Sevan Matossian (00:00):
Last two days BA I’m more live.
Mattew Souza (00:02):
Oh, for your back.
Sevan Matossian (00:04):
Yeah. And, and it, it, it, it actually helps. I don’t wake up with my back hurting, which is kind of nice, but I’m stiff still. I’m still pretty stiff. Um, for longer than, I mean, usually at home by 10:00 AM. I’m loose now skip to like 5:00 PM. Maybe <laugh> maybe that’s what it is. Hey, you think, um, you think Nicki rods come in with shirt or no shirt?
Mattew Souza (00:28):
No shirt in the bathroom.
Sevan Matossian (00:30):
No shirt in the bathroom. Nikki.
Mattew Souza (00:31):
That’s my guess.
Sevan Matossian (00:33):
Uh, Jason Clea shirt, maybe even collared.
Mattew Souza (00:37):
<laugh> possibly collared. Definitely in his, uh, studio there.
Sevan Matossian (00:41):
Amanda. Good morning. Geez, Louise. Good morning. Uh, Jeffrey Birchfield. Good morning, Bruce swang.
Mattew Souza (00:52):
Well, it’s not oftentimes that Sivan just bounces in here. I am alone. At first I freaked out. Like I hit a button or something.
Sevan Matossian (01:01):
I, I double swipe up and I, I double swiped up the, sorry.
Mattew Souza (01:05):
No, you’re good. It was weird,
Sevan Matossian (01:07):
Jody. Then. Good morning, Jody Lynn made a comment in the comment saying that she was surprised how nice Jason was. Uh, um, uh, Justin Maderas was after, um, me tearing into him on one of the shows. But man, I, when I tear into people like Justin Maderas, I see it as all backhanded compliments. It would be like, if someone said to me, man, like, damn Savon, the way your pants fit you in the front is weird. You have something in there. I mean,
Mattew Souza (01:33):
He’s
Sevan Matossian (01:33):
Like, yeah. Is that a compliment or a put down like, like when I say Jess, man, Ramirez looks like a baboon, like, Hey, like, like he’s the champ. Yeah, fuck. Yeah. Look like a Badone and a fucking gorilla and part Godzilla. I don’t, it’s just so interesting that anyone would take it as a, um,
Mattew Souza (01:48):
I don’t think he did. I think he,
Sevan Matossian (01:50):
I don’t think he did either, but I think she did. I think miss, Ms. Lynn probably did. Like, they think it’s a, um,
Mattew Souza (01:56):
Yeah, it’s
Sevan Matossian (01:56):
Funny the way maybe it’s cuz I’m just so arrogant. I think if your name comes outta my mouth, you should just be happy.
Mattew Souza (02:01):
<laugh>
Sevan Matossian (02:01):
Then someone else in the comment said, holy shit. Chevon’s narrative. Chevon’s narrative is falling apart. Um, the champ
Mattew Souza (02:09):
Actually what’s what’s your narrative.
Sevan Matossian (02:10):
Well, first of all, I go, God, I hope my narrative’s falling apart, but I don’t think it is, but God, I hope it is Jason Clay.
Mattew Souza (02:17):
Good morning.
Sevan Matossian (02:19):
Well, I was, I was wrong about Jason. I thought he’d have a collar shirt totally wrong.
Mattew Souza (02:22):
I don’t think I could hear. There we go. Setting
Sevan Matossian (02:27):
You guys hear me? Car red Dow. Yes you
Jason Khalipa (02:30):
Got all right. Good morning. Good morning. You got, you got man. Hey Sivan. What’s up with that background bro? You’re getting all professional on us or what?
Sevan Matossian (02:39):
No, no. I just wanted to, if, if Nick Rod’s gonna do the bathroom thing, I’m gonna do the fucking kitchen thing like this guy I got, I got, I got rooms too. Dude.
Jason Khalipa (02:47):
Look at these guys and you
Sevan Matossian (02:48):
Should see how tan I am. And look, I could do that too. Nicky.
Jason Khalipa (02:53):
Oh man. Hey Savan I’m not gonna lie, bro. When you, when you are right on top of Nicky rod on my screen, there’s a distinct difference between your physique and his <laugh>
Sevan Matossian (03:05):
Put Nicky on top then Nicky on
Jason Khalipa (03:08):
Top. Um, dude, I gotta turn off this glare. It’s too much glare here.
