September 26, 2024 • 24 mins
John Wood, coach of Khalil Rountree and UFC champions Merab Dvalishvili and Weili Zhang, joins Daniel Cormier for the latest edition of the DC Check-In! Wood gets into Rountree's title shot against Alex Pereira, and why this is the fight that he becomes "the SCARIEST man in MMA." Cormier and Wood get into Sean O'Malley declaring himself the winner in the fight vs. Dvalishvili, and why he's only giving him ONE ROUND. And don't miss Wood's prediction for his guy Rountree vs. Pereira at UFC 307 in Salt Lake City, Utah! #Volume #Herd
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
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Speaker 2 (01:49):
All right, guys, that's John Wood, coach of Rob Dwallas
Reeley Al Jamaine Sterling. But he's coaching in Utah right
now because he's on the verge. You wanted to be
fights of his career. As Khalil roalnmtree challenges Alex Perera
for the championship. Coach, thanks for stopping by checking it
with me. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Thanks for having me on money.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
You know, you know what's kind of funny about you?
So I didn't know you very much when I was fighting,
but I remember being in the pandemic in Abu Dhabi
during the whole lockdown, and I was like, hey, coach,
you can hold some paths for me. We held pads
and I was like the start of our friendship. From
there to video games. I was like, yo, I'm messed
with this John wood Feller.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Yeah, no, good times that was. That was a crazy time.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
And actually, you know, through that whole situation, met a
lot of cool people and met a lot of new
friends and stuff.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
But it was a man I don't miss it those times. No.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
So you know, when when we were out there, I
knew you were a good coach, but obviously I was
just finishing competing. I didn't know much of your background.
But then as we got to talking, I started to
realize are you held the pads? And I was like, man,
I like his flow. He's a fantas as a coach.
But then it continued to grow and grow and grow,
and now Syndicate is one of the premier gyms and
(03:06):
mixed martial arts. When you look back on your journey, coach,
did you expect it to be this? I know you
had confidence in yourself. But it has grown so fast
that it's almost it's one of those teams that you
didn't see coming. And now you guys are very relevant
mixed martial arts, you know that.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
That's the funny thing is is this is my twentieth
year owning this gym, So twenty years. Yeah, twenty years
is my twentieth year, twenty first year. So we went
through a couple of name changes through whatever sponsors, would
you know, pay me to keep the doors open from
two thousand and four, you know, so Zions Training Center,
Warrior Training Center, throw it out, remember that, Yeah, and syndicate.
(03:48):
It's been me the whole time. So it's a you know,
twenty year overnight success. So yeah, I kind of you know,
we've had so many ups and downs and good flows,
and this is the first time that we've had this
big push. It's the biggest push obviously when you get
(04:09):
title fights now working with way Lee.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
You know, being with way Lee the last couple of fights,
oh yeah, Rob and now Khalil.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
To have three active uh you know, title champions in
the UFC or potentially three active is obviously puts all
eyes on you.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
But this was always the this is always the plan.
Now that it's happening, it's you know, it's it's pretty
crazy and surreal to have all this go on.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
But the last couple of years went through a lot
of changes, staff changes, bringing in the right coaches, staff,
just changing the culture. And that's what really kind of
clicked for everything, you know, is making sure the culture
of the gym team is together and everybody's working together.
And that's what's really kind of changed the success and
the note writing, and that's what's given us this is
(04:55):
this big push lately.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Yeah, it's been amazing to watch the men, especially for
the good guys. You know, always tell someone that recently,
I said, watching Morob watching Uh, some of these guys
become champions. So jelly Roll, right, we all know jelly Roll.
Jelly Roll is a good guy and for him to
go from where he was to where yesterday, it doesn't
happen for the good guys very often. So it's always
(05:18):
nice when one of the good guys kind of gets
his due. And you're one of those good guys. I
will never forget you opening your gym to my wrestling
team every time we wrestling in Vegas in April. I'm
very thankful for that, But ultimately what makes you who
you are is your ability to train champions. First one,
Marob d Wallace Vieli became the champ couple of weeks ago.
(05:39):
You got Khalil on the CUSP. Jehan way Lee, who
is dude, I swear to God, I think Jean Way
Lee is everything. She is literally my favorite fighter. She
could beat she's the.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Best, she would beat most man. She is there. There's
literally like she's a stud. Dude.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
She is on a different level than than than ninety nine.
