Conor McGregor & Jake Gyllenhaal

Welcome, welcome, welcome to Armchair Expert. I'm Dax Shepard, I'm joined by Monica Padman.

Hi.

We have a rare occurrence. Occasionally, we'll interview two people at the same time.

It's pretty rare, but it happens.

And it also marks back-to-back episodes where we were out on the ground somewhere else, interviewing people. On the road. Out of our safety zone. Out of the attic. In this case, we were at a hotel in Austin, Texas.

Yes, this was his first podcast, which was super fun.

Yes. I'm tempted to say, as a caveat, that my hope and aim for this episode was to be able to connect with Conor and get him to trust me, and explore some maybe more emotional things that are not readily discussed with him. So I guess I got a little subconscious, like I think as you're hearing it, you'll hear a bro-ier side of me.

Oh, interesting.

And I don't know why I wanna just flag that going in, but I hope people will give me a little benefit of the doubt and know that I'm trying to get somewhere. Ah, yeah. Which I feel like we got.

That's fair to say.

Yeah, and of course, the reason they're together is they are in a re-imagining or remake of one of my all-time favorite movies. For people who heard the Jake Gyllenhaal episode last year, he, just kind of as a throwaway, mentioned he was with Conor McGregor. And I was like, what the fuck are you doing with Conor McGregor? And he's like, oh my God, we're remaking Roadhouse. And I went berserk, if people remember.

That's fun.

So fucking, pop some popcorn, put on a tight shirt, get some dumbbells.

Get a drink going.

Get several drinks going and enjoy Roadhouse. And then, lastly, just want to let everyone know the Armchair Anonymous prompts for next month are tell us about a crazy cosplay experience. Tell us about your worst day ever. Tell us your best cautionary tale. or tell us a crazy experience you had as a delivery driver.

You guys, it's so awesome that you're here. Hello.

He was in Boston. How are you?

Good to meet you, brother.

I'm so happy to get to talk to you.

Hi, I'm Monica.

Very nice.

You look so nice. I love the purple.

I always shake with my left hand.

We had Jake on 11 months ago and it was a beautiful interview. It was so fun. Yeah. I listened to it on the flight here. You did?

It was so fun.

The chairs aren't as nice, but you're great. And, by the way, the row, I've been like, you know. Do you think of me now? I told you on the row.

I love it. I felt very flattered because after you visited us, you sent us both gifts, which was very sweet of you.

You got to send us something really nice.

Yeah, Jake already sent us something nice.

Jake sent us a present after we interviewed him last time. Do you like alcohol?

I do.

Boy, I used to like it. And I'm an ex-producer. You don't drink any Monicas, do you? No, but you should have seen me do it when I did it. It was something to behold.

We're coming out with 00 Ford Stout. The 00 thing is growing legs, isn't it? You got to be careful with the goggle. You got to be careful with it. I'm an athlete, right?

Yes, yes.

There's kind of yin and yang. You don't put one with the other. So I got to be careful with it. Oh, you have imparted, like a rock star, probably like yourself back in the day, something to behold also.

Sure, sure. A real sight. But hey, it's Paddy's mom.

You know what I'm saying?

The Irish and Paddy's mom, they don't give a fuck also. But I know my limits as well, and my boundaries. And I'm coming to the finish of this. I've got this Roadhouse promotional tour. I've got St.

Yeah, you must reverse engineer your life from these hard dates. But I got to tell you, we're competitors then, because I have a non-alcoholic beer. Happy, yeah? I do.

Oh, wow. Ted Seeger's.

What a memory, Jake.

Wow.

I'm going to tell you one of our taglines, and I feel like you're going to be jealous.

Oh, what's it called, first of all, sorry?

Ted Seeger's. Ted Seeger's. Good, strong name, right?

What is it, a lager?

Yes, yes.

I have two lagers as well. I haven't released them. Oh, yeah, man. So I own a brewery in Ireland.

I know, I know all about you.

I have a house lager that I made, forged lager. It's a light, crispy beer, and it's very successful on premise. I haven't bottled or canned it yet. There's so many lagers out there. You know, I'm looking at this whole thing like I'm looking at a map.

I didn't think you and I would have anything that deeply in common, but we're in like-.

Back on the dive, man, it's Paddy's day. Oh my God, no. I have to draw the line there. You went heavy, just what, all day, every day?

Yeah, and I love cocaine so much. It smells so good. It really smells nice.

You've got to be careful.

We've got a full-blown addict audience over here. But I just want to hit you with two-.

Oh, fresh. It looks like there's a comeback on the cards, man. I'm telling you.

