Ever wonder what your lashes are destined for?
The cards have spoken.
Maybelline New York Mascara does it all.
Whether you crave fully fan lashes with lash sensational,
big, bold volume from the colossal,
a dramatic lift with falsies lash lift,
or natural looking volume from great lash,
your perfect lash future awaits.
Manifest your best mascara today.
Shop Maybelline New York and discover your lash destiny.
Shop now at Walmart.
Think advertising on TikTok isn't for your business?
We've generated over 100,000 leads,
which has converted into over 40,000 sales
for our pet insurance policies.
My name is Trey Farrow.
I am the CEO of Spot Pet Insurance.
TikTok's smart plus AI powered automation
takes the guesswork out of targeting,
bidding, and optimizing creative.
If I can advertise on TikTok, you can too.
Drive more leads and scale your business today,
Head over to getstarted.tiktok.com slash TikTok ads.
I'm Mike Boris and this is Straight Talk.
Gotta be very careful.
I lost the world title in front of my family,
my friends, 60,000 people in Melbourne.
And if I didn't have a good grip on who I was
and didn't understand what it was that I was fighting for,
I would have fallen.
UFC middleweight champion Robert Whitaker.
It's a tough industry to have a day off.
Everyone has bad days,
but my bad days look a little worse.
More than anybody else,
I'm not a championship fighter.
I think I'm a warrior.
And this is what I do to provide for my family.
And that's the identity that I have.
This is one thing that I think the fans don't see.
If you take me away from my family,
I've lost half the edge.
As someone who's fighting at the pinnacle of the game,
you're always looking for edges.
What could I be doing to make me better?
Rob Whitaker, welcome to Straight Talk, mate.
Thanks for having me.
Been a long time trying to get you here.
That's all good, all good.
No, we're just talking.
Now you've got three boys and one daughter
and one on the way.
When's the one on the way due?
January, January.
And do you know what it is?
A boy or a girl yet?
Yeah, three boys and two girls.
What's the balance like in your family?
I've only ever had four boys
and I'll have three grandsons within a week.
What's that like?
Honestly, I'm happy for another girl
because my daughter's been,
asking for a little sister since day dot, right?
But seeing the three boys interact with each other,
boys and girls, they just act differently.
Like, like the girls eating your breakfast nice and neat,
like trying to be respectful.
And the boys are chasing each other with sticks and swords.
Like even the youngest, he's only,
he's only about turning three next year.
And he's chasing, he's starting to like just pick up,
you know, the kids just pick up things.
They're picking up off their older brothers now.
Just like, oh, they're chasing each other with sticks
and he's chasing each other.
He's chasing everyone else with sticks and doesn't,
but he doesn't understand his own strength yet.
Cause he's still very young.
And what are you doing that role?
Did you like, I mean, I'm just trying to think about what I used to do
because you know, my four boys were just crazy, but you know,
like they always seem to be getting hurt.
I mean, there's always an injury.
Someone's always falling down the stairs or one boy turned the heater
and burned all his hair off his head one time.
But what do you do?
Like, are you sort of present, like, like in terms of being there
and the discipline sort of stuff or you leave that to the mum?
And I'm sure you understand that there's a, there's like a dichotomy
in the family life.
There's like a system in place and one's the disciplinary person
and one's like the fun one, but it is a hard balance.
And I understand that every family is different.
I'm, I'm like the fun one that rolls them up just before bed.
Getting told off with the kids along with them.
But Rob, you go to bed, I'm just making everything harder, but when,
when they step out of line or they do something they shouldn't be doing,
it's, it's me that gets the call or it's like, I'm going to tell daddy
and then they switch on sort of thing.
It's, uh, yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm kind of, I am the enforcement when it needs to be,
but I'm also a little bit more relaxed because I grew up.
So my wife grew up with a sister and I grew up with my brother
and with, with my dad, um, single household.
So it was a house of boys.
So my mentality with the kids is a little different than,
So when the boys are chasing each other with sticks, that, that to me,
doesn't seem out of this world because they're just, there's been boys or
if they're throwing things around or kicking stuff for no reason, absolutely
no reason, it's boy stuff, you know, obviously I'm not letting him go around
kicking the house down and I go, John, stop kicking things.
But my wife's like, why does he kick things at a time?
I try, I try to explain it to her the other day, I go, babe, I think about
kicking things all the time.
Still, like to this day, I think I could probably kick that door shut.
Like, you know, but I'm old enough to hold it back.
Whereas the, the, the kids, the boys, they, they, they think about it.
Like, yeah, I'll do that.
Like they don't even, it doesn't even cross their mind to not do it.
It's just like, yeah, can I do it?
And I, and I can, and I will.
I tell you, when my boys were a little bit older, so, and, uh, one time I had
to go to a, like a fancy dress thing and which I hate, but anyway.
Anyway, it was a party thing.
And I said to my wife, I was married at the time.
And I said to her, look, we'll both go, we'll get a, hire a nanny.
Like, you know, you can bring up at some place to hire a nanny or something like
that, and she'll come in and mind the kids.
And we were just a lot, very far away or just a few streets away.
And, um, at 11 o'clock.
So the, the boys all slept in the same room together.
There was four beds for all boys.
And, uh, but only three of them were there, three younger ones.
And, um, at midnight, we got a phone call and the nanny said, uh,
you've got to come home.
I said, she said, I'm leaving.
I can't stay any longer.
I was, oh, what's going on.
And, uh, I said, well, if you stay here at the party, I'll go, I'll go back.
What had happened is that, um, she was a bit timid and, uh, the boys had got one
of the single mattresses off the bed and they were up on the top level, like on
the, it was a two-story house and they opened the balcony doors and she was
sitting down in the lounge room, watching TV, which is where she was sitting is
right below the balcony and, uh, watching television.
