's a long story, but they fled to Canada, and for me, I have always felt very strongly about the fact that Canada and no other country accepted my family and gave them a home and an opportunity to live

out their dreams. My dad's first job was working in a factory graveyard ships sweeping up and eventually some fifteen years later, he ended up buying the company and and that gave us, you know, a great life, and I learned a lot about work ethic and following your dreams and doing right by others from him, and so, uh, you know, obviously, America has given me a lot, and I'm able to have a family here and work here. But I will always consider myself Canadian first and foremost.

I love the way Canadians treat people. I love the way uh Canadians are viewed around the world. I love the reputation that our country has. And I'm just very very proud to to calm myself a Canadian because of that reputation. And for the most part, you know, I've had a really great life and a lot of great

memories and a lot of great experiences. But the twenty years that I spent in Canada from zero to twenty are memories that I'll never forget, just because I just think it's a phenomenal pace place to to raise children and to have a good life. And and so when I talk about Canada, people are like, well, you don't live there, how can you feel so strongly about it.

I accept the fact that there are opportunities available to me here in the United States that aren't available to me in Canada, But without a doubt in my heart, Number one for me will always be the Great White North. Wow, We've had a lot of guests on and everybody's pride fullo over their hometown, and everybody speaks highly of it. I consider and tell you, out of all the episodes we've done, the passion and the exuberance in which you rep your city is really amazing. I mean, that's that's

something else. Oh thank you, and it's it's legit, like even on my Twitter, Avatar and Instagram. That's right, that's my team. And they no longer exist. Two thousand four, they left, and it broke my heart because I grew up a massive sports fan. You lose in the playoffs, you stumble, Okay, there's always next year. But they were just gone, and I had great memories going to that stadium, the Olympic Stadium, to watch them play. Did you have

a Tim Rains Jersey? Tim Rain is actually one of the first people I ever interviewed, which was a crazy story in its own right. I had a Moises lose, my favorite player, Yeah, remember him, number eighteen, the son of Felipe Uh. They had the best record in baseball

and then the strike happened on August twelve. They were six games ahead of the Atlanta Braves in the in the NL East and that kind of killed the team and they had to get rid of a lot of the players, Larry Walker being one of them who was just inducted into the Hall of Fame. That picture is a very old picture, is because that's me representing my hometown that was before snacks actually existed. Yeah, I mean it's not that old, but no, I'm just I'm just saying that in the way and the way that that

structure had that is an old school hat. That is that is specific and intentional on your part, so that I reckon absolutely. You know what I love about it. You know what I love about it. It's like you know now that my you know, like you get more fame and notoriety whatever attention and people like will use your tweets and it will show up on TV or whatever. And I think it was always like it makes me laugh, warms my heart's like, man, the Expos are dead, my

favorite baseball team dead. They've been dead for now seventeen years. But the hat, I'm doing my part and keeping them alive. And so it's that that logo is popping up in places that it shouldn't be popping up on and a lot of people probably don't even know what it symbolizes and what it means. Most don't, but the right people paying attention. Yeah, I'm you know what I can tell. I can see that, I can hear the inflection in

your voice, and I can see your face. You are enjoying sitting down with me a lot more than you anticipated. Look at the green and that's like that was a yes. But I can't give him credit. I've been married for twenty one years. I'm used to it. I didn't I didn't resist this. I got the call and I and I said, wait a second, are we talking about Steve Smith of the Atlanta Hawks or Steve Smith of the Carolina Panthers, Because if it was the Hawks, guy would have said no. Just for the record, I mean, I

appreciate that funny story. I have been text by a person wishing me happy birthday, thinking I was him, and I'm like, no, it's not my birthday. I'm pretty sure Steve, it's not your birthday. And I finally looked it up and I was like, you're texting the wrong Steve. To give Ariel a little credit, he did a little research as well, too, so so when I reached out to Ariel and said, hey, you know Steve Smith, you know,

come on the podcast. And I started going into my normal elevator pitch speel, and he said, let me cut you off right now, he goes, already listened, already understand it. And you probably wouldn't be doing this if I didn't know the level of detail that you guys get into. So come on, you know I do have I do have one moises Alu, random question for you? Ready? So I'm the king of random information and Steve's looking at me sideways right now. I know you're gonna ask, By