Oh my God. I believe. Let's hang when I'm 70.. But I just have two slogans I want to hit you with because I feel like they're going to really, really register. One is, Ted Seegers is the only lager I trust when I'm alone with my sister-in-law.

Okay.

The next one is, drive fast, fuck slow. Ted Seegers. Right. Do you guys write that on the thing? Do you feel that?

Let me go back to the sister-in-law. So, sister-in-law, not related, your brother's wife, is it?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So there's two ways to go. Either you don't want to be-.

I don't want that.

You don't want to be drunk around her, because it can go either way. Maybe you'll hook up with her, maybe you'll kill her.

Don't blame salt for what sugar done, you know? Don't blame alcohol for what cocaine done, if you get me, you know? I don't know. People are, you know, it's 2024.. You wouldn't know what to be going on.

I should eat something like that, maybe some cocaine.

I don't know. Rob, get the mirrors out. Okay, how long have you guys been doing this?

Jake's face matches my face.

I do want to call out something that's really obvious about the two of you, and it's really wonderful. It's an incredible dynamic, because I've already interviewed Jake and I've watched you in a lot of interviews. Jake, you're very careful. You're kind of meticulous about what you say. You want to make sure that you're representing yourself correctly.

I mean, thoughtful. I try at least feigning articulation. He's running at like a hundred miles an hour. I'm in like a sort of second gear, generally. And then he can get me into, you know-.

When we're together, I'm announcing, hey, everyone's a notorious Conor McGregor. Check out our new movie, Broadhouse on Prime. And then Jake's like, I want something in front of my name. What was the name? He came up with?

That's incredible.

Jittery Jake Gyllenhaal. Jittery Jake Gyllenhaal.

No, the thing about it is that, like, we didn't meet actually in person until he came on set.

Oh, no.

Yeah, because he was there maybe a week before. I was working a lot. We had choreography, but they were rehearsing somewhere else. We were shooting. And then, when he came on set, it was like a crowd followed him.

Watch the show.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so inevitably, when we're together, I'm just sort of like, we're doing interviews and people ask me a question and he answers it. I'm like, that sounds good to me.

That's fine. You just defer.

It's a great pairing, because you guys are on opposite sides of the spectrum in that regard.

Definitely.

And then, of course, it then feeds into the movie, which is beautiful. It's like, you're very, very, no bravado. You have a regret about your past. You're kind of low key. You don't even want to be doing the thing.

Potential mega business between myself and Jake Gyllenhaal. We can do a lot of stuff, 100%.

That first scene where he headbutts me, that was the first time we ever were on screen together. I remember that moment going like, what the fuck am I doing in a scene where Conor McGregor's about to headbutt me? And then I had to remind myself that I'd been doing this for a while. That was a space I could hold. Then he headbutt me.

You might not have felt it from me, right? Maybe I'm a better actor than I probably give myself credit. Yes. But I felt that for sure. You're a true veteran, as good as it gets, as big as it gets, 75 films.

Yeah, but you said early on, you said, I'm a white belt in this. That was like the first conversation we had.

That's a real martial arts way of looking at things, especially the mixed martial arts. You know, you look at a guy who's a specialist in boxing or kickboxing or some discipline. They have too much of an ego then to go and become a white belt again. You have got to become a white belt again. You've got to start from the ground up.

I'm going to argue you weren't a white belt.

Yes, I'm going to argue that too, actually.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll team up on him. He'll still win.

Here we go.

I would not gang up on him. Yeah, Monica, you just probably want him. You're with me, lady. Yeah, actually, you want me on your team. You want to stand by the exit, I think, at this point.

I agree with that.

And you're one of the best fighters to ever live, but I think you're literally tied with Ali as far as creating excitement and vitriol and passion. You're a fucking showman. And storyteller. I think, above all things.

I'm a damn good fighter, though. I'm a damn good fighter. Yeah, yeah, I don't really, I'm great, to be honest with you. Yes. And, you know, my witless nature.

Such the best attitude. My witless nature.

At times, I've never been beaten. I've beat myself going in. I'll take that as a good compliment. Ali's the man. Ali began that showmanship element.

He started it.

To the fight game. I get it, but for me, there's a lot more left in my game, and I look forward to getting back in and showing it.

I'm not trying to take anything away from you as a fighter, but I'm saying you actually will go down in history as probably tied as the best showman to do it. And I also think the transition for guys, the rock in WWE, into acting, it's like, they're already acting. They have a character. They have a persona. They have the confidence of getting up in front of a crowd and talking.

Yeah, but not even practicing, my man. There's no act on. I am who I am in the given moment. If Jake is a different person to me, I'm gonna be a different person to Jake. Yeah.

Well, you have facets to you. Like us all, for sure. Yeah, you're a dad.