Sends the fighters out here in the world, and that's
what makes her special. You know, I'm very fortunate. I've
been with her for four camps now, so it's it's
been awesome to like have that, you know, and and
working with her for the last three or four camps
(06:17):
has given me, you know, good insight and good abilities
to be able to make these kind of you know,
this this title run that we're having right now.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
So it's been man's He's an awesome you know, she's
just the best and everything.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
It gives you perspective, right like whenever you train someone
like John Wielee, when you get him a rob or
you get an al Joe and you get a Khalil,
You're like, well, I know what it took for her
to be who she is. We know how to train
these fighters already, but like now I got to apply
some of these same lessons. But they're all different, right,
(06:49):
They're all so different.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
The one onderlining thing. First off, Aljo is not mine
Aljo Aljo.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Oh I thought Aljo was with Morob too.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Yeah, he floats in and out. He's over you know,
with Eric, Nick Sick and those guys that.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Oh yeah, I forgot the yeah, you know, he.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Kind of goes around.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
But the cool thing about this, you know, from from
way Lee to Morob to Khalil, the difference that we
have is these guys are.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
All very humble.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
They're all very like down to earth champs like way Lee,
you would never even know if she's a champion at
the level of one of the greatest fighters in the
world if you sat down with the same with Morob,
they're all hard working, you know, just just grinders that
that do. They're all good people. They're all people that
you would love to hang out with. That there is
so it's it's really awesome. It's not hard to be
(07:34):
around it's not hard to coach them, it's not hard
to have that fine and flow with them because they're
all such good people. They're all so easy to work with.
So I've been very very fortunate, you know, in that
that you know, in my career, especially with this that
have Like I said, I have three studs that are
just all great people that are all going to be
(07:55):
you know, well, two that are world champions, the one
that's going to be a world champion here next week.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
You know, Uh, are these cold calls, like how are
these fighters finding you? Because I remember when we were,
like when we were when we were rocking and rolling
that AKA and Bee comes over from New Jersey. He
comes over through King Mo. Right then another guy comes
over through someone else. How are they finding syndicate right now?
I'm like, are they calling you? Is there a manager
(08:22):
that's going he generally wants to drink.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Yeah, all fastest, But it's you know, this sport, it's who,
it's who.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
You know, being in Vegas and obviously being in Vegas
for you know, my whole life, but twenty five years
of the fight game, now you you end up. People
know I'm not a big I'm not a big like,
look at me type of coach. I'm not very I
don't do a lot of interviews. I've started doing it
lately just because of you know, all this stuff, and
(08:49):
you know, I put myself out there a lot, so,
you know, but it gets me the people that I.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Want to work with.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
I like a specific you know, type of person, so
I get to work with that. But through the you know,
obviously the people coming in through Vegas all the time.
It's a fight capital UFC's there, so there's always people
coming in and out, so you just get referred.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
You know. Khalil I've had for I think ten twelve
years now.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
I think his like first or second Pro Fighters when
I started working with him, so we've been at it
for a long time. Waylee was preferred through you know,
just hear'saying people at the at the you know, like
the PI and people through just hey, so and so.
And then our manager reached out and I was like, yeah, absolutely,
and did one session and we hit it off and
(09:31):
it went from there. Rob you know, same thing came
to Vegas. I think the PI has been pretty awesome
because there's you know, it's just always people are coming in.
There's an influx of fighters always coming in. So I
think four years ago, somewhere around four or five years ago,
he had stopped in and started kind of training on
and off, and you know when just kind of stuck around.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
It's like that little stray dog.
Speaker 4 (09:55):
We've bet and just kind of come back, come back,
and you know, just kind of slow played it. After
like a year or two, he's like, hey, you know,
this is my place though. It's just awesome, Like Vegas
is great. You know, we have just stuck in flux
all the time. So it's you know, there's always people
coming in now.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
There's so many great things to Vegas. Like, I love
everything about Vegas. I love I love the fighting, I
love the I love the city. You know what I
also love I love watching the Raiders just absolutely quit
the other day on the football film that probably that
was that was probably my favorite Vegas moment, all the championship,
(10:36):
everything I have done in that city. I enjoyed nothing
more than watching him just quit on y'all.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Well, I mean, dare you? How dare you? I mean,
that's on, man.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
I want to prop you up, prop you build, you
build you, and then.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
It's it's hard being a Raiders fan. It's hard times,
but you know you got to stick with them. I
love it. It's you know, you guys, the Saints. You know.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
Fortunately we're going one of our hand me downs and
he's doing well right now.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
I want to give it back after last weekend, I
actually want to give it back.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
You were going to have this, Jemmy, but that's that
was the problem here, you know. So man, I'm hoping.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
I'm hoping the Raiders can turn around, you know, seating
ticket holders.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
But I love the Raiders, man, it's we have faith.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
It's kind of crazy how much you guys do love
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(12:45):
check out frog fuel dot com for more championships, right,
they comes so few and far in between. Like you said,
you've now stood with John will LEAs she became got
her belt back in to fit. You have none still, Morob,
you're on the verge of chasing down another championship with
(13:05):
Khalil Rontree. This is a guy, like you said, Ha's
been there from the very beginning. That asks me more
because you've seen the process, Because there was a time
where Khalil struggled and no one ever could have imagined
that he would be who he is today.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
Yeah, yeah, for sure, Khalil is a special, unique person
and you know when he when I first got him,
you obviously you could see the talent.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
The talent's always been there, the natural ability that the
scary dude has been there from day one. So and
there was you know, this guy was knocking people out.
