Sevan Matossian (00:00):
You said 2 73. Yeah. Yeah. Bam. We’re live a little early little early one minute early. I was, I was, uh, Caleb and I, we have, uh, Darion weeks on coming up here in a few seconds. I’m a little concerned because all the podcasts, this guy’s done have been like 10 or 15 minutes. I don’t know if he knows what he’s walking into. Um, but another thing is, is I, uh, I was Kevin and I were talking about how you, uh, Google has like a really cool, um, automated. Like if you type in UFC schedule, they’ll just pop up the schedule and you can sift through the fighters and all that shit. I don’t know how that works between Google and the UFC, but Google has the best schedule. You’d think UFC would have something that at least matched it. It’s so weird. Uh, but Google’s is amazing. And I used to use duck, duck go that search engine, but I stopped using duck dot go because I was told that they were sifting through for Russian misinformation. And I don’t need those motherfuckers telling me what’s Russian misinformation or not. I can figure that shit out myself. Can you imagine inviting someone else over to your house? Hey, can you, my wife’s Puy before I fucker, like why would you do that? You handle your business. Hey Darion.
Sevan Matossian (01:08):
Good morning.
Darian Weeks (01:11):
What’s up?
Sevan Matossian (01:12):
What’s up my headphones. Good to see you brother. Good to see you. Are you, can you believe what you’re can you believe what you’re about to embark on the greatest card? 2022? Uh, oh,
Darian Weeks (01:28):
Oh yeah. I know. I’m excited about that. Definitely. Hey, do we
Sevan Matossian (01:31):
Fucked up connection? Do we have a fucked up connection? Definitely.
Darian Weeks (01:38):
Um, I don’t know.
Sevan Matossian (01:40):
You’re not in the Ukraine. Are you? We gotta delay. We gotta delay like you’re in the Ukraine.
Darian Weeks (01:46):
No, no, definitely not in the Ukraine. Okay. Let me try, lets try. Let’s try this
Sevan Matossian (01:54):
Guys. This schedule. Caleb, can you pull up this schedule, this schedule, this fight card that uh, Darion’s about to fight on is crazy. Okay. Heidi says it’s definitely delayed in the comments. I think he just got a bad connection. Maybe he’ll move around somewhere. Good. Uh,
Darian Weeks (02:12):
Go to shoot.
Sevan Matossian (02:14):
Oh, that’s that’s a little better. Uh, it’s not that card. It’s 2 73. Oh, you couldn’t find it on Google. Uh, Caleb, you couldn’t find Google if you just go to Google anyway, it’s a crazy crazy card.
Darian Weeks (02:29):
Yeah, it’s a stacked and them adding Gilbert burns and Cosma just made it even more crazier, you know? So I’m excited. Uh, I’m excited to embark on that. I think it’ll be a lot of great fights and um, a lot of, uh, a lot of shocking knockouts there we are right there.
Sevan Matossian (02:48):
So this is what, for those of you who don’t know this guy, Ian gay, that Darion is fighting is supposed to be the next Connor McGregor. They’re like building him up him for him for some reason they’re really, really on him and Patty Pletz jock and that’s cool, but you have to see this fight. And also this guy, Dion that we’re about to talk to he’s in the same weight class is, um, uh, AJ Fletcher, the, the up and comer. Great, uh, um, uh, Magdalena Dayla Magdalena from Australia. Who’s amazing this and, and Darion’s up there with him. He has uh, he’s five and one an insane, uh, loss, um, a couple, uh, a couple months ago against Barina. Yeah. A fight he took on four days notice, which really even shouldn’t even be an excuse, cuz you sat in there in the pocket and just banged with this full for three rounds. Um, and then he gets tortured by all the he’s jackass podcast. He has to go on before the fights. It’s insane. I listen to like five podcasts. You did.
