Transcript
- Hadouken! - Hey, Wanoop here with former 90KG World League champion, Andrew Tait.
And we are catching up the day after what was...
I...
a rather short lived
Affair at Infusion944 between yourself and...
Ibrahim Elbastati, who's now the first male two-weight champion.
I've just seen
you'll interview a combat point, your post fight interview. They just put it up literally about five minutes ago.
Um...
You've told the whole world, basically, the issue with your eye. Do you want to...
re-sort of
Terrify it.
Because obviously I know certain stuff, but I don't want to say anything. Do you want to...
Make it clear he wants some ball for the record.
Yeah, what happened was,
Abraham threw a punch.
It missed.
It didn't hurt me. I mean,
If it was a hard punch or people were saying the bone was broken, look, I can show you.
There's not a mark, it's right out here. There's no mark. Go more into the screen. Yeah. See?
There's no mark.
There's no bruise. There's no damage to the bone.
I could touch it. I could do this.
The socket is fine.
The lace of the glove.
or the point of the glove,
Very scrap touched my eye and I lost my vision of my eye.
I've had a bad eye for a long time.
It's one of those injuries you can get in fighting. I had it five or six years, and it's just...
perfectly bad luck, bad timing.
I got caught in my eye and couldn't see properly. When I first said to the referee, I said, stop. I wanted to try and wipe it. Try and get my vision back. Then he jumped on me. Then he started counting.
So he didn't give me the time I needed. So I was like, I can't fight if I can't see.
So it's really disappointing because I know
that Ibrahim's not happy with how this fight ended, even though he's the champion, and I'm not taking anything away from him.
I'm glad he's the champion. I'm happy for him.
He's the new generation of fighter. It's really good that he's a champion. I wasn't a very active champion. It's good that he's a champion. It's good for infusion. It's good for him.
I have nothing bad to say about Abram, but I know he's not happy it ended this way. I'm not happy it ended this way.
I feel like I was winning the fight and
We had a lot of rounds left to go. There was a lot more action waiting to happen.
from both of us, either one of us could have won.
And I know that he's not happy and I'm not happy. It's just one of those bad things.
Just the punch, it was a swinging punch. It came and just scratched my eye and I couldn't see properly. And the referee started counting me. I didn't have time to try and wipe my eye clean.
And that's how it is. It's just one of those bad things. And if you speak to a lot of fighters, a lot will tell you they have bad eyes.
It's a common thing in inviting.
Yeah, on the subject of bad eyes, Gary Turner, who we both know,
He couldn't fight for UFC back in the days over in the States because...
I think his short sightedness is the same as mine, about minus six.
And he was saying he failed the test and he wasn't willing to do laser eye surgery, which even I have issues with.
Well, I've had it. This is the thing. My eyes
are bad.
And.
If Abraham's young,
But one day when he's an old man, when he's been fighting as long as me, he will one day, you know, maybe it will take seven or eight years. And he'll think, remember when I fought that tight guy?
Everything he said was fucking true.
And what's going to happen is your eyes take damage over time.
And I started having big points in my eyes, and they told me if I had laser eye surgery, it would be better.
They said, "If we correct your vision, it will grow back stronger."
Which was bullshit. It's been worse ever since. It is with the money, yeah?
They just want the money. I mean, I had it maybe six, seven years ago.
But to this day, I can't take, you know, like,
I can't get, if I get hit clean in the eye, it's fine.
You didn't hit me clean. If you hit me clean in the face, it would have been okay.
I've been wobbled. I've been rocked. I've been hit. I'm not afraid to get hit. I'm not afraid to be wobbled. I'm not afraid to get rocked. I'm not afraid. It doesn't matter. If he hit me clean, it was fine. It's the fact that it wasn't a clean shot. It was just a bad luck scratch my eye. I couldn't see properly. And the events afterwards, I mean, he jumped on me, tried to hit me. I don't blame him.
It's a fight. It's adrenaline, of course.
Referee starts counting and now the events happen so quickly. And it's just a shame because...
That fight...
Had a lot more in it. The fans aren't happy. He's not happy. I'm not happy.
And although I'm glad he's champion, I think it's a good thing he's champion.
I have nothing bad to say about him being champion.
It's just everyone's unhappy with the fight. I'm unhappy. He's unhappy. Fans are unhappy. Yeah.
No one is sitting there thinking, yes, yes, that was the fight we wanted to see. And I think it's a shame.
for this reason, you know?
It'd be much better if it ended a different way.
No matter who won or who lost. No one's happy. Yeah, I was saying to Ibrahim, you've seen an interview done with Ibrahim earlier.
It's up on YouTube. And I was saying to him, it's just like,
The fight needed at least another 30 seconds at most to really ignite the fuse. Because it was just at that point where, you know, someone gets the match right by the fuse to just light it up.
It just got to that point.