Sevan Matossian (03:12):
Nicky. What happened to your phone dude?
Nicky Rod (03:15):
Um,
Sevan Matossian (03:15):
Can I guess you got a bad girlfriend. You had to switch numbers.
Nicky Rod (03:19):
Oh, oh no. Actually I, it got stolen and uh, yeah, with a wall along with all my, my bag got stolen at like after practice I had my phone, my chaine my wallet, my gun in there. It was, it was rough. Yeah. But
Sevan Matossian (03:34):
We got, can I hear more about that story? Where were you training? Fucking Brazil.
Nicky Rod (03:40):
Yeah. <laugh> so in, in Austin we have, we have some like, uh, homeless people here and there and
Sevan Matossian (03:47):
They, oh, let’s, let’s be honest. Drug addicts who have chosen to live outside instead of, uh, go inside. Go.
Nicky Rod (03:52):
Yeah. I mean more, more than likely, but um, they must, they had to be watching me cuz I like, I put my bag on my, uh, on the back of my truck and I, I ran inside for back in the gym for a, like a tissue. I must have been like 20 seconds and boom. It was gone. So for sure they were probably keeping an on us,
Jason Khalipa (04:12):
Bro. You got your, you got your wallet, your phone and a gun stolen.
Nicky Rod (04:17):
And my chain, I had my gold chains.
Jason Khalipa (04:19):
Fuck. Oh man. I’m sorry to hear that.
Nicky Rod (04:22):
Is there, there, uh, I know you can’t get, can’t be slacking out there. You got your toes.
Sevan Matossian (04:27):
Hey, did you, um, did you, you don’t sync your phone with like, uh, in the cloud with like your apple app? Something like my show. Yeah. Sneaked up. Like I just get a new phone and it looks like my old one, both a better camera.
Nicky Rod (04:38):
I have some stuff on the, on the cloud, but I just like, can’t be bothered. I
Sevan Matossian (04:43):
Just go not my number. You didn’t have my number. I texted you who the fuck is this? Oh
Nicky Rod (04:47):
Yeah. Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (04:48):
Well, yeah, lose my number. You text me back. Lose my number.
Nicky Rod (04:50):
Yeah, that was just me being irresponsible. I didn’t say it. You know, <laugh>
Sevan Matossian (04:55):
Um, I, uh, I think he first popped on my radar through this guy, Mr. KPA. So
Nicky Rod (05:02):
Well sub Jason, how are you doing?
Sevan Matossian (05:03):
Hey, appropriate to invite him on,
Jason Khalipa (05:04):
You know, feeling good, man. Ready to rock. I, uh, dude, it’s good to see you. I’ve been, uh, been enjoying, uh, you know, your prep getting ready for ADCC and, and uh, yeah man, everything’s going great. How’s the new school? How’s it been? How’s B team. What’s cracking.
Nicky Rod (05:19):
Yeah. B team’s great man. We’re uh, you know, I think it took us a little bit to find like, uh, our routine cause know previously we were training under John Danaher and you know, he, he was kind of the leader of the team. We just kind of followed him and, you know, we had to establish our own schedule and specifically for like a DCC prep schedule. And I think once we kind of, uh, you know, had that written in stone, then it made it a little bit easier on us.
Jason Khalipa (05:45):
Nice
Sevan Matossian (05:46):
ADCC Abu Dhabi combat club.
Nicky Rod (05:50):
Yes, sir.
Sevan Matossian (05:51):
Rich cool dude organizes. It runs, it has his people run. It he’s like a prince in, from Abu Dhabi.
Nicky Rod (05:59):
<laugh> yeah, for sure. Definitely definitely. Abu Dhabi. Royalty is, uh, is in charge of, of running it and man, they, they do a great job. They, you know, it used to be just an event for like, like just kind of like a private event for, um, for the Royal family. And now, you know, it’s become this, this worldwide, uh, endeavor in it’s growing the sport man.
Sevan Matossian (06:20):
And normally it would’ve taken place in Abu Dhabi. And is this the first in Vegas or? No,
Nicky Rod (06:25):
I think it’s the first in Vegas, but not the first outside of Abu Dhabi. Like they’ve been to Finland before previously, uh, Brazil and a few other swats as well.
Sevan Matossian (06:35):
When you find out it’s in Vegas, are you just stoked? You’re like, yes.
Nicky Rod (06:39):
Yeah, for sure. I’m uh, I’m all about, you know, staying home if I don’t have to travel much, uh, that that’s better for me.
