In The Corner: Hayden Johnson’s Unlikely Road to Becoming a Power Slap Contender

What's up guys?

This is In the Corner with Destiny McCuben.

I'm Doug Vasquez, and today we are joined by a fellow, I don't know, teammate I guess you could say of mine.

We've got another power slapper in the corner with us today, Mr.

Hayden Johnson.

How are we doing?

Hello, I'm doing very well.

Thank you for having me.

Yes, thank you for being here.

We're super excited to get you on.

We know that you are competing soon, so I wanted to give you a chance to talk about that, but also your entire journey.

Cool.

Let's do it.

I'm excited.

Where are you coming from today?

Um, I came from the gym, hit the gym this morning, um, just getting used to getting settled into Vegas.

Uh, it's been quite the change, not having to wake up and clock in on a job site and do that whole thing.

So it's been a blessing, but Um, not the easiest, but I'm getting used to it, you know.

Yeah, I can imagine.

Like, just like you said, being used to clocking in on a job site, it's probably like you almost feel like bored in a sense or like, you know, what do I do with my time?

Yeah, or more like, yeah, just kind of out of place, you know, but um, it's such a blessing to be in a position where I don't have to work for someone else's dream and I know that I'm building off a solid foundation.

Um, according to my dreams, you know, not putting hours in for a company that doesn't really care about you, you know, it doesn't feel good.

Absolutely.

So are you just here kind of living like off the power slab life, or do you have any other work that you're doing while you're here?

I know this is a hustler's town, so you can have little gigs here and there.

So I got a job as a project manager for an HVAC company as well.

Um, so I'll, I'll be doing things in the construction industry, but I'm staying out of the field, just kind of more sales and Yeah, I've refused to get back into the field, um, yeah, yeah, and it keeps my, my schedule open big time because in the morning they'll just kind of be like, you have a call at 2, you have a call at 6, and then I just plan accordingly.

Yeah, yeah.

So let's talk a little bit about your background because you, you just moved here to Vegas, but you were in North Carolina.

You said you just mentioned in the field doing construction.

Take us back like 10 years prior and how you landed in.

Um, in North Carolina doing construction and all that, yeah, so.

So I'm born and raised in San Diego.

Um, uh, uh, a couple of my uncles are contractors.

My dad was a hardworking construction guy.

Um, I was kind of more of like a troubled teenager, you could say.

And when I turned 1817, 18, I, I was done with that lifestyle and I started working construction.

Um, I started a landscape company with some guy.

He was like 39, um, like a retired union operator.

He started a landscape company.

And I helped them and within 2 years, we had like 22 full-time employees.

Um, I got to learn a lot.

That was a big blessing.

Um, we ended up losing that company.

Uh, the guy wasn't too responsible and so that's a blessing in disguise.

I got to learn kind of a lot about business and get that confidence, you know, and then, um, It's kind of stuck in that same construction loop though, man.

I've always felt like I was wasting my time, always felt like I was meant for big things.

Always felt big pushback from my family whenever I talk big, and I feel like it's had those generational curses that really like.

I've never been comfortable with a good job like I, I just always have been itching for more.

And that really got put into play once my dad got sick, um, in 2023, at the beginning of the year, he got uh diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, ALS.

And we were thinking maybe 3 to 6 years.

That's like how long it lasts, but it deteriorated him within months.

Uh, yeah, he was in a full-time wheelchair hospice within like 5 months and ended up dying in October, October 8th of 2023, so.

Um, thank you.

Yeah, it was, he was my best friend.

It definitely put my life in perspective and made me.

Made me realize that like what's important and um like.

I'd be damned if I'd, yeah, we would sit and I had the blessing of being able to talk to my dad, knowing it's his last days and be able to ask him like what's his biggest regrets?

What, what would you do differently, Dad?

And he would like look at me and say the job site's not that important, Hayden, like I wish I took you guys on more vacations.

I wish I wasn't such a company man.

And so that just lit even more of a fire in me once he was gone and Um.

So my mom and brothers ended up moving to North Carolina right after he died.

Um, I stayed in San Diego for about 8 months or so, um, working on my own landscape stuff.

I was like building a nursery.

I was doing OK, very depressed, very depressed, very like this is not it for me at all, um, and depression, anxiety has never been.

Something for me.

I used to tell people like that's all on your head or but um yeah, I really hit a wall at that point.

I would say like mid 2024 and I was just like I want something more.

So I am a part of Oasis Church in San Diego.

Um, it's a great church, small church, and there was like two nights specifically I was praying .

I was just like, God, this is not for me.

Like I don't love what I do anymore like I.

I want more out of life.

Like, what do you have for me, um, and then Pono Pao walks into my church out of nowhere and, and when I introduced, um, myself to him and he told me he did power slap , my heart dropped because So UFC used to be my dream.

Like that was definitely my dream in my teenage years, but getting older, getting to work, it kind of faded off, you know.

But when my dad was on hospice, that was when the slap house was a thing.

Power slap rosters were being built.

It was on Rumble.

Me and my dad would watch it.

He was on hospice.

He'd be in his wheelchair.

I'd be sitting there in the living room like, Dude, Dad, I'd be so good at this.

Like Dana loved, like I'd be so good at this, and he just kind of, yeah, yeah, like blow it off.

And then sure enough, a month after he dies, I meet Pono and then we hit it off and That was it for like 6 months or so.

We just became friends, you know.

I was like happy for him and then him and Marissa, his wife, approached me and they're like, we, we think you should start training and go for it, um, so and it was like 2 days after I was like praying like, God, I know there's something more for me.

Like I don't wanna just, so that gave me something to fight for.