And the Fight Game has put that to the forefront in front of the world. For those Mayweather press conferences, 25,000 people are there for the press conference. Yes! The very first one. The way the UFC press conferences are laid out, you sit on a table, and then the media asks you a question.

I wanna go back to the first big press tour, where they put you on, I think it was for Aldo, yeah, maybe, where you went to eight cities. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And then he pulled down on me, man. Then I had to do it again.

That first press tour, again, Jake and I can relate to this. We've been doing press tours for movies for 25 years.

That would've helped me, for sure.

Well, that's what I'm curious. I wasn't dialed in yet. So on that first press tour, where UFC's like, you're the guy, we're gonna commit some actual capital to this, we're gonna send you around the country and raise some fervor for this live event, which set records.

Yeah, it was the first time I had ever done that.

What was your learning curve on that? Like, I'm curious, you couldn't have started where I see you now, where you can go toe-to-toe with Mayweather and talk shit.

Well, you know, I went up against the pound-for-pound goat at that time, Jose Aldo, undefeated in 10 years, an absolute menace in the octagon. People thought he was gonna run through me. I thought otherwise. I had confidence. At that time, he was a 28-year-old man.

Which means it either passed basketball or-.

Or NHL, I think, was the other one. I'm not sure. Now, this was someone from Endeavor saying that, but I believe it. For me, it isn't. For me, it's top one.

I love that. Even in early interviews, I was listening to one with you, and the guy's, like, you know, they just said you're the fifth most recognizable sports star. It's Tony Robbins. And you go, that's a shit test. I think they got the data wrong.

Yeah.

That's it, man. You gotta have it that way. Were you always that confident as a kid? I don't know. You just gotta fake it till you make it.

Yeah, but you do have two older sisters.

Wait, what does that mean?

Well, I'll tell you. He's got an older sister too. Okay, so, probably the only nice part about you was implanted by those older sisters. Right. Yeah, so be relevant in your mother.

I wanna know that too.

Like most young boys, why they get into combat. sport is to defend themselves. I was nervous in scenarios. I was attacked once or twice. It was, I'm from a rough area.

Were you small for your age?

I was small enough. My hair was real blonde. I stood out like a sore thumb. I never got away with nothing.

And you had sisters, no older brothers?

No, older brothers. And my older sisters would have a fight. No one's fucking with me, older sisters. It wasn't like I was a major thing, but I just wanted to be able to defend myself. I knew that was critical as a young boy growing up.

Do you remember the moment, though? Like, is there a moment where you went, oh, this feels right?

Why I said, oh, I'm going to a gym, fuck this.

Everyone and everything they do, there's like the hard work. There's the moment where everyone goes like, well, I could do that. And they're like, well, are you willing to put in that work, right? And with every job. And there's that moment where, you know, it doesn't matter.

One of the moments, I think I've spoke this before. I was with this chick, right? I was young. She was about 16.. I was with her.

They killed me. Respect, yeah.

You know yourself. And we were walking down the street and she had an older boyfriend who was older than me as well. These motherfuckers drive by me in a car, packed out about five or six of them. And a man jumps out and she's with the guy, but she's with me. Do you know that way?

Okay, so right now, this is the most exciting thing. So the reason I have to start getting involved with fighting this, I'm in sixth grade and the most popular girl in eighth grade asked me out. Sasha Cross said.

Similar, similar.

And I'm like, oh my God, what a miracle. Yeah. And then guess what? Every eighth grade boy fucking hated my guts. And so almost the exact same situation.

Yeah, for sure. I just wanted to get out of there. You're scared? Yeah, exactly.

There's a moment in life, a dude might decide that the back down mental agony and regret, you'll never experience that again.

Who wants to be the motherfucker that backs down? While Chica's gonna be wanting to be with the guy that backs down.

What's so great about him is how he's been in defeat. I would say one of the things that makes him such an interesting personality and showman. And what I really admire, is watching him in defeat.

No, that's the most mind blowing part of it all.

Sorry, I don't mean to jump ahead.

We're definitely, in my analogies, George Foreman, the story of Ali Foreman. And up to that point, George Foreman is undefeated. He's such a heavy hitter. He's the baddest motherfucker on planet earth. Ali beats him.

It's never nice. You start just playing back everything, but it happens. The sun rises the next day.

But it kills some people. It kills some people.

The sun rises the next day. I wouldn't let the fear of failure. I'd urge everyone, don't let the fear of failure stop you from going out and experiencing it and doing things that frighten you, that you may lose. The sun rises the next day. We go back and we go again.

This is the moment that happens when someone's got an edge on him, and then he's like, nope.

I ain't sitting here like that. Yeah, keep thinking.