Sevan Matossian (06:47):
Um, so I’ve been just getting, trying to get caught up as, as much as I can on it’s it’s really kind of amazing how little there is to watch if you type in ADCC 2022.
Jason Khalipa (06:58):
Yeah. Most of this stuff’s getting done on Moe’s Instagram. Uh it’s. It’s very like, dude, here’s the thing Sivan like this guy Moe who’s who’s kinda like the, you know, I’d say the orchestra he’s he’s in charge. What’s
Sevan Matossian (07:11):
His last name? I wanna pull up, pull up his IG. What’s his last name?
Nicky Rod (07:14):
Jasmine. Jasmine. Jasmine
Sevan Matossian (07:17):
Mo Jasmine like, like the plant? Yeah, I think J S M Y Jasmine,
Nicky Rod (07:22):
J a S I think
Sevan Matossian (07:25):
Let’s have a spelling competition. Each of us will take turns trying to spell Jasmine.
Nicky Rod (07:29):
I, I can spell
Jason Khalipa (07:30):
<laugh> J a S S I M. So his Instagram is Hasim.
Sevan Matossian (07:36):
I’m gonna go with Hasim Moja yeah,
Jason Khalipa (07:37):
I was gonna say, I was gonna say, what are you talking? I dunno if this Ja it’s that? Yeah, look
Sevan Matossian (07:42):
At that thick hair.
Jason Khalipa (07:45):
Me
Sevan Matossian (07:45):
And me and that guy run a few terrorist attacks together. Mo Hasim. Okay.
Jason Khalipa (07:50):
Yeah. So he, so he’ll be on his, uh, stories on IG and he’ll be like, look, there’s like, he’ll just be sharing the news about what’s going on. And his audience is just super engaged. So to put in perspective, Sovan, not only have all these people qualified for like the, the world championships, which Nikki has as well, but also they have an open division, but they kept that at 1200 competitors or 1100 competitors and they hit it, they hit it before the deadline. So this is gonna be a major, major event, a big step in the right direction for, uh, combat sports in jujitsu in particular, I think.
Nicky Rod (08:26):
Yeah, for sure. This event alone, um, you know, if you, if you get gold, it’s gonna change your life, you know, like no matter, no matter what. So that’s the goal. Um, yeah, the, the last ADCC was a huge spectacle and, you know, we got a lot of notoriety and it for sure grew a sport, but it seems like this year, um, after this event, uh, there’d be more high level media interested, like maybe in the SP maybe like an Amazon prime. So I think, uh, I think it’s likely that the, the brand ADCC gets affiliated with a more, uh, high end media source and, uh, that’ll really push us, you know, to that next level.
Sevan Matossian (09:03):
Um, so tell me, you’re entering basically two divisions, your weight class and an open division. Is that how it works?
Nicky Rod (09:09):
Yeah. So there’s a, there’s a open tournament for that’s. That’s not the ADCC world championships. So like ADCC world championships will be, uh, Saturday, Sunday, but like on the, on the Thursday or Friday previous to that, um, there’s like a, like an open tournament where like you can just register and compete, but they CA it is sold out like a thousand competitors or something. So we have essentially two events where we’ll be at the, at the open, just like, you know, talk to the fans and stuff. And then we have the world championships on the weekend, which is, you know, then it’ll be go time.
Sevan Matossian (09:45):
So in that you will you compete in that open with the thousand or so, is that what you’re saying?
Nicky Rod (09:49):
No, no. I’ll only compete in the world in the world championships where she’ll be Saturday and Sunday.
Sevan Matossian (09:54):
In what way will you compete at
Nicky Rod (09:55):
I’ll compete at, at ultra heavyweight, which is anything over 99 kilograms and also the absolute division, which is there’s no weight
Sevan Matossian (10:03):
Class. Wait, say what’s the second thing you said the what division?
Nicky Rod (10:05):
Oh, the absolute which where there’s no weight classes. So you could go against, you could have, uh, guy somebody’s 120 pounds against somebody that’s 300 pounds.
Sevan Matossian (10:14):
And, and do those run simultaneously. Will you be in two brackets at the same time?
Nicky Rod (10:18):
So it’ll be, uh, the, the, the weight classes by themselves will finish, um, early Sunday and then immediately after the absolute start. So it’ll be a whole nother tournament.
