#128 Luke Caudillo - Gladiators Unleashed
Luke Caudillo - Former UFC fighter, now a trainer/coach for some of the top UFC fighters like Justin Gaethje. Caudillo also has his own podcast GU Unfiltered and is the host of Gladiators Unleashed based on big game hunting. Born and raised in the railroad town of North Platte, NE. Like a lot of rural Americans, Caudillo began hunting and fishing with his brothers, cousins, and friends at the age of ten. After high school, Caudillo got involved in mixed martial arts (MMA). Next thing you know fighting became his career. Caudillo, as he made it to the top level of the sport (UFC) and currently has made coaching a big part of his life. He has enjoyed seeing his two joys come together, fighting and hunting. Hunting has always been about family and friends to Caudillo, and now it's about his teammates too. Tune in as Luke Caudillo joins Bobby Marshall in the studio to discuss knowledge, whisky, hunting, archery, UFC, Justin Gaethje, Colorado, outdoor life, and much more. Please subscribe or like us on social media platforms for updates on shows, events, and episode drops.
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Luke Caudillo - Gladiators Unleashed
My friend Luke Caudillo is back in the studio to join us for this episode. Luke is a former UFC veteran, Creator of Gladiators Unleashed, host of the GU Unfiltered's Podcast, avid outdoorsman, bow hunter, and an all-around great guy. I love spending time with Luke. I always enjoy having him in the studio. You know that the laughter is going to be rolling whenever Luke is around. He's a great human and I enjoyed sitting down with him.
I did that too. It fucking happened. I was like, “Stop, guys. I didn't hit record.” I hit it but it doesn't turn red and I get caught up at the moment. I looked.
I had to put the fail-safe up.
Twelve minutes later, I'm like, “Damn. We got to start over.”
What it is, is when you are recording, it's red. I looked down real fast. I went green for go. It was an amateur move.
I get the cocktails rolling in me. I'm so happy. I don't think I hit it.
We lost an entire episode two hours in because we had a power outage. I didn't have a battery backup for the audio. The video was saved. Whatever we had over there, it stopped and saved, but the audio got completely wiped.
I did that. We had the power out where I'm at and it flickered off and went back on. I hit record, lost all the first half, and I was like, “Phil, what the hell happened?” What happened was they didn't save it in the bank on that RODECaster. When I hit it again, it was wiped or something. Lesson learned.
It's good to see your ass here.
Thanks for making the journey through the Armageddon out there.
For being a little small town out here, it's crazy.
There are potholes the size of Armageddon out there. I think that that's part of it. It's all fucked up.
Going down 285, we were talking about. It looks like a big old sinkhole down on the side of the mountain. A semi could fall in that. They got all down in one lane too, because of all the rain. It was not good. That shit scares me, driving and in a single, and gone.
I have a buddy from high school that he lived up in the Platte Canyon area. He lost both of his parents because right when they did the new construction on 285, the whole half the goddamn mountain came down on 285 on top of them. It’s just crazy.
The debris, the wash, everything came out.
Talk about bad timing.
That's what I'm saying. You never know. Karma is a bitch. I don't want anything to do with that.
Live in the moment. Cheers to that.
I guess that's what I have been doing. I have been living for each day is my last day. It's crazy how much you get shit done.
When you’re living each day as if it’s your last, it's crazy how much you get done.
It is. I try not to sweat the little shit anymore. We were talking about that before I turned on the mic, the stresses that come because you have a pretty successful podcast right now. Much more successful than this.
I don't even know if it's the 20 or 30 episodes ahead of you. Maybe it's the dumber rednecks that I got listening to me. I don't know.
I love having you in here, first off. I love having you around. Is this your third time?
I think the third time.
The last time we were next door.
This is our first time here. It looks nice. It's awesome. You got to move up.
You got to keep changing out.
You guys got to come over and check mine now. I need you guys to come over there to my IT guy. I got one. I don't know if it's the same one. It looks like it. It's sitting there. I'm scared to put it together.
We will help you out.
I do get it. I try to get everything. You get new cameras, new mics, new stands, and new everything. It all adds up.
Cameron Hanes puts out a high-level production podcast.
I messaged him. I said, “What are you trying to do with all of us, little people?” He goes, “You inspired me to do one.” I was like, “Derek Wolfe’s doing one now too.” I got to go out on his podcast. He's starting. He asked me to come on and I said, “Are you sure you want me on that thing?” He goes, “Yes, I do.”
That's awesome. I think that that's the best thing about this. I have helped some other people start some. They have asked for some advice, but you have been transparent too. It's all about community.
You know how hard it is to start one. People that have helped me do mine, I don't know if I will be able to thank them enough for being on guests all the time. A guy like Aron Snyder for one and my boy Nestor. They have helped me grow so much faster. I get a lot of people hitting me like, “Will you be on my podcast?” I'm like, “Yeah, where's that?” “It’s over the phone.” I'm like, “Yeah.” I will always say this, though. This one-on-one, there's no replacing that. For the audio to the connection of how the podcast goes, I always tell people, “If you can have that interaction, it's the best way to go.”
It's so hard virtually. Even when you hit it off with somebody and it goes completely flawless virtually, it's still like there's something missing a little bit.
Don't get me wrong, there are tons of podcasts that do that right now. They don't know any different. I guess. They have never done it. It's all they have done. They can get some cool guests doing it and I should probably do the same thing and get them on Zoom. Once I start something the way I want to do it is the way it's going to be. That's why I got the trailer too.
Tell me about that.
I got a toy hauler and I make the back part into a little mobile studio. If I'm at Tack or another sporting event, and there are some cool guys there that I want to podcast with, I'm going to air it. I'm going to do it. I started doing it in 2022. I got it in 2022 and I think we ended up doing like 8 or 9 episodes out of that. It was cool. I'm hoping to run with it, but then again, Justin got his fight, so it put a little damper on my plans this summer. We will see. I don't know. I'm going to do it.
I haven't heard the news or I didn't see it.
He's fighting on July 29th, 2023. Salt Lake City. Dustin Poirier for the BMF belt.
That's going to be badass. I will be buying that one.
This card is stacked too.
Where is it at?
Salt Lake. I love that part. Everybody is like, “Why Salt Lake?” I'm like, “You guys don't realize. We have been across the world for the last few fights. I don't want that. I want to be an hour and a half away flight. I'm cool with it.”
You go home after the fight if you want to.
I can drive if I want. I'm cool with that.
I might have to punch my free ticket. I got a buddy from the staging industry. They build all the octagons, it's a company called All Access. They are like, “Whatever fight you want, we got a ticket for you.” He called me up and he's like, “I know you are a fan, so let's go.”
It's a cheap flight too from here.
I got so many fucking miles.
You probably got miles for days. It would be even better for you. That's why I'm trying to tell my wife. I'm like, “This is the one you should go.” She's only been to one Justin fight, the first one in Vegas, and then she hasn't been back and she's watching on TV with the kids and everything. I'm like, “Go to one. You get badass tickets. You get to experience everything. Let's go.”
VIP too.
She's like, “I don't know. The kids.” I'm like, “Let's go. I want to have a date after the fight.” We will see. That's what we are doing on July 29th, 2023. We have been in camp now for about a week already.
Yeah, that's around the corner.
We are weeks away, which is normal for Justin for training. He likes having ten-week camps. I feel like Justin has matured as a fighter and he is always training now and always in shape. Before, after a fight, he'd have the old Luke recipe. I would take off a month and chill, get fat, drink, and do whatever. He's changed, he's always been in camp, and always helping other fighters now. He's always now in pretty good shape. You guys got to realize his last fight was only a few months ago. I'm excited and this is a fight that he wanted. He lost to Dustin. That was his third fight in the UFC.
Is this the second time that they fought?
This will be the second.
There might even be a trilogy out of this shit.
If the cards are played right for us if Dustin wants that fight. I feel like this fight's going to be a dog fight either way. I truly believe it. The same guy Dustin is fighting is not the same guy he fought in his third fight in the UFC. He's learned so much and over these last few years in the UFC.
Justin is such an exciting fighter to watch. Not that Dustin isn’t. I will not miss one of his fights. I will call into work, whatever I got to do. I will leave early. I'm not missing that shit.
He’s ridiculous. He's a fan favorite. He's an entertainer. That's what he loves to fight for.
He and Mike Chandler, when they fought, it was like watching cats fight. That was so insane. I couldn't imagine standing on the side of the octagon.
That was at Madison Square Garden. I had to stop and look at everything and it was something. It was so unique to see in the be in the round building and the screaming and loud. To see the chaos that goes on in that cage with those two whom both love it. I had to pinch myself like, “Damn. This is what I'm doing right now.” It's nuts.
We were talking about this on my podcast with the guys. We had we have developed this little team and it's been nothing but a crazy ride. We don't take it for granted or anything, but it's a thing where we click as a team now and everybody knows their role. It's such a relief when Justin goes out there and listens to us and does it now. Before, he was in a chaotic moment. The Oliveira fight, he was in the moment. He's a trained athlete that wants to perform and win now. Before, he wanted to go out there and cause violence and get hit and hit back. Now he wants to move his head. I feel a lot better as a coach coaching him now. It's good. He's not done yet. He's going to be around for a while, I bet. I see it happening.
I could see him. I'm surprised that he hasn't had a title shot back.
After this fight, he will. If he beats Dustin, he will get a title shot. If he doesn't, he's still making a lot of fucking money. That's no doubt. That guy, he's making a killing in the sport and it's all good for him. He could probably retire after the next couple of fights and be cool and golf like he wants to. I'm jealous. I will be stuck begging him to be on my podcast. I'm always joking. I always tell him, “I'm the highest-paid water boy in the sport.”
Marcus comes to practice now every morning with me, my son. I would say he’s more than seeking Justin. I told him that Justin is getting ready to fight for the belt. I told him it was the BMF. He's like, “What's that?” I told him, “It's the Bad Mother F-er belt.” He goes, “I can't say that.” I'm like, “With me, you can.” He won't say it because he thinks I want to turn him to his mom. He's taking my job. He's going to get the water and give it to Justin. I'm like, “You want daddy to go unemployed? Come on. What? You want more of a percentage down or what?”
Thanks to Jeremy, I don't even know where he got these, but he gifted me a stock tank in a cold plunge. You have been talking about it. I have been doing it daily since he gave it to me.
Have you been doing cold therapy? Jeremy, have you been doing it for a while?
I do showers.
Okay.
He's got a tank. He hasn't set it up. He hooked me up with this tank.
I can't find a good spot. I'm afraid of that shit dropping through my garage.
I got my shit in my garage. My garage is a half gym right now. I don't even park my truck in it. There's enough room to put the wife's car in and when it's time to work out it’s like, “Get the fuck out.” The ice bath is now part of it. I let the kids get in because they saw me doing it. My son is playing football now. He was like, “I want to get in.” I was like, “Okay.”
They watched me get in. It’s no holds barred in there. I'm saying, “Fuck.” My neighbors must think I'm abusing my kids in there. I'm beyond profanities and all kinds of stuff. My son went to go get in and I was like, “Here's the deal. If you are man enough to do this, and you will do it the same amount of time that I do, you can say whatever you want when you are in that tub.” He knows all the curse words.
You are like, “You better make sure your mom’s not in here.” That's funny. How long do you go in it?
I have been going for five minutes.
That's good.
That's a lie. I started for four minutes.
That's still good.
Do you know that Queen song Dragon Attack? Have you ever listened to that?
Yeah.
That's a four-minute song and it's a fucked up song. I don't like it. I try to mix two things.
You are more of a man than me. I used to do that when I fought. Me and Dwayne used to do it in trashcans. We'd fill it up and we'd jump in there and we'd do it. I hated it then. Now it became a cool thing. Now everybody's doing it.
I will not post it on my Instagram.
I get it. The reason why people are doing it now is because it's better for everything. We were in Arizona. The guy had one. The guys begged me to get in it, and I said, “Fine, I will get in it.” It was like 36 to 38 degrees. As soon as my junk hit that fucking thing, I swear to God, I was tasting my cock. It went that far. I was like, “It's never coming out.” I got out. It was so cold. I was done. It was so dumb. I'm like, “This is not beneficial.”
One of the reasons people are doing ice baths now is because it's better for everything.
How could this be good for you?
They made fun of me and I like, “Okay, whatever.” That's for this. Justin, got a plunge thing.
One of the badass ones.
It has a pump filter. Trevor got one too. I was like, “I don't want one.” He's like, “You don't want one?” I was like, “If I get anything, I want a sauna.” I want one of those barrel saunas out in my place. I have been working out and started taking care of myself. I'm on this little workout kick. I have been trying to live a better life.