Quietly and she thought everyone was a bit asleep and then they got the mattress
and they pushed it over the balcony and it fell straight down right where she was
right next to her and frightened the absolute shit out of her and it would have
frightened me too.
And, uh, and I actually thought, you know, stupidly, I thought, oh, that's pretty
You know, like, uh, pretty funny.
Like I thought it was pretty funny.
Like it was a good thing.
The young kids, one was the youngs would have been four, would have been five and
the next one would have been seven.
So they were doing something they thought was a bit adventurous.
Four and seven, you got to, you got to commend the ingenuity, right?
It's an adventure.
Where's that even come from?
You lift a mattress up and throw it off the banister.
Like I don't know if they were trying to be mean to frighten her or not.
I don't know, but maybe it was something, but it's just, but I got in trouble for it
because, uh, I sort of thought it was a funny thing.
Like, uh, and instead of disciplining them, you know, I had to discipline them the
next day, but I mean, I didn't get much sleep that night to be honest with you.
Like I ended up having to go down, had to go and pick it up, bring it up.
And I was made to sleep down in the lounge where the nanny had been.
Yeah, it wasn't good.
It wasn't a good outcome for me, but I really love that.
But I must say, I never had the opportunity to have a little girl, a girl in my family.
And I kept having kids, boys to try and see if I could get over it, but it never happened.
But mate, not about me, about you.
You were born in New Zealand.
Whereabouts in New Zealand?
Um, Otahuhu, Minnamore.
Now where's that?
Just put me in perspective.
I want to say pretty sure.
And, uh, and mum has some Samoan background.
Her father was, I think, Samoan background and her mother was Moldy.
And, uh, dad was, uh, just a New Zealander?
My father is actually a Queenslander.
What are we doing here?
Do we have to put up an organ?
You're not going to tell me he goes for Queensland in the state of origin or something like that?
Because he was actually born in New South Wales.
And then I'm pretty sure.
So he's, he's an original New South Wales.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
He's a blues man.
So, uh, you were born over there, uh, your parents, did they both move to Australia or
So it was a bit of a funny thing.
I, my mother wanted to go home to have her firstborn in New Zealand.
And that's what she did.
She went there, had me, and then more or less, same month almost, came back.
That's just, uh, cause when I got there, when I was, when I got there, when I was born,
there was, um, there was a whole ritual with like the umbilical cord getting planted underneath
And yada, yada, yada.
That's a like a Maori ritual?
Um, I don't know.
I want to say yes, but it was, it was, um, my grandma, my grandmother was the one that
was kind of leading all that.
I've known plenty of guys that have done that with their kids.
That makes perfect sense.
That makes my mind.
You, you planned it.
Ties you to the land a bit.
And, uh, and the nutrition of the umbilical cord obviously is pretty nutritious.
It's been feeding the kid for forever.
So there is a lot of good stuff in there and you can grow things out of it.
So they came back.
They came straight back to Australia.
So you were pretty much, you schooled in Australia, whereabouts in Australia did you grow up in?
So I, from, I'm sure when I, when I was younger, I moved around a little bit, but from my earliest
memories I grew, I did probably my first 10 years in Riverwood.
So I, I, I'm, uh, uh, I can remember Bennett Park in Riverwood.
It was near Roseland.
It's on the way to Roseland.
I did my foot at rugby league fields there.
I did, I did my swimming lessons at Roseland swimming pool.
And I grew up on that, on that park.
So I was on the board of Riverwood and Punchbowl.
It wasn't so great in those days.
Well, no, it was terrible back then.
It's probably good now.
Probably expensive now.
So you grew up in Riverwood.
And for the first 10 years?
We grew up in a unit.
I'm not going to say the whole 10 years, because like I said, we were moving around a little
bit when I was younger, but I don't really remember too much.
Did you go to Naui High, Naui school, which school?
No, I went to Riverwood Public.
Riverwood Public.
So I grew up, from my earliest memories were like growing up there, we grew up in a unit
on Minnesota Avenue.
And then my parents split up and eventually I went and lived with my father.
And through housing, my father ended up getting a place in Menai, in the townhouses there.
That was a pretty good area, Menai, though.
Like, yeah, it really was.
I want to say really middle class, because there was only like a strip.
Of housing commissioners.
Because it was sort of new.
It was like a new area.
And there's no train station.
So that instantly put speed bumps in kind of the social structure.
Well, it's a good speed bump.
To a degree, because I was the one getting put there.
And it's funny, because when I lived in Riverwood, obviously I lived in the units and there were
a lot of units around me, and going to school and everyone was the same.
But when I moved to Menai and I went to school.
I was labelled a Houso, which I didn't even know existed until then.
It's a funny little thing.
Kids can be mean, but it's a great area.
Well, that's funny you should say that, Rob, because where I was, we used to call kids
There was a street around the corner, it's called Chick Street, just behind Rosings there.
And it was a Houso street.
And I remember, except my younger brother.
And we didn't know what.
I mean, it didn't matter to me.
I just, that's because everyone else called it that.
But I remember I used to walk my brother home and we'd get off at the shopping centre and
have to walk home.
And my little brother, and there's always bloody dogs in the street.
Everyone had a dog.
And there was about three cars out the front.
No one had a fence.
They were all cattle dogs.
And I used to say to my brother, mate, whatever happens, don't look over there at the dogs.
And whatever happens, if they start coming and barking, don't run.
Because they'll bloody chase us.
And if they start chasing, you might have to start running, like, you know, and they're
going to chase, they're going to bite us, you know.
The downhill fight from there.
And every time, we'd walk in and we'd think, I've got past, they haven't seen us, they're
not barking at us.
And one dog would bark and my brother would take off.
And the dogs would be chasing him.
We used to go through the street all the time.
But all of my mates lived in that street anyway.
But it was, I reckon they're good areas to grow up.
But you wouldn't want to be labelled the Houso.
It's hard to say.
It's hard to say.