Speaker 4 (13:40):
He was he was knocking out legends behind the scenes
and baring and you hear the rumblings. You heard this
guy was gonna be the next big thing. He's just
you know, at the beginning, he struggled with like really
identifying himself as a fighter. You know, he's such a
unique character, unique person that I don't know that he
just wasn't ready for it back then. And I, like
I said, I told the story before.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
I remember.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
I think it was, you know, the third or fourth fight.
He was talking to me about wanting to retire and
go into construction. He's like, yeah, I think I got
this good construction job. It's going to pay good money.
And I said, whoaa, no, no, no, no, no no.
I was like, just give me, you know, give me
a year, give me a year, and I promise you
you do whatever, you support, whatever you want after that,
(14:23):
just give me a hard year. And you know, through
that process, the ultimate fighter came, you know, when he
got on there and then that's kind of where he
said the spotlight. I think for Khalil, the big picture
at the beginning was just too big.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
You know.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
We had to shrink the picture down and kind of
just go, hey, listen, you don't need to be all
these things that you're supposed to be. This next big thing,
we just need to be you. You need to find yourself,
identify yourself, figure out how you get comfortable doing this.
And it was a struggle, and that was really the
only struggle. Was just was just more mentally for him.
(15:00):
Some ups, had some downs, and then you know, he
moved to Thailand after the Gokusaki fight and kind of
you know, found himself as a person, as a man.
You know, I think he was gone for a couple
of years and ended up hitting me back up and
was like, hey, you know had some gus had some up,
some big ups, some big downs while he was out there,
(15:21):
and he just.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Hit me up and was like, hey, you know, I
think I'm ready to come back.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
And he came back and his you know, strength conditioning
coach who the big mentors to him, Lorenzo and myself,
we all met up and he's just like, listen, I
want to I want to make a run at this.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
I want to I want to do it. And you
could just tell there's something different about him. He had matured.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
And it was good because like the same thing happened
to me as a coach. You know, during that process,
I got better. I learned how to work with people
a little bit more. And because he's a very, like
I said, unique character, and I.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Try to work with he dress.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
He dressed crazy too, dressed crazy.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Yeah, So like I just learned how to kind of
work with him better.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
And it really we sat down, had a meeting and
it's just it's it's been nothing but great since he's
been back and we've had nothing but six death he's
really matured as a fighter, matured as a you know,
as a person, as a man, and it's really showing
we've all learned how to just work together as a team.
So you know, this is a big one to kind
(16:23):
of go through the path that we've gone.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
And you know this would be my first like homegrown,
you know, straight from the beginning type of thing.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
So yeah, it means a lots. I mean, they don't
mean lots of me, and I mean every fight. I
love my fighters, you know, we We're a very closet,
tight knit team. You know, we all work together. You know,
I'm flying out.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
I'm flying out two days to go to.
Speaker 4 (16:45):
Paris for a short notes fight for Vince Morales, who
just got back in the UFC. And you know, and
that one means just as much to me as as
these title fights. Man, I love all these guys, but
this is this is an awesome experience, you know. And
I'm so happy for Kleil and where he's at and
what he's persevered to come through to find himself is
like it's a fighter but as a person, and I
truly think he's gonna go out there and get it done.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
You know, I'm gonna first of I'm gonna be in
Park City next week. There's a great golf course of
Debt that I love to play. I've played every time
I've been to Utah. So I will be up in
Park City with my finger up in the air like
you do, y'all soo boozy up and you're I don't
even I can't even really look at you. You're training champions,
You're living in Park City. You're a completely different hull being.
(17:31):
You said that, Alex Perera, stay with me. Now, you
said that Alex Perera is gonna be the first one
to shoot. Cherl Sonnon also said Khalil Rontree is going
to knock Alex Perera out in this fight. Said it's
the worst possible matchup for him, and then you double
(17:51):
down and state he's gonna be the first one to shoot.
What am I missing it here? Where I see the
guy that's knocked everybody out, the greatest striker the UFC
is ever scene, y'all turning him into a wrestlerant by
no means. I'm not saying he's going to knock Khalil out.
What I am saying is all we have seen this
dude do is knock people out. But you guys are
telling me you're gonna turn him into a wrestler, you
(18:13):
and Jail.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
All right, Well, listen, we're fighting the Boogeyman.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
He's the scariest dude out in MMA right now, and
he's gonna hold that title for the next couple of
weeks before there's.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
A new scariest suit in MMA. Like what you see,
you know, there's there's no doubt about it. Alex's special dude.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
What he does you know and how he does it
sometimes is the prettiest, but that's part of the allure.