But, Conor, this is why.

So it's just how mean I am to control this animal in me as well. Because I tell you what, if I didn't commit everything to it, and I was partying away while I was training, which I've done, I've done it all. I've partied on fucking fight week, and then I've lived like a monk. I've done them both, and I've had varying ones on both, so it's not even about that. But I think for my own good, if I didn't dial in, and I didn't go my way, which can, anything can happen?

Life is this big, arching story, and your fighting's a part of it. But what is amazing, and Ali had this. Ali lost, and then he'd come back, and he'd lost.

In the overall, it doesn't matter.

No, do you think anyone's looking back and saying Ali's the greatest?

He was. In what manner? Why, do you think that?

Do I think he's the greatest boxer? I mean, he's not. Yeah, because he beat every kind of guy.

Because I was asked, what's my favorite movies of Jake? He was asked, what's his favorite fight of mine? And he said something that I was surprised by, but it's actually accurate. It's bigger than fighting. It's the whole thing, is what he was saying.

Like, if you step back, you're looking at the micro, like you're talking about this fight and that fight. And I'm saying as the macro lens, when you pan out, I think you will, if you're not already, you probably already have the gratitude. But when you look back on the deathbed, you're like, oh, all those little chapters, and I made the story super interesting, and I doubted myself, and I re-found my courage, and I went right back at the same guy. That's a much more complex, and colorful, and interesting life.

Well, there's a reason some people supersede the sport, if you don't know the sport, but you know the person.

Is he the only UFC fighter, you know?

Yeah, 100%. I don't know anything about-.

And Jake's the only actor you know, right?

Exactly. I know.

He's totally overcome.

Did you just learn that I was an actor? Monica just learned that I was an actor. She thought you were a fashionista. She literally-.

Yeah, which you are, which you are.

Wait, I do have a question for you, because I want to know how universal this thing is. A girl made me feel inadequate, basically, and that made the trajectory-.

Well, not a girl. A girl made me feel adequate. From a physical standpoint, your father, or this guy, did you perceive-.

I just mean the thing that you guys both connect with, do you have that? Like, do all men, did the trajectory of your life change because of this male competition?

Probably.

For me, yeah, yeah.

For you, for sure.

Probably, yeah. Are you saying that happened to you also? No, I'm trying to figure out- Oh, is it a man thing?

Yes. But Jake has a different disposition, so I'm wondering.

Yeah, I'd like to sing and stuff, you know? Exactly.

Also, context, context. Like, you, grew up in Hancock Park. Right. Where's Hancock Park?

In L.A. Fancy pants.

There are definitely a fair share of fights, but yes, I hear what you're getting at. It's not the same.

Every kid I went to school with his dad worked on the line at General Motors, right? And they taught him, you fucking punch that kid in the mouth. the second he says something. It's the Kentucky culture of pride that's all up north. Like, it's a different thing.

I have this deep respect for that because it is so different from the world in which I grew up. And to answer your saying, Monica, I think I grew up with this different type of expression. There was a focus and a honing in and a consistency every day in trying to understand a different kind of craft. I get that when you perform and you're on stage and the energy of that and what you get back from an audience. There are similarities, but they're not the same ones.

You've been special forces. You've been all these hyper-masculine things.

But to learn from people like him, I remember when I was sitting next to Eminem, when I did this movie, Southpaw, and he did the music, and we did all this press together. And I was like, what the hell? I've listened to all his music. How am I sitting next to this guy? Like, this is crazy.

It's comical that this was yours. I mean- I mean, it is.

It's literally yin and yang, isn't it? No, it is.

No, it is.

You're a great man, Jake. You're a great lad. Serious, for real. You make me feel like a bad guy. You do a little bit.

It does.

No, it's a beautiful- It just works. It's a beautiful pairing.

And he'll decide it and he'll come up with it,

but it fucking works. I watched the movie two nights ago and I text him and I'm like, dude, hats fucking off. Any real human that stands across from Conor McGregor and I believe for half a second he might win, it's almost impossible. Yeah, exactly. Like, I don't know why he let them cast you.

I don't know why either. I literally don't know.

I got the call. I got the call. I remember where I was because I knew they were chasing him for a long time. And there was a part of me that was like, oh my God, that'd be amazing. And I was like, oh my God, I don't want that to happen.

I was like, oh my God, now we have to do this. Now you have to pay for the house. Let's just say it's like you're playing a snowboarder in a movie and your competition's Shaun White is in the movie. And you're like, really? No one's going to buy this.

You want them to face, replace you on Shaun White's show. But to be up against, I mean, there was this moment, though, like when we did meet up for the first time, he had really tried to stay in the space of who the character was. He's in this wild nature, like in that space that you see when he first entered.