the way, I know what you can ask. What are you gonna ask me? You know you I know what you're gonna ask me. What am I gonna ask you? Are you gonna ask about the batting gloves? Absolutely? That's how good is. Let's ask how about that? Let's ask Steve? So, do you know moisses Alu never wore batting gloves? Do you know how he made his hands tough because he never wore batting gloves? Do you know Steve uh doing something some manual labor? Ariel, please answer? He would urinate

on his hands before the game? True story? Look at can you see his face right now. Podcast Look and you know what? You know how I found out about that as a kid? Excuse me? What do you mean? How do you do I want? No, I do not want to know how you find out a grown as man was pisting on his hands. No, I do not want to know. I do not want to be part of that criminal case as a character witness. Steve, did you were you in the room? No? I was not your Is that not you in that hat? No? It

is not. I must say, how about his teammates who have to high five and throughout the game and the ball that he catches and he goes. But I'm a little kid. I think it's two or ninety three, last game of the season. All the kids rushed to the dugout to try to get you know, ball, bat whatever. And I'm wearing a Moises Alu jersey and I and I say to him, as a young kid, Boises, could I have your batting gloves? And I said yes, I said it in English because no, no, I said, try

to keep up. He said, first five years French? Up. Well, it was the evening game. So if it was the evening game, had to be in French. What does that have to do with anything because you said, you said in your native hometown. Yeah, second half of the afternoon, Okay, gotcha, got you. That's just the day, that's just It could be the first half, could be the second half. It always changes in any event. I say to Moises, you're

my favorite player. Look, I'm wearing your jersey. He looks up at me and he says, if I'm your favorite player, you should know that I don't wear batting gloves. Now me a coupa. I didn't know. I'm just a young kid. Do my research. I find out he urinates on his hands before the games and doesn't wear the batting gloves and is one of the last guys to ever do that. And I would I would urge anyone out there who's you know, a young football player, baseball player to try it,

because it seems to have served him well. Long pause, that's going to podcast. So he's official, he's legit. That's all I heard. Oh hand sanitizer. I can't even imagine. It's I can't even amount high five. And to do that, I know, just tinkled on himself on his hands. It's a crazy I don't even understand you touching me, Hi five if you want to Moises in the second ending

general manager Steve Smith with the with the educational goal. Okay, so at the age of eleven, you fell in love with martial arts, you saw your first UFC match he has founded. Give me the short version of the rundown of how you are just so involved in you consider that. Adam Schefner No, no, no, no, let's get it right. Adam Schefter is considered the arial Haawani of the NFL world. I'm in the NFL, I'm in NFL. I'm in the States. Yeah, I'm just going to call that's listen, I've ever done.

You're not talking to uh? What's he ever done? Adam Scheffner. Yeah, you don't even know his name. It's Adam Schefter. That's how irrelevant. If you were sitting next to me, I will flick you in your forehead. Mary. This is our podcast. We can do what we want to do. I told you, I'm silly. I just told you. I'm still trying to figure out English. I worked at ESPN for three years. I never had an opportunity to actually work with him

because we were kind of in different lanes. But I have a lot of respect for what he's done in his career, and I was just messing around. I know, I know, I was messing around to this is all the good. Look listen, none of this is taking serious enough. For the last eighteen months. We've been in lockdown all that stuff. Bro, I'm telling you two and moving forward.

I really can't take life too serious, right, I really I used to, but now I'm just kind of like, right, just kind of have fun, joke around, not being super super duper serious. But also you gotta be able to laugh at yourself. Man, yolo, live your life, you know what I mean? That's what I say. Yeah, I have have a screen, have a backdrop of all these books, books that you ain't never read. Right, I'll give you a different one and you want a different one. I

got backgrounds for days. That's did you get the ten free book backgrounds? What happened that the budget? Right? Well? What's free books? Okay, let me get two books. Let me get these glasses are real. I was just trying to look as smart as because when you go down a little bit, I can see the enhancing of your eyes. They are real then, and technically blind is a back too. Yeah,

all right. Back to the question, Back to the question why do you love a sport in which when we look at football, baseball, basketball, everything, it's such a fluent sport. It's going on so much, there's always something going on. M M a USC And I'm really struggling with understanding. How are you considered the insider where other than a match, there's nothing really going on. You're crazy. And that's why I said it that way. I wanted that passion that sell me. Give me UFC M M a ario one