You know, end of the day, you've got to give him credit. He threw a long left hook, it landed, it connected, and it caused you to properly explain.
It's unlucky.
But...
He did what he had to.
You were attacking his body. He said to me that he didn't feel it. He felt a go on the elbows. So...
I have to take his word for it because a lot happens that moment. He knows where he's feeling it and what his mind is like. So that's that.
even if it looks a bit different, but that's that.
In the day... He's the two-weight champion...
But you'll run a period of time there.
You've got a lot of reflection to do.
first being you've come back into kickboxing
You didn't do it for the money. You didn't need to come back. You came back purely because, like I wrote, once a kickboxer, always a kickboxer. Well, but this is the thing that's most disappointing to me is that part of the reason I came back
is so that the belt didn't get given away.
genuinely from my point of view
I don't need kickboxing or care about kickboxing like a young fighter will. I'm not saying I'm not hungry.
But of course Ibrahim cares about kickboxing more than me. When I was 21, 22, 23...
Kickboxing was everything to me.
You get older, you got things to do, you buy houses, you get relationships, you run businesses.
and I'm lucky I make money outside of the kickball team, I lose money to fight.
By the time they pay me, all the time I spend in the gym, I make more money than I have fun.
So,
For me, one of my main reasons for coming back was thinking, you know what, Abraham's a young fighter. He's up and coming. He's trying to get his two belt.
It's not good for him and it's not good for Fuchsia, it's not good for anybody. It's just given to him or he fights some idiot.
I almost thought, let him win it.
And it'd be good, you know, it's just a shame it turned out this way. Because a lot of my motivators for coming back
was for the whole...
The whole thing, you know? It would have been better if...
if he beat me on points or he sparked me, whatever. You know, but I know nobody's happy with this result. It's not just me who's unhappy and nobody's happy with this. It's one of them stupid things that just happens.
It's a freak accident. And if I had done it to him, I know that I would not be saying, I beat him. I would be like, oh...
It's fucking unlucky bullshit. Yeah, but coming back to you, the other thing is, that's the one thing, the other thing is,
Fond and Safety is paramount. Now,
I can't fault the referee.
For calling off because you waved off. Even though you're saying you wanted time, the way you signalled, Andrew...
we've had too many issues like boxing is well reported even in Ireland we had an MMA at death as well so soon we see that
There are more important things than fighting, which is living to fight another day. No, completely. Listen, I agree with you. Let me tell you something.
If I was in that position and I was 23, 24, I probably would have fought anyway.
With one eye.
Legit. I mean, I'm telling you the truth. I fought...
For my second world title fight, I fought 12 rounds with a broken hand. I had a surgery on my hand. You can see the scar here.
I have surgery on my hand, a four-hour surgery on my hand. I knew it was broken. I fall anyway.
But I'm fucking 30 years old. I'm at the end of my career.
you know
My eye was fucked.
It was hurting me. I needed to wipe it. He was counting. I had 10 seconds. I knew it was going to be better than 10 seconds.
This is one of them things. I'm like, fuck this thing. You know, what can I do?
I'm not going to sit there and fucking fight Ibrahim with one eye.
You know, towards the end of my career for what?
It's a different mentality towards the whole sport. So yeah, you're right.
It is a paramount, because for me, my health is paramount to me, like it wasn't when I was younger. When you're younger, you don't give a fuck.
Now it's like, you know, it's one of those things.
It was a punch.
Fair play to him. He swung as hard as he could. He tried to hit me as hard as he could.
I wish he hit me clean on the jaw because I'm telling you,
If it didn't knock me out, and I don't think it would have. No disrespect to him, just because I fought with my hands down for a long time. I've been punched plenty. Now I'm always standing. So I'm not worried about it.
If I'm worried about it, I put my hands up. I'm not worried.
If he hit me clean on the jaw, the fight would have carried on. It wouldn't have fazed me.
It's the fact that it's great. But you can watch the video yourself and you'll see.
If the punch lands clean, you won't see his arm go past my whole face. You know, it scrapes.
My vision was fucked up. He jumped on me. Referee started counting. And by the time I'd finished taking my blood away from my eye, I hear the word eight, nine. You know, it's just like a fucking...
one of those things. Yeah, it all happens. But look,
Your eye.
And the fact that, you know, you are American bull, but you're predominantly based in the UK and Europe. Yeah.
And what I mentioned about Gary Turner, his opportunity at USC went because of his eye issue.
I'm sure he had no issue me saying it because he's a very open guy and he's a good guy and he talked about it quite openly.
Now...
In Europe, especially in the UK,
"Espiones"
We don't have...
very stringent medical checks that they're having in the state anywhere else like that. So, like,
Yeah, there's none. Let's be honest, there is none. I mean,
So, how does that... Now you're a lot older, a lot wise-y, a lot maturer.