I'd say that gave me something to fight for, but I wasn't ready mentally, um.

So 2 weeks later, I went and I saw Pono compete here, I think in Power slap 15 here in Vegas.

And uh I met Dana that night.

Um, I met Erica.

She was the one running it at the time, yeah, and I was like I wanna be a part of your lightweight division, you know, um, gave him my email.

Is that the night we met?

That was the night we met, yeah, so I was just at that point, dude, it was just a dream.

They're like, you, you should, we think you'd be good at it.

And so I came.

That was the first match I went to.

And then a couple months later they asked me to come to the first training combine, um, I believe that was at the beginning of 2025 last year, beginning of last year, um.

Well, no, because you were at the combine that I was at, and I, I competed on Power slap 13, so this had to been a little pri prior.

Was that the year before?

Yeah, OK, the first ever combine that I was at with you, I was just, I don't think I was ready.

God definitely held me back.

I came in too cocky.

I was.

Just I wasn't fully like I didn't fully find myself and I wasn't grounded and I came in thinking I was gonna get a call, you know, and it took about 10 months or so to hear from him to get me to another combine and I was in a completely different place at that time.

Um, at that point I was training with some of the best in the world.

I trained with Pono a lot, um, and I was just more grounded, you know, I was able to come out here to the combine, kind of just keep my mouth shut, um, like help people and be a standout at the same time, so.

That was a humbling experience but a good learning lesson, and I know why God held me back from getting it all at once, you know, timing, yeah, exactly, and, uh, so I made my debut in March and that went great.

And then, uh, talk about that, yeah, so I, I made my debut.

I, uh, I was there.

I was front row.

Like yeah, it was, that was very exciting.

That meant a lot for me just how much I've been through, just how much I fought to get into Power slap and just staying patient and then finally like.

Doing what I said I was gonna do, just, you know, taking a good hit and then just like dishing it out, and it wasn't even necessarily the competition that meant so much to me.

It was just like my mom there, like my family there, just showing like this is gonna be the beginning of something fresh, something new.

I remember being there and I remember, um, like I remember hearing about your father and then just like seeing the, the, the raw emotion that you felt after, you know, after getting the knockout and, and, and as well from your family in the crowd like you could just see it from, from, you know, from both parties and you could definitely feel that that was for your father.

Yeah, yeah, it was definitely a moment for sure.

It was a moment that like showed myself that I belong here and Made me start taking it real serious, you know, and then, uh, did not think I would get a title shot, you know, a couple months later, like 60 days later, so I know a lot of people turned it down fighting Robert, and, uh, Justin texted me, said, would you be willing to fight Robert, and I said, absolutely, within 2 minutes.

I was like, yes, um.

Which also, I don't think that happened for a reason, you know, um, after my debut, went back to Virginia.

Um, I was working out of North Carolina, but they had me in a job site in Virginia.

Which I was just overworked, just very much so overworked, um, like wasn't able to really focus on just training, like all day at work knowing I'm fighting for the best in the world, and I would just be like, I'm not eating enough, like I'm not, I was just wasn't able to give it my all, which is not an excuse, but it was a Definitely a learning experience.

This is talking about when you went against Robert.

What do you mean you weren't eating enough?

Just uh overworking myself in the sun, you know, I wasn't like, I mean, working 60 something hours a week and then like being exhausted trying to go to the gym after and Like, it was just the part people don't see.

Yeah, it's the part people don't see, and it's where like I just really believed in myself where I really thought I did have that, um.

And that was a humbling experience as well, but it was the best thing I think that could have happened because I learned a lot and uh.

You'll see a whole different animal in a couple weeks.

Yeah, um, I wanna run back to your first one, like, what did that feeling feel like not getting that knockout?

It was, it was like, it was a little like dream up there, man.

That guy hit hard.

That guy hit me hard and I, that like made it real for me.

I was like, you like don't really hear much up there, you know how it is.

I didn't really hear much, nothing.

I was playing with the chalk for, I thought it was like 10 seconds, and as I was playing with the chalk, they're like, all right, get back in the box.

I was like, Wait, what?

And then looking back on it, I was standing over that for like 45 seconds.

Like I thought that, I thought that was like 5 seconds of time.

Um, but I just.

Like practiced enough to where my body did what it did.

I looked over at my mom, you see, like right before I got my hit and I like looked over and just focused and then.

I mean you could can't even see like I was surprised almost like like I was so out of it then hit him, then he dropped and I was, it was just like happened really fast, you know, and that's what's hard, right, is you're a little rocked yourself and then you have to go out there and deliver something again.

It's, it's weird to put it all together too and not step and not hit low, hit high.

You can't.

There's so many things that go into it.

It's a different animal for sure.

Yeah, so you get the knockout in your debut, right?

Um, let's go back a little bit though, because you mentioned you were a troubled teen, but you also mentioned that when you were that troubled team, the UFC was kind of your dream.

So what was like your athletic background growing up and combat sports background growing up?

So when I was about 89 years old, got into a local jiu-jitsu gym, um, I, I would say rolled until I was probably like.

1213.

Um, and then from like.

13 to 1516 I was training at Alliance MMA in San Diego, um, but just not too committed, you know, not too committed just Being a normal teenager and.

Yeah, just not being committed and also.

I've always felt like trouble just based on temptation and habits that I've had and.

Like I feel like the devil's been throwing things at me from a young age for a reason, and that sounds weird to say, but like I feel like that's where that fire comes from is God and like what he sees for me in the future.

And now I see like after getting up so many times like.

Finally taking a deep breath and like.

Like just being able to see what he has for me now is, is huge because before, no matter what, I'd just be lying to myself.

I'd say even.