I looked in the mirror one day and I was like, “I got to change my ways.” I want to have sex again with my shirt off or with the lights on. I'm going to have lights on again. My wife is about to leave my ass. I said, “Fuck. I'm going to go get some supplements and start working out.” I have been on this kick and I feel so much better.
We were talking about this cold plunge deal and I was like, “My wrist, knees, and shoulders hurt.” I know it's beneficial. I got it on Amazon. I bought one of those $150 tub deals, inflatable ones. They do now have that cold plunge therapy deal. It's $150. If I get pissed off and rip it, it's okay. I'm doing it. It should be here. I'm going to start doing it. 5 or 4 minutes, no. I'm going to work my way up. I'm going to start with one minute.
I'm going to send you a podcast. Do you listen to Andrew Huberman? He's a neuroscientist but an old punk rock. He used to be a pro skater. He’s got this cool edge to him, but he is still like a science nerd. I'm sorry, Andrew if you are reading this.
He's a lot smarter than us.
I listened to a whole podcast that he did, an hour and a half long of all the science behind when you should do a cold bath for how long. What are the benefits? Does it increase testosterone or lower it? All kinds of different stuff. It's a deep dive into it but you will learn everything you need to know about it right there.
It's funny you say that because I went and got my testosterones checked everything. I was like, “Why is it at 1:00, I want to fucking crash? I'm eating clean. I'm doing that too. My tests were so low and everything.” I go down. It's down in Littleton. It's called Revive Health. Derek Wolfe is the one that told me to go down there and see these guys. They are probably like your podcast guy, a scientist, who knows what to describe and gives you the amount. I'm on several weeks and I feel like a fucking twenty-year-old. I'm loving life right now. I'm motivated.
I think that's super beneficial. Take some supplements too because I ran into the same thing. I went through a drastic weight loss.
What'd you lose, 30 pounds?
No, I lost 70 pounds. It's crazy. I have put back on muscle. I had to do something. You saw me before. When I started this shit, I was a big boy. I haven't changed much other than my diet, but I didn't think I was eating badly then. I think it's preservatives and shit.
You start watching what you eat.
Even go and buy a steak at the grocery store, they wash it and fuck beet juice and all this other shit. I was like, “I got a freezer of wild game.” I talk to some doctors. I talk to some guys that work with some pro athletes. They were like, “What are your fitness goals?” Now one of my goals being a bow hunter, I was like trying to pick a workout that I could do on the road. I have been doing the body armor. I'm still doing it assisted without the weight loss. It is a brutal workout.
You are talking about TRX. I live by that. I love the TRX. I have one hanging in my shop right now. When I was training the Denver Nuggets, I got certified in TRX. The TRX was new to me. I had no idea what the hell it was. I'm a fan of it to this day because it's your body weight. I take it anywhere on the road. I took it on trips, hunting trips, camping trips, and anywhere. Now it's consistently always with me.
It weighs 2 pounds. It has all these different attachments. I thought it was badass. I didn't know much about them until we got hooked up with this endorsement deal from them.
It's a great deal because that's a great company. From what I know of them, phenomenal company and a phenomenal product. I will always talk good about them because I'm a fan of it. I like it. You could get the whole workout done with it.
They are hanging in every gym I walk into. That's a staple. I have used them before, but I didn't use it to their potential because if you are in a gym and you got all the free weights you want. In my garage, I put up a little anchor. I was doing skull crushers.
Honestly, I got dumbbells in my shop and everything but that TRX is my go-to because I can make it harder and easier, with the extras. I'm a fan of it. I'm not worrying about ripping my shoulders on heavier weights. I will do more reps.
My speed, agility, and everything from doing body weight and running sprints. I wanted to be in shape for bow hunting. That was the biggest thing. I don't want to be out there dying trying to hike a mountain or something.
You went to American Bowmen before.
Thanks to you.
I'm telling you, that's a tough course. If you are out of shape and you are going there, you are going to get tired of shooting targets.
No, I think if you do both sides, and I was doing that in the morning, I think it's like 4 miles or something.
It's a loop.
It's probably 1,000 feet in elevation. I started doing it with my pack, and then some mornings it would be me up there. I'd run between the targets. It's fucking great. I love it up there. I'd love to go up there with you. Thank you for setting that up. You are the one who set me up there.
It's the best place. If you live up here, you got to go there.
Now I'm a full-on member.
It's the best place ever. I truly believe that. I know we are jumping fucking all over the place. I have been to every course here in Colorado. That place is still the best.
It was so good, it made me not go to tack. I was like, “Why would I even deal with that? I got this whole place to myself.”
You don’t wait on anybody or anything. We got to go up there again.
Thank you for getting me in. You have a bow shoot coming up there, right?
We do. Me and Snyder, we host an archery shoot. This is our fourth annual best of the best. June 10th through 11th, 2023. It's filling up fast already. We capped it at 40 team shooters on Saturday. It's a trad and a compound on one team. On Sundays, the individual shoot. We cap that at 95. It was at 77 the last time I looked. Here's what I tell you. Everybody is like, “I'm not that good of a shooter.” I'm like, “It's anybody's match that day.”
The last time, we did it with 2 feet of snow. It was a whole new element for everybody. Great time still. We moved it back to June because we didn't want to deal with that. Now, I'm telling you that we have some cool shooters that come in. Good shooters. Here's the thing. Anybody that registers should hopefully get a prize. They are badass prizes. We had companies from all the who's who in the outdoor industry.
We contact them, they are like, “Yeah, we got your back again.” It's cool. We get companies like SIG giving out $3,000 Rangefinders binoculars. It’s crazy. We got targets to give out. Yetis, freaking lawn chairs. We got it all. A big one that came in was Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. They send us the companies that they work with and all their stuff. I'm talking a whole bunch of stuff and I'm very grateful for that.
What a great foundation. Those guys are awesome. I have done some photography work for them over the years and got a couple of publications with them. They are solid people.
There are different chapters or states. The ones that I work with are in Wyoming. They are big fans of the podcast. They are always listening to it. They are helping me out all the time. JR is the man. Everywhere I have been, Rocky Mountain Foundation has been awesome. I think they are the OG of all the foundations. I know we need them all, but they are the OG of all the foundations.
I got nothing but good to say about those guys. Circling back to the ice bath for a minute. We are diving all over. I haven't seen you in a while. This is why I love it. We don't miss a beat. There's nothing scripted here. It's incredible. I have been hooked on these fucking Jocko drinks and shit lately. I will crush four of those a day in caffeine.
I hear about these things all the time. Jocko is the man, for one. You are a big fan. You have been with these guys for a while.
Yeah. They have been good to us. I will send you home with some or if you want one now, we got some. I think there are some cold ones in there.
I definitely would like to try. I love drinks like that.
You need another beer, too.
Jeremy, hit me.
You want to hit some of this up.
What is that? The Don Julio. I have been on a tequila deal too.
I switched off a whiskey and all that.
I say that until Justin got me drunk off whiskey. Literally, for health, for calories, and everything. I have been on a tequila.
For me, the hangover isn't as bad, either. It's like if I just sip it if I'm sitting here shooting it, it's another thing.
Especially if it’s a good tequila, that helps too.
If you help yourself there, there's some ice in that Yeti cup. Back to the ice bath. What I was getting at, it wasn't another plug for one of our sponsors or a product, but these guys are a badass, Jocko. Go try that shit out. I have been hooked on those. That's been my thing. I get in that ice bath and when I get out of it, I feel like I drank like 6 or 8 of those. To the point, there are certain times of the day that you want to do it because you won't fall asleep.
Inflammation. It does for anxiety, metabolism, and everything. That could be a big part of what you are doing too. That's what I want too, because I will keep it real. I was the heaviest I have gotten. I was being a turd. All I was doing is sitting at the table.
It's hard when you got kids because you are always at somebody's birthday party.
For me, everybody comes over to my house. They hang out and they are like, “Let's see some wings.” I will eat wings late at night and drink. It became a bad lifestyle for me. It was fun. Don't get me wrong. I had a blast, but there's a time and a place to do it and how much to do it. I was all in. At that point, I was like, “This is not me.” My kids want to go outside and play and I'm fucking hungover on the couch and tired and don't want to do anything. I'm like, “That's not me.” That's why I turned everything around. Don't get me wrong. I love having drinks and cocktails and still do what I do, but I modernize it. I go hard during the week. I'm strict on my food. I'm working out. Especially now with Justin at camp, it’s easy for me. I'm loving this now. The cold plunge.
I'm a fan of it.
Trevor is a huge fan of it. Justin doesn’t. He does it because he has to do it. I'm doing it because guys like you and Trevor talk so highly about it and you see everybody doing it like Cam and everybody. My whole Instagram and now is flooded with everybody doing it.
I'm so sick of seeing about it but I jump right on the bandwagon.
I'm doing it and I bought one and I want my wife to do it too because she's on this health kick too. I heard it does a lot of things for women too. I was like, “What’s the worst thing ever?” Even if you do it for 30 seconds, it's better than when you are not doing it.
Even if you do an ice bath for 30 seconds, it's better than when you're not doing it.
That's what Huberman was saying in that podcast. I will send you a link to it. Using Deliberate Cold Exposure for Health and Performance was the name of the episode. He's like, “You reap benefits, just the anxiety of getting in the bath.” When you got in that one there, you reap some benefits from the anxiety. He is like, “It doesn't even matter how cold it is.” As you build up tolerances, you want to go into it slowly. He is like, “Start with 50-degree water.” Work your way up into that shit. He's like, “You are still reaping all the benefits that you would if you were jumping in.”
I do it because I hate it. It's something that I hate in the morning and it's not as cold as what you are going into, but it's still fucking cold.
I can't do the cold showers. I'm like, “I need to submerge”
I started doing that at the end of my showers because I was mentally trying to get going. I will say this, I'm not dragging ass after I get out of the shower. I'm going to dry off and go. That's part of the reason. If I have it set up, I go outside and get in it, I'm ready to fucking conquer the day.
The best part about where we live too is you don't have to put ice in it hardly ever. You and I both have deep freezers. I make an ice block and fucking throw it in there, chuck it in there, and then hop in.
The one that I ordered has a little insulation deal with things. I have to keep it a little colder too. I don't know.
That's still a tank on that concrete floor. That's a pretty good fucking job.
You are already negotiating. You are like, “I don't need it to be that cold.” I don't think that's how it works.
The benefits from it, I'm all in. Especially now, I will honestly say that I feel motivated to work out, motivated to do things, and I know the perks of it. I see it. You are a perfect example of it too. You almost lost another human. You were a big guy to begin with anyway so you held it well. I'm short on my weight.
I was never happy with it. It never affected me. I guess it affected me athletically. For me to run 1 mile with that weight. It’s fucking crazy.
It's bad on your knees and everything.
Now, I will run 1 mile a day sometimes 2 if I'm doing a full body armor or something like that. For me, it was more of a mental thing. I did straight carnivore for 100 days. It was more the mental fortitude because the kids still had all their shit around. Potato chips.
You did it on your own.
I did it a mostly wild game. I ate almost a deer and elk in that 100 days.
Did you get the meat sweats?
No. Your body goes through some drastic shit in the first 30 days. The doctors told me that too, that were working with me. They were like, “It's going to be miserable. It's going to suck for the first month, 45 days. You will start to reap the benefits. You need to do this for three months to see results.” I did.
I got a lot of buddies that did the 75 hard. They'd done that with the carnivore diet and it was the best thing they ever did. Some of them couldn't do the whole meat deal because they said it was too much meat for them.
To the point where I wasn't using butter. That's not true. I'd use ghee butter, a beef towel, or something. I will tell you what, an elk steak cooked in a beef towel, it’s a bomb. Cast iron. You might as well have fast food. Sear it on each side to medium rare, it takes probably three minutes.
I got to shoot in elk. I'm hoping, if I don't get one, I'm putting the bow away. I promise you that. I'm done bowing elk unless I'm going on a private ranch or guided ranch. I miss elk.
It's so crazy now. There are so many hunters. That's not an excuse.
It's so hard. That was part of the reason why I got my section, my lease because I was tired of dealing with other hunters. You got to realize. Me and my buddy bought those eBikes, so we go back further on OTC to do this and that. They were doing it too. It was too much for me. I got tired of calling in other hunters. To me, it was like, “If I'm going to spend time away from my family, make it harder. My mother-in-law and my wife with the kids, I got to be able to make this work for my week or I'm gone there.” It worked out.