Darian Weeks (03:47):
Yeah. It’s
Sevan Matossian (03:48):
They meet you. It’s almost like people are setting you up. Like, Hey, we’re gonna send you the worst podcasters in the world. They’re gonna ask you the same six questions and then you’re gonna get off the air
Darian Weeks (03:55):
Literally. Yeah. Uh that’s. Yeah. That’s that’s what I’ve known, how to this thing has been playing out for, for the most part. But uh, yeah. I mean, I had a, a fun time with the barber in a fight. I mean, I know it was on four days notice, but I’m a person that this is what we do as a career we’re fighters. You know, if nobody’s ready to fight instantly, when somebody calls you to fight, why are you doing this career? You know what I mean? We, we train every day. We, um, we work out constantly and we always think about fighting. So I mean, I had, I had a great time. I told Barbara marina at the weigh-ins, you know, don’t be worried. I’ll I’ll stay in the pocket with you. Like we can, you
Sevan Matossian (04:35):
Did say that to him.
Darian Weeks (04:37):
Yeah. Yeah. I told him, you know, I told him, Hey, we can bang. Like I’m not, I’m not gonna run from you. I’m not gonna, you know, tit for tat with you. Like we can stay in there and we can punch the shit at each other. Like, you know, I’m, I’m, I’m down for that. So
Sevan Matossian (04:49):
I appreciated whenever he would go to the body on you, you returned it with the front kick a tow of the stomach. That was nice. Tip for TA. Oh, you wanna punch me? I’ll go kick you back in the stomach. Yeah.
Darian Weeks (04:58):
And that tea kick, that tea kick is just such a, a, such a devastating
Sevan Matossian (05:03):
Blow. What’s it called? What’s it called?
Darian Weeks (05:05):
A te
Sevan Matossian (05:06):
Kick T E a P te.
Darian Weeks (05:08):
Yep.
Sevan Matossian (05:09):
Oh, I never even heard of that.
Darian Weeks (05:10):
Yeah, it it’s. And it’s such a devastating blow. Um, especially as quick as it comes, you know, you’re what moment you’re walking forward towards somebody and then the next moment their toes is a, your belly button. So, you know, it’s a, it’s, it’s a definite, it’s a great, it’s a move that I love to use to not only judge distance, but you know, kind of to keep the fight at my pace.
Sevan Matossian (05:33):
Um, uh, I, I know less about fighting than all of the other podcasters that you’ve ever, um, that have ever interviewed you, but I promise you, you will walk away today being like, oh shit. And, uh, what sucks is, if you graduate from here, you gotta deal with Ariel Hani. Who’s equally a cheese Dick. But, but, but anyway, um, what, you’re a Bible guy. You go to church a lot or are you, you got, you got Romans 8 30, 2 on your back. Big.
Darian Weeks (05:59):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I do. Uh, I I’m a, I am a Bible guy. I’m I guess Bible guy. Yeah. I believe in God. I believe in Jesus. Yeah. That’s how I, that’s how I, uh, stream my journey for sure. Um, I feel like, you know, there’s no success without, you know, without God, you know what I mean? He could created all this anyway. So why not, you know, trusting him to pull us through it.
Sevan Matossian (06:22):
I wanna tie that to this statement that you said people were talking about star power and you said, I’m not, I’m not about the star power. I’m about being the most lethal. I’m gonna paraphrase a little bit, but I’m about, I’m trying to make the most lethal Darion weeks that there can be, this body is gonna become the most lethal version. And then it’s gonna enter the octagon and you’re gonna witness it perform. Um, you, you know, mark Zuckerberg created Facebook to get pussy. Like, it’s that, that’s why he did it. He admits it. And it’s why it’s kind of why men are here. Uh, I think it’s fair biologically to say that we’re driven to do that. Do we all wish we could say what you said? What you say you want is is that the ultimate expression of getting pussy? Like if you, if we were, if we had different tribes, why would girls want to be with me women when they could be with you two miles away and be protected or be with me and, and like, and like dudes be ransack in our of shit is, is, is one, is that, is that the ultimate expression of the rest of us who aren’t doing that?