oh one. And I'm okay with saying I don't the football players play from let's say July late July. You guys need six months in order to get back on track and feel better about that. You get a six month off season. There is no off season in mixed martial arts. There is no off season in the music. UFC events, well, we could get into that as well. I'd love to get into that. Forty three UFC events a year, forty three a year and nine nine off weeks aren't in a row. There's like, you know, one

random one here, one random one there. And then it's not just the UFC, there's other organizations. There's one called Bellator that's owned by via Commy have thirty something events. There's another one belt has been going on like ten if memory serves me correct. There's tons in Europe, in Japan. I mean, it's all over the place. And so what I love about the sport um as a journalist is

there is no off season. There's never a time like March when I turn on TV and you guys are debating whether or not you know, the Bucks are going to repeat in freaking March, you know, or you're debating whether or not the third string you know, O line the guard for the Packers, should you know? Stairs Like, there's none of that fabrication. There's none of that, you know. So so I love what you're saying. And two analysts too, right, because you've started doing some analyst work. So I love that.

But you also understand if we talk about two weeks ago the Green Bay Packers, a third string attack or guard, they could have used his ass uh for sure. That's between that's between September and February if they make it

that far. What I'm saying is every week in m m A, if you're covering it, there's a different event with a different set of characters and a different set of stakes and a different set of storylines, and every fight means so much those fighters because they don't make a lot of money, because they're trying to climb the ladder, because the loss can set you back. And so I

love that. You know, if you talk to an NBA beat right and you say, okay, let's be honest, like you're sitting out of bars, and you're like, come on game fifty six of the regular season between the Celtics and the Bucks, like, just how much doesn't mean you see guys sitting out? You can't sit out. You can never because you get the A's former wide receiver Johnny Morton who tried his hand at m M A way back in the day, got knocked down and was sent to the hospital. If you remember that story at the

l A Colosseum, it's serious. You don't play fighting right, it's it's it's it's almost life and death. So I love that. I love the characters personalities. I love all that. Did you say almost, I would say getting hit with a two piece that's not a wing or thigh, that's that. That's that's not almost you. Thank God. In the UFC. There's never been a death or you know, paralysis or anything like that. There have been some scary moments, crazy

breaks and all that, but thank god. Um and it sometimes feels like we're playing with fire, especially with the weight cutting that doesn't get enough attention, Like the it's danger hydrating them, it's very dangerous. There was one fighter they have to change her whole yep, pre match routine because she what she has to do and go through it is its extremely um it's extremely dangerous. Yes, her

name is aspen Lad. But there was a fighter back in two thousand, I don't know, fifteen sixteen UFC one

seventy seven. A guy named Henne Barrow, who at the time was one of the best fighters, was cutting weight in a small hotel room because again they're not making a lot of money, they're all staying and he slips in the bathroom because he's dehydrated and lightheaded and he's going in and out of the hot bath and he hit his head on the counter and luckily was okay, but went to the hospital and was ruled out of

the fight the day before. Imagine if he hits his head in the wrong spot, you know, it could be fatal. So we've we've had some scary moments. Why did they name in all the UFC because today I look right, I look now at the UFC, and it's you know, fight one seventy or fight three, right, And it seems

like now every weekend it's just a pandemic. And maybe just because I was homeborn and I was paying attention, the pandemic seemed like every weekend now there's a there's a fight where maybe two and a half years ago, three years ago, four years ago, I'm not sure, there weren't as many contests on a day to day weekend basis. Now they you guys, are seeming to now create that content, create almost like a season, but yet not make a season. But the true fans, which I am not, don't really

understand it. How do you take a sport that is a sport is grueling, it's a gladiator like event that doesn't make the amount of money, but yet has the loyalist and the avid fan sitting on the edge of your chair waiting for the next fight to go. But for the the nonchalant fan like myself, you know, I don't really know how and where and how it goes Yeah, So there's a few things there. Number one, there have been events of this um of this number, you know,

Forto for the last few years. I think one thing, you know, it was controversial, but it ended up working out for them. They were the first ones to come back in the pandemic, so everything shuts down in March. They tried to keep it rolling, they tried to never stop. Uh. They came back in early May, and I was still two and a half or so months before the NBA

came back Major League Baseball NHL. So there was a period there where everyone was jonesing for sports and live events and wanted to gamble or do fantasy or whatever, and they were the only game in town. And I think they benefited from that and got a lot of new fans from that. And so I think we're seeing now paying dividends than being on ESPN. I think is

helping keep them in the conversation as well. But I agree with you, and I think you're alluding to this, Like I have long been a proponent, and this is part of the reason why some people in the sport maybe don't like me. I think the fighters are severely underpaid. I think that they should have an association, a union, something that you guys that there needs to be collected bargaining, There needs to be revenue sharing. The fact that they make no money off the TV deal is outrageous to me.