If you have the opportunity and the means to hunt privately. I hunt some private too. It is the best.
If you have the opportunity and the means to hunt privately, it's the best.
You can do it. Nothing's guaranteed.
It's still fucking hard.
I have been hunting for years and I can't get one. It’s not because I'm a shitty hunter. The opportunity hasn't nearly been planned out.
The success rate. Go and look at that. They will tell you about the game unit. Some units are private land only.
Pretty much where I'm at right now is all private land. It's all locked up by private land. The little section that I got that they own, either they are there or they are not. That's a part of that sucks. I can't move to another location. You are sitting there waiting with a lot of thinking in your head.
The one time that you are not there, they are there.
The month of September is crazy, but I love it. That's part of the reason why I do it because I love being out there. I love archery. I love elk, but goddamnit, I love eating elk a lot more.
I'm no trophy hunter either. The first thing that walks in front of me is getting an arrow.
That's what I'm saying. Me neither. I would shoot a cow or a rag horn any day too. As a bow hunter, you want to shoot a good mature bull. It's what we all drive to do. I'm at the point where if a goddamn cow comes in front of me, I'm smoking that thing. I'm cool with it. I have no problem.
As a bow hunter, you want to shoot a good, mature bull. It's what drives hunters.
I take that back. The only time I won't do it is if they have a young calf with them or does with fawns.
If it's a mama, but shoot, I'm going to have to shoot that calf because that taste better but no. Don't get me wrong, I have passed up a couple of cows because I was trying to get the bull to come down. The satellite bull or whatever. It didn't come down. On the way home, you are like, “Damn it. What didn’t you shoot that son of a bitch.” It is what it is because you live to hunt another day. That's the part I hate and love so much, but it'd be nice for me to go out and say like, “I called this bull in and I decided not to shoot it.” No, that's not the case. The first legal bull I get a chance to shoot, I'm going to shoot.
You are being real. You are not bullshitting. I have heard that bullshit story so many times.
I'm shooting a 5X5. I don't give a shit. If it's a rag horn, I will shoot a cow over that for sure because that's the area I hunt so why would I not want bigger bulls coming?
I did the same thing with deer on the private that we hunt. We don't take bucks unless they are super mature or something is wrong like a little deformity.
That’s the way it should be because I will say this. Up here where we are at in this area or these different units, there are good mature bucks. It's a matter of whether they are in the area. For me, I have no problem not punching a deer tag. I would rather not. It's not that I don't like eating them. I prefer elk over deer. I would rather go to Nebraska and hunt a whitetail or go to Eastern Colorado to hunt a whitetail because I like that meat better than a mule deer. That's me.
I haven't had much whitetail, but the whitetail I have had, a lot of them are living off of farm crops.
A lot of corn, alfalfa, and stuff like that. I think that has a lot to do with it because I have shot Nebraska mule deer. They eat the same thing.
It depends on their diet. We are so lucky where we hunt, the private that we hunt is all acorns. They primarily eat acorns and they taste amazing. They are good. There's no sage. I have eaten some dear. Some of those are in Wyoming.
It's not the same. It will put a bad taste in your mouth and people say like, “It's all you prepping and this and that.” I'm like, “I'm prepping it wrong because that shit is nasty.” I'm no chef because that shit is nasty. That's just me. That's why I say I like to hunt so much and I like to put an animal down just like anybody else. When it comes down to if I'm going to shoot a 3 or 5-year-old deer, I'm going to go for the 5-year-old deer. If I don't have to, I won't because it has to be a cool deer. What I'm saying is I'm not a trophy owner, but in the same sense, I am because here's the deal, I can go to Safeway and pick up some meat. I'm not starving for meat. I'm starving for elk.
It'd be a different story if you were living 200 years ago.
I will buy half a cow.
That's the way to do it.
As much as I talk about hunting and I love hunting and this and that, but I'd rather save my money, go down to Texas, shoot an Axis deer, something different that I like to eat.
Do you really like Axis?
It's the best.
The little bit that I have tried is amazing. That's like a bucket list talk to me. I want to go to Lanai and do it.
That'd be dope.
I want to go out to Hawaii and hunt.
That would be a family deal. Honestly, that's where I'm at. I know everybody wants to shoot a mule deer and this and that. It's not on my hit list. It has to be a cool buck.
I'm the same way. I do it for the meat and the conservation side of it too. Where you and I hunt, I think pretty sure it's the same unit and I'm not going to drop it. The deer are so overpopulated here because there's nobody that hunts them. There are lions, bears, and stuff. They can't even control it.
I can look in my backyard and I give all these deer names because I'm like, “That's a monster. That one will be big in a couple of years.” They are big. My buddies that come over and they will hang out and they will be shooting bows and here comes the deer. They are like, “That's the biggest deer.” I'm like, “Yeah, there's bigger.” If I'm in Nebraska and I'm whitetail hunting, that shit turns me on.
The majestic part of elk hunting and the reason why I still go, whether I'm successful or not. There are a lot of years I have been unsuccessful. It's the rut, bugling, and being out there. I still go on public land for elk because there's no elk on the private that I'm on, but I could hunt elk there. The family member got a tag on that private that we hunt. We didn't see one elk the whole time we are there.
It's a hit-and-miss game.
We see a little bit of sign here and there, but I love being out in the thick of it. The flat top somewhere or something like that. Even if you run into other hunters. I ran into some cool-ass people and I ran into some idiots too. For the most part, it was pretty cool.
I guess it's all about being out there and meeting new people and being out there with your buddies. At the same time, I got to the point where, when I first got in, year 2 or year 3, those are the learning curves. You finally get into like, “I know how to call now,” or, “I got my buddy here. He's a good caller. He killed a lot of elk.” I'm done with the learning curve. There was a point where I had a couple of years back-to-back OTC that were awesome. We shot bulls and we got them. I learned a lot about myself on the pack out. It’s when I learned about elk hunting, then I was like, “I love this, but goddamnit. That sucks.”
UFC: Hunting is all about being out there with your buddies and meeting new people.
It's hard with time too, especially if you got multiple businesses.
I'm short on time. At the spot that I'm at, I can bring my kid and do a little bit of it. Part of it might be why I suck can I get one too because those little fuckers are talking out loud and screaming.
That's the only reason why I'm hunting and being a good example.
I'd rather have that moment. We had that iPhone selfie with my kids doing it. To me, that's priceless. I guess the more I become a dad and to be older and see my kids grow up, I want them to be a part of this lifestyle because it meant so much for me when I got to do it with my uncles and my dad. I was thinking, “When was the last fondest memory I had as a kid?”
I think it was like 11, maybe 10 years old that I have, but I don't know if they will remember it. They will have the pictures. Let's keep it real. Tomorrow is not promised for any of us. Maybe I can't wait until they are ten years old. I may be gone. At least they may have that little thing and they may not remember anything right now, but like, “Maybe I should try that.” I'm not saying that I want to die anytime soon.
I think it's great too. I don't want you to either, nor do I.
I want to live a long life. That's why I started working out and doing everything. I'm willing to do the cold plunge. As much as I don't want to do it, I'm going to do it.
If it keeps you around a little longer. Bettering your chances, at least.
I don't want my buddies to come over and start stabbing my wife. “Don't worry, buddy. We got your wife. We got you back.” I know whose back you have got. I'm sorry. I got carried away.
No. I love it. That's why you are sitting here.
That's in the neighborhood.
That's our neighborhood. It is crazy. It looks like Santa Claus’ reindeer. It's nuts. That's why I'm saying like some guys will come over and they are like, “That's a huge deer.” I'm like, “Wait, there's bigger.” Granted, I'm the asshole that we are lucky enough to have deer like this.
Going back to childhood and stuff like the way that I grew up, that's the reason why I hunted. Luckily, I had good men to teach me, that uncle. I didn't grow up with a dad, but I grew up with my grandfather and uncles that were avid bow hunters. They were blue-collar, they went to work and they hunted and that was their life. That was pretty much it.
It was a great life.
It's fucking awesome. No worries. Where I was going with that is I remember those trips so vividly, them taking me out, the adversity that we faced. Me crying on the side of a mountain in Montana on this glaciated peak. “I can't hike anymore, guys.” They are like, “Bullshit, get your ass up.” There's no other way to go. You are going to go over this or we are not going to make it. Those moments I will never, ever forget. It's like getting in the ice bath where you are talking about. In those uncomfortable moments, you are testing yourself a little bit. The first time you see like you have to field dress an elk? As a kid or a grown man, there are some life lessons in that.
It’s like what you were saying. You were on the side of the mountain. You had to keep going. That reminds me, you guys need to come over and shoot your bow at my place. We started to set up the range right now. Marcus comes out. He gets tired of walking up and down. He loves shooting his bow but I'm making him go get his shit. “I'm tired,” and I'm like, “I don't care. You got to get up and do it.”
I will shoot a far target. I'm like, “Come with me.” “Carry me.” I'm like, “No. You either here come or not.” I make him and I hold his hand coming down and he's all like, “Dad, hold me.” I'm like, “No. We are hunting. You got to come off the mountain yourself. We got meat behind us, we got deer on our packs, and we got to go.” He's like, “Okay.” Little does he know what it means. If you want me to hold him, I will hold him. I am trying to plant that seed and hiking up, hiking back, getting up, and doing it. It's tough. It sucks.
Do you know who gave me some of the best advice on that? I was worried about that with my kids and like am I pushing them too hard or am I not. You know the Clums. Tom Clum and Danny, those guys are fucking badasses.
They are badass West Compton wrestlers.
They are incredible people. They have killed huge bulls with traditional bows. They are savages. It's a hunting family.
They got animals down every year.
I had a moment with Tom, or it was me and him hanging out, no podcast, no mics on, or anything. I was like, “How did you raise your boys? How'd you make it fun and interesting,” because this is the reason why I'm putting all this effort into what I'm doing now. I might not hunt because I could go to Safeway and buy whatever steak I want at this point. He was like, “You got to treat them like a bird. Don't let them get cold. Make it fun. Always make them leave before they want to.” That makes so much sense. That's what I do with my boys. I look up to Danny a lot too. I’m taking it from Tom too. That's the salt of the earth.
He's been there, done that. His boys are badass boys and great head on his shoulders. I have asked them to come on the podcast, both of them. It hasn't worked out on the schedules for both of us because he knows every guy that's wrestled. The first time I went over there to their shop, he knew who I was, knew my record, and who I fought. I was like, “Who are you, fucking psycho?”
Danny or Tom?
Tom. He was all like, “Are you still coaching Justin?” I was like, “Yeah.” He's like, “Ask him about this match in college.” I'm like, “Who are you?” He goes, “I only follow the greats.” I'm like, “Why the hell are you following me, then? That's not true. I call bullshit.” He had all this info on Justin. He wrestled Burrows. They are like a wrestling family. I'm like, “I had no idea you were this.” He's like, “Don't get it wrong. I used to wrestle.”
I don't think I'd want to scrap with Tom.
I don't want to, either. I wouldn't want to lock up. He has those hands. Let alone his kids. He's a good people man. He'd be awesome on the podcast too.
We have had him on and we were trying to get him back on the same thing. The scheduling is so hard.
I told him, “I'm going to get you drunk.” “I better have Danny drive me up.”
I'd love to see Tom drop.
I want to have a glass of whiskey with him and shoot the shit because he's such a good dude.
Talk about a legend in the archery community that doesn't get as much shine as he should just because he’s salt to the earth.
He's so humble and he could probably do a lot on the IG and do this and that. I think he's happy and where his business is and when he's leaving his kids. I think he's good content with it.
That's one of the best goddamn bow shops in the world if you are a traditional hunter.
If you are a stick bow guy, if you aren’t going to see Tom Clum and the family, then I don't know.
That's not downplaying any of the other ones that are Colorado. We are surrounded by great ones.
I'm saying if you want some greatness and some tips, hands down. Don't get me wrong. I'm not a stick bow guy, but goddamn, I have been around a lot of people and they all say he is by far the best.
He's even to helped me on the compound side for some coaching because you go in there and shoot your bow, you are going to get some coaching whether you want it or not.
That's how they are. That's it. They are trying to make you a better archer. You can't be mad about that.
He taught me the closed-loop methods. I'm shooting off a back tension where I used to punch a trigger. That’s hard. A game-changer. I had to relearn fucking everything.
I started with that. I shouldn't say I started with it. I went to it because everybody said it help me out. I went to a hinge. I almost knocked myself out a couple of times. I was like, “Screw these.”