Sevan Matossian (07:24):
Just lying to ourselves. Like mark Zuckerberg really wanna beat people up, but instead he made Facebook,
Darian Weeks (07:31):
Maybe, you know, I, I feel like the number one thing about fighting, I feel like it’s in everyone. I mean, from the beginning of time, people fought, you know, um, no matter whether with hands, whether it was with sores and now that we have in the 21st history, whether it was with guns, but I mean, people, you can tell that you have that fighting ability and you there’s been a, a time in your life where somebody’s crossed you. Somebody said something, even if it was a, on the road and somebody cuts you off, you felt inside. If I could see that guy in front of me, I’d beat the shit outta him. There’s no, there’s no denying that you didn’t feel that. Um, so
Sevan Matossian (08:10):
I wonder if women feel that I’ve done so many, I need to ask a woman that like, does Kayla Harrison feel that you know who that is?
Darian Weeks (08:16):
Yeah. I do know who that is. She looks like she
Sevan Matossian (08:18):
Feels that, you know
Darian Weeks (08:20):
What I mean?
Sevan Matossian (08:21):
Like I wonder if she feels that I’ll ask her, she
Darian Weeks (08:23):
Looks like a stone cold. Just someone who just walks around just ready to punch someone in the face. Yeah. Um,
Sevan Matossian (08:31):
You don’t look like you walk around like that though. You, you seem, and, and most of the guys, at least most of the, the, the fighters that I know have a, have a pretty, um, they’re not Sean Stricklands, they kind of have, they they’re, they’re kind of have a really deep, inner peace. They don’t walk around vibing at all.
Darian Weeks (08:48):
And
Sevan Matossian (08:48):
That’s, or they’re, they’re not like Ru Luke Rockhold. I ran into Luke, Rockhold a couple blocks from my house the other day that motherfucker walks around. Like he wants to fight. I’m like that doesn’t look fun
Darian Weeks (08:57):
And may, and I don’t know. And you know, maybe, you know, some guys walk around with a chip on their shoulder that feels like they make ’em tougher or, you know, maybe they just feel like they have to put on that persona because of who, you know, their fighters. So they have to be like, Hey, I’m the tough guy. You know, I, I don’t feel that way. When and especi, when you feel as lethal as, as I do, at least I can’t speak for anyone else. Um, I, I, I never get upset or I’m never quick to anger because I know what I’m capable of, um,
Sevan Matossian (09:25):
To Shera does not seem like he walks around angry
Darian Weeks (09:28):
At all. And, you know, but you know that he could probably murder you in less than a minute, you know, each you
Sevan Matossian (09:34):
Each, you
Darian Weeks (09:35):
Literally, so I, I just feel like once you, once you have that security and a, a type of ability that you have, um, you don’t, you don’t, you don’t walk around like you, you know, you have to prove to everybody look how tough I am, you know, um, you know, in, in, in Luke rock hold’s case, I mean, the last few fights he’s been in, you know, he is got out and finished, you know, maybe he’s trying to put on that tough guy persona to be like, Hey look, you know, uh,
Sevan Matossian (10:01):
And he’s crazy handsome. And when I saw him, he was with some crazy hot chick and he was in like $150,000 range Rover. He just pulled up and kind of like this weird parking spot, jumped out, went into the surf store, had his shirt off. I was like, dude, you don’t need to like, uh, maybe he’s just comfortable with how maybe he’s just so beautiful that it’s uncomfortable. And that’s what I was picking up on him.
Darian Weeks (10:22):
Maybe he is a sharp looking guy. I will have to tell you that. Um, he definitely doesn’t, you know, a lot of us fighters aren’t, aren’t, aren’t that good looking, you know? Uh, and that, that may come from years of getting beaten in the face. But yeah, he’s one of the rare heroins where he is a, a sharp looking guy. So maybe he is a, a TA bit, uh, I don’t know. Yeah. Maybe, you know, he feels maybe almost F feminine to be, you know, that good looking. So he
Sevan Matossian (10:49):
Walked around. I’m not gonna tell him that I’m not gonna tell him
Darian Weeks (10:51):
Aggressive.
Sevan Matossian (10:52):
Hey, how do you know when you, how do you, when did you figure out you were tough? When did you figure out, okay. Maybe the ultimate game to play as a man is to be the, is to be the most lethal version of a man. And when did you think you could get into that game? Like why not pole vaulting or you play football and, and growing up? Why not just stick with football? Although that’s a tough one, too.