I think he and a lot of people sleep on
Oh he does this ugly. He does that ugly, that's
part of it. He doesn't ugly, he does it beautifully ugly,
and that's how he ends up knocking you out. Is
drawing you into this. Hey, oh I can capitalize on this. Oops, No,
you can't. You know, so we're not going to fall
(18:53):
into that trap. One I didn't say I think Alex
is coming out shoot.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
I just say you said he'll shoot first.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
I think if anybody breaks, it's gonna be him. We're
not shooting Alex. You've seen Alex, Alex the top before
Alex took Easy Down, Alex.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Alli did some crazy shit against Izzy.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
You're not going to find a tape of a takedown
of Khalil shooting takedowns now.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Can Khalil take us? Of course we do MMA.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
We don't just train to go expect like this is
a you know, going to be just this or this
that We're always defending takedown.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
We're shooting our own takedown. We're doing everything every day.
Speaker 4 (19:30):
But if you can't say that if a takedown happens
it ain't coming from our side, it's coming from that side.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
It sounds like a dangerous game. Coach sounds like a
well your guy can knock him out. We know that
he can knot him out. Like of course, I told
Johnny Walking this. I said, the fact that you don't
know how to wrestle means that you're always only one
shot away from getting put out. You gotta have that
ability to take people down or at least threaten it.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
I agree, I agree, absolutely, That's what I like. I said,
this just makes martial arts, so you have to be
prepared for everything. But it's kind of a damn if
you do, damn if you don't. If we go out
there and people want to see two dudes knock each
other out, and I say, Kalil, go out there and
let's let's go knock this guy out. Whatever happens happens,
and they stand up, then it'll be.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Him.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Yes, yes, yes, oh god, John Woods, the dumbest coach
in the world.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
We should have We should have said with O'Malley and
just let him knock us out or something like that.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
You know, people are always like, well you should just
do anything, like well, we're here to win fights sometimes.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
But you you you did, John, would you fought your
fight and according to Sean O'Malley, you lost. You fought
your fighting. Sean O'Malley said, Sugar State Commissioned has now
said he's.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
If he's smoking the gifts and they were over there
just they're still high from that, so let's not let's
not pay attention to what they're saying. You know, that fight,
I don't even think was. I think there were some
judges that we were little even you know, lenient and
giving them a round or two. But I can see
that I can see a four to one, you know,
(21:08):
no problem.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Seven forty eight. Forty seven was very surprising to me.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
Yeah, I'll give him one round. I'll give him one
round for sure. But yeah, I don't think. I don't
think the Sugar State Athletic Commission is gonna hold up anywhere.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
So coach, I got one last question for you before
you go, and I'll see you next week in Salt
Lake City. I cannot wait one of my favorite cities
to watch fights. Big Hey, If anything, the things that
you say to me seem more likely because I've seen
some insane stuff happen in that arena. I saw kemor
Usban getting knocked out. I said, Dustin Pourier getting knocked out.
(21:45):
I've seen some crazy stuff happen in that arena. So
for your side, you guys should be looking forward to it.
But you've got two different builds.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Now.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Perera and his team are very quiet. Plennial is a
great guy, Glover is a great guy. You guys probably
get along swimmingly. That wasn't the case a couple of
weeks ago, as you guys are getting ready for the
O'Malley fight at this fear, it was very nasty at times.
Rob hates the coach. The coaches coaching Morob it was not.
It was crazy there. I mean they's kissing in the
(22:13):
octagon over coaching. It was a lot. Which one do
you prefer as a coach. Do you prefer the bad
blood or do you prefer the more laid back. Well,
we got two guys that are gonna fight, and we're
gonna kind of just live in our own world.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
I mean, I'm not much of a like a vocal
guy when it comes.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
I think our job as coaches to sit back and
let the fighters do what they need to do.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
So I try to stay out of that. I'm much
more of a you know, I'd.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
Rather prefer the trip, the chill, but it does get
me fired up. When you get somebody talking ship and
going on and doing whatever. It's always fun and it
makes it that much.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
I thought about that a coach fight. Yeah, you gotta
have a coach fight between.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
You and I always did it that. I think.
Speaker 4 (22:56):
I hope my own pretty good. But yeah, man, either
they're both fun. You know, no matter what, I love coaching.
It's absolutely the best thing in the world. I can't
see myself doing anything other other than this, and to
be involved in either one. You know, if it's loud,
if it's quiet, I'm good. But I'm game for whatever.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Man.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
I think it's both. It's both.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
I loved it, man. I always loved the I love
the noise. I love the fighting. I love throwing shit.
That's why my fights always look like that. I was
always trying to fighting in the cage, fighting in the casino,
but it equates the big dollars, So that's what I love. Guys.
Big John Wood is on the verge of coaching, the
second world champion in less than a month. He's in
(23:38):
the Park City, Utah, right now getting ready for UFC
three h seven as Khalil Romtree takes on Alex Perrera. Guys, John,
thank you for checking it with me. I appreciate it man. Guys.