I still have a thumb release.
I want to do a thumb one. I think that one I could do, but I still do the old wrist rocket deal. I got one of those hooks, B3. To me, I keep things real in perspective. Those hand ones that I pull back, that thumb and whatever.
Like the hinge. I don't understand how those work because I will not go to it. I always want the option to punch a trigger if I had to.
It’s because of an animal in front of you. If I have a screaming bull in front of me and I can’t draw back, I got to wait for this thing to fucking fire. No. I can't do it. I want to be able to have control of It.
It's the opposite too. Another reason why I didn't go to it and it was suggested that I shouldn't go to it until I learned with a trigger because I'm so used for years. I have been shooting archery since I was like eight years old or something. I have shot traditional for a little bit and then I got my first compound at like ten, maybe.
You have been doing it for a long time.
I used to shoot a compound with my fingers. I took a long ass break. I got back into it. Having a trigger was like something that's ingrained in me now. With those hinge ones, there's a safety button or something.
There's no fucking safety on those bitches.
I thought you had to keep it to press.
You got to turn them. The ones that I had, I would pull it back and it would go off and I would smoke myself, give myself bloody noses. I chucked my bow one time. This one time, me and Snyder were at the American Bowmen and we had a whole one and he was proud of me because I'm trying to shoot the hinge. It went back and it was like trying to pull back and it came down. I derailed my bow. I had a nightmare with him.
Maybe I'm a bitch to him, but I can't do it. I don't want to do it. I thumb release. I looked at some of John Dudley stuff like his thumb. If I have a bull in front of me like I did last time and I had a wrist rocket, it was hard enough for me to draw back. I drew back and it looked like I was throwing a cock. I was shaking so badly. I was stupid. I drew back and it looked like I was smacking myself in the face.
I had my boy Nestor with me and I let it down. He's like, “What the fuck are you doing?” I said, “I can't shoot.” He's like, “Draw back and shoot this bull.” I drew back and I finally was there, but then I was all over and then the bull moved. It was on me. I put myself in a situation where if I had one of those buttons, I may have hit it. I wounded the animal, missed it. I feel like I'm a little safer still with the wrist rocket.
You can still do that technique. It's about learning it that way.
Maybe it's me and my stubborn ways. You can't teach your old dog new tricks. I just feel like it. I don't say I'm that bad shooter the way I am right now.
If it's working for you, don't change it. That's the other thing too. You can walk into any archery shop and somebody will tell you what you are doing wrong.
“Did I come in here and pay you for a private lesson? Shut the fuck up.”
Going back to eating meat too. One thing I was going to say is that these people that I was working with were incredible. Sean Baker, a shout-out. He helped me out. Dr. Castro. Fucking amazing dudes. I was on the carnivore diet for 90 days or something. It was like a reset button. They were like, “We need to get all the shit out of your body. Get you back to a baseline. We will figure out what you are deficient in. If we are going to do the specter cell blood work where it tells you what's your vitamin deficient, we got to have some baseline and it takes this long to get that back to that baseline.”
It worked, but they were like, “Pay attention. You can eat eggs and fish but try to eat eggs for three days and your body will tell you how you are feeling.” The wild game made me feel the best out of anything that I was eating. A rib eye was second to that. Elk and deer, tenfold. I felt like I was ready to conquer the world.
I had some buffalo on a chili. I will say this like, “I love bison so much.” If it wasn't so expensive, I'd go out and shoot one on a goddamn thing and have meat for days.
If buffalo wasn't so expensive, I'd go out and shoot one and have meat.
I know. I have been looking too.
They are so expensive. You are pretty much shooting a fenced animal, but I'm looking at it as the grocery part of it.
That's how I look at all hunting.
You got it luckily like that. I will say this. The more I get older and the more my kids are getting bigger and they eat me out of the house, I'm more to like, “I can shoot a bison.” I tell my in-laws or my brother be like, “Do you want some bison? Buy me a couple of thousand, I will get you some bison. I'm cool with it.” It's that they are expensive animals, which they should be because I know they eat a lot from these farms now and stuff. It's very seldom you are ever going to get a tag. I think there are a few tags out there, but it's not likely you are going to shoot a wild buffalo.
I put in for some up in Wyoming. It's the elk reserve outside of the Tetons.
It’s gorgeous there. It's like, “Is it realistic if I'm going to draw that?” I can't even draw a goddamn elk.
Here's the deal too. I say for the grocery value, but it's more for the nutritional value. I think it's packed full of so much more nutrients. Everybody thinks like, “It'd be great to get 300 pounds of meat for free.” That shit isn’t free. By the time you get a bow, take time off of work, depending on what gear you got. It's not free. Gas to get there. If you are going to take it to a processor, there's a whole other stuff.
Let's say a buffalo, if you are going to butcher that yourself, you better have a goddamn army in your shop to help you process that because it's going to be a minute.
You better have electric grinders.
It's still going to be wear and tear on that bitch and you are going to use this shit out of that. I have no problem saying if I'm going to spend $6,000, obviously $9,000, the ones that I have talked to are around $6,000. It’s just an average bull.
That does include the process or they will process it for you?
No, they won't.
The couple that I talked to said the price was included.
That's not a bad deal then. I would want to do it. I would want the head. I'd want that over a fireplace or something like that. They are such a fucking unique animals in the first place. You have to go up close to one and see them. I was with a bunch of veterans in San Antonio and they took a bunch of veterans out and they did a fundraiser and they want to hunt.
They were shooting does and Axis, I think. These guys had so much fun. We had fun. We were videoing it and it was me and Justin together. They had so much fun shooting these things. The guy goes, “I got a buffalo that needs to get off this ranch. How would you guys like to shoot a buffalo?” The guy goes, “I can't do that. It's too expensive.” He's all like, “I'm not going to charge you, guys. If you promise to share it with all you guys here, it's yours. A donation.”
He was like, “What do we shoot it with?” He goes, “I got a gun for you. It's like a 357 Mag. Big old gun.” They went up pretty close to it. That goddamn damn buffalo can take everything. Those animals are so goddamn tough. I think they ended up shooting it like three times real fast, trying to get it expired, but they are so fucking tough. You got these broadheads here. Back in the day when the Indians would shoot these things, I could not imagine.
Buffaloes can take everything. Those animals are so tough.
The guy that made me those is Donny Dust. We have had him on the show a couple of times. Savage. You should have him on here. He's a gnarly Marine veteran that worked for a three-letter government agency at one point. After he got out of the Marine Corps, he was a rock climber. He had all this badass Patagonia, harnesses, and all this shit.
He decided, “Fuck this. I'm going to go back to the primitive way of foraging and harvesting from the land.” That's where he wanted to go. He's like, “That's what he needed to do to reset.” He lives in Boulder too. Super rad guy. He made us all these stone points. Every time he comes in, I got goat hides and all kinds of crazy shit down here that he's doing. He's salt to the earth too. He’s a fucking great guy. CU Boulder has been hiring him because he is so good at making these. Do you know what an atlatl is?
Is that one of those things you swing and they throw it out?
It's like a stick. It's like those sticks that you used to throw a ball for your dog? Same concept, except they put a spear on it. They put a stone point on it. You chuck it. They hired him at CU Boulder. They hired him to atlatl a bison and then process it all with stone tools. He had to make all the tools in front of them so they could see the whole process then atlatl it himself and then field dress it himself with stone tools. He did it in 8 or 9 hours. He did the whole bison with stone tools. He makes me feel like I got my compound. Perfect 100 grains.
It's crazy. You go back in time and how much everything has changed. When I saw that big ass gun, 357 Mag, and put that animal down and I'm starting to think, “How do these Indians do it with these stick bows?” Let alone on a horse.
He talks about that too because he hunts in the state of Colorado, but his bows have to meet regulations. He's still buying a tag and the hole nine. Is this some of Donny here?
This is when they are chucking the bulls down. They kept on hitting them. They came to different points and techniques to get it.
That'd piss off a lot of animal lovers. It's a proven example.
He said they used every part of the bison. This experience went on for months. I guess you can go see this actual bison on display somewhere.
Here he's using stone tools.
He’s done this multiple times, but the first time he did it, they did it on the ground.
It's big time. That's hard. They usually come in with a tractor now and let raise it and try to deal with it.
It makes it so much easier to skin it and stuff.
Could you imagine doing that on one side and then rolling that bitch? You can't roll it. When we were with the veteran, they didn't shoot it.
He's doing that with a stone tool right now. Look at that black one right there.
Look at what he has right there sitting in front of you.
Homeboy is got a regular knife, though.
I do remember that guy on your show.
He knows a bunch of the science behind it because he's been hanging out with all these scientists. He said that they were so effective with these stone tools compared to what we have now. Something like this, they'd chuck this into a bison. Even if it didn't penetrate all the way, you'd never get it past through with this, especially through a bison. They would start running and as they started running, they would sit there and start opening it.
It's crazy how they did it back then and I feel like an idiot because I can't get along with new technology. I got all the high Rangefinder and Garmins. I'm going off the moon. I got weather apps. I got it all.
None of that shit matters. It doesn’t when it comes down to it. It’s like comfort-level stuff.
I'd rather be lucky than good any day.
I love Donnie so much and we have become friends through the show, but I always feel like a piece of shit when he walks out. We are like, “I should be doing shit better.” Talk to some of these UFC coaches like Marc Montoya or something like that. That guy is a100% invested in life and doing it right.
It's so crazy you brought him up because I was thinking, “If anybody had to get what he got, he has that mentality of a warrior or of a fighter to beat anything. It's funny you say this because I feel like I surround myself with a bunch of the guys like Marc Montoya. When push comes to shove, there are only a few of them like him. I feel like if anybody had to get what he got, it was him and he could beat it and he can do what he did like the way he took on. I'm going to keep it real. I do not want that shit.
Mark Montoya has the mentality of a warrior and a fighter who can beat anything when push comes to shove. There are only a few of them like him.
What an inspiration to other people that might get cancer though and stuff like that.
How he took it on. If you want to talk about taking a bull by the horns, he did it and he fucking says, “I'm going to fucking beat you and I'm going to do this.” Look at him. He was back in UFC cornering and coaching. I'm one of these soft little bitches because I'd be feeling sorry for myself. How many days have I got left? He didn't think about that at all. Marc is OG to me.
He's a savage. I love that guy too.
He's OG and I think I saw him at Chick-fil-A down in Littleton one time and we were talking about everything. I was like, “I'm so happy you are overcoming it.” He goes, “There are still battles and got checkups and this and that.” I said, “Yeah.” He had his boy right there. He goes, “I know I got a lot to live for.” I was like, “Yes, you do.” He tries to beat me in golf all the time. It’s just that way. He’s so competitive and he has a passion for life. He has so much to do still. That's why I think he's not ready to clock out yet. There ain’t nothing going to hold him back.
The world needs guys like Marc Montoya, especially right now. You are one of those guys too. I'm so fortunate with this show. I'm a nobody. I have done some cool shit. I have got to be in some cool spots, but not the career with some of these people that I have come in here or scientists or fucking biologists. I value anybody that sits across from me now just as much as I would one of those people. In the end, we are all people, whether we have done certain things with our lives or maybe we have had a tougher road, maybe we haven't, or whatever it is. I'm so fortunate. I don't know if you get the same thing out of your podcast, but that's one reason why I'm still doing it.
It's so funny you say that because you get some people that have huge followings and you think about the business part of it. This will help my podcast grow. He shares this because we are in it for the business. We try to make our business grow and do this, or he will be interested in his deal. I have found out that some of the guests that I have put on that don't have a huge reach. Let's say Justin that have 1.8 million followers. I have found out that more people can go with a guy that has 1,000 followers that don't know him, that have no idea what he did. I introduce him on the podcast and they are like, “He was an awesome guest.”
I think back at all the times I got put on a podcast before I became Mr. GU podcast and a host, somebody gave me a chance too. Nobody knew who I was. If Kifaru casting give me that, I don't think I'd be doing a podcast. It takes chances. You got to like somebody and you got to feel somebody and have a conversation with somebody. There are people that you don't hear about. There are badass people out there. There are badass people that don't have the social media game and they don't want to do that, which I take my hat off for them.
Shout-out to Marc because Marc is one of those people that believed in me and not so much like what I was doing. I asked him if he wanted to come up. We had met it at the bow shop prior to that. This was a year before I started the show and then I reached out and I was like, “I'd like to have you on as a guest.” He was our fourth episode and then it snowballed from there because Cam shared it from there. I'm so grateful for those two dudes right out of the gate. I'm grateful for everybody that's been on.