Darian Weeks (11:12):
Yeah. Um, I did play football. Um, I guess when I, when I figured out I was really a tough guy, me and my friends used to go to these, uh, I mean, everybody went to parties when they were younger, you know? Um, and for some reason, every time we showed up to parties, people just hated us. I don’t know why, you know, and I mean, I was always been the way I am, where I’m an outgoing person. I talked to people, you know, I’m, you know, come. Um, but it would always end up in getting in these fights. And it would always be like my four friends or my five friends against like 25 people, you know? And we used to cause I mean, some, some carnage against those 25 people now at any cost, we didn’t win. You know, it wasn’t a movie, you know, we didn’t beat up 25 people and walk outta there with our sunglasses and our leather jackets, the girls.
Sevan Matossian (12:05):
Yeah. You
Darian Weeks (12:05):
Know, uh, we definitely got, we definitely got the crap kicked out of us, but it was, I mean, the way that we handled, I mean the ability to fight those many people. I mean, we weren’t ever scared, nervous. Um, and we come from a small town anyway. So I mean, what
Sevan Matossian (12:22):
Town, where do you
Darian Weeks (12:22):
Live? I live in Sedalia, Missouri. I probably never heard of it. It’s a little dot on the map in the middle of Missouri. Um, but in, so, I mean, we just, from a very young age, from 17, 18, we’d always just, I mean, the fights would come to us and I mean, it, I had, I was never looking for a fight, but I had the most fun when we were in those those times. Like when we were literally odds, stacked against us getting a dog beat out of us, I was like, this is great. You know, like I love the fact that I get to do this,
Sevan Matossian (12:55):
You know, and
Darian Weeks (12:57):
When I felt that I was like, wow, you know, man, I never thought about going into fighting after that. You know, I still had the football, I, I even went to college for football. Um, but after my one year of college and football,
Sevan Matossian (13:09):
What position did you play? Darion.
Darian Weeks (13:11):
Strong safety. Okay. Yeah. And you, they would just use me for the same thing, you know, just run down and hit someone as hard as you can and, you know, we’ll call it good. You know, I was never a person who covered receivers and tried to steal the ball. They just literally used me for bruise and abuse. Like, Hey, just run at that guy and hit him. Um, so I always had that, I don’t know, kind of dive into danger kind of feel, um, and was never, you know, afraid or a, you know, shy from it ever. Um, and then I found this local fight that they were having in actually Sedia, which is weird, you know, it’s a small town, but they got some way to have a cage fight. And, um, one of my buddies asked me, who’s now one of my cornermen, he’s one of my con auditioning coaches.
Darian Weeks (13:57):
Uh, he asked me, he’s like, Hey, you want to get into this fight? And I’m like, what do you mean? I mean, who do we gotta fight? You know, I’m thinking, yo, we gotta run up on someone and fight em, all right. Yeah. Yeah. And he is like, no, it’s a cage fight. You know, like they do on TV. You know, I was like, what? Like to beat up somebody just legally in front of people. And he’s like, yeah. And I was like, for sure, let’s go. I trained for, I think a month and a half. Never did, never did combat sports. I did wrestling when I was in high school, but never did any combat sports, never boxing or anything. And I trained for about a month and a half. And he threw me in there with somebody who was four and oh, and he’s like, and I’m like, all right, well, I guess that’s, it is what it is.
Darian Weeks (14:38):
And the first time that my knuckles touched his face and he fell to the ground and I was like, I’ll do this for free every day of my life. Wow. Wow. I mean, you felt, you felt that the, the fact that the crowd erupts, when you, when they think that you’ve heard him or you think that you make a, a fast move, I mean that in itself is almost like a drug, to be honest, if no one that’s what we’re addicted to in the fighters, that’s why you fight on the stage that you fight on. Because when that, when that crowd, you hear it cheer, I mean, it feel your body with, I mean, just straight adrenaline. I mean, you feel like the top of the world, like Mike Tyson said it best. And I know a lot of people reference Mike Tyson, but like, and you know, by any means I’m not blasting, but yeah, you walk down in that freaking ring and you hear that crowd and you get to throw in, you feel like a, God, you feel like one of the top people in the world, you’re like, I’m the baddest dude that anybody has ever seen.