Sevan Matossian (10:30):
And which one is it? Which, which is it in the weight class or the absolute or both where you might cross path with? Uh, Gordon Ryan?
Nicky Rod (10:38):
That’ll be in my weight class.
Jason Khalipa (10:40):
Abso oh, he’s in your weight class?
Nicky Rod (10:42):
Yeah. Cuz he jump, he jumped up. He, he went like, uh, pre the year before he was under 99 was like a hundred, 2 0 5 and now he’s like 240 pounds or something like that.
Jason Khalipa (10:53):
Hey Savan maybe for the listeners who aren’t as familiar, just cuz like I, so I’m competing uh, on Friday in a jujitsu tournament in Vegas, but for these guys, right. They want to go win. So they had a
Sevan Matossian (11:05):
Friday before. So you’re, you’re competing on the, on the 16th?
Jason Khalipa (11:09):
No, no, no. I’m competing like, like, like today is
Jason Khalipa (11:13):
I’m competing a couple days, but my tournament’s much different than Nick rods, but to, to qualify for C um, and Nick please, correct me if I’m wrong. If you’re a former, uh, podium finisher, you get a natural invite and ADCC occurs every two years. It’s like the Olympics of jujitsu. It’s it’s, it’s, it’s what people are trained for. But it’s specifically Nogi, which is getting a lot more steam behind it than gee, primarily cuz a little bit more, uh, fan favorite, a little bit more higher pace. And um, Nicky got his invite because he took second, uh, two years ago. Um, but then others had to qualify throughout the world. They had trials. And then if you won your trials, only if you want it, you then got invited to ADCC and then those individuals compete at their weight class. And then based on how you do, I, I, if I’m not mistaken, if you win or if Mo invites you, you can be qualified for the absolute, but Gordon Ryan won’t do absolute because he has, what’s called a super fight, uh, against another gentleman. Uh it’s it is a little bit complex if you’re not, you’re not familiar with
Sevan Matossian (12:14):
It. I, you know, what’s funny is I watched, I watched like three hours of shit yesterday and I didn’t understand it until you just put it all together. Now that all makes sense. Everything you’re saying. Makes sense.
Jason Khalipa (12:23):
Huh? Thank you.
Sevan Matossian (12:25):
Um, and that was how you came on my radar cuz that’s there was that, um, movie made about you and if anyone hasn’t seen it just type in Nikki Rodriguez, it’s called black belt Slayer and it shows his, uh, ascent to the ADCC from last year. Right? Is that that’s basically
Nicky Rod (12:40):
Yeah, yeah, exactly. They, they, uh, they pretty much made a, made a documentary of, uh, my trials run and then my first experience at ADCC world championships and uh, yeah, I mean the blackball, I think, I, I feel like a lot of people know me because of that, uh, documentary. They kind of give some, um, more perspective into, you know, into the event and just kind of, uh, what it takes to compete in a, in a place like that.
Sevan Matossian (13:06):
When you watch that, um, when you watch that Nicky rod from two years ago, what are your thoughts about him?
Nicky Rod (13:13):
It doesn’t even feel like me really. Um, cuz my game has changed so much. So like I do have some, I do have a lot of similarities to what I was doing previously. Like the wrestling hand, funny stuff, but I have a, a much wider variety of attacks and uh, just uh, in general, you know, like I only had a year, year and a half of experience during that tournament. So I was very limited on my, uh, my ability to attack people in, in different ways. And, and now I have a much more diverse game cuz it’s been, uh, been four years. Yeah. I’ve been training for four years now. So I have twice as much time on the bat and uh, yeah man, I think it’s like, you know, it really is like, it’s good to be strong and fast and stuff, but knowledge is power on our sport. The more, you know, the, the more you’re gonna grow.
Sevan Matossian (14:02):
I, I saw your most recent post, uh, you show you’re on Curtis blade’s back, which is fucking nuts.
Nicky Rod (14:09):
Yeah. He he’s a big boy. He, he makes me look small, you know, like he’s got inches of height and, and, and width on me and man he’s, uh, insanely strong. Like I remember being on his back at one point and he would like grab, he like reached over his back and like grabbed my forearm and just kind of yanked me off of him. Definitely. Uh, you know, different, different kind of human. Wow.
Sevan Matossian (14:32):
And, and it seems like anything that goes to the ground in the U no one in the USC wants to go to the ground with that guy.