A year ago, you know, I wasn't nearly where I wanted to be.

And Yeah, life's just a trip, man.

You just keep learning and being humbled.

I'm 2727.

So were you competitive in high school in athletics, or did, are you, no, no, not really.

I competed in a couple grappling wrestling or anything.

No, no, I competed in a couple like local grappling exes as like young teenager, and then BMX was my sport.

I was at the skate park every day, and you were, were you competitive at that?

Yeah, I was pretty competitive.

Like I was one of the young guys at Claremont Skate Park in San Diego watching like some of the best in the world.

San Diego is like the mecca for BMX for sure.

Um, so that, that was, that was definitely like consumed most of my teenage years, but I was still able to be a degenerate while riding BMX, you know, like that's kind of the life kind of goes hand in hand, yeah, yeah, so kind of gave up on all that and got into construction at 17, and, wow, OK.

Yeah, construction.

So handyman, um, is that something you like wanna like pursue ever again like maybe on your own terms ?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I could see that, um, more entrepreneurial or like, yeah, yeah, you said you ran a nursery like a plant, yeah, so I used to be a planting manager for Moon Valley Nursery, which have a green thumb, yeah, I love plants.

I love trees.

I used to crane like palm trees and olive trees and stuff over people's homes, wow, plant them for like.

That was like right after my dad died I started doing that, um, but before that like full front backyard remodels I would design like pavers, like pools, outdoor fire pits, outdoor kitchens.

That was like my passion, but then.

When I left San Diego, I got an opportunity out of a North Carolina office.

Um, so I was able to be closer to my family, but that was a complete change.

I started working for Lithco Contracting.

They're the 2nd biggest concrete company in the USA.

So, I went from like little backyards to Uh 8000 person company building skyscrapers, um.

Yeah, and that was, that was like an isolating thing for me, you know, being around all my guys and none of them really speak English like.

It was, it was a time where I knew like this is some sacrifice I'm gonna take right now to pay the bills to, you know.

Almost I just almost knew I was being isolated to get ready for what was next, um, but I wasn't happy like excelled in that field like because that can be competitive too, right?

Yeah, I definitely excelled in that, um.

I moved up quickly, um, in, into a project manager position, um.

But yeah, again, just not.

Not being happy cause I'm working for someone else's dream, knowing that like.

There's a cap to that, and I'm not happy like being away from my family all the time, and I just knew it wasn't for me, but it was what I had to do at that time.

But eventually I could see myself.

I, I say I wanna own one of the biggest concrete companies in the United States eventually if that's what God has for me.

That's awesome.

That's, that's a good plan.

So you grew up in San Diego, whereabouts?

Uh, East County San Diego, it's, uh, I grew up in Santee, California, so all my family's from Santee.

It's a little town, uh, about 25 minutes east from the beach.

Uh, my mom and dad grew up on the same street.

My aunts and uncles on both sides of my family were like friends in elementary school, and then my dad ended up marrying his best friend's little sister.

So it's like my family's just very tight, um.

Yeah, my grandparents that I didn't even know knew each other.

Like it's, I've always had a lot of family value, um.

I guess why I asked because I wanna know where the, the cowboy came from, the hats, the boots, yeah, where you like like up like San Diego, you know, where would you classify yourself as like a beach bum growing up because I know you're the the BMX, but I think those go hand in hand sometimes.

So most people think San Diego.

You're thinking palm trees and beaches, OK, 30 minutes east.

I lived in Santee my young years, but in my teenage years I lived in a place called Lakeside.

That's like Lakeside Rodeo.

That's Vaqueros, like the, the high school.

They, they raise cows, and it's like they have a rodeo program.

Absolutely it's a full-on farm town.

Um, you never got into the rodeo activities, a little bit, a little bit, but not competitively, um.

But I grew up like in the hills.

I mean, like flipping boards looking for snakes, lizards, like fishing.

That was my, that was my years growing up with a shovel building dirt jumps in the fields and santee, um, yeah, OK, that makes sense.

But the cowboy hat came from, so I started working landscape when I was about 17, um, all the guys.

Uh, would wear like sombreros or whatever, you know, and I cannot wear a baseball cap.

My ears stick out so much , bro.

If I put a baseball cap on, cap on, it's like, so I'd always be sunburnt.

I'd always be sunburnt.

And one day I put on a cowboy hat and I was like.

This is it.

This is it.

And it wasn't.

And I'll tell you right now, I'm more cowboy, more country than, than most, um, I'm a concrete cowboy.

I'm a concrete cow, you got some good, some good looking boots, but really it's because I couldn't pull off a sombrero or a sun hat.

Like, who wants to wear a sun hat all day, you know.

So the cowboy hat stuck with me, um, on the job site.

That's what I've been known as.

OK, so it's kinda, do you feel like the, obviously the look and the, uh, persona go hand in hand with why you're going to Texas for Power Slap 23?

Yeah, maybe, yeah, maybe, um, so I'm excited.

I'm so excited.

I think Texas is gonna bring that energy.

So today is the 1st of September.

You are competing September 17th, so just a little over two weeks out, and you're heading down to Lubbock, Texas, um, for Power Stop 23, and Really weird that they're having it there because of the small town type of thing, but it's like the college town, right, and that's like a big college game going on, so it should be pretty Texas Tech's massive college campus, yeah.

Is Texas Tech playing that weekend?

Yes, the next day.

So that's why, yeah, that's why they're doing excited because when I first I skip.

I left this part out when I first left San Diego.

The first job opportunity I got was on the University of Knox.

It was in Knoxville, Tennessee.

It was University of Tennessee.

So like experiencing those football games, just the crowds in that town, it was insane.

Yeah, so be prepared to have a good time out there.