Darian Weeks (15:37):
And it’s just, and this is why we do it, you know, to just feed that, that kind of ego that we have
Sevan Matossian (15:44):
That, and this fight is gonna be huge. This fight that he’s fighting against this guy. I and Gary, it’s kind of like, you might not know this movie. I Highlander, do you know this movie Dar yes, I do. I do. Yeah. It’s, it’s kind of that situation. You have these two guys, they’re two young up and comers and there’s all of this hype around, um, Ian, but Darion has an insane track record. If you go to shirt, dog or tap typology, can you open that Caleb and let us look at it. Um, it’s, it’s in an insane record. It’s I think it’s, um, I think Ian, and that thing that you did in Australia is insane.
Darian Weeks (16:20):
Yeah. That was a,
Sevan Matossian (16:21):
This could, this could be a main event fight too. If they had the media to pump it up because your background in fighting is absolutely nuts.
Darian Weeks (16:30):
Yeah, no, I actually found that, uh, um, those kind of tournaments, probably like two or three years ago, um, three years ago. Yeah. And what I, the first one I went to was in Bahrain. That’s 10 miles outside of Saudi Arabia. There’s a prince of Bahrain who literally hosted over 68 countries, five days of fighting three rings going at the same time, all five days in, I think every weight class from women’s one 15, all the way up to men’s 2 85. So, I mean, it was or 2 65. So it was insane. Like,
Sevan Matossian (17:10):
And you thought five fights in five days,
Darian Weeks (17:12):
Five fights, five days a and not only that you gotta make weight every day.
Sevan Matossian (17:16):
That’s what I was gonna ask you. I heard you allude to that in an interview. So what is your, so you’re 170 pounder, your weer weight. Yeah. Um, the champion of your division at UFC is Camaro Uzman for people who don’t know, um, the fight that we just saw between Colby and, uh, MOS. All those are also guys in your weight class, the one 70, um, by the way, great tagline for, uh, MOS doll, right. Undefeated in the streets. That shit is so
Darian Weeks (17:40):
Cool. That is great.
Sevan Matossian (17:43):
Um, so you, so how what’s your walking around weight? Was that hard to, to make weight every single day?
Darian Weeks (17:50):
It was, it was only, it was hard for two reasons. One, yes, because I walk around at probably 1 96, like just, if I’m not trying to cut, if I’m not trying to eat a hundred percent healthy and I’m just, you know, walking around trading, you know, just normal, don’t have a fight, probably 196 pounds, maybe heavier if I’m, you know, being a glutton on some food, how
Sevan Matossian (18:13):
Tall are you?
Darian Weeks (18:15):
Five, 11 and a half. I’m gonna keep my little half, half inch there. Understood. Um, but, uh, and also for a second thing, because I’m in, I was in a country where you are not used to the food regardless. I don’t care if they try to give you the same eggs and, you know, Turkey bacon that you eat at home, it just still, there’s just something about it. You know? And I don’t know if it’s just the culture that it comes from or if the season,
Sevan Matossian (18:39):
Hey dude, even dogs look different, like you’ll be in Ireland and you’ll be like, what kind of dog is that? They’ll be like a Labrador you’re like that motherfucker don’t look like our Labrador is that you, you gonna need to get off the island. You know what I mean? Like everything’s have been kind of inbred more
Darian Weeks (18:51):
Literally, you know, and it’s just like, and it was just, you know, just the surroundings, the air, the just environment. It’s so much harder to do that for consistent time over in another country. Um, but at the same time, that’s why, I’m glad I got that opportunity. You know, there won’t be anything that I haven’t experienced now, you know, there won’t be any little new niches that I won’t, you know, especially with the UFC, they’ll, they’ll bring that professionalism to that. Like if we’re over in a different country, they’ll bring food that the fighters will be able to eat. You know, there’ll be people there that literally prepare stuff that you’ll be able to eat. So I mean, me having that experience, me having to, you know, battle that weight cut day in and day out for one makes weight cut for one night easy, you know, I’m like, yeah, I can, I can cut weight.