Until next time, hit that bell button so that you
missed none of my videos, like subscribe and tell all
your friends about my YouTube channel because I'm bringing guys
(23:59):
like John Wood on and make sure you tap into
everything coach Board is doing. Syndicate MMA, go get your
membership if you want to train with the best. Until
next time, Peace,
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
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Speaker 2 (01:49):
All right, guys, that's John Wood, coach of Rob Dwallas
Reeley Al Jamaine Sterling. But he's coaching in Utah right
now because he's on the verge. You wanted to be
fights of his career. As Khalil roalnmtree challenges Alex Perera
for the championship. Coach, thanks for stopping by checking it
with me. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Thanks for having me on money.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
You know, you know what's kind of funny about you?
So I didn't know you very much when I was fighting,
but I remember being in the pandemic in Abu Dhabi
during the whole lockdown, and I was like, hey, coach,
you can hold some paths for me. We held pads
and I was like the start of our friendship. From
there to video games. I was like, yo, I'm messed
with this John wood Feller.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Yeah, no, good times that was. That was a crazy time.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
And actually, you know, through that whole situation, met a
lot of cool people and met a lot of new
friends and stuff.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
But it was a man I don't miss it those times. No.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
So you know, when when we were out there, I
knew you were a good coach, but obviously I was
just finishing competing. I didn't know much of your background.
But then as we got to talking, I started to
realize are you held the pads? And I was like, man,
I like his flow. He's a fantas as a coach.
But then it continued to grow and grow and grow,
and now Syndicate is one of the premier gyms and
(03:06):
mixed martial arts. When you look back on your journey, coach,
did you expect it to be this? I know you
had confidence in yourself. But it has grown so fast
that it's almost it's one of those teams that you
didn't see coming. And now you guys are very relevant
mixed martial arts, you know that.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
That's the funny thing is is this is my twentieth
year owning this gym, So twenty years. Yeah, twenty years
is my twentieth year, twenty first year. So we went
through a couple of name changes through whatever sponsors, would
you know, pay me to keep the doors open from
two thousand and four, you know, so Zions Training Center,
Warrior Training Center, throw it out, remember that, Yeah, and syndicate.
(03:48):
It's been me the whole time. So it's a you know,
twenty year overnight success. So yeah, I kind of you know,
we've had so many ups and downs and good flows,
and this is the first time that we've had this
big push. It's the biggest push obviously when you get
(04:09):
title fights now working with way Lee.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
You know, being with way Lee the last couple of fights,
oh yeah, Rob and now Khalil.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
To have three active uh you know, title champions in
the UFC or potentially three active is obviously puts all
eyes on you.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
But this was always the this is always the plan.
Now that it's happening, it's you know, it's it's pretty
crazy and surreal to have all this go on.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
But the last couple of years went through a lot
of changes, staff changes, bringing in the right coaches, staff,
just changing the culture. And that's what really kind of
clicked for everything, you know, is making sure the culture
of the gym team is together and everybody's working together.
And that's what's really kind of changed the success and
the note writing, and that's what's given us this is
(04:55):
this big push lately.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Yeah, it's been amazing to watch the men, especially for
the good guys. You know, always tell someone that recently,
I said, watching Morob watching Uh, some of these guys
become champions. So jelly Roll, right, we all know jelly Roll.
Jelly Roll is a good guy and for him to
go from where he was to where yesterday, it doesn't
happen for the good guys very often. So it's always
(05:18):
nice when one of the good guys kind of gets
his due. And you're one of those good guys. I
will never forget you opening your gym to my wrestling
team every time we wrestling in Vegas in April. I'm
very thankful for that, But ultimately what makes you who
you are is your ability to train champions. First one,
Marob d Wallace Vieli became the champ couple of weeks ago.
(05:39):
You got Khalil on the CUSP. Jehan way Lee, who
is dude, I swear to God, I think Jean Way
Lee is everything. She is literally my favorite fighter. She
could beat she's the.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Best, she would beat most man. She is there. There's
literally like she's a stud. Dude.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
She is on a different level than than than ninety nine.
Sends the fighters out here in the world, and that's
what makes her special. You know, I'm very fortunate. I've
been with her for four camps now, so it's it's
been awesome to like have that, you know, and and
working with her for the last three or four camps
(06:17):
has given me, you know, good insight and good abilities
to be able to make these kind of you know,
this this title run that we're having right now.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
So it's been man's He's an awesome you know, she's
just the best and everything.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
It gives you perspective, right like whenever you train someone
like John Wielee, when you get him a rob or
you get an al Joe and you get a Khalil,
You're like, well, I know what it took for her
to be who she is. We know how to train
these fighters already, but like now I got to apply
some of these same lessons. But they're all different, right,
(06:49):
They're all so different.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
The one onderlining thing. First off, Aljo is not mine
Aljo Aljo.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Oh I thought Aljo was with Morob too.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Yeah, he floats in and out. He's over you know,
with Eric, Nick Sick and those guys that.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Oh yeah, I forgot the yeah, you know, he.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Kind of goes around.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
But the cool thing about this, you know, from from
way Lee to Morob to Khalil, the difference that we
have is these guys are.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
All very humble.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
They're all very like down to earth champs like way Lee,
you would never even know if she's a champion at
the level of one of the greatest fighters in the
world if you sat down with the same with Morob,
they're all hard working, you know, just just grinders that
that do. They're all good people. They're all people that
you would love to hang out with. That there is
so it's it's really awesome. It's not hard to be
(07:34):
around it's not hard to coach them, it's not hard
to have that fine and flow with them because they're
all such good people. They're all so easy to work with.