Oh yeah, he's terrifying.

And so he was like that. As another actor, I could understand what he wanted to get in that space. He's like, I'm in it. I'm fucking Knox. And he's in the corner.

Definitely wanted to be a little friend.

I was trying to figure out whether this is a character. Yeah, but then I was like, wait, wait. So you talk, yeah. But like, I talk all the time about, okay, so we try and get into the space. Cause, I think the octagon is a sacred space.

In your head, you have to go like, all I can, spark in circles around you, bitch. Let's go.

You got it.

In my head, I went,

I've spent 30 years doing this. You've spent 30 years doing this. Let's party. They're two different, but that's the look that we have at each other.

But that's perfect for this movie. That's like, it's so much bigger than like a microcosm of what's happening in the actual movie.

To go back to the way Jake was raised enviably, his mom's an artist, his dad's an artist. He's free, without any fear of being emasculated by pursuing that inside of him. That's beautiful.

Yeah.

So I started there and I've been trying to let go of all the shit.

Trauma, like from years past? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Walking into a room and going like, what guy is, okay, now? I got to keep my eyes on him. Always prepared. Like you were saying, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting. When's this shit going to hit the fan?

Yeah, for sure. It goes back to them, the love of what you're doing and what vehicle you used to get you there. I use my love of martial arts and being in great shape and being physically ready to compete against another well-trained individual. Once you acquire all of these things, you kind of just revert back to what you are. then.

I imagine you have to ask yourself, I know what got me here. You look back. We know. Is that what will keep me here?

Yeah, yeah. It's a different time.

Who do I want to be for the next chapter? I think that's an interesting question for you.

I've wrestled with it. I'm probably just an addict to the fight game. I'm addicted to the fight game. I just want to get in and I want to test myself. There's more in me.

This is going to be the hardest question I ask. Was there a sweet boy though, that was 12, who that girl liked, who? you had to kind of fucking put away and start on this other path, that maybe, as you're a father and you think of your next chapter of your life, do you want to let that little boy out?

That was sweet. Yeah, maybe, maybe, maybe.

Not that you're not sweet. It's not like I'm angry. No, no, no, no. I'm not saying you're a monster.

I don't want to hurt nobody. It's such a beautiful business. When you make that walk and you step your bare feet on the canvas, it's freedom for a person like me. Then you're challenging yourself. And then the lights, the action, the crowd.

I'm not saying fighting couldn't be a part of that. You could still fight and then fucking in therapy, they call it, not incorporating, what do they call it? When you integrate, you like integrate the little boy that had to go away at 12..

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'd love a bit of that.

And then you are a model of dudes like, oh no, I'll still knock motherfuckers out. And I'll tell you I'm scared of life. And I'm scared of my wife being mad. That's interesting.

Yeah, do you know what? Now that you say that, my children, my son, Conor Jr., my firstborn son, really brought that back out in me. And I look at him with no trauma or no life experience. It's me as a young boy, blank canvas. How sweet I used to be.

Yeah, the dudes who were fucking with me, their dads, were kicking their ass.

Exactly, or even my own father had a lot going on through his life. I caused him to be a certain way. I always just tried to understand that. then. As I got older, I said the things he went through made him in this way.

But the fatherhood, for me, this has been the most illuminating for who I am. I have two girls. So I haven't had to decide if I'm gonna tell them, like, listen, man, whoever hits first generally wins. You get some shit, you swing. If I had a son, I gotta decide what I'm gonna pass on, right?

I have them in class, I do my own training with them. Life has to show itself at some point. You know, we can't-.

But do you wrestle with it, I guess? Like, my daughter's in, she trains with Cecilina Gracie, one of the Gracie daughters.

Jiu-Jitsu is a really great martial art, especially for women, for anyone. You know, you get a jiu-jitsu lady wrapping up in a bow, man, you know, there's no danger.

Yeah, they're doing crazy stuff.

There's no danger. So we've got some world champions in our gym, some female world champions, who will train martial arts, pray, nothing happens, it's all peace and flowers and love and happiness and hope for the best, but prepare for, you know.

Yeah, it's just tricky.

Connor, my oldest, when he's six, is very artistic. I could see acting school or some sort of school of performing arts. I'd love to send my child. Him and my daughter, Cria, do, Irish dancing.

Oh, wonderful.

So I used to do Irish dancing in my school, but these are real competitors that do this, they're world champions in Irish dancing. Yeah. You ever seen Irish dancing?

Oh, yeah, Riverdance, of course, Riverdance.