Darian Weeks (19:41):
Let’s go. You know what I mean? And I’m ready to get on a scale and let’s fight. And not only that, it makes fighting for one night that much easier. I know, Hey, I don’t have to go to sleep, wake up, fight another guy again tomorrow, you know, um, I can give, you know, 130% tonight come off with the win. And I really feel like that’s why I rocketed my pro career off with that many finishes is because I was like, oh, let’s go. You know, I can put my all into this and just put people out and then I’m outta here.
Sevan Matossian (20:09):
You got five pro wins for that.
Darian Weeks (20:12):
Yeah. That’s no, well, no, no, not at that. Not at that tournament. No. No.
Sevan Matossian (20:15):
Oh, those were all amateur fights. Those
Darian Weeks (20:17):
Were no. Yeah. Those were all amateur fights that I did on any tournament in Bahrain. I went to Bahrain twice. And then, like you said, I went to Australia, which that was at the Arnold Soze Neer exhibit and Arnold Soze Neer was there watching us fight. That was extreme lakes, static.
Sevan Matossian (20:33):
What’s the most fights you’ve had in a year, regardless of amateur or, or, um, so if you’re doing five fights in five day, five days, have you ever done two of those kinds of tournaments in the same year?
Darian Weeks (20:45):
Um, I think, I think, uh, bar rain in Australia were in the same year, so yeah, I did the
Sevan Matossian (20:51):
Five fight that’s fights right there.
Darian Weeks (20:52):
Really? Yeah. I mean easily, you know, um, and not to mention the profi or the amateur fights I did in between those tournaments just to keep my body, you know, going so that I could, you know, fight. So probably probably 11, 11 fights in a year, probably at most. Yeah. That’s I mean, when you’re in amateur, you gotta grab him. You know what I mean? You gotta, you gotta get him.
Sevan Matossian (21:15):
Um, can you pull Caleb, can you show us that, that hi, his, his fight record. And can you, can you scroll down a little bit? Yeah. It’s nuts. It’s, it’s crazy how many fights you’ve had.
Darian Weeks (21:31):
Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (21:32):
And so is this isn’t even all of them.
Darian Weeks (21:34):
Yeah. Ology shows every one of them and, and it’s crazy. And what’s really crazy is, um, you know, now pology only keeps track mostly of amateurs in America. You know, they don’t keep track of other people’s records. So some of those people in there it’ll say like, oh, and one or two and one, but those guys were actually probably like had just as many fights as me, 12 and two or something crazy. You know what I mean? Cuz they’re fighting in Finland, you know, they’re fighting in Dastan, they’re fighting in, you know, I mean, it’s been, it was crazy, you know, the amount of 10 outlet that they had at these tournaments. And how many, how many countries that I’ve never heard of at these tournaments before? You know, like it was, it was insane
Sevan Matossian (22:20):
In your pro career. You don’t have any decisions except the, except for the one with above
Darian Weeks (22:25):
One. I know, except for the one.
Sevan Matossian (22:28):
Wow. It’s nuts. So someone’s going to sleep that dude. You’re gonna knock uh, Mr. Gary out.
Darian Weeks (22:33):
Oh yes. That’s the plan.
Sevan Matossian (22:36):
Yeah. I wonder if he knows that.
Darian Weeks (22:39):
Um, I don’t think he does. I feel like he really feels like the UFC is spoonfeeding him. You know?
Sevan Matossian (22:46):
Hey, I don’t think they do that by the way. Every commentator says that I do not think I, I was an executive at CrossFiting for 15 years. We never gave a fuck who won the CrossFit games. Yeah. We don’t give a shit. Everyone’s like, well they need Connor to do this and they need Ian Gary to do this so that they can, we no one, they don’t care.