So I've been very very fortunate, you know, in that
that you know, in my career, especially with this that
have Like I said, I have three studs that are
just all great people that are all going to be
(07:55):
you know, well, two that are world champions, the one
that's going to be a world champion here next week.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
You know, Uh, are these cold calls, like how are
these fighters finding you? Because I remember when we were,
like when we were when we were rocking and rolling
that AKA and Bee comes over from New Jersey. He
comes over through King Mo. Right then another guy comes
over through someone else. How are they finding syndicate right now?
I'm like, are they calling you? Is there a manager
(08:22):
that's going he generally wants to drink.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Yeah, all fastest, But it's you know, this sport, it's who,
it's who.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
You know, being in Vegas and obviously being in Vegas
for you know, my whole life, but twenty five years
of the fight game, now you you end up. People
know I'm not a big I'm not a big like,
look at me type of coach. I'm not very I
don't do a lot of interviews. I've started doing it
lately just because of you know, all this stuff, and
(08:49):
you know, I put myself out there a lot, so,
you know, but it gets me the people that I.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Want to work with.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
I like a specific you know, type of person, so
I get to work with that. But through the you know,
obviously the people coming in through Vegas all the time.
It's a fight capital UFC's there, so there's always people
coming in and out, so you just get referred.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
You know. Khalil I've had for I think ten twelve
years now.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
I think his like first or second Pro Fighters when
I started working with him, so we've been at it
for a long time. Waylee was preferred through you know,
just hear'saying people at the at the you know, like
the PI and people through just hey, so and so.
And then our manager reached out and I was like, yeah, absolutely,
and did one session and we hit it off and
(09:31):
it went from there. Rob you know, same thing came
to Vegas. I think the PI has been pretty awesome
because there's you know, it's just always people are coming in.
There's an influx of fighters always coming in. So I
think four years ago, somewhere around four or five years ago,
he had stopped in and started kind of training on
and off, and you know when just kind of stuck around.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
It's like that little stray dog.
Speaker 4 (09:55):
We've bet and just kind of come back, come back,
and you know, just kind of slow played it. After
like a year or two, he's like, hey, you know,
this is my place though. It's just awesome, Like Vegas
is great. You know, we have just stuck in flux
all the time. So it's you know, there's always people
coming in now.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
There's so many great things to Vegas. Like, I love
everything about Vegas. I love I love the fighting, I
love the I love the city. You know what I
also love I love watching the Raiders just absolutely quit
the other day on the football film that probably that
was that was probably my favorite Vegas moment, all the championship,
(10:36):
everything I have done in that city. I enjoyed nothing
more than watching him just quit on y'all.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Well, I mean, dare you? How dare you? I mean,
that's on, man.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
I want to prop you up, prop you build, you
build you, and then.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
It's it's hard being a Raiders fan. It's hard times,
but you know you got to stick with them. I
love it. It's you know, you guys, the Saints. You know.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
Fortunately we're going one of our hand me downs and
he's doing well right now.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
I want to give it back after last weekend, I
actually want to give it back.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
You were going to have this, Jemmy, but that's that
was the problem here, you know. So man, I'm hoping.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
I'm hoping the Raiders can turn around, you know, seating
ticket holders.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
But I love the Raiders, man, it's we have faith.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
It's kind of crazy how much you guys do love
that team. All right, guys, so evenber when you were
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(12:23):
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(12:45):
check out frog fuel dot com for more championships, right,
they comes so few and far in between. Like you said,
you've now stood with John will LEAs she became got
her belt back in to fit. You have none still, Morob,
you're on the verge of chasing down another championship with
(13:05):
Khalil Rontree. This is a guy, like you said, Ha's
been there from the very beginning. That asks me more
because you've seen the process, Because there was a time
where Khalil struggled and no one ever could have imagined
that he would be who he is today.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
Yeah, yeah, for sure, Khalil is a special, unique person
and you know when he when I first got him,
you obviously you could see the talent.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
The talent's always been there, the natural ability that the
scary dude has been there from day one. So and
there was you know, this guy was knocking people out.