The fact that they get their sponsors taken away and they have to wear stuff and they make no money off of that, that's outrageous to me. The fact that they have no say in the drug testing and all these things that they should have to say, they're treated like employees. That they're being called independent contractors. Well, I can assure you if I call someone who's an independent contractor to fix my garage today that's broken, I can't tell that dude what to wear. I can't tell that

dude where seven. Yeah, it ain't gonna go over that, you know what I'm saying. And so I want these fighters. You know, Look, I've often said that m m A, which is essentially the UFC in America because the UFC is the dominant brand, has has not even been around

for thirty years. And I think that we're still in the leather helmet days of m M A. A lot changed in the NFL since the leather helmet days, right, And so I hope that in twenty years from now, we're going to see a lot of changes, And at the very top of that list is I want the fighters to have some kind of pension. You fight eight nine years, you should be taken care of when you're done. They have none of this. They have no rights, no say no, not any healthy they have any health insurance.

Health insurance only if you get injured in a fight that night, like at the event, if you cross the street and get hit or this, and that, they're not taking care of you. It has to be fight related. And so kudos to them, they give them that, and it took a while to get to that point. But these are men and women with kids and whatnot like that.

You know that's that's not going to cut it. And so do you think with with UFC m m A expanding and having more eyes on them on a weekly basis, that that will be able to maybe justify making some of those concessions over time. Possibly, Look, I hope it's over time. I hope it's in my lifetime. UM I have been disappointed in the lack of her agency on the fighter's part. They all will talk to me about it off the record and I get it. They don't

want to. They don't want to get reprimanded or or exactly or punished for them speaking about they feel they're treated. I get it. It's easy for me to talk about it. It's not my job. And you're sitting back there with all those books back there, you know, and I get that. But they all agree with me, I all agree with we. We have to agree with you because you're speaking to truth.

But the other thing is, if you complain about your contract with the Panthers, there are twenty nine other teams or thirty one other teams that will give you an opportunity if you complain um publicly about the UFC. Yeah, sure you could go to belt are these other promotions, but let's be honest, it's not it's it's not the same um. And so you have basically you have like three tiers of fighters. You've got the top, top top guy, you know, the Connor McGregor, the Habiber Maga matops who

those are unicorns. Everybody is trying to be that and it is hard to duplicate that, very hard. And they made it, and they exactly how they did it. They're on a yacht. They have no worry. And then you have the other guy who looks like this guy is like either just became a champion or has been a champion for a couple of fights, and he's like, man, I don't want to rock the boat at this point, right, like like I'm about to make it. I'm about to

get Connor money. Right then you have the guy who's like contender who thinks it's about to get a title shot. He's like, this is my chance. I sure as hell ain't gonna rock the boat. And then you have the guy who just came into the UFC and is making ten thousand dollars to win in ten thousands the show, uh, And he's like, man, I have no place to say anything, And so no one wants to speak up for the other guy, and they have their their time in the UFC.

And and by the way, it's not just UFC, like there's no pension, there's no you know, collective bargaining in any organization. But of course they're the top one who makes the most amount of money, and so there's no change. And sometimes it just feels like the media are the ones talking about it more so than the fighters, when I know the fighters want to do it, and I sympathize with them because they don't want to be blackballed.

But at some point, just like it was in baseball with you know, fighter Kurt Flood who spoke out and you know it took a chance, and just like we've seen it in another sports, like someone's gonna have to be that guy. Do it good, do it. Let's getting down to do it good. Hey Gerard, why did you get that T shirt? You mean this thing? Oh yes, I got it from cut to a podcast dot com where we have exclusive merchandise. Shout out to our guys

at seven or four shot. But yeah, you can go on, buy you a T shirt, subscribe to us wherever you listen to podcasts. One of the things that I'm interested to ask you is were you seen to start a lot of ships? Sometimes you're talking to your sources, are wrong, my friend, everyone loves me at the street stalk area. We know. Well, I just mean here's what I say you.