And I'm sure there are other people that have spoken on it.
And there's a whole system and science behind it.
But Menai and the Southern Shire as a whole was a great place to grow up.
Like, great place to grow up.
Granted, it did have some, you know, things with social separation and things like that.
Like, I didn't know what a Houso was or what a Wog was.
Until I had moved to Menai, which was saying a lot.
But still, I think it was a great place.
So, Menai's in the South.
The Southern Shire.
It's otherwise known as the Shire.
Although, people in the Shire would complain, would argue that it's barely in the Shire.
It's just sort of on the edge.
Yeah, right there.
And what's it like living, what would it be like growing up from, so that's from the age
of 10 sort of thing.
Did you go there right till you were a teenager?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I got my first unit there with my now wife at the time.
I grew up there, spent my teens, early adulthood there.
I didn't move out of the Shire till I was about, I want to say, 25.
So, it's a pretty unusual place because you get an introduction to life pretty quick.
It's a pretty parochial place like the Shire.
I mean, we've seen lots of things.
And by the way, my brother grew up in the Shire.
He's much younger than me.
My brother, my family moved out to Kronala Way.
And he grew up in the Shire.
And his mates are different to all my mates.
Completely different.
They are different.
And they probably still live in the Shire.
They do live in the Shire.
They still hang out with each other.
They're still close.
Still hitting all these up on a Sunday.
I worked in all this for a while.
And it's a culture.
There's a culture there.
It's almost like a village.
Like Menai, for instance, and Illawonga and all those other suburbs around there.
I call it, and I'm pretty sure a lot of other people call it the island because no one leaves.
That's interesting.
But where do you live now?
I live out past Camden.
So, close to where you train?
So, I own a gym at Smeaton Grange.
That's where I do my camps and all my training partners, other UFC fighters are.
And I live probably about 20 minutes out of that on acreage just past Camden.
So, take me back to the ... Why did you start to learn how to either box or do wrestling
Tell me, how did that all start?
It was my parents' influence.
They wanted me to learn some self-defense.
Obviously, there's ...
As a boy, grew up watching a lot of cartoons, a lot of fighting games and stuff like that.
I had an interest in combat, just naturally.
And then they put me in self-defense, which was karate, me and my brother at the time.
Me and my brother.
And as well as football.
So, I played football as well.
As in rugby league?
As in rugby league.
He played for the school or?
I played for Riverwood Public for a while.
And then went over to Kingsborough Colts.
Oh, Kingsborough Colts.
And then moved again to Menai Roosters.
The Menai Roosters.
Because the Kingsborough Colts are in the Canterbury, I think ... No, they were in the St. George
In the Dragons comp.
And so, you play footy, you did some form of karate.
And do you get graded or not so much?
I ended up getting my black belt over the course of the years.
I eventually ... When we moved to Menai, the trip to karate was getting tricky.
Once I had reached black belt, I was kind of getting, I wouldn't say bored, but I had
lost a little bit of interest and I wanted to try something different.
There was a hapkido school, a hapkido and jujitsu school nearby.
I jumped into that.
The hapkido school eventually transitioned into an MMA school because MMA was rising
I haven't looked back.
I remember watching a movie maybe 40 years ago, maybe more.
It was a movie called Billy Jack.
It was about an American veteran who had been to the Korean war and had learned hapkido
He was a half Indian guy, like an American Indian, and half Indian and half non-Indian.
He learned hapkido.
Hapkido became really popular of all of a sudden, this is in the 70s.
You never hear much about hapkido.
I certainly don't.
I think a big influence was Steven Seagal.
He was a Hapkido guy too
And what is Hapkido
Just take me through
Is it more wrestling
If I had to give you
Like a layman's breakdown
It's kind of like
It's got a bit of everything
A bit of striking
A bit of wrestling
Got a lot of wrist holds
Got a lot of those
Wrist hold type things
Some ground stuff
Dehabilitating sort of kicks
There was a little bit
Like involved with it as well
The school that I
Hapkido at though
Also did Jiu Jitsu
So it was kind of
A crossover there
I mean I was talking
To a guy the other day
And he was telling me
The two best fighting methods
And I'd be interested
To hear from some of you
He was a fighter too
But like just someone
Like especially someone
If you want to learn
The two best combinations
What would you say
Like if you were trying
To bring the two together
But to do what though
You want to compete
And you could only pick two
You have to do it all
So what would all
And your fitness work
The difference between
Wrestling and grappling
It's kind of wrestling
The difference between
Jiu Jitsu and wrestling
Because they're different
Jiu Jitsu is primarily
Ground based combat
They start standing
But then eventually
Competitiveness takes place
Whereas wrestling
It starts standing
The opponent down
In a mixed martial arts
You will be exposed
Their different strengths
And their different weaknesses
I would like to say
Just because of the physicality
Wrestling brings into it
So if you're wrestling
You have that aggression
Probably wrestling is
I wouldn't say more important
If I had to pick one or the other
If you're on the bottom
Which is kind of similar
If you're on the bottom
Whereas in Jiu Jitsu
If you're on the bottom
You're not necessarily losing
So I think people accept
The bottom a lot more so
People are going to argue
When the rich is small
But what if you're on top
The different layers
They just jump to the floor
And often they get
Sort of criticised about it
You wouldn't want to be
On the floor with them
No matter what happens
Who criticises them?
You hear people say
A hundred percent
Because they're the two
Greatest in the world
But at their craft
And people sort of say
They try and pull you
In the guard straight away
It's because you start
How to stay away from you
You're not going to
Fall on the ground
You're just going to stand
How you built yourself
How important was it
All the various things
Karate for example
How important was that?