How does that now impact your decision making where you go forward now? Because- Well, I've got two, here's my two decisions.
I'm going to make this very clear for when Ibrahim watches this. I want him to know.
I'm not saying he shouldn't be champion.
He's the champion now. I don't believe in this.
I'm not trying to take back. I don't believe in this shit.
He's the champion now. Congratulations, Dave Rahim.
I think it's good for the sport, it's good for Infusion, it's good for everyone that Abraham's champion. I wasn't an active champion, I was doing other things.
So congratulations to him.
My only point is...
He's not happy with how the fight ended. I know this because he's a fighter. And I know how fighters think because I'm a fighter.
I'm not happy with how it finished because I was not out of breath. I was not tired. I was not sweaty. I was not hurt. It was just...
a freak accident.
You know, the fans are not happy with this. So I have two choices now.
I either just accept it's a stupid accident
and I move on, I do other things.
Or I say, I'm going to get my belt back and I'm going to rematch him.
You know, those are my two real choices.
Do I want to fight Abram again?
My main reason for fighting Ibrahim was just that
I, as a man, am not afraid to lose. On paper,
I'm coming back after two years against an undefeated fighter. On paper, he should kill me.
But I thought, you know what?
I'm not afraid to get, people don't like me, everyone hates me. Everyone wants to make fun of me.
Everyone will make fun of me on Facebook. I don't care.
As a man, I'm not afraid to lose. He wants my belt. He can come knock me out and take it.
Because as a man, I think that's the best way for him to...
to win a battle.
You know, I'm not gonna give it away, that's bullshit.
But...
That was my main motivation for coming back.
Do I really? I mean, I don't need to fight.
Do I really want to rematch him? I'd have to beat up two or three more people first.
Which I'm sure I would do. Yeah, you could have done with at least one or two tune-up fights. It would be, you know, hindsight's a bitch-hug. You know, I should have had tune-up fights. If I was really worried over tune-up fights, I'd say, I'll fuck up, Fabian.
You know?
So I could come back now.
It's too easy. You can't say who would have won the fight because it was only a round.
I believe I was winning that round.
I was definitely landing more shots. I was all over him. He had a game plan he was putting into place. I had more game plan to put into place. Round three, round four, everything would have, you know, who knows what would have happened. But the point is, if I come back at 90 kilos now, I'll destroy anyone they put in front of me.
I'll knock them all out.
And then eventually me and Ibrahim will fight again next year.
And I believe, of course, because I'm a man, I believe I win, and I win my belt back.
The fact is, do I want to? Do I really give a fuck?
And I don't think I do. And I think that's just a matter of
I think it's a matter of having the number of fights I've had. It's a matter of me being happy with my career, being happy with who I am, being happy with what I've done. And it's just sitting thinking, you know, do I need to be in that gym for another year and a half doing this? Or can I...
make more money and have an easier life somewhere else.
That's the truth of it. I'm just really upset that this fight...
which in my mind...
was always gonna be, you know, like this is gonna be a big event and I might retire after it, I don't know, whatever.
I'm just upset for him and for me and for the fans it ended in this bullshit way.
Because it's not a good way for this kind of fight to end. That's my only regret, is it ended in this stupid way. You regret it, but...
Are you hinting at an apology at the fans? Or you're not apologizing for what happened? Well, I can't apologize because I can't fight if I can't see. But then what about the argument that, well...
You knew about your eyes, but you still went into fire.
That's always a risk factor.
Yeah, I mean...
If you're going to do this sport,
You're going to pick up injuries.
And, you know, Tyrone Spong's leg will never be the same again. If he low kicks someone, it snaps again.
You can't say to him, oh, you shouldn't have fought.
Of course, he snapped it before. It heals the best a human body can heal, and it snapped again.
I broke my hand three times.
You know, my eye was damaged, it was healed. It got hit in exactly the right way or exactly the wrong way, and it got damaged again. This is life. This is human bodies, you know.
I was in good shape for Ibrahim.
Like I said, I wasn't breathing heavy anywhere near towards the –
just by the time it happened.
You know, I looked in good shape.
I trained as hard as I could train around my busy schedule.
And I'm very confident I was going to win because I'm a fighter. Of course, I'm very confident.
He was very confident he was going to win. And I really just have my only regret.
is not fighting him,
It's not even that I lost the belt. My only regret is that it ended in this way. Because it's not good for me. It's not good for him.
It's not good for the fans.
It's just a really unfortunate accident. And this is how life goes sometimes. There's nothing you can do.
Yeah, that is true. I mean...
What would you say to younger fighters out there who have...
who have issues, who...
might not be fully aware of it, might not fully comprehend it.
where it could take them with whatever issues they've got with their head.
What was your...
you know, from...
what your two cents are worth and your user experience, what sort of advice you'd give to younger fighters and the fighters out there in general.