I have had some big guests come in. Sometimes they don't share any of it on their page. I'm like, “Damn.” The first couple of times that happened to me, I was like, “What the fuck? You invested this time. We had a great conversation. Did I offend him?” I figured out that people are people and I don't fucking care. It's more about this moment that we are spending right now. If you don't share it on your page. It's about this for me. Once I realized that aspect of it and Jeremy knows my struggles. He's my right hand, so I will fucking vent to him all the time. If somebody cancels or something happens, it's like, “I'm so frustrated with trying to keep this thing going.” I have gotten over most of that. Now it's more about the moment, fucking hanging out for a couple of hours with somebody.
You tend to figure out like, “This is going to go either way I want to go or not.” That’s just it. Does it help if those guys share it? Yeah. More eyeballs on everything. It’s like, “I’m putting you on promoting your product or promoting you. Throw me a bone here.” At the same time, it's not their job. They are not obligated to do it. Could they? Yeah, but they are not forced to. I guess that's our job to promote it. There were a couple of times when I would hit people up like, “I appreciate it if you share a picture or something like that.” No response. The next time I see him, I got to take him out. It's all good. I'm to the point where I'm like, “Cool.” I saw a highlight reel of yours and you were talking about how you had repeating guests like myself.
I'm trying to keep it to that. It's so hard now because I have had so many guests.
I honestly will say this. I have repeat guests on all the time and my listeners fucking love that. They love when I bring certain guests on because they know what they are getting. Those are the guests you want because 1) They are sharing it. 2) They are happy to be on it. 3) They are promoting themselves.
You want podcast guests who are sharing it, are happy to be on it, and are promoting themselves.
We had Donnie Vincent on. That was super rad. He flew all the way down.
Is he from Fort Collinsville?
I don't know that he's from Fort Collins.
Maybe at the time, he was living there or something like that.
He came down from Minnesota. I know he runs down here. We happened to catch him on a trip and he brought his son with him and it was super cool. We hung out. He drove across the goddamn state to hang out with me. I love the way that he portrays hunting too.
His storytelling is phenomenal.
Incredible person. He was like, “I think that podcasts should be illegal unless they are in person.” Also, he is like, “The thing that I like is doing the 2nd or 3rd one.” It made me realize like in the first episode, you are figuring each other out. It's like, “What’s your background?” It's more like an interview, but then for this one, I didn't even think about what we were going to talk about. We came in and hit record and look at where we are at now.
That's the truth with all the repeat guests or a buddy that you have known for a long time.
It's like having a friend and just hanging out with a friend.
You are talking about certain things and where me and you would have hopped on topic after topic. It is something refreshing about a podcast because I will say this. Not too many times have I had it, but there have been a couple of times where I have had guests where I'm like, “What the hell am I going to talk about next?” It's like a stalemate.
Pro athletes are bad at it, honestly. I don't want to offend anybody, but it's like a yes or no answer doesn't work on a podcast.
I have had a few of them. I'm like, “Come on, elaborate on that. What do you mean by that?” They are short too.
I think Rogan is good at handling that. I watched him go through one. I can't remember who it was. It was some musician that he had on. I catch maybe every twentieth of his podcast.
It depends on the guest for me.
I love listening to he's a genius. He's the GOAT, for sure.
I like some of the guests that he gets on there and it tricks me to listen more. Some of the guests that I would have never thought about until I watched an IG highlight, I'm like, “What?” I'm intrigued to listen to it. I feel like if you are a podcaster and you haven't watched Joe Rogan, you are missing out because I feel like you can learn a lot from him.
He gave me the green light on me. Be me. Have drinks. Have cigars or marijuana in there. If the guests want to do it, do it unless you are tied down to a certain company that doesn't want you to do that. I say, “If the company doesn't want me to have that on my podcast, I don't need to work with that company.” I have had to deal with that I'm like, “Sorry,” like the cussing. They are like, “Can you cut back on the cussing?” I'm like, “That's asking a lot from me.” It's my language. I hate it.
When you go back and listen to yourself, I get a little cringe because I'm like, “Fuck, I come from a rock and roll background and roadies. I feel like I'm cleaning it up on here.”
It's like certain nights like if I'm drinking the bourbon or the whiskey and then the fuck word comes out a lot of me, or a certain guest that me and him go back and forth. That is what some of my listeners love to hear. When I go to edit it, I'm like, “I got to chill the fuck out. Damn it. I'm becoming a fucking drunk.” To me, it's not good because I don't want to persuade that's who I am. At the same time, it is.
I like to have a good time. I'm responsible. You won't catch me at church unless there's a fine mama seated there. That's what I'm saying. I'm not changing who I am. I always told my wife, “What you see is what you get.” Is there a time and a place for jokes and being serious? Yeah. I feel like the way you have built your show, the way I built my podcast, we had to take chances and be who we are.
I'm not changing who I am. What you see is what you get.
They haven't all been good. I can tell you that. That's on me being a bad host too. I go back and read some of them, I'm like, “I'm so horrible.”
It’s like shooting archery. The more you pick your bow up, the better you shoot. That's the one thing I will say. The more we do this, the more we get cool guests, and the more times we get un unknown guests, you going to adapt to it and it gets better. It's like us being on it for the 3rd or 4th time. There's no breaking point. There's no like, “What are we going to talk about next?”
You might offend this guy. There's none of that trying to feel it out anymore.
Are you guys on, the 120 or 130?
I think this one will be 128 or 127.
You guys are up there now. The people know because when you ask people, “Would you get in my podcast?” They are going to check you out and they are going to see, so they feel like, “I can do this.” My reputation is they are going to come on, they are going to have some drinks, and then probably swear. I have had guys chirping down too, which is no big deal. I'm like, “Cool.” They are like, “My job wouldn't like me.” I was like, “Okay, pussy.” I respect that. You are missing out. That's what I'm saying. There are other people to get on with. I'm saying the more you do them, the more you get established, and the more you have done, people are going to be like, “Yes, I can do that.”
Within our little community, you live what, 15 or 20 minutes? I'm shocked at how much we have this little community of podcasters around here that are all badass. I want to thank you. You have helped me a ton with certain things and with guests.
It works both ways. If you are trying to be like, “Why is he using this guest? Why is he doing that?” Your podcast is in trouble. For instance, me being on your show and, after this, I'm on another show. I feel like the more I get on a podcast, the more it helps my brand, and the more it's going to help your brand. The more I get other people on your show that was on my show, it makes everything more relevant.
The more you get on podcasts, the more it helps your brand, and the more it helps their brand.
I need to get better about that. I'm so hard with time management and I have been asked to be on several different podcasts and I have turned some of them down. I’m like, “I don't want you to take offense to it. Right now, my time doesn't allow it. That doesn't mean that I don't want to do it in the future, but I do a lot on the back end of this thing too. I have another business that I'm running.” It’s crazy, but I think maybe I should pick that up a little bit more.
I get asked a lot and sometimes I get to tell people, “Not this month. Hit me up next month, please.”
That's why I don't take offense to it either because a lot of the people that I'm reaching out to when they tell me no or something, I'm cool. I'm like, “Yeah, whenever it's convenient.”
Maybe later this summer or next month. It's hard.
If you think about how busy I am with this and how busy you are with yours. Imagine Joe Rogan or Justin.
You can't say Justin because that guy is just golfing and training. Pussy ass. That's what I'm saying. I don't take offense to it either. When I tell people no, I'm like, “Wait a couple of weeks and then let's do it.” I think I have told you, I was like, “Let's do it in May. Right now, I'm swamped.”
That didn't bum me out or anything.
I said we will do it. I'm the same way. I feel like the timing is everything. For me, it is like I knew I wanted to come on here and do it again because I always have fun here too. I know what it's like to run a podcast. Content is key. I feel like when you are having a podcast, you need content. The way we do it is in person interviews and that is something special and hard to do.
I like your idea about the trailer. That's super rad and especially for what you are doing because you are always in an outdoor setting.
It was a write-off. It's smart. I wanted to use it for my family too.
We do a few remote. I'd like to get more of these going remotely. We recorded one in Florida. The last one that we dropped was an awesome friend of mine. This is fucking salt of the earth. He'd be great for yours too if you want to hear some good rock stories. He toured with AC/DC and U2 and he's a younger guy too. Twice our age.
I want to hear the stories of when they snorted cocaine on the stripper’s ass.
That's the Hollywood version. That doesn't mean it didn't happen.
Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I want to hear cool ass stories.
The remote ones are good too. They come with challenges, but we went down and recorded our 100th at my buddy Andrew Arrabito’s spot Half Face Blades and that was awesome. We did a blade giveaway. I love going to locations and doing them there too.
It's easier on the guests too. That's one thing I have noticed with the trailer, especially from where we are at. We are up here in the foothills and the mountains. For us now in the summertime, for me, it's a lot easier because if I get a hunter. I'm like, “Bring your bow up. Let's shoot before and hang out.” They are like, “Absolutely.” A barbecue and then we will podcast. I try to make it as easy for the guests.
You got a cool spot with the range and everything.
Sometimes the guests don't like it. They are like, “I got to be in and out.” I'm like, “How about let's reschedule this then?” I want them to have a good experience. I don't want them to be stressed and worried on time. I have had guests day and night. We get drinking and we have fun. I have a shuffleboard and darts. We have games and we play music. I do this atmosphere where I try to make it as fun as them because it's a haul to come here.
You want your podcast guests to have a good experience. You don't want them to be stressed or worried about time.
To me, with the trailer now, I feel like it's more convenient for them. I'm like, “Hop in. Get in the van. I got these chocolates for you.” That's what I'm saying. It's been a little bit easier for me. If I go to tech events, I will knock 2 or 3 of them out right away. It's convenient. I planned on going to the PI in Vegas and pulling up there and just getting it out. We were going to go up there and train with Justin and I was like, “I'm going to drive up there. I'm going to bring the trailer and I'm going to pull it up next to it and record podcast there when we are in our downtime.”
It's so crazy how many fighters live here in Colorado too. I'm such a big fan of that. You are here, Gaethje is here, Trevor, and Marc.
You go to a gym, you can find some guys that coming.
It's crazy. We got some coming in and then I have been taking my kid through the show, luckily, and those guys are so fucking cool down at Landow Performance. Loren is fucking genius. Eric Telly is who I have been taking my son down. We are in there Saturday morning or something, then Cody Garbrandt walks in. It's nonstop in there. Denver is a cool ass spot for pro athletes.
It's so close to Colorado Springs. The Olympic training center down there. The core of gyms that we have here, it's unbelievable. You turn on a UFC fight on Saturday, Marc Montoya is in a corner, sometimes 3 or 4 of them. I feel like Marc has probably the most UFC fighters on the roster out of Colorado. I feel that. I know high altitude or elevation.
A majority of the fighters that we have had have either trained with him at one time. I didn't know it, but the time I had him in, and maybe I was wrong on this or maybe I understood it wrong, but there's a reason why so many are there too. He's got a high success rate. It's like 70% or 80% wins.
You are talking about guys that aren't even in the UFC yet.
Did you watch the LFA fight with Big Toe?
Yeah.
That was an incredible fight.
He said he was going to either be a champion in the cage or outside of the cage, and that's Marc right there for you. Me and Marc have always had respect for each other. I respect anybody in the game. I told him one year, I said, “I don't know how you do it. You are going every weekend. I do not want that life. It comes with when you own the gym and you do it. I do not want that life.”
He sacrifices a lot to have what he has because I know that for a fact.
It's something that I would never want. Some people are good at it like Trevor who did it forever. A lot of guys do it now. I take my hat off to them because they are not selfish. Maybe that's part of me because I'm selfish. After all, I want to be doing what I want to do. Right now, they are doing it because they are doing it for the business. They are doing it for the fighter. They are doing it for their family. Ninety percent of that is because they believe in the fighter.
You think juggling two families is hard. I couldn't imagine how stressful that would be.
I feel like I'm coaching and babysitting Justin during camp. I'm like, “You are a grown-ass man. I'm tired of babysitting you. Come on.”
Some of my favorite Instagram posts are you and him going at it and talking shit and putting dirty diapers in his car.
The one that went viral was when I pushed him in the bush. I laugh at it until this day when it pops up.
I have seen it re-pop up and it was like a few years old. I have watched the whole thing again.
I go screaming a little bit and it's so funny because it was raw and we had no idea Trevor was recording it. He was all like, “I got to start recording you guys because you guys make my day so much better.” It’s a continuous battle between me and him. It is a blast with him.