You you start, you start mess mhm because you asked the right questions, then go respect respect and when you are asking the right questions, when you're sitting at home and you start to listen and you're an active listener, and then you write down a question, you write down an answer that someone in an authorityitative position says, or a place where they hold people's paychecks or people's employment, and then they utilize when they don't hear what they

want to hear the right way, and they manipulate that. Then you take that information, you hold on to it, you take notes, and then it starts to resonate with you where formulates other questions. Then you ask that those individuals that you start to create a uncomfortable situation for yourself because all you're doing is asking a question. Yeah, but for the most part, the guys know that. There have been times where people have said, you're an instigator.

I'm like, what do you mean by an instigator? Like I'm trying to make fights between the fighters who are actually going to fight each other. Like what does that even mean? You know what I mean? Like what what? What you're trying to say? Essentially, what you just said is I'm not they're fawning over them. I don't think the athletes want that. I don't think they want someone kissing their ass. They just don't want to dumb questions. Yeah, yeah, and so I try to be a little thoughtful. And look,

a lot of this sport deals in conflict. This guy doesn't like this guy, and so if I'm asking this guy about what this guy said about him, like that to me is interesting because reason, listen, if you say that I fabricate things that still take it personally, Yeah, absolutely, I don't want to be a liar. But if you're saying that, oh, you ask things that make people sometimes uncomfortable. This is that. But you're fair and you get it

right and you're accurate. I could live with that, because that's what I always We're going to have a banter about this, and so I want to hear your answer to this. Let's go all right. Is the truth more important than being nice or it's being nice more important than the truth. That's a tough one, man. I mean, ultimately, the truth is most important. Me. Um see, I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about from your professional opinion, because truth number one. Number one, Bro, you know that's

a lie. What are you talking about? Here's from your professional opinion. How many times have you asked a question and you know they have to tell you the truth? Mhm? But because maybe they received a question in a certain way. They take offense that that was a bullshit asked question because the way you asked it, And so they allow the tone or maybe the surrounding of how you presented a question where they they have allowed your tone to

distract from the actual content because you see what I'm saying. Yeah, well, I always try to be very respectful. But and as you do that, they still reply and respond in a way as if you ask them a lie. Yeah, And and look there there have been tense moments, and there have been moments where people don't like a question and they think that you're Yeah, I look at this point

like you're going to run into those situations. But I feel as long as you're fair, as long as you're coming from a place with you know facts behind you, and you're accurate and you're unbiased, you're not taking pot shots, and you're not being disrespectful, and you're not looking down on someone, you're not kicking them while they're down. If you're just treating it. I've always treated believe it or not. I do a lot of interviews. That's kind of the

main thing that I know. I believe it. I've looked at a lot of stuff there's a common there. I don't write anything down. I don't write any questions down. I have nothing in front of me because to me, number one, if I'm not prepared, if you and I like right now we're just shooting, we go get a coffee. Like I'm not I'm not going there with a sheet

of questions. I'm just talking. We're conversating. And so if I'm like, tell me in this you know, da da dada, then I feel like the I lose the connection with the you know, with with the subject. And so I have to I have to, you know, maybe telling myself. And I'll give you context on why I have sheets of paper because I'm not hating on you. Everyone has their own things. That's just what you mean. Listen, I didn't take you is hey, I'm not not at all.

I'm telling you I have to have sheets of paper because here's what happened with me that I realized I've had to retrain my body, my mind and this is the sport, right you. You will respect this. So every week you line up and when they give us seventy new plays and we learn and we have they present the plays on Wednesday. So we go through training camp and go through training camp, you learned the fundamentals of the structure of the offense. Right I write means you're

line up right. If your z X you go opposite of the call right thirty six wham six even numbers to the right, to the left. Thirty six is through the three holes. Six is outside right. Wham it hits up the middle. So you them out that way. Bang, you hit up in the three whole bank. That's the play right, That's the fundamentals of football. Then throughout the season. On Wednesday, so Monday you lose when they come in

and evaluate two says you off. Wednesday you come in and they give you your place, and in that place they give them to you. Then after that on Thursday's third down and fringe, and then Friday's red zone. Saturday's is a walk through and get on the airplane for suway game. If not it's a home game, go home Sunday, checking the hotel. Saturday night. Sunday you play the game. You do that all over and each week you have