Almost fundamental for me
Throughout my career
Is kind of karate based
Stems from karate
Yes I've moved it
And I've changed it
And the kickboxing
And the wrestling
All moulded it together
But my foundation
That's interesting
I've got to say though
The jiu jitsu comps
And they butt scoot
The people that are
It's a jiu jitsu match
They're not meant to
See somebody stand up
Don't complain about
A sport that's not
You can't complain
When they're doing
That just sit down
Or just give their back
That would have to be
The biggest power play
I see in that sport
Because they're so good
Whatever they want
And that is crazy
To have that level
But also have that level
Of skill to be able
And people complaining
Obviously don't get that
It is crazy to see
People complaining about
People sitting down
In a jiu jitsu comp
Watch a different sport
And it's sort of interesting
Because that's what it takes
And or the UFC competition
Which discipline is best
Which form of fighting
And the smart thing was
Well let's mix it all up
In the early days of MMA
I remember seeing this one
He's on top of the guy
Punching the dude's balls
And the dude ends up
For good reason too
What do you think about
Asked someone like you
What do you think about
The bare knuckle guys
It's real fighting
Like and it takes
A certain level of crazy
A certain level of
Once you step into the realm
Of bare knuckle boxing
Not doing anything else
Made your bed per se
I don't see someone
After ten bare knuckle fights
Going to open a law firm
No I don't think so
Opening up a cafe
In the local area
It's funny many years ago
I don't know if you remember
The Australian boxer
And his brother Nat Wood
Who played for the Roos
But Nat was a wild
This was only a few years ago
He said me and Natty
Are going to Ireland
And we're going to go with
Another couple of guys
We're going to film
Ourselves going around Ireland
Yeah fighting the gypsies
I said what's up with you
You off your head
We're going to film
We're going to do like a little
Um you know like a
Documentary thing
We're just going to go
Fight anyone who wants to fight us
That doesn't sound as bad
As the competition
Of bare knuckle boxing
You're only going to be against
A dude that is slug on
And usually they're drunk
You're going to hit the pub
You're going to go throw some
And then call it a night
Because generally
It's over very quickly
The guys that are training
For bare knuckle boxing
They're skilled fighters
They know how to fight
So the fights are always
Just about the distance
And you guys are landing
Shots on each other
That comes out of a bare knuckle fight
They look like their face
Was just put through a blender
Let's call it UFC
But within the UFC
Where you're up to now
I just didn't turn up
The whole string of things
To have a day off
Not be ready for the day
Like everyone has bad days
My bad days look a little worse
You didn't look right
When I watched you
I could point a lot of different things
But at the end of the day
And congrats to him
As like a bit of a catalyst
It was a kick up the ass
If I'm gonna be honest
And not in two years
I've given myself
A bit of a hard deadline
I think 36 is a good age
Where I've kind of
And I'm leaving at it
I don't necessarily
Want to be fighting
To make my legacy
So that's the approach
It's like a kick up the ass
To tick all the boxes
All the one percents
To have two feet in
Try to cement my legacy
Take back that title
Have that last run
At the title shot
Middleweight fight
Does that inspire you
Two parts of that
People have off days
Even if you don't
Sometimes you lose anyway
That I have lost to twice
Though the second time
Motivating moment
Things are in movement
Things are moving
He's not an indomitable figure
Like anybody else
They pitched him as one
The odds are against him
You and everybody else
Silly thing to say
Pick something up from that
Like when I look at
When I look at a fight
And I break down a fight
I can make an educated guess
Of what will happen
Go down the hypothetical train
Of what could happen
The path to victory
You saw it during the fight
Or at the beginning
Before the fight happened
Prior to Adesanya
That style of fighting
At fighting Adesanya
Adesanya and the guy he fought
Aren't the same person
And they fought very differently
Adesanya is much better
It's very hard to get a gauge
Whether Sean will do
And implement the same game plan
Too caught up in the moment
To everyone's surprise
I can see this a lot
When I break down
An educated guess
Of what will happen
What could happen
So you weren't surprised
Because I saw the path of victory
But a lot of the times
It doesn't happen
The educated guess
It's not the safe bet
It's not the odds
The odds are against him
Exactly what he needed
It was very purposeful
Would you be able
For me for example
Like what was he doing
A Mayweather style
He was sort of standing
If he's left or right
He was just pouring out
And he was always covering up
Couldn't counter him
Break it down for me
What do you think it was
That was so effective
He walked him down a lot too
Like some of the key features
Obviously he stands very tall
When he leans back
He also shoulder rolls
And he keeps his other hand up
Floyd Mayweather style
He does that well
But it also leads
His way of fighting
Which is walking you down
Threatening distance
In punching range
He can hit Adesanya
And Adesanya could hit him
And his lean back
And that constant pressure
To wear away Adesanya
To get Adesanya's
Back on the fence
Walk someone down
Someone who likes to be evasive
Whose main defensive
Being on your bike
You take that away from someone
When you have someone like that
With their back to the fence
So they can't lean back
So they can't lean back
They lose all their range
That's how Sean landed that
Super effective shot
Which changed the entire
Pacing of the fight
From that point on
But that's how he
Adesanya had nowhere to go
He just chipped away
He just chipped away
Didn't give Adesanya
And he kept his defense
His style won that fight
So does someone like you
Like I don't know
UFC rankings work
How the matches are made
Who's the matchmaker
And how it all happens
Let's say they said
Something like that
I mean I don't want to ask you
To give away your strategy
Is there something
You would learn from that
When I've watched you fight
Adesanya in the past
You've been engaging with him
Nearly in his style
In the middle of the ring
Giving plenty of room
And it hasn't worked for you
So maybe the last one
It doesn't really matter
At the end of the day
You don't give a shit
I've always thought
That is the way to beat Adesanya
I think if you invest
Trying to grind him down
You take a little bit