He's like family to you.
He is my little brother. I'm his little brother. I'm older than him. We had a great conversation on the podcast. This is something that I will say about Trevor. He doesn't do interviews and podcasts. He's been burnt too many times. You know how the media says things. He quit doing it. I think he was coaching Nate Marquardt for one year.
They scramble your words around.
They made him look like he didn’t have his fighter’s back.
I can understand that because I had the same thing happen, or I have seen it happen in the rock and roll industry. I had an old road dog tell me one time, he is like, “There's going to be all these opportunities come up where they are going to want to interview the crew or do something. Don't ever do media.” I stuck with it. It was my mentor. You met this guy and he was right. A couple of the bands that I was with, they would do these DVDs and they wanted behind-the-scenes footage and I was okay if I was working. I would not do an interview because then they'd take all the shit and make you look like a dumbass.
It's good and bad. A guy like Trevor, I get it. When they interview me, I like it. I'm building my brand. I'm doing it. One thing I have learned from him is to watch what you say and how you say it. After a win, I don't give a fuck. “I told you motherfuckers. He’s going to win.” I think it's on Gladiators Unleashed IG, Jeremy. I could be wrong, but I think it is. He gives me the green light. He goes, “Let's do another podcast.” I'm like, “Are you sure?” He goes, “Yeah, I love it.” They get me pickled.
Watch what you say and how you say it.
I haven't had a chance to listen to it.
Trevor is so passionate about his fighters.
He seems like a great guy.
He is the best. I swear to God,
I have never met him. I had a chance to meet him at that bare-knuckle thing I went to, but they were getting bombarded. Justin walked in the door. Cowboy was with him too. It was like, “Good luck.” This is not the time to go up and be like, “I'm so-and-so.”
He is a good dude. When you listen to him, how he always words things, it’s like, “I want to talk about like you guys because everybody is like, ‘I'm the head coach and I do this and that.’” He knows how to make everybody feel good in the room. I think that is why every fighter he works with is so successful.
I think that that's what it takes to be a successful coach because Marc is the same way. He's happy for my success, his fighter's success, and his kid's success. Jeremy pushing buttons success. He understands that we are a team. He gives credit. Whatever he brings in, he always brings for Jeremy too. He's thought out.
That's what I'm saying. He’s a selfish leader. I think that's what he is.
Especially when you are going to war, this is the closest thing. Shout-out to all men and women that serve this country, our first responders, and stuff. That's a whole other thing we are talking about.
For entertainment-wise, it's not WWE. I'm nothing against that, but this is real shit. Boxing and hand-to-hand combat. You brought up bare-knuckle because you went to that and I feel like that may be the next big thing.
I had no idea what I was walking into when I went to that. McGregor showing up. My amount of friends that were there and your friends. I met Nestor for the first time there. We went to an after-party deal. It was a fucking great time. The only person that wasn't there was you.
Everybody was there. Joe Walker was there with Nestor.
Mighty Mouse was there. Fucking Clay Guida. It was star-studded as fuck.
I was going to be there with Justin and Trevor, but I had the family here. I wanted to watch Gerd and Camozzi. All my guys. I wanted to watch them all. The thing I will say about that sport is, “Do not blink.” It's fucking balls to the wall.
Just where they start them. I had no idea until I had Chris on for the interview. They started them from 3 feet apart.
When it all comes down to it, he’s Mr. Superstar. Justin is the one with 1.8 million followers. We go to the airport. He's getting autographs and they want pictures. We go anywhere like restaurants. I look at him and I see a goober. We have fun. He is one person that I will say about this. I have been around a lot of fighters of his caliber that have changed. They get a little money in their pocket. They get some stats and they get followers and they become assholes.
A lot of fighters change when they get a little money in their pockets. They get some stats and some followers, and they become assholes.
That was part of the reason why I quit probably coaching so many. I was like, “I'm over this whole thing.” It's not like I'm some special coach or anything, but I will tell you this, when I coach a fighter, I'm all in. My family is all in. They know. I'm lucky enough that Justin has made it to the top of where he's at, where he makes a lot of money and he takes care of us. It's easier for me to be like it's Justin’s fight camp. A lot of these fighters have full-time jobs and then that was part of the reason why like a lot of it because I was tired of getting burnt on, which, no offense, I know what it's like to be a fighter.
I probably shouldn't say this publicly, but anytime that those guys reach out to me that is not at the top of it, it's like, “You got to seat here anytime. Anything I can do to help you,” because that is a fucking sacrifice and a half. You know it firsthand. You probably went through that when you were fighting. The money was even worse.
It's way worse. We were talking about this. I got a bonus from Dana White when I found the UFC Fight Night. I got a bonus, me and my partner. Guess what the bonus was? It's $50,000 now.
I'm going to say $10,000.
$2,500. At that time, I thought I made it. I was like, “Cool, I made it.”
You can't even pay a mortgage with that.
No, you aren’t doing shit with $2,500. That's what I'm trying to tell people. Justin is different. He takes care of us. Me and him have never sat down and said, “I need this percentage,” because I would have cut or shot myself in the foot if I did that. He always pays more and takes care of us. It's not only during Fight Camp. I'm talking all year long. This guy will come over or he will surprise us with something and he's family to us. That's why my wife doesn't hesitate when I got to go do something with him or go anywhere.
It's cool that it's 3 or 4 times a year now.
This is the second time he's fought in a year in several years. This is a blessing for me and my family. I hate it because it's over summer and I have a lot of shit to plan. At the same time, it's for the BMF Belt. It's for pay-per-view dollars. It's for his career. It's the main event. It doesn't get any sweeter and I feel like he is at the peak of his career where if shit's going to happen, it's going to happen now. The momentum that he has and everything happened. Look at this fight card.
He's in his prime. I wanted to check this out. Bobby Green is fighting Tony Ferguson.
Tony is probably going to go to his retirement party there. Look at Stephen Thompson. You got Derrick Lewis at the beginning of the main card. Do you know how many times that guy pay-per-view Main Event?
He holds the UFC record for knockouts.
I saw you got Kevin Holland. You have a stat card and that's the main card.
This was where I might mean to cash in that free ticket.
It's a good card.
Do they have the prelim set up yet?
I don't think so. As a main event and you got a stacked card like that and you are in charge of getting pay-per-view dollars, like Poirier and Justin, that's a good paycheck. Good for them because they both deserve it.
Both of those guys deserve it. Both of those guys are rock solid. I like Poirier a lot as a fan. He seems like a good guy.
He put it on McGregor that one year.
I think of McGregor fucking talking shit with the fucking crooked leg. That bare knuckle thing was a spectacle. I didn't know what I was getting into. Here’s Camozzi’s fight here. He has the first-round knockout.
He's had a couple now.
He's built for this.
You were saying don't blink.
This was his last one. Even his first one was fucking crazy too.
We had so much fun at the after-party. Honestly, that's why I'm backlogged with guests right now. I'm like, “Sorry, guys, I will get you in.” I'm trying to do one a week. I could be cranking out 5 or 6.
You get in and then you are like, “Fuck, why did I do that?” I'm a one-week guy. I am. There are a couple of times where I'm like, “I got this show.”
I'm trying to turn it up. I could probably do two a week or something. The problem is my production people can't keep on turning it around that fast. I need a dedicate it to one person or something.
Here's one thing I have noticed too. In that week, there's that time when people can play catch up on other podcasts that want to listen to mine. If a download is low on one, I notice in that week others catch up. They are like, “This is cool.” If you put out two a week, the downloads are going to be juggling back and forth. You are not jumping ahead. That's why I think I like the one a week.
It blows me away when I go and look at the analytics, which I haven't done in a long time. I purposely stopped looking at them because it got to the point where it was like a waste of time for me. Occasionally, I will look at them when I want to know. Sometimes sponsors want to know. They were like, “Would you mind if we see some analytic numbers?” I'm like, “Yeah, no problem. I'm transparent with it.” We send it over and they were happy with it. Anyways, it's crazy to me that our very first episode still gets downloaded. That's something that I cringe on. I'm like, “I was so bad.” I was so shitty that our guests that we had in. I call them Justin instead of Jason like at the very beginning of it. I haven't changed a bit. I could have gone back and edited that out or deleted the episode, but I'm like, “Fuck, it's there forever.”
Sometimes I ask them. I will get two guests out at the same time. I will get one guest then I ask. I'm like, “Bring somebody whomever you want.” I'm like, “Who are you?” I ask them in a nice way and it was a fucked-up name. I'm like, “I will let you introduce yourself because I will fuck up your name,” because I do. I'd rather have them introduce themselves. I feel bad because it's my host job, but I'm horrible with it. That's a guest I want. I like her a lot.
I think we talked about her when I was up at your spot. Did you guys ask her some questions? You are like, “You got three female UFC fighters.”
She's one of them. I like her for some reason.
I will let you in on a little key and I hope that she doesn't get offended that I'm saying this publicly. She's battled with addiction and stuff and she gets asked to have podcasts done all the time because I have asked her. We have been going back and forth and she's receptive to it. We have alcohol around and stuff like that. She's like, “I'm okay with it as long as they are not trying to force me to drink.” She's sober. I'm like that was a big battle and it used to be a serious problem.
She'd have a problem in my podcast. I never forced anybody to fucking drink.
I don't, either. Some of the slickers have been here for.
That’s pretty old. It’s aging.
You brought me a bottle of this the last time. It was so good. We keep buying it. It gets me fucking drunk.
It's a good one. I was going to bring you another one. There's one that I like and I wanted to share with you because I was going to buy 1 for me and 1 for you because I'm out.
Let's go tequila next time. I'm on a tequila kick.
Let's do a tequila. That's why I was going to say. You guys need to come over and we will do one. I want to do one because I feel like we could do this. To me, I have a few topics that I'd love to talk to you about because I feel like people get everything twisted. You do your show and you do this and that. Are you competing with him? He's right down the road. I'm like, “That's my buddy.”
Do you get asked that? I get asked that about you sometimes and I'm pretty transparent with, I'm like, “No. He's a fucking great dude. He's an awesome guy. You should go on his or hit him up.”
I'm like, “Go. You will have fun. It's cool. It's right in Evergreen. It's good. I have been on it a few times,” I tell them.
You are a repeat. You are coming on at least once a year.
I'm like, “Go.” That’s one thing I will say I feel like I have been on yours a couple of times and you have been on mine once. It's time for you to come back.
What do they say when they leave?
It's all good. That's one thing I need to do. We should do another one.
I had a great time the last time I was on yours.
I have been on this Casamigos.
It's good shit. Do you get some? I think we drank it all.
I love Don Julio.
That happened with Chris.
Michael Pintar is another dude you should have on, especially with your following. I got to connect with you guys. He gave me that bison picture that's out there in the lobby. He's awesome. He's a pro rodeo photographer. He lives right here in Evergreen. He's one of the best pro rodeo photographers in the country.
I love photographers so that'd be cool.
He's a great guy. He'd be a great guest for you. He's down the road.
He called me a pussy at his birthday party for leaving the windows down in my car when it rained. He saw me sprinting to my car. He looked at me and he was like, “You are a pussy.” I'm like, “My fucking windows are down. Why are you calling me that?” He looked at me disgusted.
He's such a good dude. He's blowing up right now too. When we had him on, I'm not saying that we blew him up. It was strictly all him. His photos are fucking great. Are you hanging out with Michael a lot, Jeremy?
No.
You are friends with his brother-in-law or something, right?
I know his brother. Our kids ski together.
These photos are fucking incredible. They are so cool. It's like part of American history. I love the horse photos, too. The bull riding is the shining star of this sport. I love that he's portraying more of the horse culture. That's a pretty badass photo, that bull rider. That was right here in Evergreen. It's got the Evergreen Rodeo logo on it.
Are you going?
No, I'm going to be in Nashville. Shout-out to Evergreen Rodeo. If you live anywhere in the state of Colorado, it is worth the drive to come into a beautiful setting, a small-town rodeo arena. If you are in a rodeo, it's a pretty fucking cool spot. It’s epic.
I have been out of town every year since I lived here. 2022 was the only time that we got a chance. Michael's brother took my son. Got a VIP treatment and it was fucking awesome. James got behind the scenes and everything. The Autographs. It was awesome.
Have you ever been to the Evergreen Rodeo?
No.
You should take your kids. It's a good time. Beautiful setting. It's a hometown deal. I think it's Father's Day weekend or something.
I will do that. They'd enjoy it. These are badass photos.
It's incredible. It shows you what these fucking guys go through. Do you want to talk about some underpaid athletes?