It sounds like it's gonna be really fun.

Yeah, I feel like it's gonna be good fans, so it'll be fun.

Yeah, I mean, all young kids, you know , like they need something to do Friday night, the night before the game.

It's, I think you're gonna have a really good crowd.

Yeah, it's gonna be a lot of fun.

And then I plan on , I plan on making a name for myself out here in Vegas and you know, and getting a foundation here, but um, I plan on eventually settling closer in the south, you know, North Carolina or something, yeah, OK.

So let's talk about your opponent.

Who are you facing on September 17th?

Jay Snoozy.

Jay Jay Snoozy.

His name's Jay Bougie.

Jay Bougie, OK.

All right.

How many, uh, matches does he have?

He has one match, one match, OK.

And he made his debut one or two events ago here in Vegas.

I was there for it.

Um, yeah, he got a first round knockout, won the coin toss, um.

Yeah, he seems like an athletic guy.

I'm very confident, and he called me out, um, so I guess he got you out that night after the knockout, or no, no, on Instagram, like a few weeks later, a month or so ago, started calling me out on Instagram on slap news, like making noise, and then I was like, let's run it.

Let's run it.

You want that?

OK, I'll introduce you to this sport.

You know, you'll get the same humbling I did when I was very confident against Robert, very confident.

It's crazy up there because you just don't know, you know, levels, yeah, there's definitely levels to the game.

Um, do you know about the coin toss yet?

No, not yet.

That probably won't happen for like another week.

Yeah, and I've never won a, never won it.

I have a good feeling you're gonna win it.

So I hope, I hope, man, because, yeah, that's what I said to Mark.

I was like, I'll just lose the coin toss.

He's like, no, Hayden, what you wanna win, just go out there, damage him, right, right, right.

Yeah, so hopefully I get my first.

Coin toss win on this one.

So how's training been?

Training's been really good, really good.

I've been feeling very focused, locked in, um.

I haven't felt like This connected, if that makes sense in a very long time, like motivation wise, like I get the chills when I think about it when I'm training , I feel good.

I feel explosive again.

Because I'm able to eat good throughout the day.

I'm able to sleep good.

I'm eating good too.

The steaks every, every day I'm like, who is this person?

Yeah, I don't have no wife.

I don't have no kids to feed.

I'm like, it's not that hard.

You're by yourself.

It's not just throw a steak on the grill.

No, I hear you.

My complex has a grill out there.

It's, it's very convenient.

Absolutely.

Definitely a carnivore .

Speak about your training, peel back a little bit.

So you first kind of got into Power slap.

You got to watch it with your dad and stuff.

When was, when did you like first start training and when did you say like, hey, I'm gonna do that and maybe for our listeners and our audience, talk.

To us about like what you can do to train for power slap because there are the naysayers right that are like like talk to the naysayers about what goes into because you are our first power slapper so yeah I would really like you to kind of open up the door for our audience and I feel like I would be a good one to open that up because So when, when Pono and his wife approached me at church, it was just a dream before that.

It was just like a thought, you know, and then I was like, oh, I met him.

I, I wanna get into this.

But when they approached me, I had to really like Think about it, and I was like 180, 185 pounds at that time, uh, more bodybuilder, like that was my thing, um, just lifting heavy and wanting to look big, um, but I cut down, so I spent like months cutting down.

So first I was thinking about what weight class I wanted to be in, and I was like I can be a freak at 155 if I walk around at 165.

Fight at 155 I was like I probably won't lose that much strength like and so that's what I did for the 1st 6 months.

I cut weight.

Um, was that your first experience cutting weight for something?

Yeah, yeah, and I tried to do it like healthily, but , um, I got into running.

That was the thing that really helped me.

Yeah, I mean, it's the best thing for, yeah, losing weight like I've never been a runner.

I've never.

And so I'd start running and then I'd like fast once a week for like 2022 hours, and I was just slowly starting to lose weight, um, but I would say mainly just I started focusing on my striking, um, like.

Practicing for over a year before I ever even got into it, but, um , practicing my striking, my slapping, if you have an MMA background, you know, you're, you're gonna like hook your foot, you're gonna do those things like those habits.

So learning how, learning the rules.

Getting to the proper weight so you don't like get called by them and then it's like they ask you to fight at this and you just say yes but you don't realize you have to lose 30 pounds you've never done that before, you know, so really I think thinking about that and then um I shifted a lot of my like ego lifting heavy lifting to more like Body mechanics trying to like get a little more flexible, yeah, a little more flexible, and then as well as I mean your jaw and my neck training my jaw and my neck a lot, my chest a lot more.

What do you, how do you do, what do you do for your jaw and your neck?

You're gonna make me give out tricks.

OK, I'll, I'll give out one good 11 good 11 good one.

So I use a kettlebell, and if you see me doing this alone at home, I probably look like a crazy person.

But kettlebell, I put a towel through the handle.

I bite it.

I just do a bunch of weird stuff.

How much is this?

I, before Robert, I was doing like a 45 pound dumbbell with my teeth.

I do, I do 25.

Yeah, heck yeah, that's, that's still a lot of pounds.

Yeah, yeah.

Well, so it is a combat sport, right?

But I think it's, uh, it's unique because you're not, you can't really do live round training, right?

You're not gonna go out there and just like take slaps from people.

So like.

How did you prepare, or maybe both of you can answer this.

How did you prepare for getting hit for the first time with that amount of force?

I would say mentally like that's all it is.

And most people, OK, the people that do good in this sport have a screw loose, and the people that are scared, you can see it, yeah.

Yeah, you heated up there, you know, competitive.

We spend, we spend a couple hours a week together filming the show, so I, I know.