I think it depends where you are in your career and also depends on how much you're getting paid, you know?
It depends how much you're bringing home.
If you're an MMA superstar or you're a boxing superstar, like Anthony Joshua is about to fight Klitschko.
He's getting $30 million.
He's a bad example. Mike Bisping's a much better example. Mike Bisping's got one working eye properly.
- Yeah, exactly. But you know, if the payday's worth it, cool.
And kickboxing in most cases, maybe in my case, maybe in Newgroom's case, it is maybe worth it. But in most cases, it's not worth it.
Just move the screen a little to your right, please. Thanks. Sorry.
Yeah, so you have to evaluate a lot of things, you know, and you have to evaluate other things you have going on in your life and stuff and –
I think with me especially...
I'm really happy with my career. You have to remember when I was 23, 24,
When I first went on the Infusion Reality, I had 19 knockouts in a row.
19 KOs in a row.
You know, like I was an animal.
And I lived in the gym and I hurt everybody.
Yes, I've heard the stories.
other things start to happen and priorities change. And this happens with all fighters, you know, and it doesn't matter who you are.
All the young fighters out there will think, that will never happen to me.
things change in life and priorities change in life.
I wasn't prepared to fight Ibrahim with one eye.
Maybe if I was younger, I probably would have tried.
But I couldn't see properly. It's a bullshit end to maybe one of the best fights of the year.
It's very unfortunate. It's very sad.
And that's the only, I don't have any feelings, I don't feel bad, I don't feel sad, I lost my belt, I don't feel anything.
I just feel disappointed that this fight, when we type it into YouTube, is not the fight people should be seeing. Because that was going to be a fucking fight. I'm telling you that was going to be a fight for anybody. I think anyone who knows anything about your style of fighting, his style of fighting...
both your careers
I'd said, I've gone on record, this fight should have, in my opinion,
been one of the most exciting fights in this historic month. And that includes Riko and Bada.
This went the total opposite.
to how I think most of us predicted. And also there's a fact that you mentioned earlier that people don't like you and people want to see you lose. That's probably true because whether people like you or not, I've been to a fair few events in the UK. I'm not going to say it out loud because...
I'll just say how it is.
A lot of people, when the conversation came out about yourself and Albert Stouty in the UK, were like, nah.
it was one of two reasons. One, they just didn't like you. Two, he's had too long out and we don't like him.
Only the third option was
Nah, he's been out too long, but they didn't say anything negative about you.
And that's the way it is. And believe it or not, Ibrahim, he was talking about, he's got haters.
two-faced people. It happens to success. It happens. You put yourself out there. It happens.
It happens. You can't climb to the top without getting haters. Especially with me because I've made a little bit of money and no one really knows how I make it.
So people always say to me, how do you make money? And then I don't tell them, and then all of a sudden, no one likes me. Well, why is that? Is that because you're a pimp? Are you a commercial pimp?
No one knows where to say that again. Are you a commercial pimp?
No, I'm a fucking... I sell ice cream, man. I got ice cream trucks. No, no, no. Don't I give you that one? That sounds worse.
That's not proper drug dealerish.
Yeah, but no, I'm not breaking the law on record, police.
But no, I'm...
You know, it's just one of those things. But I respect Ibrahim. He's a young guy. He reminds me a lot of myself. That's why even in the uprun to this fight, I didn't hype it too much. I didn't insult him, nothing.
Because when I look at him, I see a younger...
You were very calm.
I was calm because I can't hate someone who's on the same journey as me. He reminds me of me. When I was 21, I'd fight anyone. Didn't give a fuck. Any way, anyone, any time.
I was fighting MMA.
I was fighting Thai boxing, full elbows. I didn't give a fuck. I'd fight anybody.
So he's the way I was.
So I have nothing against him personally.
I was coming to win.
Um,
I still believe I have the experience.
I believe I'm the bigger fighter, and I believe I was going to win that fight purely because
Just because...
I have an athleticism he wasn't to be familiar with over the five rounds.
I know how my attacks work, the sidekick, this, that. It doesn't hurt the first time, second time.
When you eat the fifth one in the third round, all of a sudden,
Can't breathe. I know how... Yeah, you would tap the body, tap the legs. After a while, it pays off.
And he was scoring with his leg kick, and I was letting him throw. I wasn't blocking it on purpose because I don't want to lift my leg up because I'm going to keep my balance square for the body shot. So, you know, I had my game plan. He had his game plan.
It was going to be a good fight. It's a shit end.
I know in his heart he's not happy. I'm not happy. The fans aren't happy.
But I have two choices. I either just give it up
or I come on a mission
To her, Ibrahim.
Yeah, but if you're that unhappy...
And surely,
Surely you want to get back in there. Surely you want to sort yourself out, do what you have to do, and not just fight him, but maybe have a handful of fights and then call it a day or then review it.