But in my head, I'm saying, that's gonna be great for his fighting, yeah, he's gonna be light as a feather, he's gonna be able to keep his eyes very flexible. But he doesn't want to fight. He said it to me many times, I don't like trying, I don't want to fight. I say, Sean, you don't have to, but trust me, there'll come a time, if you have it in the back pocket, you're gonna be confident.

Or you'll have to Riverdance.

If there's four guys, you're not gonna win, so start Riverdancing. Maybe you can win them over.

That's my technique.

It will definitely scare everyone. Oh my God.

Stay tuned for more Armchair Expert. If you dare.

and I'm moderating your panel. Well, I've not heard from many people, only one or two that have watched it outside of the cast.

But I'm biased, because one of my very favorite movies of all time is the original.

I'm interested to hear your thoughts then, because I was aware of that, you know? I knew there's people out there with a magnifying glass that would be very critical of it. I think they're gonna be happy. I don't think there'll be no issue with it. I think people will be actually delighted.

I have a question for you, actually. Going in, you know people, and you have ties and stuff like that. Yeah, yeah. When we talked last, I was interviewing him,

and he just randomly goes, yeah, I was in a scene with Conor McGregor. And I go, what the fuck were you in a scene with Conor McGregor for? And he goes, oh, we're redoing Roadhouse.

He was like, why the fuck are we talking right now? He literally was like, why am I talking right now? Why isn't Conor here?

Well, also, just like, they're remaking one of my favorite movies of all time, and I fucking know it inside and out.

What did you think about it with the new one and the old?

I just wanted to ask you, because, as a fan, it's very important to me, because you are a true fan of the OG, OG Roadhouse. We've been in the middle of this conversation about, oh, what's it like to redo? And I'm like, well, we didn't redo. We reimagined it, as everyone's saying. But then there's also mirrors of things that happen in it.

Listen, let's just get to the spirit of it. We're gonna tell a story. that's the solution to everything. is knocking someone out. It's so classic.

It's the be-all, end-all, really.

Everyone's hot. The stakes of it are like, I don't know, this person wants to build a resort. Okay, that's not the priority. Let's start breaking glass at the bar. Let's get some good music in.

He didn't really do that, though.

He did a little bit, though.

There's a little folk vibe still going on with it. It could have been a little bit more,

I would have thought.

You may have said, well, we understand the times we're in. I taught that myself as well. There could have been a bit more. Without me picking up the chick, they on the dance, and that whole scene was on the floor.

Once they cast Conor, we started to lose time. It's just, you know what I mean?

It was just- But when we started talking about it 11 months ago, I was saying, of the many things I liked about it, Patrick Swayze was at peak powers.

What a man.

He was so awesome. He was a gymnast. He was a firefighter. He was in Outsiders. Yes.

River dancer. Dancer.

He was a football player, and what took him out of being a professional football player? or he played in college? is he destroyed his knee, and in Dirty Dancing, he has to jump off the stage, and if you watch the doc about it, he went over and over, and every time he landed, just collapsed, like in so much fucking pain.

This is what I love about you. Not only are you obsessed with Roadhouse, but you also love Dirty Dancing.

Because of Swayze.

He likes documentaries.

The Swayze fans.

Oh, not, the real thing, that's right, yeah, okay.

Have you seen Outsiders?

Swayze for me. No, are you kidding me? No, we haven't seen it.

It's a gang movie. Francis Ford Coppola, it launched everybody. It launched Neil West, Tom Cruise.

I love when that happens. He gets up, now you can go watch them.

So he was the king when I was a kid. Swayze was everything. So, okay, he makes all the decisions in the movies he's making at that time. He makes Roadhouse, and he gets out of bed naked. We watch him walk all the way over to the dresser, and we're just seeing his ass cheeks.

This is Swayze.

Oh, this is me?

No, no, Swayze, but you too. Swayze.

I don't even know that. you know that that was a nod to that. Was it? The most memorable, I wouldn't do it,

so they asked you to do it. Serious?

You look at your arse now.

I always thought it was something to do with Arnold Schwarzenegger. I must have been telling people.

No, no. Because Schwarzenegger came in that way. Terminator.

Well, that's what I was telling myself. Look, Arnie, done it. I tell you, the people are going to be shocked at that. Oh. Because no one knows, really,

that that was going to be a bodega.

Oh, full reverse. So not only is he nude, and he walks to the thing, and he's in a medium shot, then they put a different lens on. Close up.

Close up of his ass. And then, and then, you know,

he squeezes it.

Yes, he does. It's in the movie.

Yes, he does.

And I was like a 12-year-old going like, do I like this? But what's he doing? Is it dressing? Why is this happening? I think I like it.

If we didn't know?

If we didn't know, we'd have clenched them, young man.