Look at what this guy is about to experience.
Look at that fucking muscle on that horse.
He's got the composition down and everything.
He has the equipment too.
He's a true professional.
I would love to pick his brain and talk to him.
He's such a cool dude. He's a great guy. He's a good person to hang out with. I think we killed the bottle of tequila during his episode.
They are both a problem. They are great dudes.
Those are great photos. Look at that.
I think when he came on, he had like a couple of thousand followers. See what his following is now, Jeremy. If you are not following photography, you should be. If you want some cool wall art, I think he sells some of it as wall art. He shoots for a ton of magazines and pro rodeo. He's shot for bull riders only and all kinds of crazy shit. Shout-out Mike. The guy’s a good dude. He lives right here.
I would love to sit in and bullshit with him because I love photography.
Did you meet his brother? Did Brian come on this day?
Yeah. They stopped by after.
Brian used to ride bulls. Now he's like a mortgage guy.
He's a mortgage broker.
He got smart. Way more money too.
You go skiing with him or hang out at the bar with him. You are like, “There's something else going on with this guy.” He's a mortgage guy, but then you get a couple of drinks with him and then he's like, “I used to be pro rodeo.”
You got a big country following.
I feel like rodeo and MMA guys, they click because they are fucking got shit for brains. It's fearless. They are adrenaline junkies is what we are. I would rather go across a ring and get in a physical fistfight with somebody that I know I'm going to get my ass kicked. That bull will fucking kill me. I could not do it.
You know what blows me away, too is the bullfighters are pretty badass. There's this kid, Blake Miller, that I have been going back and forth with. He's a fucking stud. They throw themselves in front of these bulls to save a cowboy like when a cowboy gets fucked up with a bull. They will put their body in between. It is basically like taking a bullet for somebody.
They are like bodyguards.
Shout-out to Blake Miller. Check out this kid. He's a fucking stud. I made fun of him for his hair. I will hit you up. He's going to come through town. He wants to do the podcast.
Where's he from?
Somewhere down Texas. You know what's crazy is he's sponsored by Vans or something. He does this all in Vans. Everybody else is wearing cleats and shit. He's wearing fucking waffle shoes.
That's smart.
I love Vans. I'm a big fan of it.
He’s capping in the market right there.
Hit up some of his other videos. This dude is a sacrificer. Shout-out, Blake Miller. We will get you in here soon. He was supposed to come and then ended up breaking his leg. You could see why. He couldn't come through. When he comes through, if he's got time, maybe he could hit your spot.
I wonder if he's going to come in for Father's Day.
He's going to be at the Evergreen Green Rodeo.
I don't think he's doing that. Colorado is a huge rodeo state. Steamboat and there's a bunch of other ones that happen. He's a good guy.
He has fucking nuts the size of bowling balls. It's crazy. I can't do that. I don't even know if I can wear one of those.
What are you doing? Get out of there. No.
That's bars right behind him.
That's a steel cage. There's no padding on that.
Look at that.
He looks like he's out there in street clothes too like he’s doing a favor or something.
He looks like he's having a fucking walk in the park. No, thank you. I admit it. I can't do that shit.
That's a whole other level. I don't even know what we were talking about before this.
A fucking badass shit. That’s what happened. We are pulling up this guy.
You were talking about Camozzi. It just evolved.
I don’t want to do either/or. The bare-knuckle thing or this or UFC. I train a little Jiu-Jitsu. I feel like I can walk away from that. A little sore every once in a while.
Back then you look at Chris Camozzi and you look at his sidepiece, his little girlfriend that he got now. Holy smoke show.
He's got like a supermodel.
I'm like, “What are you doing?”
I don't want to go there. Not that you even notice.
I told Whitney. I said, “Whenever you leave that zero, come to the hero.”
You can get away with that, Jeremy. That’s just Luke.
He’s sitting in my driveway.
Me and Chris had a great time.
That's like a power couple.
They are cool. She's cool. I feel like they are compatible and doing it. I will say this about Chris. I have known Chris since I first moved up here in Denver. He was fighting the UFC when I was fighting the UFC. I remember going to the Cowboy Lounge or something downtown Denver one night and he was in there and I was in there. We are like, “What's up?” He was Mr. Factory X and I was that Grudge. We knew each other. We always got along and then his brother started fighting.
His brother is a cop now or something.
You want to talk about generally good people. Chris is one of the good people.
We hit it off right away. Talk about a pro athlete that has his shit together. He's so responsive to emails and everything. I was worse than him and normally he's the other way around.
He's been in the game for a long time too. I think he realized being responsible is a big deal. Where he’s at right now, I feel like Chris could probably hang it up anytime he wants, but he still loves the sport so much. He continues to fight and he's winning still, so why not do it?
I think his next bare knuckle is probably going to be for the lightweight title.
It should be up there. I don't see anybody beating him in this sport for a minute. Granted, it's a crazy fight game, but he is a guy that would be in the UFC. I don't even know how many times he's fought in the UFC, but he was a beast.
UFC: You won’t see anybody beating Chris Camozzi in this sport for a minute. Granted, it's a crazy fight game, he's literally a guy that would be in the UFC.
I think he went in twice in and out. He went to Glory.
He's a badass kickboxer to boot. Now he has to worry about playing with his feet and throwing his hands. This is all for him.
What's crazy is that when I have these fighters in, I have to go back maybe because I'm not as schooled in it. I have been a fan of it but I'm not in the game. Fight Pass is so great and goes back and watch some of these old fights and it rekindles. It's a reason for me to go watch those old fights and it's so badass. I had no idea. We have had Dustin Jacoby on. He's a fucking great guy too. He'd be great on yours as well. I didn't know these two fought at one point and it was a great fucking fight.
Aren't they on the same team now or they used to be on the same team?
I think Dustin's still at Factory X. Isn’t Camozzi at Genesis?
He’s at Genesis now, but I think they used to be.
They were both at Factory X together. Are you training at Genesis? That’s like a private club. There’s no public.
Last June 2022, I stepped away from Genesis. I used to teach classes there. I loved it. It got to a point where the podcast was doing good.
You got to balance it.
I always said if I made this much money coaching and podcasting, I could step away a little bit and be more at home. I did it and it made me hustle a little harder on the podcast because I had to. It also made me focus more on Justin too. It was a good transition for me. I miss everybody there at Genesis. I do like the people I used to coach.
There are so many. Drew Dober is over there. Grant and Neo. There are so many guys.
It got to a point where I needed to take care of myself.
It doesn't mean you are burning friendships.
I did not burn any friendships. I'm cool with all of them and it was a decision that I had to do for my family. You got to realize like, “I have been in this game for so long.” If I want to be selfish with Justin because he pays me the most and he is who he is and I can get by with that, I'm going to do it. To me, it was a no-brainer.
I did not burn friendships. I'm cool with all of them. It was just a decision that I had to make for my family, and I realized I've been in this game for so long.
It makes sense too. When they are at that level, they need to have that attention from a coaching standpoint.
I want to be selfish for him. It freed up so much time for me and when it's time to go to the gym, I'm not worried about like, “I got to go back down to the gym tonight and teach class.”
Is it just for Justin because Rose Namajunas and Usman are in there?
There's a bunch of guys that come into wrestling. It's mostly private. We got some cool things happening with that place. I can't say.
Trevor is got the whole gear side too, right?
With that whole thing, it’s not my business to tell right now, but it's going to be cool here. That's maybe something I step in and start helping out more. Right now, I'm happy. I'm generally happy as hell. How many times can you say that in a lifetime? I'm not busting my ass. I'm not doing 8:00 to 5:00. I get a fucking to be with my kids. On the weekends, I can choose to be home or go. I'm fucking spoiled.
On IG, I can put a picture of me and my wife up because I said, “I have to give her props because I will take one of those.” She lets me be me. She's had faith in me this whole time where I have nickeled and dimed her and pretty much been keeping promises to her. She's always had my back. We were talking about the phone call and I was like, “I want to say thank you because it would have never happened if it wasn't responsible.” Is this Sixers?
No. Better put seven over them in there.
I might have been fucking be buzzing here in the minute. The first time I took those with Justin, and we are at the crafts table. I thought he gave me fucking acid on my turn. It was a Wintergreen 6 and I took two of them.
We are doing a ZYN. No sponsorship.
I was spinning. Come on. Let’s talk about that sponsorship. That’s a good one. I was spinning my ass. I was like, “What did you give me?” I have no idea what it was. It was like nicotine.
It’s a real problem. I used to chew tobacco when I was younger, and then I quit that shit finally.
These are better but it's still a bad habit.
It's nicotine. I enjoy it here and there.
There are a lot of bad things out there, but this is something I love.
Especially hanging out doing this. What do you get coming up on the podcast and stuff? You guys got so much stuff happening. I'm so happy for you.
I'm at the point where it's nice when people hit me up. I check my emails and DMs. They are like, “I'm rolling through Denver. What's up?” I'm like, “Let's go.” To me, that has probably been the piano off the chest because you know how it is to get hunting.
For me, it's been the opposite because a lot of the people that have reached out want to come on, I will be blatant, I'm not going to name any names, but I have tried to keep it real. Sometimes I will reach out to some of the guests that I have had. I think I have reached out to you before and they are like, “Is this a good fucking guy?”
On the other end, what you were talking about, I don't want to be a conflict of interest. Especially since we have had so many military guys on. I don't want this to come off the wrong way, but it's a fickle thing. There's a bunch of guys out there that say they have done a bunch of shit and they haven't done a bunch of shit.
I try to stay away from that whole department.
I love having those guys on.
I love it but at the same time, it's weird because it's mostly guys that I have on that I had no idea they had a military background. That's cool. What it all boils down to me is for the podcast situation, it's all about me having a good conversation.
What it all boils down to is that podcasting is all about having a good conversation.
That's what this has turned into for me too. It's like fuck everything else. If I never make another dime from this, I think I'd still do it. I'm fortunate that it does make some money to pay for all this shit and pay for some people to edit it and do some cool shit here and there.
We are nowhere rich but we are doing it because we love it. That's what I'm saying. I'm lucky enough that I can cut back on a lot of things. Do I still hustle on the side? Yeah. It's more like a hustle for how can I make my podcast better. Who can I bring in, what sponsorship, or what partner? I like money. Who doesn't like the money? That's my motivation.
It makes it easier. My thing is with it, I hate doing advertisements. I love the sponsors that we have. I said no to a bunch of the people like that too, because I want to believe in what I like. The advertisements are tough for me. I realize that the better that I do with those or the better the sponsors that we have, the more I get to do with this. I'd love to travel to a guest for a month or something. It is rad. That’s twelve a year. That’s not that many.
No. It is doable. From what I have researched and what I have gotten from people that have been on Joe Rogan, he doesn't even pay for people's travel, which I have always thought. When you are on his platform, I wouldn't expect him to pay for mine. I would want to be on the show.
I'd sleep in my car.
If he calls me, I'm going. It's crazy. I know a couple of people that have said no to him. I'm like, “Do you need me to slap you?”
I get it. I always felt like when you hit a certain level especially his caliber of guests, but you think about it. His guests can afford a plane ride. I'm thinking outside. I hate somebody coming from Denver or Conifer.
I feel the same way.
It's like, “Let me cook you a steak or something.”
You and I are both those dudes that’s like, “You are welcome to walk into my living room any time. Knock on my door podcast or not.” Those are the people I want to have in here. If I won't have you in my home, I don't want you here.
That's my whole scenario. It's my detached shop. That's where I live. It's where my family is.
It would have saved me a fucking 30-minute car ride.
It is. That's the perk of it. I do what I want. I will tell you this. We had the team Gaethje on. Justin kept on feeding me whiskey. Me and Trevor were drinking whiskey. Every time I return, my glass would get full. I finally watched the video. He's pouring and I had no idea. I got smashed that night. It was a good show. We stayed there for a minute and we started bullshitting, talking, and hanging out. I didn't even make it to my house. I slept out there and passed out on my couch. I had no idea. I don't remember it at all.
I have walked home from here. Luckily, I'm only 2 miles. I could have walked here fast. If I have too much to drink here, I will not get behind the wheel.
That's what I stress to everybody.
One night I walked out of here and you have to walk around the lake to get to me. It was solid ice. I was falling down fucking ice hills and shit was all dark. If I would have had my hunting gear, I would be fine, but I was walking home in Vans and fucking hoodie.
You didn't do that more than a DUI.
It was way worth it. I walked in the door and my wife was like, “What happened to you?” I was like, “It’s snowing, my hoodie, and all that crazy shit.”