Nicky Rod (14:37):
No, I mean, he’s, he’s a big wrestler. He, he knows what he’s doing.
Sevan Matossian (14:42):
Um, so these guy, what happens when a Curtis blades, like, are you just, are you just in the gym working out? And all of a sudden you see at the door, there’s a shadow and he comes in, you’re like, holy fuck. Curtisy IST here to fuck with me. Well,
Nicky Rod (14:53):
A lot of the fighters come, come by and spend some time with us maybe a couple weeks or a month or so. Um,
Sevan Matossian (14:58):
And you mean a lot, like a lot, right?
Nicky Rod (15:00):
Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Um,
Sevan Matossian (15:01):
Like I saw Vulcan Osky in there. I think.
Nicky Rod (15:03):
Yeah, we get, we get quite a few, uh, UFC fighters and Bellator fighters just fighters in general. And they, they, uh, you know, during their camp, they wanna stop by work on some technical things. Cause what we can offer towards the UFC fighters is the wall wrestling. Uh, the ability to hold your opponent down, the ability to get off bottom when necessary. So we can implement those different, uh, skills and tactics to em, and, and really help their game plan, uh, when they’re in the cage
Sevan Matossian (15:30):
And, and that, in that thing with, uh, Curtis blades right there. Do you ask him before you post that, Hey dude, I have a, a video of me on your back and submitting you I’m posting it.
Nicky Rod (15:38):
Yeah. Like, uh,
Sevan Matossian (15:40):
Well or not. Cool. And he’s
Nicky Rod (15:41):
Like cool before training. I, well actually like, are you guys cool getting filmed? Like it’s not no problem. And they’re all about it. Cuz this social media like that, that video got 5 million million views and like that kind of that’ll get him some followers and some cloud as well. So, you know, I think the fighters understand that social media is a, a pretty important game and it’s easy for them to kind of shut off the ego cuz like I’m a specialist in my sport, you know, we’re not in the cage, we’re not fighting. You know, if you throw on conscious at me, it’s gonna be a different game
Sevan Matossian (16:06):
A and the way he carries you around, like you’re not even on there. I mean you do submit him, but he might as well just be wearing his shirt.
Nicky Rod (16:13):
Yeah, no he’s uh, I’m like a feather white to this guy.
Jason Khalipa (16:16):
Hey Nick, do you, have you ever heard of a guy Alan gani? He’s out of one championship. He, he fights out of Hong Kong
Nicky Rod (16:24):
I think. Yeah. The name sounds familiar,
Jason Khalipa (16:26):
Dude. This guy’s massive. He came to our gym and uh <laugh> I rolled jujitsu with him and uh, it was an experience. Uh, uh Savan if you all look him up, it’s a L a I N is the first name, last name is N G a L a I. And so this guy comes in and he’s traveling town and boy, oh boy, he, uh, he’s also AA fighter to your point, Nikki, like, you know, it’s not like we’re striking together. It’s a totally different game, but uh, yeah, when you have one of those big boys on your back, it’s a whole different game. So anyways, just
Nicky Rod (17:00):
There were, there were high level athletes, men, it’s a different level of like effort that they put out.
Jason Khalipa (17:05):
Oh dude aggressive. Oh, there he is. Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (17:09):
Hey, so when that dude shows up at your gym to just roll does immediately the instructor go, Jason, he’s yours. And you’re like, well fuck.
Jason Khalipa (17:16):
So, so this guy, he was in town. Um, and so we ended up doing a podcast and just, uh, getting to know each other better. And then we, we ended up going over to Kyle Tara’s location to go to go roll. And what’s funny about him. So this guy’s super sweet, super nice guy, but obviously a, a killer in the cage. Right. Been fighting since he was six. And so we, and
Sevan Matossian (17:35):
Can we see more pictures of him while Jason’s talking? Thanks. Sorry, go
Jason Khalipa (17:38):
Ahead, Jason. And so we get to, uh, we get to the mats and um, so at this point I already got to know him for a couple hours. So I feel more comfortable with him. Right. We get to the mats and I put on my geeks, I’m competing in a couple of days. So I, I wanted to get into some roles. He goes, oh, okay, I’ll roll with you. And so we, you know, we kind of give the little whatever I was like, Hey man, this first one, like we literally just got there. Let’s just take it easy. Let’s just flow, roll, like nice and smooth and warm up. Right.
Sevan Matossian (18:00):
You say that to him. You say that.