And it doesn't take enough
He's pretty good at getting up too
I don't know what that is
Is that what it is
Tall guys are harder to take down
Just got longer levers
But I'm sure he's working it
I'm sure he's doing a hell of a lot of wrestling
Eugene's doing plenty with him
Can you just tell me
Between Australia and New Zealand
High class fighters
There's a lot of other guys too
There's a heap of them right
Why is Australia so
And New Zealand as well
So well positioned
What is the deal there
Oh we're just like a sport
Do you think that's what it is
We've always been
A sporting nation
Particularly contact sports
Yeah particularly
I think we've always been
A sporting nation
And we've always liked
We've always been a part of
Like the kickboxing
It was only a matter of time
Obviously Volkanovsky
And every time they talk
They used to talk about Volkanovsky
When they used to talk about
He used to talk about
Not his rugby league career
But his rugby career
I'm talking about
The US commentators
There might be something in that
Bodies being physically
Like you play footy too
Do you think that sort of
Which a lot of other people
A lot of other countries
Don't do that sort of stuff
I mean do you think
That prepares you in some way
It's got to to some degree
You know if we just look at it
From like an intellectual point
If you play rugby league
You're used to getting hit
You're just used to that contact
That rattling of the brain
Yeah yeah totally
Hopefully you don't
Rattle your brain too much
It just gets you used to it
Your body gets conditioned
It's just used to contact
Can I ask you a question
Enjoy getting hit
You don't enjoy getting
It's the only reason
Why I do it really
You like copping it
Not necessarily copping it
I like the threat
They're trying to hurt me
Because I'm trying to hurt them
That's the combat
That's the threat
That this guy's trying to hit me
Not letting him do that
But is it for you
Is it for you though
Doesn't connect with me
More I want to connect with him
Yeah I want to connect with him
Eliminating the threat
By you connecting with him though
Yeah by beating him
Like I get a high
To get rid of this threat
And the way you do that
Is by beating him
Because it's funny
Like Mayweather is
Nearly trying to show off
That no one can ever hit him
Because of his defence
I mean I actually
People don't think
A boring boxer to watch
But he always wins
He doesn't look like
He doesn't look like
He's trying to connect
He gets more thrill
Out of making you
Look like an idiot
He changed though
I feel like he was
Aggressive in his
Yeah when he's younger
Yeah as he got older
Yeah as he got older
Really started cementing
Yeah what he does
To do that anymore
So have you evolved
And look at you today
Like more ringcraft
As opposed to being
Tough and aggressive
Tough and aggressive
That crafted itself
I'm at another point
Where I'm kind of
Moulding the ringcraft
Back into aggression
Because that's how
Running a business
Looked a lot different
And a solid reputation
To keep a customer base happy
Just old school networking
And persistence of course
But times have changed
In today's digital world
Your business needs
More than just a great product
It needs visibility
That's where Squarespace comes in
Whether you're just getting started
Or expanding your brand
It's the all-in-one platform
That makes building
And managing your online presence
With Blueprint AI
Creating a professional
Customized website
Takes just a few clicks
Powerful tools like
Automated client invoicing
Help you generate revenue
Growing your business
Instead of juggling logistics
And when you're ready to launch
Of your first purchase
Think advertising on TikTok
Isn't for your business?
Over 100,000 leads
Which has converted
Into over 40,000 sales
For our pet insurance policies
My name is Trey Farrow
Of Spot Pet Insurance
TikTok's smart plus
AI-powered automation
Takes the guesswork
And optimizing creative
If I can advertise
And scale your business today
Getstarted.tiktok.com
But with aggression
You fight a middleweight
You're pretty big
I reckon you're about
How do you go with weight?
I've never missed a weight cut
You've fought a few catchweights
When they miss weight cuts
When they've missed weight
That's a funny dichotomy
I've never missed weight
The weight cuts have always been
So can you tell me
Through that then
Paint a picture for us
What you might be walking around at
And you got to fight at what?
So we're talking about
Between 10 and 15 kilos
Just take me through the process
Where do you kick off?
Let's say you got to fight
I'm actually closer
To about 97 kilos
This is my 10 week mark
This is where I want to be
The right amount of food
To be able to hit
A lot of sessions
To be able to get
To be able to feel good
But then as soon as
The weight going down
At the same output
Do you do it scientifically though?
When I say it's not difficult
You start it for the DEXA
To sort of see where it all sits
But we don't need to
I do them outside of camps
Kind of get a gauge on things
Don't really need them
I've been doing this for so long
I know how to do it
I want to get more
Out of the weight cuts
So I'm kind of evolving
That I want to get more
You want to feel different
Min maxing the weight cut
I want to be as strong
And as big as I possibly can
Whilst healthily able to still
Do what I need to do in there
So maybe you could explain though Rob
That 10 week period
That's an intense period
Maybe you could just take me through
For the first 5 weeks
Of that 10 week period
And what it looks like
The second 5 weeks
But just on training regime
So what are we training
We're doing a weight session once
What are we doing?
My training's changed
Usually 3 to 2 times a day
The first 5 weeks
It's more of like a load building
So like foundation building
So it's like a lot of
A lot of hard sparring
Physically hard sessions
Because the weight's at 97
We're dropping the calories
So that we're at a deficit
So that the weight's
Slowly coming off
We move into the second
Where the calories
And it's more about
Competition matches
A lot of heavy weights
Foundation building
Because the foundation's
Already been built
To the time we leave
Or fight week itself
It's usually about
Bringing the weight
Closer and closer
To the target market
Bringing the sessions in
So it's all quality
And when you say quality
What do you mean by quality?
We're talking about
We're talking about
Like as an actual
Jiu Jitsu matches
We'll do 3, 5 minute
Getting through the 8
With 3 different people usually
It depends what we're doing
So like a lot of guys
Go over to Auckland
What's your plan?
There's camps in Thailand
There's all sorts of places
What's your go to?