When we were talking about like the guest, I don't feel comfortable with them being at my house. I generally don't do it. It’s so crazy. When I have people on there, I get a connection and I'm like, “My wife cooks breakfast in the morning. We are good.” My wife is like, “Who are these?” My kids are like, “Who's downstairs, dad?” I'm like, “Podcast.” I usually try to have my wife or my kids come out before we start up to introduce themselves so they know who's downstairs. “Are they sleeping in the shop,” because it’s all easier and everything? It's crazier now because you have been at my spot where I have no toilets in the shop though, so everybody goes outside.
We live in the mountains. I grew up that way.
Now, the bears are out. That night I slept outside. I woke up to big old scat right at my door. I'm thinking, “If my guy didn't shut the door all the way, that bear could have come in here and had its way with me.” I would have had no idea because I was that hammered. I think I was probably a White girl crazy drunk. I was that drunk.
I had some friends one time when I was living in LA. It was a special occasion. Let's put it that way. They invited me out for some margaritas and shit but I didn't know it. The bartender was putting Everclear in the margaritas. You can't taste that shit in the margarita with the sweet and sour. I was like, “These are fucking good. What are these?” They were this tequila mixed with fucking 180 proof. I thought I was drinking margaritas. I had ten of them bitches. I was a wreck. It was not good.
Everclear will fuck you up. I have noticed that I love whiskey.
It was moonshine. It wasn't even Everclear. It was like homemade fucking moonshine shit. I went blind and shit that night.
That's why I feel like it is scary for me because I like whiskey so much. It doesn't become a sip. It becomes, “I'm going to fuck this up.” Me and Trevor just talking. The next thing I know, that's the downfall of not being responsible for, “I don't have to drive. I got to stay here.” It's the downfall of it. That's why I always try to tell people like, “Be responsible.” If you got to stay, stay here. Stay here for a few hours.
We have had a few people sleep in the studio before. I had this awesome girl come into town. An ultra-runner. I was like, “Where did you come from?” She's like, “I drove all the way from fucking Basalt or some shit.” I was like, “You live in Basalt? I had no idea. I'm sorry.” She's like, “No. I'm going to sleep in my car tonight.” I was like, “No. Stay here. There's a bathroom. Nobody is going to be in here.” I should have a cot here or something.
I had a couch that comes into a bed and now I took that in the house so more people could stay.
How many years deep is the podcast?
Three.
We are coming up on three. It was 3 in April 2023. It’s crazy that we have been at it that long. It's going by like a flash.
We talk about the pandemic and everything, how bad that shit is on everybody. To me, it was a blessing because that's when I started the podcast.
I had all the gear before it. It was crazy.
I'm one of those guys that I go all in right away. If I do something, I'm all in. I'm scratching my head. I'm like, “Fuck.” It was like that thing right there. I got it for Christmas. It's sitting there because I don't know how to run it. I don't know what cables I need to get.
I'm one of those guys who goes all in right away. If I do something, I'm all in.
I can show you before you leave here if it’s the same one.
It's the mini. It's the same thing we got.
Let's wrap this thing up, Luke.
I want to revisit quickly that I had the sip when we were at your house. I was fucking sitting next to you.
I brought you a bottle of some whiskey or some special reserve.
She was getting rowdy. You were sipping on a Corona the entire night. It was long. You were drinking a Corona and I was. I set my fucking Corona down next to you. I fucking reach over. I'm talking to Bobby. I'm like, “Yeah. Anyway, we are going to head home.” I took a swing off this tequila.
It was a Corona bottle, but it was a spitter so he drank your spit.
This is peak COVID. This is all the shit. I ran right outside of fucking puked in your yard.
I did not know that. I feel bad for you.
It's fucking wonderful. I didn't want to make a spectacle of it.
He didn't tell me either.
I'm a guest. I'm fucking trying to keep it cool. I don't want to draw too much attention. I'm bullshitting with everyone. I took this fucking swing and I'm like, “That's 98.6 degrees,” and I fucking ran outside.
Mine as well made out on that.
I will say this. I have taken Justin's spit. I think everybody has done it.
It's not the first time.
I drank my spit. I never drink somebody else’s.
I have juggled the one. I will drink one and spiting the other. You get drinking and I'm like, “Oh, God.” I think every guy has done it. You are still kicking.
Good to know you.
You guys have a special bond.
What do you call him, dick-in-laws now? I will say this about you guys. I enjoy every time I come here that's why I will never hesitate to come in here and help you out and do whatever I got to do. Come here and do this because this is. How cool is this? Now my week is awesome. As I said, look at your schedule. We will make it happen. Come on over.
I would love to do this again over on my set. Bring your bow. We have fun and we shoot it. Maybe we will bring another guest in and have a little competition up there, shoot, and have fun. It's a lot easier to help people than bring people down. Derek Wolfe is a perfect example of helping people out. It’s coming back to me numerous times. I’m a man of karma. I believe in it. I will never expect anything at all but it always comes back for some reason.
It's a lot easier to help people than to bring them down.
I don't believe in karma, but I believe in being a good person. I think that that gets you so fucking far. Just to be genuine. Celebrating other people's success. I talked about this before when Cam came out with his podcast. He's done so much for us. He's a fucking awesome guy. When he came out, there was a little bit of jealousy. I was like, “Goddamn. I'm doing this all wrong. I fucked up 110 episodes.”
You did it because that's what makes your podcast your podcast. Regardless of how I do mine, how you do yours, how Cam does his, or how Jocko does his. People relate to you not to Cam. “Can we trickle down and get some cross still?” Hell, yeah. I hope so.
I think that's what it's all about. I will take that back. It was like a split second where I was like, “God, this is so fucking good.” I turned around right away as soon as I had that. I messaged him right away. I was like, “This is incredible. You are setting the bar. Good job.”
I think he's probably looked at yours and looked at mine. He's been on Joe Rogan’s numerous times. He's pieced at him and he's been to an area where he has taken his workout facility and now he did what he wanted to do. Shoot, lift, and run. I was going to fuck with him one time I was going to come out with the thing saying, “Drink, fight, and shoot.” I have so much respect for the guy. Me and him, we message each other and I send him out stuff. The guy sent me shoes and stuff. Unbelievable. I'm not even expecting it. He sends me out stuff. He likes this podcast or this and that. Like when he throws something on the IG, who does that? I'm nobody.
Rogan did that for us too. I didn't ask for it. I was so grateful. It's incredible.
The next day you wake up and you got all these blue followers coming up. I'm like, “This is cool.” It's nothing to these guys. That's why I think it's so important for other podcasters to get on other podcasts because they do have a following. I have a following. It's important that we share because I didn't do it by myself.
I got to attest you are exactly that for me too, because when I asked you to come on, I was like a little bit nervous. I was like, “Fuck, this guy used to be a fighter.” You were a big guest at one point. Now you are my buddy. It's different.
I'd rather have it that way than having something. I like to be me and I like having these conversations where you could have a drink of tequila with me and we can just bullshit. Having a guy like Jeremy pull up things, makes a podcast so much fun.
Shout-out to Jeremy too. This is my ride-or-die since day one.
That's what I'm saying. I have had a couple and in and out. I love them all. What he does is his time away from his life. I want to give him the world. I can't literally, but I want to make sure everything is good. You know what I say? It is fun. The podcasting is fun. If you are not having fun on your podcast, you are doing it wrong for the wrong reason.
I keep saying this, but to figure it out, I urge anybody to start one for the human connection more than anything because the conversations that I have had here, you don't have at a bar. There are too many distractions. You don't have it on the phone. You don't have it virtually. It’s in here
Here's the other thing. We talk about moving. It's like these walls end up getting tattooed with all the bullshit that we end up doing here. This is our spot. We have this and then that. You don't lose this. This place is dripping with conversation. It's special.
It feels good to be in this space because we migrated in and you have been in all three.
This is cool. You guys got the spot now and I like it. It reminds me of a radio set now. It reminded me of a Howard Stern-like radio set. It's cool. My goal is to keep the shop. I want to shop. I want a top part where it's like a loft. Upstairs it’s a podcast area where they are just like this. It's quiet. It’s that. Downstairs, I have my workout, games, and shoot my bow. That's my goal and that people could stay there. I'm making shit happen with what I have now. It's good and I wouldn’t change it. Where would I be in those three years? I don't know. I hope I'm still podcasting.
I think we are going to stay here for a minute. It’s comfortable. People like coming here.
Luke and I were talking about, it's like, “Could you be any more nestled into where you are at? This is the spot.”
It’s a good spot. I'm not going to lie. I'm jealous of it.
We get the occasional Harleys going by, but I like the ambiance.
That’s anywhere. I feel like when I hear your location here in Downtown Evergreen, how cool is that? If I'm a foreigner and I have never been here, I'm taking out all this side. I'm checking it out.
It's crazy because we have had some people on that who are like, “I have heard you guys.” When they drive up here, they come over I-70 and you cross, there's the buffalo herd. They are like, “What the fuck? We had no idea that it was the actual mountainside.” I'm like, “It is.” Yours is the same. It's tucked back in a fucking rad spot.
No, it's even gnarlier, especially in the winter.
You do what you have. You look at Cam's situation, he took his workout area, did the same thing, put a table in there, and now look at it. You don't need a full-blown studio. You can do it.
Look at the budget that Rogan has and he's still doing it with one dude.
I think you can overproduce shit too.
This is the one thing I will say about us and you talk about guys like Rogan and Cam now that he set the bar. It's an in-person interview. That’s one thing I will say is that you are doing it. I'm doing it. Rogan is doing it. Cam's doing it. I feel like nothing that I have been on a few Zoom calls and I have done it with people and I'm like, “That's not what I want to do.” Can you get by with it? Hell, yeah. Once you have done this, you don't want to do the other.
I've been on a few Zoom calls, and I've done it with people, but that's not what I want to do. Can you get by with it? Absolutely. But once you have done it face-to-face, you don't want to do it any other way.
It’s a job shot and it’s going to make your conversation any better.
To me, even when you go to Eric, the echoes and the audio is so much better. I feel like the day I can't have any more guests in my place, it will probably be the day I will probably close the shop.
That's why I have flown to a couple of guests too. It's like, “I will come to you. We will bring our shit.” It's not as good as the studio because it's soundproof and all that shit. Still, it's good. The last one we did was in a hotel room but it worked out. It was cool. It’s awesome.
The same thing with the camper deal now. It does help with the guests, but there's nothing like having your studio and doing it.
It's so nice to walk into too. It's the spot. I hang out here when I'm not podcasting sometimes.
It's my spot now. Everybody knows they are welcome to come in. They see the light. My neighbors now come over. Sometimes I'm like, “I'm not drinking motherfuckers. Leave me alone.”
We have tried to keep this incognito, but now we have to start locking the doors when you have a podcast because people will bust in here. They are like, “What's going on?” “We are recording.”
That's honestly what happened. It's a good problem to have because I want that atmosphere. You got to keep it still at a professional level. I'm excited. You guys come to mine next.
Let's do it. We will keep it going. I celebrate every one of your successes. I'm so happy for you. I'm glad that we are still doing this, both of us. I didn't think it would last this long, honestly, when I first started it. I love doing it. I think that's why. Thank you so much. I love you. Real quick. You have three Instagram to follow or more.
I got a personal page. It's mine, what I do with my family. It’s Luke Caudillo. The podcast is @GU_Unfiltered_.
Check that out. You guys do it live too.
We do the live deal. The main page that I try to post on stories and all that is my Gladiators Unleashed page because it has more of a following and I have been doing it longer. I try to keep the podcast all on podcasts and the Gladiators are fighting everything that I'm doing in my life. I hate social media, but I love it because I need it. You need it especially what we are doing.
People get pissed at me because I don't respond to them all the time and stuff. I love you, guys. I have to turn it off at some point.
I'm telling you, especially now, everybody is telling me how to coach Gaethje for the fight. I love you all, little Gaethje fans, but fucking shut the fuck up. We know. I appreciate it, guys. I do.
Yeah. I love having you. You are welcome back. We will do this again in a little bit. Awesome.
Thanks.
Important Links
Donnie Dust – Past episode
Marc Montoya – Past episode
Donnie Vincent – Past episode
Michael Pintar – Past episode
Dustin Jacoby – Past episode
Luke Caudillo - Instagram
@GU_Unfiltered_ - Instagram
Gladiators Unleashed - Instagram
Andrew Arrabito - Past episode
Eric Telly - Past episode
Chris Camozzi - Past episode