Because I think it's fair to say anyone who's followed your career,
either they don't like you, they're going to say, look, you've still got...
There's this whole capacity utilization.
You haven't quite
Got to your peak.
There's that much more. You could be fighting bigger names.
- No, don't discreet him because he's young, but there are people out there, I'm not gonna bring up, you know, whose name, because I think you said enough, but he's not happy with me as it is anyway. But there's plenty of people out there who,
You should be fighting, but it hasn't happened.
Yeah, I mean, the problem is this.
Right now, do I feel like still fighting? Yes.
But whenever I stop fighting, whenever that is, I'm going to feel like I want to keep fighting. It doesn't matter if I stop now or in three years. That's right. It's always going to happen.
You can't just stop fighting and not miss it.
I'm always going to be missing fighting.
So you have to make a conscious decision in your mind and think, yes, I miss it.
"but is it the right thing for me to do right now?"
Now, financially, it's not the right thing for me to do.
So that's the first thing.
Am I happy with what I've achieved? Is me winning a fifth world title as opposed to a four world title?
Does it really mean that much to me?
Five, four, who gives a shit?
I know I can kick box. I can prove my point.
You have to look at other factors because if I do it purely on emotion, I'll end up like Rory Jones Jr.,
fighting every weekend and knocked out at 50. Yeah. That must, yeah. You know, because fighters don't want to quit. If you do it purely on emotion, you're going to get fucked up bad.
You have to use your brain.
So I have two choices right now. I either just accept it was a bad accident
The fight was shit.
It's a shame for Ibrahim, it's a shame for me.
But it's good for infusion. I'm glad he's two-weight champion. And I commentate on his fights. I watch his career. I see him. We have a beer together. We be friends.
Or do I go on a mission to kick the fuck out of everyone on a mission to come back and prove I can be Ibrahim?
And to be honest,
and I mean this with the greatest respect,
I already believe I can be Abraham.
So I don't feel like in my heart I really need to do that. If that makes any sense, I'm happy. I can go to sleep easy at night.
Yeah, you know that you prepared yourself well. Yeah, and I believe I was in that fight, and it was just a bad accident. And I don't feel like I need to come and prove it to everybody.
If he knocked me out, maybe I'd feel that way, but I don't feel that way. So I'm glad he's champion and I have complete respect for him and
I hope we can be friends in the future, and I look forward to him winning and beating other people, and I hope he keeps his O forever.
And it's just one of those things. It's just a disappointing night.
And I'm sorry for everyone who watched it.
On to other stuff, you know? You don't have to apologise, but that's really...
generous of you in the circumstances. If I was in your shoes, I wouldn't apologize. I find it hard to say sorry to anyone to be quite frank.
But...
Yeah, you know, that's come straight from the heart.
God's ever helped to you.
There's always that camaraderie in combat sports with people. We train, spar, fight, whatever, cross paths. There's always that mutual respect in that camaraderie. It's like a little brother. It's a kind of brotherhood. It's like a degree of brotherhood.
Completely. Yeah, but you mentioned money.
And we all know...
We've had Balak Harris saying it, I'm a prize fighter. It applies to everyone. I mean, I'll be honest. I had a couple of amateur fights that didn't go my way.
and the peanuts you get for ending up with crap bruised ribs this isn't worth it when you're older especially you go back into it
we're not, you know, I'm only at four years old and it's like, fuck this. Yeah. You know, it's, I've got other things that could be doing like this, because I think everyone's appreciating this.
So,
But we've got to have that hunger. Is that hunger only going to get really stoked up for you by money? Be honest because
I'll be honest.
with me, and maybe it varies from person to person.
with me
I was a lot more hungry.
when kickboxing provided me the money I needed to live my life.
When I wake up in the morning,
and I have other money from other places
buy me nice things and I can do anything I want. And someone goes, "Go to the gym."
to me the more money I made outside of kickboxing the less I wanted to kickbox that's me maybe with others it's different
But with me, that was my situation. If I was making my money, if I made millions from fighting, like Conor McGregor or whatever, that's a different scenario.
But when I'm making all my money,
from everything I do besides kickboxing,
it's naturally going to start to fall down the scale of priorities.
when you start looking at houses and cars and stuff, and then, you know, it's a natural progression. No matter how much you love it,
over years you're going to start to think you know what this has to come before that this has to come before that
And before you know it, fighting is not the number one thing in your life anymore.
And should you be fighting if it's not the number one thing? Probably not anyway.
So I'm surprised over the last three, four years, I've still been knocking people out when it's been my fourth or fifth priority.
If it was my number one, I'd be a lot more dangerous than I already am.
But it's one of those things. It's back in a balance, isn't it? There's other fighters who have made it a few bob.
They do have a bad luck. You can only have like, say you try doing 10 things in your life.
That means you're putting 10% effort into 10 things.
It's not possible.