Darian Weeks (23:04):
And that’s what I it’s,
Sevan Matossian (23:05):
They’re gonna, we’re gonna make our money anyway. We don’t give a fuck.
Darian Weeks (23:08):
And that’s what my management team had told me. They had talked to Sean of you when they first gimme the fight. And um, they
Sevan Matossian (23:14):
It’s a lie. They don’t care.
Darian Weeks (23:15):
Yeah. They asked if I could do the fight. And I said, yeah, for sure. And they said, yeah, cuz they wanna make, they wanna see if this guy is really the real deal, you know? And the fact that they came to me to do that, you know, somebody who fought Barbara Ray on four days notice, I feel like that’s realistic. You know, somebody who’s not afraid to punch body in the pocket. Someone who’s not afraid to go into a late round and keep throwing. Let’s go, let’s get tired. Let’s let’s hit each other. You know? And I feel like, you know, I’m a, I’m at 85 to 94% different fighter when I have a full camp. I mean, that was just,
Sevan Matossian (23:49):
Wow. That’s huge. I was actually gonna ask you that. That’s huge. I always thought I was thinking it to be like 5% different. Yeah. Is it gonna be your engine? Is your engine gonna be different?
Darian Weeks (23:57):
My engine’s gonna be different. My punches are gonna be quicker. My punches are gonna be harder. My wrestling’s gonna be even more devastating. I mean it’s, I mean it’s night and day. Like that was, that was off the couch. I was on the couch for 12 days because you know, you know, you get those little tweaks and practice. And I had one in my knee and I didn’t wanna further my injury. I knew how close I was to UFC. So I took some time off I on the couch, I’m eating pizza. Um, just hanging out and you, the, my manager team calls me like, Hey, you wanna fight for the USC tomorrow? You know, this week, you know what I mean? You wanna fly out and I’m like, yeah, let’s go, you know, my wife’s going crazy. She’s like, there’s no way you can make one 70, you’re 194 pounds. And I’m like, I’ll let the scale, tell me I can’t make one 70. I’m going right now. You know? And I did, I made one 70 on the dot. And um,
Sevan Matossian (24:48):
And how was your knee during the fight? By the way?
Darian Weeks (24:51):
Um, it, it wasn’t a hundred, you know, but I mean, it’s not an excuse that I should have used either.
Sevan Matossian (24:55):
You know, was it in your head when you’re in the ring during those three rounds, were, were there times when you took a step and you’re like, like instead of paying attention to him, your body’s like, Hey, pay attention to me.
Darian Weeks (25:04):
I think when people have injuries, they do that a lot. You know, that it’s always lingering that they’re like, oh, this is right there. You know? Um, especially, especially when he threw that first kick at it, I was like, you know, then, you know, your mind’s like, oh shit, you know, damn, you know, is this shit gonna be mangled in the fight? Am I gonna plug in? You know, so I will say, you know, my, my focus was maybe distracted, maybe a little bit, but that in all said in all sadness, I should have pressed the button way harder. You know, it was my debut. I should have just went for a complete broke. Um, and you know, maybe that maybe the knee injury held me back, you know, maybe the fat that it was on four days noticing I’m experiencing all this stuff for the first time. And I’m like, oh, I’m grabbing all this. Oh, this is how the USC goes, oh, this is, I have to get take, you know, broadcast after broadcast, after broadcast, you know? Um,
Sevan Matossian (25:59):
It looked like, dude, you were, um, to speaking video game terms, like you, like you were using all the energy you had without gassing out. You like you were, I mean the whole fight looked like it was being determined by who was pressuring more. Yeah. And he, and that motherfucker could throw, man. He just was just throwing the whole time and then you would take, and you would take, then you would see he, he would lose a little gas and then you’d start pressuring him. It was like, you know what I mean? Like two guys pushing on like a barrel back and forth across the ring.