But yeah, I would say just mentally preparing and having that screw loose and just um getting rid of the fear because you can tell when someone's scared.

We've had a couple earlier power slap fighters that would flinch a lot and it's just you could tell when they get all in their head freaking terrifying yeah so if you're able to just fully like be confident up there and and just not care and have that like hit me attitude.

Then I think you'll do good.

But also there's another factor of being built for it or not.

I mean, we've seen guys go up there and they just go to sleep.

They just go to sleep.

But that can be, that can be genetic, right?

Like just the way your brain is wired to your where it sits.

Forests said this , remember, yeah, where your brain sits, um, can be an issue that can be easier to rattle the side of your soul.

I think that's what happens.

Your brain goes, yeah, it just tells you to go to sleep.

Well, yeah, I mean, I've definitely felt my brain move up there sometimes.

I mean, you always.

Always talk about like in MMA and boxing like oh that guy's got a chin, but it's really he has like he has a brain that doesn't move the way other people well no, I think, I think you also have a chin because you know that that like uh you know when you move your chin off the line that that'll cause a knockout, you know, to be able to get past that bracing of your conditioning to be able to rattle your brain but yeah, some people's the nerves just Whatever signals they just go to sleep and you kind of realize quick if you're built for it that's why I told some people close to me with with my debut, if you see what I did, I just put my chin over the I just put my chin like right over hearpono yelling like.

Get your chin back, but I just put my chin out there.

I didn't move at all.

I was like, I'm gonna see if I'm built for this.

Absolutely fucking not.

Sure enough, I, I mean, I got, I got wobbled a little bit, but definitely built for it.

I'm excited.

No, I think too, like the ones that get knocked out too is like maybe they just um.

Like, maybe didn't have like proper training or like they uh don't come from a combat background, you know, so they don't even know how to like have a stance or, you know, there are certain ways to protect your chin without protecting your chin, you know, one, the, the neck and jaw exercises, but like your traps, the way you brace, um, it's all in the strengthening.

Conditioning that you do, you know, traps is like that shell, you know, yeah, your base too, you know, like, like my goal is to like be able to stand and like somebody try to push me over and me not move.

Like that's where I like to be by the end of camp, so solid that you can't even move me, you know, yeah, yeah.

And then I, I would say another huge thing that people that I've made mistakes on, um.

Especially against Robert is breathing.

What happens when you stop breathing for 4 minutes?

You lose consciousness.

I feel like breath is consciousness, right?

So you gotta be able, be able to like be calm up there and breathe and You know, when you go up there and hold your breath, like that's when I went to sleep.

I was holding my breath.

Aren't there like breath coaches now?

I've seen like, like people that specifically like teach you different like forms of how to breathe.

Yeah, yeah, breathing is like a thing.

Um, Kane Velasquez does it now.

I think Eddie was, yeah, Eddie does it.

Eddie, yeah, it's definitely a thing.

I need to look more into that because I have people that swear by it like the.

Win off breathing exercises, yeah, yeah, the, the belly breathing, there's that method that like will help you fall asleep within like 5 minutes if you breathe, yeah, that like like Navy SEALs use to fall asleep when they need to sleep, but it's like weird like you, yeah, no, it is, but it works.

It works, and I, I mean, I went to rehab 5 years ago or so and we did a lot of like cool work like that and it's weird like you can really control your breathing.

You can do body scans when you're laying down.

Like you can play something that's consciously telling yourself to, you know, scan your body like you almost just like imagine yourself fully healthy and think your whole body and like by you just like pass out, you know, and it's just breathing and like.

Yeah, the mind's a powerful thing, um.

So we, um, you said you don't, you don't, you don't practice taking the shot.

Obviously, we don't do that too much, but how, how often are you practicing your slap?

I practice my slap, I would say with somebody like 2 or 3 times a week.

Um, I have a heavy bag that I.

I hit probably 5 times a week or so, um, but in my home I have one of my slap pads just taped up.

I slap every day.

I slap every day, um.

Because when you, when you stop for a couple of weeks, it's like you kind of lose your, your motion, you know, a little bit.

Can you, can you talk about what you are working on when you're practicing your slap?

Obviously, you know, let them know like how, you know, the range, the accuracy, like those types of things, yeah, so making sure that, you know, wherever you're measuring up with, when you swing, you're hitting there, you know, you're hitting where you're measuring.

If not, you know, determine if you need to step back a little bit, step forward a little bit.

Um, but mainly I would say is you just need so many reps to where you feel so comfortable up there to where no matter.

All the noise, your body's still gonna do what it does, which is not move your feet, you know, not pivot your foot, hit in the right spot, um.

And then we've seen this a lot with the girls is not following through, you know, cause I've seen some guys I've trained in the back with that they're whacking the slap pad, you know, no foul, they're following through, and when you get out there, it's like they're just like stopping here, the girls, no, or just anybody, anyone, I'd say, yeah, following through is a huge thing, so.

I think it's, it's so different, and I say that too, like you could feel so good on that paddle or whatever you're hitting, but it's just so different when you get up there.

Hitting a freaking human head is just different, you know.

And I would say anybody that's just slapping like a punching bag or a slap pad, slap a bob.

You need to slap a bob.

I don't like the bob because my shoulder, it, it, it doesn't rico.

I like the head.

I like my Tommy boy head.

That's good because.

It moves like the person holding it moves as if the kind of the body's going to whether it's whether it's like Bob, don't move and she'll mess you up.

Yeah, your, your elbow keeps going and it'll hyperextend, you know, mess on my shoulder.

So if you're doing a bob, don't hit it as hard as you can, um, but that works too.