Jason Khalipa (18:01):
Yeah. And so he like gives me 30 seconds later. This guy is just, just, he, I, I, I could watch the way he just ramped it up. Like he, he didn’t intentionally do it. He just got in the zone and man, it went from zero to a hundred real quick. And it is just interesting with that mindset, right. Where he’s been fighting either through karate, kickboxing, MMA, jujitsu, judo, since he was six and he has one speed. And uh, that speed came out. When we got on the map, there was no, uh, flow roll. <laugh> going on. <laugh>
Sevan Matossian (18:32):
Nicky. I had, uh, Madera on yesterday. That’s the fittest man alive. And he has a, he comes from a, a wrestling background and I said, Hey, are you chomping on the bit to get in there? And he said, yeah, I am. I I’d like to, you know, wrestle and do some jujitsu grappling. I just really don’t want like two egos to collide and like something bad to happen to me. I would just need to find the right person to roll with, you know? Um, does that person, Jason, does that person exist? Are, is there like, if someone comes into your gym, Nick, are you just too dangerous? Are you, is it like, um, Hey, I’m gonna turn, are you a lawnmower? Um, turned on its bad on its I’m way to roll with
Nicky Rod (19:08):
Me. I’m I’m, I’m usually, uh, well, I’m always in, in control, you know, there’s no like really spazzing around. I mean, there’s a lot of effort put out for sure. But uh, yeah. I mean, I know what I’m doing. It’s not, not likely for, you know, people like people don’t really get, uh, banged up too much in our gym. Um, you know, more like when there’s like blue belts level, some, you have some people like spazzing around or like what really hurts people is falling body weight. So any, any time somebody’s like jumping or leaving the ground and then coming back down, that’s like, when injuries occur
Sevan Matossian (19:41):
Like that, like that Cartwheel I saw you do over some guy.
Nicky Rod (19:45):
Yeah. I mean, yeah, for sure. That’s, that’s a bit risky, but it’s a, for me is a controlled car. Thousands of reps, you know?
Sevan Matossian (19:52):
Yeah. When you were saying people get hurt on accident, you weren’t talking about yourself.
Nicky Rod (19:56):
No, no.
Jason Khalipa (19:57):
<laugh> like, I’m sure you’ve seen this with your kids. Savan but like, if, if people are interested in getting Jisu, whether it’s Justin or others, I actually think the best people to roll with are not white belts and to kind of progress to a higher level. Cuz guys like Nikki and others, they know what they’re doing, you know? Well like that <laugh> so yeah,
Sevan Matossian (20:15):
It’s crazy. It looks like it’s in slow motion.
Jason Khalipa (20:19):
Hey Nikki, what’s your training looking like right now? So we are today is the 30th, right? So you’re competing in like two and a half weeks. Give or take. So I’m curious, like how are you at with your weight cut? Oh, if at all, uh, what does your strength condition look like workouts? Uh, what’s your jujitsu look like? Are you doing any type of taper? I’m just, I’m just curious, like this is like the final touches. This is like the, the, the salt on top of the meal. Cause the
Sevan Matossian (20:43):
Event 16 days away, right? We’re about 16 or 17 days away.
Nicky Rod (20:47):
Yeah. So like the, essentially the, the hard work is done, you know, right now we’re just, uh, we’re just focusing on, on staying fresh and, you know, staying sharp. Um, but essentially the, my schedule has been, um, Monday, Wednesday, Friday jits at 8:00 AM and 12:00 PM. And then, um, and then like 40 minute cardio at, at nighttime, which is like 6 30, 7 30, and then every other day, just jits once and cardio at night. Um, and the cardio could be like, um, you know, like a CrossFit circuit or I’m a fan of the rowing machine, you know, I’ll get on there, I’ll do some interval training with the rower just cause like I can’t always push myself to like that extreme limit in practice cuz one the training partners, like sometimes they break like, you know, they just can’t go that hard and I’m pretty efficient with my movement.
Nicky Rod (21:44):
So it like, it’s hard for me to, to really, really get tired and practice sometimes. So, um, I like to come home, you know, get on that rower and just zone out. I’ll I’ll turn music off. I’ll just be fucking silence and just be fucking cooled and, and envisioning and, and, and just kind of seeing, uh, seeing the tournament in my mind before, before it happens, you know? So that’s kind of our schedule so guaranteed to work out today, JT and, and uh, a session at night and Monday, Wednesday, Friday, we have two jits and then cardio night.