Darian Weeks (26:26):
I do. Yeah. And, and that’s exactly what it felt like in the, you know, it felt like, you know, he’d, he’d finished a little four or five point combination. And then I knew like, oh yeah, I could hit the team kick in there, run ’em down with a one, two. Yeah. Then maybe hit a shot on him. And then, you know, he’d climb up off the fence and now he’d it around. And he backed me up with a one, two with a leg kick. And then, you know, it wa it did feel very like back and forth, back and forth. And I just, uh, you know, I have some regrets in that fight. Um, I mean, the fight’s over now, you know what I mean? So, I mean, I’m not gonna, I don’t dwell on it, but
Sevan Matossian (27:00):
If you have 10% more engine coming into this fight, this dude’s in fucking big trouble. I mean, you, you guys, it was basically, it was like, it was basically like a Colby, uh, Camaro fight, uh, against Barina. You guys were just maybe just a little behind them in turn. I mean, it was just, it was go, it was 15 minutes of dude’s punching each other,
Darian Weeks (27:19):
Literally, you know? And, um,
Sevan Matossian (27:21):
And if you put that pressure on E Gary with 10% more, he’s fucked.
Darian Weeks (27:25):
Yeah. 10% more. And I’m telling a whole lot more power behind it. You know, there’s been a whole lot more shoulder conditioning. You know, my shoulder conditioning’s been at its at his peak. Um,
Sevan Matossian (27:35):
And Barbara doesn’t do that. You were throwing harder punches. He, he is more cold, but you were more Camaro. Yeah. He And that fight
Darian Weeks (27:43):
He does. And I, and I will say, I felt, I, and I felt that when I was in there with him is he does do a lot of, um, maybe he does it to overwhelm or just distract, but he doesn’t. Yeah. He doesn’t put grease all the way on those punches, you know?
Sevan Matossian (27:57):
Yeah. It looks cool. It’s fun to watch. Like, it’s fun to watch Colby. Like he’s just coming forward like this.
Darian Weeks (28:01):
Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, and he’s just touching, you know, body, head, head, head, body, you know, and I was just, that’s what made me actually get comfortable in the fight is I’m like, okay, well this guy’s not gonna knock me out. You know, I was like, there’s no way that he’s knocking me out and I’m feeling the punches. And I’m like, I don’t, I don’t think I even walked off with a mark on my face, I off the fight. So, uh, maybe, and you know, sometimes fighters need that, oh, I’m gonna die to bring out a straight freaking Savage. You know what I mean? Sometimes fighters need to get hit with something that’s just devastating to be like, oh yeah, you hit me with that. Well, I’m about to just cradle your ass, you know? And maybe that’s, and that’s why I let myself get complacent in the, in the fact that we were trading back and
Sevan Matossian (28:50):
Forth, Zo just comes out like that.
Darian Weeks (28:53):
Hamza just comes out like that.
Sevan Matossian (28:55):
Like, like you got a knife to his mom’s throat,
Darian Weeks (28:56):
Bro. Like you just told his whole family that you’re gonna fucking kill him. If he doesn’t finish his fuck.
Sevan Matossian (29:02):
Hey, do you think he tells himself stuff like that? Like, have you, like, I like, I’ll do this shit in the gym. When I was in college, there’ll be a pretty girl over there and I’ll be doing like pull ups. And I’m like, if I can get three more pullups this girl will date me. I mean, there’s no chance she’s gonna date me, but I would tell myself that and then do the three and just be like, well, and I trick myself, you know what I mean? Yeah. You think he
Darian Weeks (29:19):
Does that three? Yeah. I, I think he does. I mean,
Sevan Matossian (29:23):
Do you do anything like that? Tell yourself any stories,
Darian Weeks (29:25):
You know, at the, at the beginning, I’m my fights. I used to, you know, especially when I was in amateur, like I just used to, well, the number one thing that I do now in fights is I, I dream and I think about every day, this dude’s telling his mom, this dude’s telling his wife, girlfriend, this dude’s telling everybody in his whole people that he knows that he can speak you. Me and Gary. Yeah, yeah. Or anybody, you know? Yeah. That they could beat the shit outta me. You, you could beat the shit outta me. That’s who you’re telling people. Like you’re trying to punk me right now to people. I don’t even know that’s where my mind goes. Like, hell no, you’re not gonna punk.
The above transcript is generated using AI technology and therefore may contain errors.
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