I'm just saying anything with a head shape, with a real head shape, because when you get up there and you put your hand on someone's chin, it's way different than a pad.

You have to hit them right there and if you start getting in your head about it, like I should have brought Tommy, yeah.

Do you ever put pictures, do you ever put pictures of people?

Has my picture on the bailed on a podcast last week slapping slapping his picture.

Um, no, but I thought about it.

I thought about it.

You think about certain people when you're that thing you visualize it.

Yeah, I thought about it.

Maybe I'll I was hitting a heavy bag.

I was thinking of the shit Jay Bougie was talking on the internet.

I just, I wanna go back to that for, but I, I've had a question that I've been thinking about for a minute.

So you mentioned you're, not to bring up bad stuff, but you mentioned you're a troubled team.

Were you in a lot of fights like growing up, like, like fistfights?

Yeah, OK, something I'm not proud of.

I, I don't think that's cool at all.

And honestly, like growing up, I think it does, and it makes you realize a lot, um.

My dad would always warn me, coming, getting older and like hearing from my family how my dad was when he was younger, kind of the same, like hothead, um, which.

As a young one I took bad pride in that, but I realized I was getting older I was that friend in high school that like my best friends wouldn't even invite me to parties and stuff because like oh someone says something wrong, like Hayden's gonna start can't take him nowhere.

Yeah, it's not, that's not a cool like and also like hurting people, you know, it, it's just, yeah, um, but I definitely grew up with a screw loose of like no fear.

Like when I fight, I, my adrenaline kind of, I don't really get much adrenaline really.

I kind of just stay like the same.

It's weird.

It's kind of sick, um, but a little bit, yeah, I mean, I've been in a lot of scraps.

I was a young teenager hanging out with some older, older guys, and I I thought I was too macho for my years for sure, but, um, I grew up fighting grown men, so, yeah, so again, not to bring up bad memories, was your fight, your match against Robert, had you been knocked out prior to that?

No, that was the first time you'd ever been knocked out ever in your life.

Yeah, ever in my life.

And, and can I ask what it felt like?

Never lost a fight.

I've never, I've yet to beat, meet the person that can whip my ass, but then again, I.

Been lucky enough to not get a pro MMA fighter , I guess, not to bring up, uh, you go.

I think we're gonna ask the same question.

Can I ask, uh, what it felt like, um, cause I don't, uh, I asked, cause when I asked Kayley, she said she didn't feel it.

She said she was there and then she wasn't, and then she was fine.

You don't, there's no pain when you get, yeah, there wasn't much pain.

It was a clean shot.

He didn't hit me in the nose or nothing.

Um, I was holding my breath.

I still don't feel like he hit me with that good of a shot.

It was just, I put my lights out.

Not too much pain.

You were right back confusion.

Yeah, I got stiff for a second, and I just remember the frustration of not being able to like move for a second.

Like once I came to, it's like you're just stiff and then you're just like, oh, and at that point I locked eyes with the ref and I was just like smiled.

I was like, so I knew what was going on at that point when you came to, you knew what happened because you see a lot of times in the octagon or in other the ring, like the, the fighter gets up and they, they don't even know where they are or what day it is.

They're just like, what happened?

and you knew what could see that because.

In in MMA you're, you're going at it the whole time where that could happen at any moment, you know what I mean, to where when it happens it's like you come back to and you're still fighting.

It's like in MMA, it's unexpected.

You might get hit with that shot in power so you're so they're gonna keep fighting the ref the shot, yeah, it very well could be it, yeah, but with power slop, it's like I knew, OK, I was standing up there about to get hit.

So when you come to, you're like damn, no time went by.

Like if you were out for.

10 seconds, no time went by.

You come to and you realize you're like, Oh, I lost.

That's it.

That's it.

It's as quick as that, um, but hopefully I never experienced that again, right?

And then what's the, um, I wanted to get into this a little bit too.

What's like the aftercare for that because obviously it is a professional sport you're dealing with commit athletic commissions, I assume.

And so like what, what, take me through the process like what.

You had to do afterwards.

They take it very serious.

Um, we have the same UFC physician, so, uh, we get taken to the back.

Um, he asks, he makes sure our jaw is not broken, you know, it's like an extensive checkup to clear us.

Do they do prior to you getting into the matches, is there something where they ask you like a baseline of questions, and then if you get knocked out, they ask you the same questions to see if they match up?

Is it no?

I don't think no, but they do ask you like.

They ask you random questions to make sure you're like you're communicating, yeah, after, um, yeah, it was still a blur kind of even then and then all my family was there and stuff so I was just like I don't, I'm fine.

I don't wanna, I wanted to go to the after party and stuff but yeah, definitely still out of it even a couple hours later you're still confessed, you know, it's, it's weird after my one with, with my debut.

I got like sick after from the lights and stuff.

I walked into the main event and I got all sick.

I had to leave.

I was like, yeah, it's sick for a couple hours, you, you had a concussion, I assume so, yeah, crazy, yeah, and it was from the lights and just.

My friend gave me a drink.

I don't really drink much, and I, oh yeah, and then, yeah, before the first match of the main events, I had to leave.

I was like asleep.

Um, what about like more post, post like that's that night, but like what about post like post-fight, um, you know, did you, because like obviously some people will go through like even like a little bit of depression after a knockout.

So is that, did you, did you experience anything like that?

Not really, um, I mean I was.

I was happy I went 3 rounds with them.

I, I didn't watch the fight for a month.

I literally didn't watch it for a month.

I was just like, yeah.

And when I watched it, I was like I actually did it better than I thought.

Yeah, it's always like that, yeah, I.

I just had to stay busy.

Um, also, a lot set in for me at that moment.