You do. And the first walk away, you do. No, on the first walk away, just your basic walking stance, it's basically clenched.

Bridge, freeze. I'm rocking down the fucking thing.

I'm going to argue that you actually topped it. Okay, so I'm going into the movie, hoping we're going to see something that nods to this. And then we meet Connor jumping out of a window. He's clearly with someone else's woman. He's bare, naked.

Back to the beginning of your history.

It's a through line of his life in artistic work. Look at that.

You've really hit on something.

So not only did we get the butt cheeks, but, Connor, well fucking done. There'll be a 12 year old that's having the same experience I had when I was 12.. But you didn't clench?

Or you just are always clenched?

He was doing it.

No, I didn't. It's a classic Conor McGregor walk.

I was just going to say.

He does his walk.

No, I wasn't even.

I just did it. It was.

You can't be a champion without good glutes.

That is true. Yeah, you got to be strong. It's the center of your being, right?

Well, I'll tell you how, okay, now, this is for you, Jake. So I have once gotten in the shape you got in for this movie. You got an insane shape.

Thank you so much. You looked great.

No, it's glorious. You always look great, by the way. What a fucking buffet of muscles. But what I know-.

Buffet of muscles is really good.

What I know-.

That's the first time anyone's ever said that.

Buffet of muscles is fantastic. That should be the like colon, Roadhouse, colon, buffet of muscles. I think that's good. All you can eat. Just me and Connor eating muscles.

All you can eat. All you can eat, buffet of muscles.

Is there no camera?

No. No, it's just audio. We're all audio, baby. Yeah. We want people to be comfortable, not worried about how they look.

We edit it too, so there's no like-.

This show is fantastic.

Is it?

You're on a fantastic show.

There's a lot of noise out there. Isn't it again?

It's true. We got the one-.

Taxi drivers back there. There's so many of them.

They're champs. They're champs.

You know what I mean? Taxi drivers.

Taxi drivers.

Okay, back to your body. Yeah. So I know what you went through, and I'm gonna say, cause I did this for Chips, right? And I had a butt shot in it. But once I cut to get ripped, my ass cheeks disappeared.

Well, I stay pretty consistently in shape all the time. Mental and physical health. That's important for me. I always stay, as we say, when I train, about two to three weeks out. I like staying in that space.

Would you say, though, this was peak of your career?

Yes, absolutely. We had a team, we had somebody cooking for me, the right calories, everything. We trained an hour and a half before work. But the truth is, on this movie, I had to stay in this weird space where you looked aesthetically in the right place, but you also had to function. That first headbutt.

do my leg, I'm torn on my face,

come out and throw him over a bar. The work was hard.

Yeah.

I was taken back to where the fucking work was.

That surprised me, when you were, like, I come from a tough game.

Jake has 16 projects on the go right now, in motion. He cannot understand how he can have that much work on.

He's like, oh, when I fight, I fight for 30 minutes. You're like, I got trained and I fight for 30 minutes. He's like, we have to do this a hundred times.

14 hours, four days in a row, to get one sequence.

But yeah, you're right. The difference between, obviously, a professional athlete and me is that your glutes have to be ready to go all the time.

You know, I knew my ass was going to be on the show. I put a couple more plates on the squat rack, you know?

How much? Searching YouTube, booty, booty blast workouts.

Ah!

This is your sweet spot, though. We talked about this last time you were here. You love a regimen.

I do love a regimen.

And in fact, weren't we saying like, maybe that's something you were trying to sort of taper back a little bit.

Well, we talked, I had already made this movie, so. Oh, great. Yeah, so, but like, yeah.

He was recovering from this movie.

Yeah, but at the same time too, you get to an age and you're like, I love what I've learned from my body. I loved what it shows you and teaches you. Sometimes I'll be on a run and I'll be like, man, I don't know how long I'll be able to do this. I am grateful for this.

Are you 43?.

43, yeah.

43, yeah, you start realizing, well, if I don't do this now,

For real, and so to me, I was like, this is an amazing opportunity. You know, at a certain point I thought, this is fun. I have a team of people, I know. We kind of gathered all together, and I've never done that before. Every other movie I've done, I've eaten whatever I need to eat myself.

Let's go full. Marvel movie. Full, full, full force. Connor, your physique, how much of it is just from having done the sport you've done, and how much do you actually lift and train?

For that, I did no martial arts training. I just kind of bent to the martial arts. I put it to the side and I was just lifting heavy.

You were lifting, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Lifting heavy. as a motherfucker. I was doing that anyway because I had the leg injury. So I was lifting a lot.

Let me tell Monica, his last fight, his tibia got snapped in half and it was visible in the fight. It was one of the grossest.