your fundamentals. Out of seventy five, you have the same twenty, but then or the same fifty or the same forty five and then other plays are different. I did that for seventeen years, sixteen weeks, so my short term memory, I've had to retrain it because it is I have taught myself absorb as much information as I physically possibly can. When is a draw, disregard to start all over the next week, and so I have trained my mind to

take information, get it, and then disregard and discarded. So for me, I have to right now at two, I have to have that because I had probably a billion questions I wanted to ask you. Probably five million of those questions I've forgotten because my mind has disregarded them because of how I trained myself. I'm sure correct me if I'm wrong, and I appreciate that context. And by the way, just again to reiterate, I was not. It was a great It was a great opportunity for me

to do. You talk ball on what I've experienced that I learned a behavior pattern that I now have to break after doing it for twenty five years. Do you think the hits to the head, bro, you didn't get it. You didn't get a real good hit on me. I'm deser you didn't for me. I can't I only have one concussion in sixteen years, and that one concussion was like I actually got kneed in the back of the helmet getting up. It wasn't actually a physical hit. Wow.

So for me, I trained my mind a certain way to where I was really good at what I did. But I did it for so many years that now I have to retrain my mind to now stop and retain information, don't grab it disregarded. So I write it. I take a lot of notes because all I need to do is see that note and bang. It comes back so quickly. So I have muscle memory playing, but also have muscle memory and memory as well where I

can hear a play and watch a lip. I can watch Guys lips on and I can know the play because I can remember the sequence of lips and also being in the huddle because of the muscle memory. Wow. As you're going through this on your process and not writing notes down and you just go with which is

an extremely impressive. It's extremely impressive. Well, we we have fans that that we've reached out to on our social media and we have a as we walk through this podcast, there's some certain questions that they want to ask you. So one that came through from one of our guys, Dylan Dmitri underscore t who's the best interview you've sat down with? It may not have been received the best way, but for Aerial himself, what's the best interview? Man? That's

a tough one. I love. I love stunting him right now. I try to give you. I will say it is the cop out until I could give you like two. But I just did an interview with Tyson Fury yesterday. Who's the heavyweight champ? Heavyweight champ? You know sometimes you talk to fighters on the on the Monday before a big fight. Yeah, he went to a place with me and uh, it was just magical, Like I didn't want it to end. And so that is one of my favorite interviews. And I know it just happened. So there's

a bit of recency bias. It happened. That's good. I mean sometimes the you like I, you've you will interview just like I've played and you probably have forgotten more interviews. Yeah you have that that you've done. Hey, that's a that's a that's a rich person problem. That's true. There was one that people bring up a lot, and that's in two thousand and thirteen. I was doing my show and the people have asked me to have this, uh, this European fighter on. They're like, you're gonna love him,

You're gonna love him. He's great and he's about to make his UFC debut in a couple of months. And so I said sure, you know, obviously knew of him, but didn't know a lot about him. And that was in February of two thirteen, and the fighter was telling me that he was on welfare, that he didn't have a pot to pisson, that he didn't have nice clothes, he didn't have a car, he hardly had any food, but he had and he goes to be to win belts and all this stuff. And that guy was Connor McGregor,

and that that how true? How true? Was that it was all true? He was unwelfare. Um, so it's an incredible story when you go back and watch that interview, this guy who now has a lot of money talking not that long ago, less than ten years ago, about being on welfare. That's an interview that a lot of people bring up till that day. I know, you gotta go, yeah, all good, all good. This has been fun, guys, And I just want to tell you I appreciate you, appreciate

the hard questions coming. I'm just wondering. Never you gave us all of him. I like it. Thank you, guys, Thank you, but with you, guys the best, Good luck with the rest of the way, with this podcast and obviously with the season. I'll talk to you soon. You are a unique person. You are well worth it, you are competent, and most of all, your lovable. I'm Steve Smith Senior, I'm Little John, and this is cut to It.

Cut to It with Steve Smith Senior. That Is Me is a production of Cut to It LLC, Balto Creative Media, The Black Effect and I Heart Radio. For more podcast from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows from Cut to It. Executive producer Steve Smith, singer co host Gerard Little John, talent and booking manager Joe Fusci, Social media team Wesley Robinson and John show from Balto

Creative Media. Cut to It is produced by Brian Baltaschevic and Meredith Carter, with production assistance by Alex Lebrek, Production coordinator Taylor Robinson. Theme music by Alex Johnson. Lyrics and vocals by Anthony Hamilton. You ain't heard about it, then we're about to let you know. It's all