I was the main event.

I was, you know, seeing myself on billboards.

I was like this could be a real reality.

So even after losing, I went home and I told my bosses like peace.

Later, and I quit right after that gonna ask you that later, like what precipitated that, yeah, just being here and realizing like I can do this and you know there's a reason God has put this on my heart to like see where this goes.

I don't know if Power stops just that first open door or you know whatever, but um, yeah, put me in a position to be able to move here.

Um, I left my job site.

I went to my mom's house in North Carolina because my brother's wife was pregnant with my first nephew.

So after the fight, I got to spend like a week at my mom's house, spending time with my mom and brother.

And then um my little brother's wife had my nephew.

So I got to hold my nephew for the first time.

Um, and then I flew to Vegas the next day.

To move wow.

You mentioned, uh, same physician as the UFC.

How how does like Power slap as an organization talk to you about like brain health cause that's obviously a concern, right?

Yeah, it's the same exact, it's the same.

Um, physicians is the same anti-doping, it's the same.

The same everything they take it very serious, um.

I would say, do they talk to us about brain health?

No , but they make us, they, no, but I'm asking they don't give a shit.

We brains.

What's the brain scan called?

CT scan.

We do CT scans before and after.

It's every 6 months, right?

I think it's for a year.

It's every year, but before you ever have a match, you have to get a CT scan.

A doctor has to clear you.

Um, so I mean if you have any brain trauma already, they're not gonna let you compete, you know.

So they already know your brain's good, and then every year you have to do it again.

So I'm sure they would just.

Yeah, you know what, it's starting to because it's obviously new, um, I mean, power slap 23, but we're starting, you're starting to see a lot of shoulder injuries now that we're like getting in there.

Like I go, I go to a physical therapy and, um, they said they're starting to see a lot of power slappers come through.

It's because, OK, you guys need to stop just, just swinging with your upper body.

Like the old days of power slot, people would bend down, get way down there, and pop their whole body over.

Let's get back to that.

Stop standing there all square and just use your.

That's why they're hurting their elbows and stuff.

They need to put everything into it.

I mean, I, he, he ain't talking to me.

I've always used, I've always used my hips.

I'm a boxer.

I say the new style, it's like too clean.

We don't gotta be that clean.

Just don't move your feet.

So you're dealing with athletic commissions, right?

Uh, this might be a silly thing because I, I think in combat sports in general, um, a lot of athletes and competitors use cannabis as a means of recovery or release or whatever, not asking whether you partake or not, but I think Texas is still one of the commissions that test for, or am I wrong there?

Absolutely.

Oh yeah, they, they, they put out a whole disclaimer for us.

OK, yeah, we, we got a.

45 day notice.

Like, absolutely, but that's different when competing in Nevada in Nevada, right?

They don't, yeah, in Nevada, in Nevada, she's like, I don't care if you do cocaine the week of.

Just don't come for 24 hours with it in your system.

So do, no, no, no, no's a bad word, my bad.

No, no, no, you're fine, yeah, yeah, um.

So was that, so they, they do warn you when you sign the match, they warn you right away like Texas is different.

So the medical director, um, she works for the UFC but she also is our medical director Taylor.

She is very on it.

Um, the communication is.

Oh yeah, Taylor Price, shout out Taylor.

Love her for real, shout out Taylor.

Um, we are, she was at the, yeah, she came with Danny.

Oh, OK, OK, yeah, I mean they're, they're so professional and that's why I wanted to get into this because I know it's growing, but I know who runs it, and it's one of the best organizations in the world, and they treat us according, you know, they keep us very updated on information, um.

We're not left in the dark about nothing for sure.

Donna's really great too.

Yeah, yeah, love her.

They've all been very helpful.

They book all your appointments.

They You just gotta follow through with what you say you're gonna do.

You just gotta show up and fight.

Yeah, how is weight going?

Like, is that ever an issue for you, or is that just lucky?

No, it hasn't been ever since I, I started just because I, I had so long when I thought I was gonna get my first chance, and when I really did, and I just like stuck to it.

So I've stayed at like 165.

I've maybe hit 170 a couple times within the last year, but right now I'm like just over 160.

I'm even bulking right now.

Two weeks before my fight, I'm like still just.

Doing what I want and then um I'll probably only have to cut like 8 pounds which with Robert I went in at like probably 158 pounds wow which is not ideal yeah don't definitely not yeah not ideal, especially for somebody like Robert, you know, yeah, which he probably went in at at like 170 the next day almost he's a professional.

So you had a match coming coming up against an opponent that called you out.

Seems like there's been some bad blood.

I've seen some stuff circulating on social media.

Before we talk about that.

Was there, and I, I watched your match against Robert, but, but there, it didn't seem like there was bad blood there, right?

It was more like a respect thing, definitely a respect thing athletically.

I mean, we're kind of friend, friendly before the match got announced, um, spent a good amount of time with Robert.

But competitively, I thought I would beat them and just.

The way he would talk about me as a competitor got to me and there was a little rivalry there for sure, but the respect was there right after and even after he stepped and fouled and all that, like I feel like I still have respect for him.

I feel like, I feel like in, in combat sports in general, like sometimes you have to manufacture the bad blood.

Like it can't be Ian Gary kissing Islam before the 5th round, yeah.

No, no one really wants to see the buddy buddy , but at the same time, like, and then like with Power slap, it's such a factor.

Everybody's friends, you know, it's really weird.

It's a weird thing with Power slap.

I don't, I don't know why we're like that.

We're all so, yeah, I'm not.

I'm trying to stay away from that.

I think if, if you get this opportunity, you come out here.

Don't let Fremont get the most of you.