Let's say you have three to five things in your life.
One is...
dating or woman or whatever, yeah?
The other is--
your career ambitions, the other is your sporting career ambitions.
Just balancing those three
Yeah?
And then maybe there's a business that you're doing on top of that, or you work towards a business and you've got a kid. That's why you can't do more than that. It's just not humanly possible.
- No, I can't. You can't, and you know, you can't,
And that's why I'm thinking now,
Because I'll be honest between you and me if I were to embark on the path to be Abraham I
I'd lose...
$200,000 minimum.
Because it's going to take me a year of fighting other people before I get the rematch, blah, blah, blah.
I'd lose a lot of money.
And, and,
For me now, since my dad died, I support my mom
She lives off me.
My whole family, my sister's going to law school.
Me and my brother work together. My whole family survives off me.
Bank is the most important thing to me right now. I've got other things going on.
I came back for this fight because I didn't want to just give the belt to Ibrahim. I think that's not fair to him. It's not fair to me.
I'm annoyed it ended that way.
It's not good for the fans, but it's just one of those things.
I'm glad he's champion. I have complete respect for him. I don't want him to think I'm making excuses or some shit.
He go in there, I go in there.
respect but we both know it was a bullshit ending it's just how life goes and sometimes you just have to accept it and move on and stay happy and I think that's what I'm
Probably going to do.
Maybe, you never know, maybe I'll wake up tomorrow and say, Anouk,
One year I'm coming back. Let them know I'm going to put all the money away. I'm going to come kick some math. But you know what? I've been there. I've done that.
I kicked a whole bunch of ass.
AND
I don't know anymore, man. I'm happy just eating ice cream, chilling. You've got to be happy in life, whatever you're doing, whatever. Because there's always going to be hurdles. There's always going to be obstacles.
And there's never a perfect time for anything. There's never a good time for anything. You just got to get on by and just overcome the hurdles as they come along and the happiness balances out in the background around you.
But you mentioned, yeah, you might bring me up tomorrow and say something else. We should tell everyone that's exactly what happened with this fight in the very beginning. When it was confirmed...
and then I spoke to you and Ibrahim
And then he went, he pulled out and something happened. I'm not too sure it's legal or whatever. And you were like, yeah, you know, there's, there's certain issues with that scandal that was well reported on. And then you went, fuck it. I'm going to fight. Fuck it. Yeah, exactly. So if you up run to this fight, I've been running a business, I've been dealing with
three police cases. I've been traveling to six different companies. You know, I've been doing loads of shit.
so
But I'm not saying I wasn't in shape because I was still fighting. I still believe I was going to win. I'm just saying that I've got so much shit going on, man.
And you know what? I'm actually really happy for Ibrahim. I really am happy. In front of his hometown, he got to win the belt.
I'm happy for him. I'm not a negative person. I'm happy for a young fighter.
to win the belt in front of his hometown, become two-weight champion,
and get to pursue his career. That's much better than if I knock him out
hurt him badly.
And then I don't fight anymore because I'm doing other things and he can't fight for a long time because he's hurt. And fuck that shit. I'm not as cruel as I used to be. The old me would think, yeah, fuck, I don't care. The new me.
You know what, fuck it, I'm glad he won. - It's not even you, me, it's about,
You hit 30 now. You're mature, right? You just...
you got more experience in BC me same week
We're not always going to still be a bit degree hot in this still there.
But it's about--
We're being more cool headed, a little bit more. That makes a little bit of a difference. Now you mentioned that, you know, since your dad passed away, you and your brother supporting your mom, and you put your sister at uni, law school, LBC, whatever.
you know,
How...
How did things happen for your fans and everyone out there? What happened...
in the last two or four years.
for that to unfold. Yeah, my dad was financially supporting my mum, and he was financially supporting, even though they weren't together, he was financially supporting my sister.
My dad was one of the best chess players in the world.
Genius and I know this words overused everyone goes I know a guy who's smart or I know a guy who's a genius no and
My dad was legit genius. I mean, I've got a genius level IQ. People hate when I say that, but I've taken the fucking test. I've seen the fucking result. I'm a genius is on paper. So fuck you. So I've got a genius level IQ.
But still, compared to my father, I was nothing.
My dad was in the CIA.
He holds the Air Force record for the fastest assimilation of a language.
He went from knowing zero Russian
to learning the entire Russian alphabet and speaking Russian fluently in like six weeks.
Fluent. In. Out. The fastest. He holds the Air Force record.
One of the best chess players of all time. You can Google it.
Every chess game he's ever played, he remembers, ever. I never saw him write anything down. You tell him your cell phone number three years ago, he remembers it. It's crazy.
And he was playing chess one day.
Just playing chess in a tournament.
- Went toilet.
came out the toilet and said, "Call 911."
Collapsed. Never woke up.
Oh, shit.