I'm fortunate enough though
Other UFC fighter
And they're both middleweights
And we've also got
A whole host of other guys
Quite high calibre
High level middleweights
So they're good bodies
I get to work with
We bring in a lot of
Other guys to come in
And do some boxing
If we can find the work
And I'm fortunate
From Smeet Grange
Because like I said
It's 20 minutes from my home
You don't have to travel
I could justify travelling
When I can do all the work
I can do all the work
And I've had great results
The other half of the coin
If you take me away
I've lost half the edge
Are they sort of like
Everything you do
They're the reason
Kind of why I do everything
The easiest way to say it
They're why I fight
I'm not spending time with them
If I'm not a part of their lives
Why am I fighting
Yeah that makes sense
Understand how people are like
You've got to sacrifice now
But I don't want to sacrifice
The first eight years
Of my kids' lives
To enjoy them from 12
I don't even know who they are
And I want to be a part of it
The whole journey
I can't do things
And I have to go away
Or stuff like that
But I try to minimise it
There has to be a balance
They're my driving force
The obvious question is
And you just answered it
But why do you do it?
What's your strategy?
Obviously you can't fight to your 75
You can't fight to your 65
You definitely won't be doing it at UFC
It's pretty brutal
You can get injured badly
But brutal in every way
Where do you want to land?
You obviously get paid
The UFC looks after you
And then if you win
Share a pay for you
And all that sort of stuff
You make a fair bit of money
Because they get paid a lot
They make a lot more money
Maybe McGregor did better
They're pretty unusual
Few and far between
Few and far between
To get to a certain point
I know it's to look after your family
What point do you want to get to?
Own your own home
And have a few property investments
Where are you getting to?
What are you trying to do here?
It's a loaded question
There's a lot of different avenues
And a lot of different points
When I started fighting
It was about identity
And I wanted to be a fighter
Didn't want to be a houser
I can make a living doing this
I can do this full time
I can make a living out of this
Then I reached another point where
Not only can I make a living of this
But I can create a platform for myself
I can be an ambassador
I guess we kind of
You sail out that
And then we get to where I am now
Trying to live up
The responsibilities
That the spotlight
And the attention
That is given to me
Which is being a good role model
It's about being more
Leading by example
So there's that avenue
I'm trying to create a legacy
So then you've got your gym
But I can see your t-shirt
Into other markets
Not only to help myself
In the last two years
And we've recently launched
In the last month
I have opened a company
Called Alchemist Extracts
Wild mushroom extracts
I first heard about
You're always looking for edges
Always looking for advantages
Something that might let you
Train a bit harder tomorrow
Because you might get injured today
I'm going to miss out on training
The enemy of humans
I got into CBD oil
And CBD made a difference
It made a difference
Of all the things
Like instead of having to pop
Multiple Voltarums
Yeah which are the worst things
In the world for you
Which are the worst things
In the world for you
To get through a wrestling session
I just had some CBD oil
It made a difference
Or you rubbed it on
And I tried rubbing it on
Maybe you could just explain
For your arthritis
It's not just talking about
This is arthritis generally
Is the enemy of mankind
Because there isn't
Things that stop you
Just because of inflammation
Inflammation is the root cause
For a lot of different things
Like for instance
And my back's a little sore
I can get through the session
But when I shoot a double leg
A fast single leg
Just a point where
And you've got to see for a second
For half a millisecond
And then I've lost it
I've lost the shot
In a game of inches
In a game of centimeters
I don't want that
I could take regularly
Which you can't do
With a lot of those
Prescribed medications
That just took the edge
For how accessible
And I researched it
I can do it better
I got into the science
And the extraction process
I can do it better
I don't need these companies
I can do it better
So I opened my own
I don't know if you're aware
There's a lot of research
That has opened up
Several years back
With wild mushroom extracts
And I'm totally into it
The benefits of those
It's another thing
That hits well with me
Because it's all natural
It's natural things
The earth has given us
Very attracted to
And the natural things
That we get thrown as
If we just go to the doctor
I'm not about to go out there
But I do think that
If we try to keep things
As natural degree
I think it's better
The human body takes
Can handle natural things
A little bit easier
So your alchemist
Alchemist Extract
Alchemist Extract
It's just extracts
So that's your business
Is that your business
Yeah this is my company
And that's your logo
The infinity logo
Of the infinity sign
Where's the manufacturer
Is it local stuff
Because I see you've got a box
I have a gift for you
Let's have a look at this
So what have we got
I've got a t-shirt
And you've got some extracts
And balm in there
Something you rub on
Something you rub on
If you've ever had
Like an achy elbow
I get achy knuckles
Like thumb knuckles
It just takes the edge
This is the balm here right
This is the balm yep
I have tried it in the past
But I have to be honest with you
Hopefully I don't get arrested
But some dude in Byron Bay
Imported it from somewhere
I don't know where
Might not even be CBD mate
I don't even know
If I took the right amount
I don't know what I was doing
But I got nervous
Because I thought
I might get in trouble
So how do you take this
A mil dropper in there
Is that the thing there
So that's the squirter
So three squirts is one mil
And you squirt it
Just in your mouth
Or you can mix it with water
I usually just do it in the mouth
Have a drink of water afterwards
Do you do it at night
You see you've got
Multiple types there
Oh the different ones
Which I take in the mornings
Obviously it has like
The anti-inflammatory effect
Lion's mane extract
That's the type of mushroom
It makes things a little
Like sharpens things up for me
There's the anti-inflammatory
Portion of it as well
And it has a whole list
Of other benefits
And health benefits
So sometimes I have
The cordyceps powder
In my coffee in the morning
I mean it's better
Than a coffee though
Then I have coffee
And then the calm
Is something I can take
Yeah that's what I take
Yeah that's what I take
If you're anything like me
Quiets down around me
My mind starts to switch on
Thinking about tomorrow
When I shouldn't be
Yeah I'm the worst
And another thing