Jason Khalipa (22:20):
Oh no, you go ahead. Well, I got, I got a follow question for that. So I know for weigh ins ATCC, there’s this interesting dynamic where weighs open at 6:00 AM, but they close like four or five hours later. And so you have a five hour gap between when you start weighing in and then when you, uh, compete. Right. And so I’m curious, you have to weigh in every day. So do you wake up earlier and go to weigh in? I’m curious, like, do you go to the weigh in at 6:00 AM or do you wait as long as you can go to weigh in so you can get more rest? I imagine every athlete’s gonna have to figure out what’s best for them because the way they’re doing it is every day you have to weigh in. So like what does that dynamic play in? Because it’s not like you’re weighing in once you have to do it every day. It’s early in the morning.
Nicky Rod (23:00):
Yeah. I think if you’re cutting weight, uh, it probably be best to go to bed early and wait in early. Like you, you obviously don’t wanna get six hours of sleep before an event. You know, you need eight to 10, but, uh, I would say it’s probably best to weigh in early. So you have a long, uh, time to recover, you know, get rehydrate, refuel and stuff. Um, but for me I’m not, I’m not cutting any weight. Um, just cuz I’m in, I’m in the, you know, the heaviest weight division. If, if anything, I’m gonna be the smallest guy in my weight class. And I’m okay with that because honestly cardio is much more important than, than strength. It’s not about how, how good you are, you know, five minutes in it’s like, what do you look like at the 15 minute mark of the match? So that makes uh, a big difference. And I think endurance goes a long way and I watch a lot of, I watch a lot of CrossFit stuff just cuz I feel like, I feel like you guys are very well rounded athletes and you know, you have ability to sprint as a, as well as ability to run a marathon and hit a, a PR at the same time. So, um, I think I can, I like to implement that kind of mindset into my Juju two.
Sevan Matossian (24:09):
Um, how do people really, I don’t know if people understood the implications of what Jason just said there, but basically normally if you’re gonna fight you weigh in a day before the fights and then everyone can get fat and it’s a done deal. You only weigh once. How if you have to weigh in every day, are there, how can anyone cut weight? Right. Because,
Nicky Rod (24:28):
Well, I think you just, uh, like, uh, there’s something about cutting weight to like, even if you’re, you know, you’re kind of malnourished a little bit, it kind of makes you a bit more hungry for competition. Like maybe, uh, if you ask me, I think it’s it’s best to not cut weight and be, you know, as hydrated as fueled up as possible and E for performance. But some people, it gives them a little bit of edge. If they’re a little leaner, a little meaner, you know, I don’t know. Some people, you know, take advantage of that.
Sevan Matossian (24:58):
Um, you’re in the 99 K kg. How many pounds is that? Two 20. Uh
Nicky Rod (25:02):
It’s like, I think it’s anything over like one like two 15, anything over that way I believe
Sevan Matossian (25:09):
Or two and then that, and then that’s it. So you could come across the dude who’s 300.
Nicky Rod (25:13):
Yeah. I’ve had a few guys that were like 360, 3 42 70.
Sevan Matossian (25:18):
There’s no cap at the top. It just goes. Yep. So if like Andre, the giant rule, if some dude’s 7, 4, 450 pounds rolls in, you got ’em.
Nicky Rod (25:25):
Yeah. Yeah. We, I mean, we’ve had matches in C where, you know, uh, Locklin Jos is like 145 pounds and he goes against a guy that’s, you know, 270 pounds. So you have a huge weight discrepancies.
Sevan Matossian (25:38):
God, the, that I wonder how stressful that is for the, the judge who’s out there on the floor.
Nicky Rod (25:43):
Yeah. I’m sure pretty stressful, but it’s a small man game, dude. I mean, I I’ve seen, I’ve seen the little guy win plenty of times.
Sevan Matossian (25:50):
Can you, could you and, and, and, um, jujitsu, you could pick, you can, I mean, in this, what you’re doing, you could pick a guy up and throw him,
Nicky Rod (25:57):
Yes, you can pick a up, you, you can throw him, you can slam him. If they have a submission on you, you can slam him. You can slam out of the submission. Like if he has an R bar, you could pick up and, and drop him on the mat. But if you’re arm baring or triangle an opponent and you’re getting picked up, I mean, you should probably let go, cause it’s not really worth a concussion a back at your life. You know, it’s,
Sevan Matossian (26:18):
I’ve just seen you pick a guy up by both legs and spin him in circles. And I just kind of picture you. And if, if, if you came across a guy who was one 50 and he was on his back, you could just grab him by his ankle and start swinging him like in a fucking cartoon. And just throw him off, off into this.