Yeah, it's a tough injury. It's probably the toughest in the game.

Oh, my God.

I was just lifting heavy anyway. And then the call came and then I just lifted that extra bit heavier. And then I just tidied up the diet and voila, rocked in.

So chest and fucking tracks. What weight were you in that?

Every fighter will tell you this. I have a mad relationship with the scale. From putting weight 145, 155, 170.. After the fight-.

Can I just tell Monica real quick? He's the only guy in UFC history that was holding two different belts at two different weight classes. So he's fighting at one weight one month and then six months later, he's fighting a completely different weight. And so he'll have to cut 15 fucking pounds.

20, even 20. Sometimes even within a- A day? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not a nice portion of the game. It should be monitored a bit better.

Yeah, because they have to hit the weight at weigh-in. 145, right? And then he'll start drinking water and come fight night. just two days later, he might be 15 pounds heavier.

It's not even two days later.

Those injuries come from some of that.

We all have a relationship with the scale. I was in the Beverly Hills Hotel because that's where I had a villet after the surgery, because I had the surgery in Los Angeles. So I'm in an electric wheelchair, wheeling myself to the Beverly Hills gym, down to the Beverly Hills Hotel gym and just getting onto a bench and lifting. That was all I was doing.

My favorite thing is he's like, I wasn't in shape for this movie, I just lifted. There's a moment where I try and choke him out and I'm on his back and he runs backwards and slams me into the back of the wall and then throws me on a table. I don't know what the fuck he's like when he's actually in shape. Oh. But that was insane.

What weight would you have been that time?

I'm usually around 190, 200.. Maybe 185, 200..

I don't know what weight I was when I lost the truth. I decided, oi, I'm not even looking at a fucking scales again, and I haven't. Since that time. I stepped on weight to make that weight for that last fight, I have not touched the scales once.

Do you want to, though? Do you not get curious?

I don't care. I called and said the fight is gonna be at 185 pounds against Chandler. Oh. It could be 171..

Wait, where do you? sit? Where do you sit then? Normally, like right now you think.

I don't, no, I don't. No, man, I haven't checked.

Rob, get the scale off.

Yeah, get the scale off the belt. I'll tell you, give or take, I feel like I'm coming back down because I'm doing more cardio basketball.

I think you're coming back down, yeah.

I'm definitely coming back down. I'm doing more martial arts work. In fact, I haven't been lifting at all, really. I'm doing more martial arts work, getting the kicks snappy, getting the balance work ready. You know, I know what's ahead of me.

But we have a fact check on this show, so we'll need you to go, weigh yourself and send us in.

I'll do it for you. I'll do it for you. It's coming soon. I'm gonna wait until the Paddy's festivities happen and then I'll.

But who knew that Michael Chandler, in the promo video for the UFC fight that I did that's also in the movie, Chandler came to the DR to be my opponent that I knock out. Was I there? Yeah, you were there. Yeah, you were there. No way.

And then, forgive my ignorance, are you fighting him next?

Well, I mean, that's what I'm saying.

You're coming back, right, to the UFC?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I have two fights left on my UFC contract. I'm in a lovely position. I'd love to renegotiate with the UFC. I'd love to figure something out.

Well, when you fought Mayweather, you made a hundred and some million.

No, that was separate.

I'm just saying, when you compare.

The figures I bring in, I'm the most underpaid fighter in history. So it's fine. I'm rich as shit. I've made hundreds upon hundreds of millions of dollars. I have businesses trending towards millionaire status.

Do you like looking at young fighters and do you like thinking about that?

Like what, to fight them?

No, no, no. To manage them or promote them. More agency.

Oh, for sure. I have a management agency also. Paradigm Sports. We manage some great fighters. We have champions on the roster also.

By the way, you did do that when we were working. He'd look at myself and he'd be like, no, do that right. Just a little bit like that way. And then come back. And then you're going to grab me, take me just higher.

And I think maybe both of us should be on Paradigm.

I feel like, right?

100% no butter, no butter. I'm going to do that, for sure. Man, there's big business in it.

I'm just going to like river dance and then you can.

I'm making so much money, you can swim in it.

I just want to dance in it.

I'll tell you what I will make you, fucking as much, if not more, than you make for a movie. And it's only 30 minutes. It ain't fucking 10 months.

What does that mean? In the ring. He's saying in the ring. In the ring.

If he wants to get in the ring, I can make him fucking more money than he makes making a movie.

I know I watched the money that Jake Paul and these Paul brothers have generated. And I'm like, I'd fight Zach Bryant. Can we set that up?

It's not selling now.

I think you should start a whole series. that is just actress fighting. And I want to be your fighter.

I don't. So.