To create my own company
And ASADA testing
There's nothing in there
Banned substances
So these are clean
And I live off them
In your training regime
Just like you're pretty together
Do you have a website
With everything listed
Alchemistextracts.com
Alchemistextracts.co
It's not on there
Everything's listed on there
So obviously your business
Is selling online
So you're not selling
Through a supermarket
Or anything like that
The idea is to be
Because I have seen you
You've worked out
Someone's worked out
That you're a brand
You're marketable
And I have seen you
Do a lot of stuff
Long time sponsor
The relationship we've formed
And I never really know
The answer to this one
Everyone says you know
Like if you're training
At a certain level
This is the amount of protein
You should be having
And there's no way
Especially when you get a mind
There's no way in the world
You can eat the amount of meat
You know go and prepare it
Like I'm 85 kilos
You know I've got to
Allegedly eat 170
170 grams of protein a day
Fucking meat to eat
Okay I'll take a protein drink
And one of the things
That's stuck in my mind
I think I've seen you
On the back of the bus
Or something like that
I think you're on with
One of the Voyvich brothers
Send me text messages
Going hey look who this is
It's just like my mug
But they don't have
They don't have UFC under it
They have MMA under it
I often wondered why
They didn't have UFC
I rang Musashi up
Because I got a bit upset about it
And I didn't get upset
You've got rugby there
We know him as a UFC fighter
You were contracted to UFC
I rang the dude up
Because I found out who he was
You made a mistake
Because you've got
I think it's two others
I know the answer to this
And they never changed it
We didn't realise
Dravoyevich in there
Because they wanted to
And why they had you
As MMA and not UFC
I don't know the answer to that
It's because of the licensing
They couldn't get it
UFC don't let anybody
Don't let anybody use
Yeah they've just been
Hard knock on that
That isn't UFC funded
They're blurring out
Putting tape over them
Like you just can't
Yeah they're pretty tough
Mark Hunt sit there
Tell me his stories
Yeah it's pretty full on
We've had quite a few
Quite a few fighters
Come on straight talk
Whether you like it
It doesn't matter
They run a business
And they protect it
You're running a business
And you have to protect
What you're producing
What are the things
That Rob Whittaker's
To make sure that
Yeah because you've got
A pretty clean image
You're not carrying on
You know you're not
Strutting around the joint
You know you don't do
What have you got to do
To protect your image
And is that something
You're really conscious of
You see no it's not
And I think that's
Just because of the way
I've conducted myself
It's not something
I have to try to be
Yeah just be myself
It's just who I am
Just don't be a tosser
You know as easy as
Don't annoy people
Don't get in people's faces
I don't know how to explain
How not to be an idiot
You know what I mean
Understanding that
Once the spotlight
And I am an ambassador
And these different things
And people look up to me
Like when I walk the streets
And they want a photo
Of these young kids
Hey Rob how are you
That there's a responsibility
I think it made it
I think it didn't
The responsibility
A little bit more
Almost like someone going
You're doing good
Influenced from your parents
My father was always
When I played football
It was always like
What happens on the field
Stays on the field
It's just about like
You can have disagreements
You can have scraps
You know what I mean
To make a big deal
And then obviously
Through self-searching
Throughout my life
In a different life
A different light
Once you have kids
And then once you
And once you have wins
And you have losses
The rollercoaster
What's the biggest
Is it winning or losing
Oh losing for sure
It's good feelings
Especially if you don't
Have a good grasp
So I won the title
I was the world champion
And if I didn't have
And didn't understand
The people that I had
Didn't understand
That I was fighting for
I would have fallen
That's a bit of a hole
You know what I mean
And you can see it
Across the timeline
Stay in that top five
After they lose the belt
In the middleweights
This is one thing
They have good wins
And they have bad losses
But they're just people
They have to deal with that
Like anybody else
If a dude cuts you off
And then puts a finger up
It ruins your day
You're thinking about it all day
It ruins your day
Because you can't do anything
But does that mean
From your point of view
How you learnt this
Is not to identify yourself
Definitely don't have to
Identify yourself
But you identify yourself
A whole lot of other things
It doesn't change who I am
Who taught you that
Where did you learn that stuff
I'm fortunate enough
I've always kind of been
What as a kid as well
There was a moment
And I started looking at things
From the outside in
Trying to get a grasp
On my own mentality
The fluxes of life
And losing fights
And winning fights
And yadda yadda yadda
More than anybody else
And this is what I do
To provide for my family
And that's the identity
Doesn't need providing for anymore
Alchemist Extracts
When I've set up my gym
Then I can rest my tools
That's not a fighter skill
I don't know what skill that is
And businessman skill
That says to me that
You're not only a fighter
But you're in the business of fighting
And using that business
To set you up for something better
For a better life
Yeah you have to be
Because we're just people as well
You recognise where you are
Pretty incredible though
Most people don't look at fighters like that
Especially when you
You buy pay-per-view
You're watching on Fox
Or watching on We
You're just looking for the transactions
Whittier's fighting so and so
I'm going to watch the
I'm going to watch it
And then it's like
Whatever the case may be
And we get on with our lives
We never think much about that
You're not just a transaction
You might be my transaction
From the point of view
I paid 59 bucks to watch you
You're going to life
I'm going through the same things you are
I don't want to work tomorrow either
But you're prepared to work for it
And prepared to take risks
In order to get to that position
You know it's funny you know
I don't know if it's true or not
Just something that
Pretty steady individuals
He's got the same deal
Exactly the same deal
He's got to be a business
But blah blah blah
Very different to the way
As opposed to being in the business
Of fighting a lot of times
Do you think it is about
I mean I don't understand
Aware of certain things
Harden yourself up
And protect yourself
A little bit more
Than the other sports do
Because it's not going to get stopped
You don't get standing eights
And stuff like that
The nature of the beast
The fight could be over
And you won't even know it over