That was it. That was a year and
A year and four months ago now.
I'm sorry for your loss.
Fucking man, that's life and that's how it goes. And it makes, and that's what actually, you know what, before that,
I was a lot harder as a human.
Even now when I'm saying things like I didn't want to, like, even though, you know, in the fight things happened.
Now I think back to, I really want to knock Ibram out and hurt him in front of his own crowd there.
When something like that happens to you, you start to realize that
all this shit, like shiny kickboxing belts and this and this,
Fucking all that really matters is your health. All that really matters is the people you have around you that you love and
I love my brother with all my heart. Me and him travel the world together.
I'm glad both my eyes are working today.
And I'm a happy man. And I'm happy with the result. I'm happy for Ibrahim. I'm happy with everything. So it's just one of those things.
That's good to hear you're happy and uh
long way that continues for everyone
You know, these experiences,
They hurt, but...
They build us. They build character. Suffering builds character.
Absolutely, absolutely. Right, what's going to happen, apart from you probably stuffing your face over Christmas and New Year's,
What else is happening in the world of the Tate Brothers?
- It's interesting in a fight. - What's gonna happen now? We've got a really interesting thing happening now because
There's a documentary starring
Tomorrow morning. Okay.
which basically documents
are like outside of the ring. Mm-hmm. So...
For a long time, there's been this mystery, and I've heard so many rumors about myself. How does Tate make money?
I heard he does porn. I heard he sells drugs.
I heard he sells guns.
Why is he in Romania all the time? Why Romania? What's he doing in Romania?
So eventually there's been lots of things going on, some things have been put in place.
And I can't give away all the details. Obviously, this is going to be edited.
But there's any insight into my life outside the ring.
24 hour access kind of thing.
So it'll be three or four episodes a week.
Showing what what goes down so you know, maybe that'll give a little bit a little bit of insight into why I'm
I'm not in the gym like I used to be. When do you start shooting this and when can it be expected to be produced and aired?
I'm sorry.
Within three or four days you'll start seeing something.
Okay, and...
Is there a broadcaster in Europe or is there going to be a YouTube thing?
It's gonna start on the internet, but there's a lot of big boys watching.
A lot of big boys watching.
I had some guidance from some influential production companies, etc. In the end, they ended up choosing who the team was who was going to do all this.
I was going to try and do it myself, but it all got put together for me.
It's going to start on the internet.
But it's going to go from there. So we'll see what people think of my life outside the ring. I think it's pretty interesting.
Then I'll have to see what people think of it.
But it's just one of those things, and then
yeah, that's the next project, you know? So I'm going to start it tomorrow just explaining exactly what I explained to you and be congratulating you for him and being happy for him and then just moving on and
I've got things to do, money to make.
onward and upwards, and this is one of those things.
Good stuff and good luck with that.
Your brother.
Is he going to fight again?
Thanks.
I don't think so.
Tristan and me, you know,
We're two peas in a pod.
And we both love fighting, but I got to a world that I think, and Ibrahim will probably agree with me here, if Ibrahim's brother was still fighting.
he wouldn't be able to train Ibrahim as well as he trains him.
And Tristan trains me a lot of the time. And if you're both fighting, it's not the same.
It's better to have one fighter, one trainer.
And we just naturally fell into these roles. It's just how it worked, you know.
Even when there's a man and a woman as a couple,
They both try and...
fight, I think it's difficult. Doesn't work.
Doesn't work. Because if you're training hard, to train someone,
takes your energy as much as training yourself. So someone's always lacking. So
It's how it is, you know?
So, no, I think me and Tristan were both very happy. A lot of people still fight because they feel like they have something to prove.
They feel like they need to prove they're the best, prove they're the best.
I know.
I'm the fucking man.
In my head, no one can tell me I'm not the man, so...
I'm happy. I'm happy. I don't feel like I need to fight anymore. I'm happy.
You, um...
Last time we spoke,
He mentioned something about Joe Shilling. Now I know he's pissed.
Yeah.
Do you want to like...
Clearly yeah with Joe Schilling or not?
I don't want to clear the air. I mean, Joe, I don't know him personally. I've had arguments with him on Facebook and stuff.
I'll wrap, I'll sign up the Joe situation very quickly.
I know for a fact
He has
to turn down contracts to fight me.
I know for a fact I have signed them, they've been put in front of him and he said, "No, I don't want to fight this guy because
I don't want him to get big off my name. Bullshit excuses. Allegedly. Allegedly.
That's his decision.
If he can sleep at night with that decision,
Fine.
Me as a man, I've never ducked anyone.
I don't give a fuck.
Never duck anyone.
Anyone, anytime, I said yes, everybody.
He can't say that.
Because he'd be lying.
If that doesn't bother him,
Congratulations.