Speaker 4 (13:40):
He was he was knocking out legends behind the scenes
and baring and you hear the rumblings. You heard this
guy was gonna be the next big thing. He's just
you know, at the beginning, he struggled with like really
identifying himself as a fighter. You know, he's such a
unique character, unique person that I don't know that he
just wasn't ready for it back then. And I, like
I said, I told the story before.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
I remember.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
I think it was, you know, the third or fourth fight.
He was talking to me about wanting to retire and
go into construction. He's like, yeah, I think I got
this good construction job. It's going to pay good money.
And I said, whoaa, no, no, no, no, no no.
I was like, just give me, you know, give me
a year, give me a year, and I promise you
you do whatever, you support, whatever you want after that,
(14:23):
just give me a hard year. And you know, through
that process, the ultimate fighter came, you know, when he
got on there and then that's kind of where he
said the spotlight. I think for Khalil, the big picture
at the beginning was just too big.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
You know.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
We had to shrink the picture down and kind of
just go, hey, listen, you don't need to be all
these things that you're supposed to be. This next big thing,
we just need to be you. You need to find yourself,
identify yourself, figure out how you get comfortable doing this.
And it was a struggle, and that was really the
only struggle. Was just was just more mentally for him.
(15:00):
Some ups, had some downs, and then you know, he
moved to Thailand after the Gokusaki fight and kind of
you know, found himself as a person, as a man.
You know, I think he was gone for a couple
of years and ended up hitting me back up and
was like, hey, you know had some gus had some up,
some big ups, some big downs while he was out there,
(15:21):
and he just.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Hit me up and was like, hey, you know, I
think I'm ready to come back.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
And he came back and his you know, strength conditioning
coach who the big mentors to him, Lorenzo and myself,
we all met up and he's just like, listen, I
want to I want to make a run at this.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
I want to I want to do it. And you
could just tell there's something different about him. He had matured.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
And it was good because like the same thing happened
to me as a coach. You know, during that process,
I got better. I learned how to work with people
a little bit more. And because he's a very, like
I said, unique character, and I.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Try to work with he dress.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
He dressed crazy too, dressed crazy.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Yeah, So like I just learned how to kind of
work with him better.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
And it really we sat down, had a meeting and
it's just it's it's been nothing but great since he's
been back and we've had nothing but six death he's
really matured as a fighter, matured as a you know,
as a person, as a man, and it's really showing
we've all learned how to just work together as a team.
So you know, this is a big one to kind
(16:23):
of go through the path that we've gone.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
And you know this would be my first like homegrown,
you know, straight from the beginning type of thing.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
So yeah, it means a lots. I mean, they don't
mean lots of me, and I mean every fight. I
love my fighters, you know, we We're a very closet,
tight knit team. You know, we all work together. You know,
I'm flying out.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
I'm flying out two days to go to.
Speaker 4 (16:45):
Paris for a short notes fight for Vince Morales, who
just got back in the UFC. And you know, and
that one means just as much to me as as
these title fights. Man, I love all these guys, but
this is this is an awesome experience, you know. And
I'm so happy for Kleil and where he's at and
what he's persevered to come through to find himself is
like it's a fighter but as a person, and I
truly think he's gonna go out there and get it done.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
You know, I'm gonna first of I'm gonna be in
Park City next week. There's a great golf course of
Debt that I love to play. I've played every time
I've been to Utah. So I will be up in
Park City with my finger up in the air like
you do, y'all soo boozy up and you're I don't
even I can't even really look at you. You're training champions,
You're living in Park City. You're a completely different hull being.
(17:31):
You said that, Alex Perera, stay with me. Now, you
said that Alex Perera is gonna be the first one
to shoot. Cherl Sonnon also said Khalil Rontree is going
to knock Alex Perera out in this fight. Said it's
the worst possible matchup for him, and then you double
(17:51):
down and state he's gonna be the first one to shoot.
What am I missing it here? Where I see the
guy that's knocked everybody out, the greatest striker the UFC
is ever scene, y'all turning him into a wrestlerant by
no means. I'm not saying he's going to knock Khalil out.
What I am saying is all we have seen this
dude do is knock people out. But you guys are
telling me you're gonna turn him into a wrestler, you
(18:13):
and Jail.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
All right, Well, listen, we're fighting the Boogeyman.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
He's the scariest dude out in MMA right now, and
he's gonna hold that title for the next couple of
weeks before there's.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
A new scariest suit in MMA. Like what you see,
you know, there's there's no doubt about it. Alex's special dude.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
What he does you know and how he does it
sometimes is the prettiest, but that's part of the allure.