Until you wake up
Just that dynamic
Of getting your head around that
The way you approach it
Changes the way you approach it
And the way you approach
Especially in MMA
You can do everything right
I think just that nature of the beast
Weathers you a bit
And you get through it
And you see a lot
A lot of the guys that don't
But the guys at the top
Pardon the phrase
But got your shit together
Like it looks like
You're all pretty steady
There's no crazy stuff going on
You know what you're doing
A lot of people talk about
Like the guy did sell
Did build a whiskey
And all sorts of stuff
But they just sold it for
Hundreds of millions of pounds
People might not like
The way his antics are now
And the way he carries on
But at the end of the day
The guy's a big investor
Got his act together
And all that other stuff
He does some weird stuff
Done it pretty smart
He's worked his way
Through a process
He might have good advisors
But he's gone through
A good pretty good process
I've had John Cavanagh
Come in and actually
Sit in that chair
Goes through the process
Of telling me how
No I'm sure it is
Irrespective of the antics
And you can see it
But the antics itself
Take a certain level of smarts
You need the talent
And the wit behind it
To be able to do it
And timing was good too
Because it was in the early stages
From talking to you though Rob
The people who get to the top
Where you can earn a good quid
And you can establish
Branded yourselves differently
Based on who you are
You've chosen your path
You haven't thought
I've got to become him
Or I've got to become
Or I've got to become
I'm going to be Rob Whittaker
And each one of you
Have sort of done
The same sort of thing to me
And are comfortable with it
Doing a great job of it
And I think that's like
I think that's the ticket though
That's the secret
And if you change
Everybody changes
Try to be someone else
And you can see it
When people are trying
To be someone else
It just doesn't fit
The fans don't reciprocate it
Because they can see
And I think it confuses
If I'm going to be honest
I think the fighters
And it's just not natural
Jits or something
What are they doing
They train at the gym as well
What are they doing
What are you going to do
They do Jiu Jitsu
Wrestling and MMA
They do Jiu Jitsu
And do they want to be dad
They want to be dad
I don't think they care
I don't think they
I honestly don't think
The kids have any idea
What it is I do for work
But they watch you
Oh they've seen me compete
I just don't think
How old is your oldest again
He doesn't sort of quite
Fighting for money
For the first time
For the first time ever
He had some friends over
He was speaking to his friend
My daddy's famous
Like the first time
I ever heard that
It made me chuckle a little bit
Trophies and belts
And all that sort of stuff
Not around my house
I don't really need to see
That sort of stuff
There's a big picture
Of me holding the UFC title belt
A massive picture
I don't think they
When you walk through
They don't get out
That's dad who cares
Yeah it's just a picture of dad
I mean as a parent
I mean all parents
I mean all parents
As kids growing up
If one of your boys said
Daughters to come as well
Said dad I want to be
What would you say to them
I'm always curious
My kids can do anything
As long as they're good people
As long as their mum agrees
When do we expect
The middleweight division
There's a lot of moving parts
Strickland lost that fight
And I got to fight
I don't know what's going on
So who makes the matches
Is there an automatic
Sort of ranking system
So there's a matchmaker
Middleweights and up
Welterweights and down
He's having trouble
Trying to work out
Where the pieces fall
Are supposed to fight
Saying his elbow sore
If that's even going to happen
Deleidze and Kananir
But then we don't know
What's happening with Strickland
I need to beat someone
That's how it works
You need to beat someone
You would think so
Do they have rematches
Into these things
Nah it's not like boxing
You want to beat someone
Probably fight Drikus again
Or just getting up there
The top contenders
Gets me in that title talk
I'd love to fight Drikus again
You and Arizona would sell
So I reckon everybody
That's what I hear talk
And I'm not saying
That I'm hearing it
That's what they want to do
But I hear people
They want to see this
Well hang on a minute
Whitaker's changed his style
Sort of walks him down
Because it's been done
As you said earlier
Puts him up against the fence
It's a tricky position
I'm training my butt off
Eight weeks ready
Whenever get the call
Whenever I get that call
Baby's due in January
Going to be in like
The February March timing
Just because of the baby
Do they put much on
During December January
There's a few in October
December there are cards
There's the John Jones card
Sometimes they put on
Like a New Year's Eve card
But I do know there's like
And then they come back
Or something like that
There might even be
An Australian card
I've been to Perth
And went to Sydney
I missed out on the last one
We just want to make sure
It's after the baby's born mate
We don't want the New Year's Eve card
Or the Christmas Eve card
Or anything like that
And we don't want it before
I want your mind to be clear
I really appreciate you coming in
I wish you the best of luck
With Alchemist Extracts
Did you call it AX?
But alchemistextracts.com
Like an Australian legend
From a Five Fans point of view
And you're one of the first
To really kick it off
In terms of Australians
Doing great things
And you're still there
You've had a long life in this game
That in itself is quite admirable
So I really appreciate you coming in
Thank you so much for having me
It was a great chat
If you've been listening along for a while
I'm all about staying sharp
Staying on top of my game
Means being smarter
With how I support my body and mind
One product I've already added to my routine
From the bulk nutrients range
It's a science-backed blend
Of ten powerful ingredients
Now this is designed to support
Everything from energy
And muscle recovery
To skin hydration
Whether I'm powering through a busy week
Or just investing in my long-term health
Helps me stay ready for whatever's next
It tastes pretty good too
BulkNutrients.com.au
Might be the edge
You've just been looking for
Not all that long ago
And maybe invested in a house
If you were lucky
No online banking
No thinking beyond
What was in your wallet
But times have changed
In today's money market
Growth can come in many ways
And the way we think about cash
Is continuously evolving
Enter Australia's
Highest rated crypto exchange
Whether you are just
Starting to explore the crypto market
Or are already deep in the game
SwiftX makes it easy to acquire
Sell and trade digital assets
So if you're someone
Who's thought about
Dipping your toes
In the crypto market
This might be for you