Because I don't give a fuck. I still have more money in the bank than he does, no matter how many fights he has. So I don't give a shit. - Okay, but to be fair, to be fair though,
How long ago were...
these fights allegedly supposed to happen four years ago, five years ago, or three years ago.
Nah, glory times. Yeah, so we're going back to 12, 13, yeah? Like we were saying last time.
OK, well then...
Look, to be fair...
And we go outside of kickboxing.
Let's look at when Crocott fought Brennan Schultz in the UFC.
Yeah.
Brennan got a massive profile after that win. And he's even said on his own podcast or something, or Joe Rogan's podcast,
That was an awesome matchup and a matchup in hell and a big risk.
for Cro Cop. So guys that feel
They've built some momentum and they've got to that certain level. Yeah, but it wasn't. I know what you're saying, but it wasn't justified because me and him were supposed to fight four or five times before that online fighting other promotions. Plus, I was the infusion champion at the time. Plus, you know, it's not like he may have been on a different platform to me.
But Glory was still relatively new, and Fusion was launching. Everyone knew who I was just as much as he was.
before he won that tournament.
He definitely didn't have a higher profile than me. Plus, we've been...
This discussion has been going on back and forth forever.
So it's not like I just popped up out of nowhere and said fight me. He knew exactly who I was. Yeah, this is the other thing I want to make clear as well because
We go back three years ago. We go back five years ago.
Kid boxing was not getting
the kind of media coverage it's been getting the last couple of years, the last two or three years.
And there hasn't been a full time reporter of the sport like myself,
Ever. Either. We got people in and out.
We've had Michael Shavella, The Voice, from the 90s, but he was oceanic. He was everywhere. He was oceanic, Japan, America. He's in one of the things, but...
You know, you got to earn your stripes. And I feel like I've earned my stripes this year. - Yeah. - However,
It was, if people think, oh, I'm Mr. Controversy or anything like that, I have to facilitate these sort of questions that don't get asked.
And people aren't that like.
But we have to clearly be one way or the other. Completely.
I did...
Ask someone to give Joe a heads up.
But...
They got busy with their own fight preparation.
And so he's a bit pissed and he's gone, "Block me on Twitter."
It's not the end of it. I'll be honest. I think anyone who knows me knows I'm a big, I'm a huge...
Huge Oshini fan.
But I've got no, you know, I have to take the question. You know what, Joe's a hothead. Hang on, let's balance that out. I don't want to bash the guy.
I'm not going to bash him, but I have to make one thing clear.
Me being K1 Anoop and doing what I do, I have to ask you questions. I have to ask other people questions and I have to go back to you.
Yeah, I should have spent, I shouldn't have waited five days to email Bellator to request an interview with him.
when I found out the other dude who had asked to mention it to him about a month before didn't and forgot but you know shit happens and it is what it is and we all move on and he's doing really well and good luck to him and I hope he wins Saturday and
I hope the Kings didn't like it because I've always enjoyed watching him fight. So that's that. Yeah, man. Yeah, man. Good luck to him. Good luck to him.
Cool.
Right.
Is there any parting shots you want to give nicely?
or however to anyone about anything. Because if it is the last time that
We saw in the ring it's
It doesn't sum you up your career.
It's water for Ducks backside view, but is there anything you want to say in closing?
Thank you.
Anybody in the bank like Amir and whoever else?
Yeah, I mean, Amir knows I love him.
In closing...
I, uh...
What can I say about my own career? I was a full contact kickboxer.
You know, with the long trousers all above the waist.
who accepted his first ever K-1 fight on three days notice in an infusion 85-kilo matchup.
16-man tournament.
Ended up knocking everyone out, got to the finals somehow.
You know, I've just...
I was a young man ready to fight anyone any time.
And I was doing that all in the pursuit of a better life.
and I've managed to fall into a better life in other ways.
I'm still a dangerous motherfucker. I walked down the street at night knowing that
I can do what needs to be done.
And, um...
I'm happy. I don't know what else to say besides I'm really happy and I've made some great friends in this sport and I hope to have good friends the rest of my life.
And me and you can continue to talk anytime, Anut.
Let's all smile. That's all it likes about. You smile and you win.
Yeah, of course, mate.
Good luck to you. Thanks for your time. I'm going to hit the stop button. Hopefully it isn't the last that we're going to see you and World Kid Boxing because things are just bubbling up
And, you know, I'm pretty certain where we're going the next one, three and five years of the sport.
It's about to explode.
That is for definite. There's stuff that I know about
What glory are you doing with the UFC fight pass? Yeah.
just watch everyone, cakeboxing is
we're getting there everyone we're getting there let's just
everyone be happy there's more money coming so don't get pissed off when I ask questions that's not a shot at Joe that's a shot at people other than Joe who know who they are and they're probably watching this but there's nothing personal it's business but we all got to work together even if we don't always get along together so what? yeah completely
Completely, man. You're right. You're right. You're right. You're right.