I think he and a lot of people sleep on
Oh he does this ugly. He does that ugly, that's
part of it. He doesn't ugly, he does it beautifully ugly,
and that's how he ends up knocking you out. Is
drawing you into this. Hey, oh I can capitalize on this. Oops, No,
you can't. You know, so we're not going to fall
(18:53):
into that trap. One I didn't say I think Alex
is coming out shoot.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
I just say you said he'll shoot first.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
I think if anybody breaks, it's gonna be him. We're
not shooting Alex. You've seen Alex, Alex the top before
Alex took Easy Down, Alex.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Alli did some crazy shit against Izzy.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
You're not going to find a tape of a takedown
of Khalil shooting takedowns now.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Can Khalil take us? Of course we do MMA.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
We don't just train to go expect like this is
a you know, going to be just this or this
that We're always defending takedown.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
We're shooting our own takedown. We're doing everything every day.
Speaker 4 (19:30):
But if you can't say that if a takedown happens
it ain't coming from our side, it's coming from that side.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
It sounds like a dangerous game. Coach sounds like a
well your guy can knock him out. We know that
he can knot him out. Like of course, I told
Johnny Walking this. I said, the fact that you don't
know how to wrestle means that you're always only one
shot away from getting put out. You gotta have that
ability to take people down or at least threaten it.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
I agree, I agree, absolutely, That's what I like. I said,
this just makes martial arts, so you have to be
prepared for everything. But it's kind of a damn if
you do, damn if you don't. If we go out
there and people want to see two dudes knock each
other out, and I say, Kalil, go out there and
let's let's go knock this guy out. Whatever happens happens,
and they stand up, then it'll be.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Him.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Yes, yes, yes, oh god, John Woods, the dumbest coach
in the world.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
We should have We should have said with O'Malley and
just let him knock us out or something like that.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
You know, people are always like, well you should just
do anything, like well, we're here to win fights sometimes.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
But you you you did, John, would you fought your
fight and according to Sean O'Malley, you lost. You fought
your fighting. Sean O'Malley said, Sugar State Commissioned has now
said he's.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
If he's smoking the gifts and they were over there
just they're still high from that, so let's not let's
not pay attention to what they're saying. You know, that fight,
I don't even think was. I think there were some
judges that we were little even you know, lenient and
giving them a round or two. But I can see
that I can see a four to one, you know,
(21:08):
no problem.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Seven forty eight. Forty seven was very surprising to me.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
Yeah, I'll give him one round. I'll give him one
round for sure. But yeah, I don't think. I don't
think the Sugar State Athletic Commission is gonna hold up anywhere.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
So coach, I got one last question for you before
you go, and I'll see you next week in Salt
Lake City. I cannot wait one of my favorite cities
to watch fights. Big Hey, If anything, the things that
you say to me seem more likely because I've seen
some insane stuff happen in that arena. I saw kemor
Usban getting knocked out. I said, Dustin Pourier getting knocked out.
(21:45):
I've seen some crazy stuff happen in that arena. So
for your side, you guys should be looking forward to it.
But you've got two different builds.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Now.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Perera and his team are very quiet. Plennial is a
great guy, Glover is a great guy. You guys probably
get along swimmingly. That wasn't the case a couple of
weeks ago, as you guys are getting ready for the
O'Malley fight at this fear, it was very nasty at times.
Rob hates the coach. The coaches coaching Morob it was not.
It was crazy there. I mean they's kissing in the
(22:13):
octagon over coaching. It was a lot. Which one do
you prefer as a coach. Do you prefer the bad
blood or do you prefer the more laid back. Well,
we got two guys that are gonna fight, and we're
gonna kind of just live in our own world.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
I mean, I'm not much of a like a vocal
guy when it comes.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
I think our job as coaches to sit back and
let the fighters do what they need to do.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
So I try to stay out of that. I'm much
more of a you know, I'd.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
Rather prefer the trip, the chill, but it does get
me fired up. When you get somebody talking ship and
going on and doing whatever. It's always fun and it
makes it that much.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
I thought about that a coach fight. Yeah, you gotta
have a coach fight between.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
You and I always did it that. I think.
Speaker 4 (22:56):
I hope my own pretty good. But yeah, man, either
they're both fun. You know, no matter what, I love coaching.
It's absolutely the best thing in the world. I can't
see myself doing anything other other than this, and to
be involved in either one. You know, if it's loud,
if it's quiet, I'm good. But I'm game for whatever.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Man.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
I think it's both. It's both.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
I loved it, man. I always loved the I love
the noise. I love the fighting. I love throwing shit.
That's why my fights always look like that. I was
always trying to fighting in the cage, fighting in the casino,
but it equates the big dollars, So that's what I love. Guys.
Big John Wood is on the verge of coaching, the
second world champion in less than a month. He's in
(23:38):
the Park City, Utah, right now getting ready for UFC
three h seven as Khalil Romtree takes on Alex Perrera. Guys, John,
thank you for checking it with me. I appreciate it man. Guys.
Until next time, hit that bell button so that you
missed none of my videos, like subscribe and tell all
your friends about my YouTube channel because I'm bringing guys
(23:59):
like John Wood on and make sure you tap into
everything coach Board is doing. Syndicate MMA, go get your
membership if you want to train with the best. Until
next time, Peace,
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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