Nicky Rod (26:30):
Yeah. I mean, 1 50, 2 50, 3 50, all of ’em. They can all get picked up. It’s no problem.
Jason Khalipa (26:35):
<laugh>, it’s fine. One from my, from my experience, I don’t know if Nikki agrees to this, but like, oh yeah, guy, this
Sevan Matossian (26:41):
Poor fucking guy does tap. He does tap.
Jason Khalipa (26:46):
So at the amateur level, uh, and Nick, correct. If I’m wrong, like our level, like there’s no slamming allowed. It’s, there’s a, there’s a rule set against it. But you know, one thing they’ve take into consideration is like, you think these small guys are like, it’s way easier and you can just like flip ’em around and like, yeah, there might be some of that, but man, if you get, so these small guys who, they, they also have skills like bigger guys, like Nikki and, and, and others don’t have like, like they’re super flexible and dynamic. They start like rolling around. Like they start like bear em, boing and doing all this weird shit. And so sometimes at least for me, and I don’t know if Nikki feels the same way. So of many smaller guys are even more challenging at times to roll with because they’re so dynamic in their movement. I don’t know. Do you feel that way, Nick? I mean, I, I, I’m not at the same level, so at least for me, it’s tough. Sometimes
Nicky Rod (27:33):
I would say for sure, the smaller guys are more difficult to deal with because, uh, the bigger you are, the more inclined you are to use your strength as an advantage. So like when I go against a bigger guy, I’m like, oh, he’s just gonna try to use his muscle and I’m gonna outmaneuver him. And that’s, that’s what this, the little guys have. Like they, they don’t have the ability to out muscle use, so they’re gonna use technique. And that goes along. I, I find that the, the smaller opponents typically have much better jujitsu and, uh, their game plan fit fits pretty well into, uh, something like ADCC.
Sevan Matossian (28:05):
Your brother’s going too. How Jacob’s going.
Nicky Rod (28:08):
Yeah. Jay rod won, won the, won the trials a few months back and he, he too, he had a similar offend where, um, he was training for a year, like a year and a half. And, uh, he won the trials seven out of seven submissions. And you know, now he’s in the world championships.
Sevan Matossian (28:25):
Um, are you, uh, are you stressed out at all that he’s there? Does it make it more fun for you? More stressful? Is it,
Nicky Rod (28:32):
Uh, I think it just makes it more fun. You know, we’ve been competing, you know, alongside each other. Since, since I remember I, I started wrestling at, you know, like, uh, 12, 13, J Jay started at like, I don’t know, six or seven, so wow. Yeah. I mean, it’s, we’ve been wrestling alongside each other and you know, that was just, uh, kind of in a different sport, but, uh, same Addison, same mindset.
Sevan Matossian (28:56):
Um, in, in this interview that, um, Gordon Ryan did, uh, they asked him if he thinks he’s gonna meet up with you. He said, it’s definitely a possibility. He said, you guys will be on other sides of the bracket. Um, and uh, if you guys meet up, it would be, I think he said in the finals, he said that you were the most physical guy he’s ever gone against. I mean, aren’t all the, I didn’t even, I didn’t under, since I don’t do digit two. I don’t understand that, but aren’t all you guys fucking physical. What is,
Nicky Rod (29:19):
Yeah, everybody’s pretty physical, but, um, I think it’s a different level of effort that I, I bring forth like a lot of these, uh, well, a lot of the Brazilians are more lax, right? They’re like, they like to take breaks during their, during their, uh, matches. They, they like to rest when they can. And I’m all about pressure. I like people to feel that I’m there every second. And, uh, you know, when you’re in a match with me, I want you to go home and I, I want you to be sore and, and realize, you know, um, what you just went through. So yeah, I don’t like to give people breaks. And, um, if I can break you in a match, you know, whether that’s physically or mentally I’ll take advantage of that.
Jason Khalipa (29:57):
Yeah. That’s the game seems to be changing. It’s it’s.
The above transcript is generated using AI technology and therefore may contain errors.
Check out our other posts.