You know you're in Vegas, but you're also here to do a job.

You're here to compete.

You're here to cut weight 3 days after you get here.

You're here to stay focused, rested.

Um, I think it gets the best of a lot of people here in Vegas, so I'm excited to see it, you know, away from a casino in Texas.

To see the difference of, uh, focus, you know, that big crowd, but you're not friends with Jay Bougie.

No, no, he just ran his mouth too much disrespectful.

I messaged him.

I said, you know, like, uh, we could be friends September 18th, but whatever is said, you know, it's business like I, and I kind of gave him the fight.

You gotta solve the fight.

I gave him that grace, prize fighters, you know, and then he starts like exposing things I said to him and he starts.

He's just in over his head.

I mean, he plays fake video games.

He does fake wrestling.

He's all about like the, the showmanship, and he's gonna get a sense of reality when it comes September 17th.

I was done running my mouth really quick, you know.

I said we won't keep it.

It won't be personal, you know, we'll, we'll hype this up, um, but then.

I take it personal when you keep posting about me saying, oh, fake cowboy this and blah blah blah and then using God's name.

He said, oh I wanna thank God to put breath in my lungs to give you guys hell.

I don't like that, you're a weirdo.

I'm gonna punish you, bro.

That's it.

Um, do you think the trash talk is gonna continue because we've, you and I have talked about it and without crossing any lines, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, just competitively, um, I'm gonna let him run his mouth, uh, get his little week of, of fame, whatever he feels, you know, um.

Yeah, I'm, I'll, I'll get in his head a little bit probably, um, but when it comes time on that stage, it's, it's business and you better be ready, boy.

Do you know where you're at on the card yet?

Are you on the main card?

Are we, are we on the live?

I'm on the main card, yeah, the live card, but I don't know, um, I don't know where at.

Cool.

And then I also don't think I'm opening it up because I think Wes or.

Who's West Minna fighting?

Uh, Terp.

He's fighting Terp Daddy.

He's an interesting character.

Have you spent any time with him?

He seems like, I, no, I, and I probably never will, but I have been to quite a bit of his matchess and spoken to him after his wins.

He's interesting, and you know what?

He's not fake.

Like that's not really a show.

He's not friends with anyone.

You don't really do the whole fake stuff.

He says what he wants to say and He's an interesting character, but he performs up there on stage, um, but I know they posted something saying like start off the show right or something, so I don't know if they're starting it off.

Um, I think this will be announced within the next week or so, and I think Chris Barnett is on that card now too, isn't it?

Beast Boy Barnett.

Oh yeah, what the freak.

I feel like he belongs in power.

I feel like this is the next, uh, you remember his front flip in the octagon, and dude, he's gonna be great up there.

Go get that win, bro.

Go get that win.

Walter Walker called him chocolate Peppa Pig.

That's kind of what a time.

What a time.

Yeah, what a time to be in this sport.

Um, I think the.

Um, the beginning years are done and we're gonna see where the sport really goes within the next couple of years.

Um, there's some real serious athletes, um, wanting to get in, you know, there's some people making their debuts that I think will shock some divisions, so I'm excited.

What's the shelf life for you in the sport?

We'll see.

I, I think within 2 or 3, I'll see Robert again.

And then Yeah, my goal is to be lightweight champion within a few matches and then.

I don't know, a few years, few years, it's not a forever thing, um.

I don't want to get knocked out, you know, um.

We'll see.

Few years, but I definitely think within a couple matches I'll see Robert again.

Robert will meet a whole different animal and it'll be time to hand me that gold.

Tell me this, will it ever be weirder than that 2 to 3, you know, more matches or whatever before you meet him if he's gotta be your corner?

No, he won't be in my corner.

No, I won't allow that.

What I was gonna ask.

I don't, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah .

You won't allow it in my corner.

OK, yeah.

Do you have a favorite corner?

Yeah, Brandon Bordeaux.

Brandon Bordeaux.

Shout out Brandon Bordeaux.

Bordeaux has been my coach for both.

He cares.

He He's great with all the athletes.

He really helps people, um, feel confident when they get up there and even through all the matches, he really, you know, he cares.

Um, he wanted that belt for me just as much as I did, and that meant a lot for me.

Brandon's the best.

I text Justin immediately after I got my contract, and I was like, I want Brandon in my corner.

I don't care if that makes me blue corner.

I want Brandon.

That's a good segue.

So you just signed a contract, um, and do you wanna give us as much info about that as you can?

Yeah, October 9th here in Las Vegas, um, versus Emily Whitmire, former, uh, UFC strawweight.

Um, we actually have history.

We trained together at Extreme Tour for, for a long time, so, um.

I don't know if there's, I wanna say there's bad blood there, but, um, we know each other, you know, we know each other.

She used to beat me up on the ground, you know , you're not friends.

No, we are not friends.

So go get your get back.

She usually gets you a jiu-jitsu, and I'll go show her what's up with the slaps.

Yeah, she's definitely nasty on the ground, but I'm nasty on the feet.

She knows that, and everybody else knows that.

And if you don't ask about me.

You are.

I've heard, I've heard you have hands for sure.

So you're in.

How's that going so far?

I'm in camp.

It's going good.

You're gonna start tasting what it's like in I'm starting to get hungry and, uh, you know, I'm tired and I'm busy.

If you know Destiny, when she's a little frustrated, you know it.

Like you know it.

I, I've been like late a couple of times or like bailed on her and it's like, oh, don't do that.

Say, do what you say you're gonna do with Destiny.

I'm very um I'm very on time type of person and I'm busy, you know, if I tell you 12, I don't know about you, when am I not on time.

You're always on time.

You're right.

I'm always on time, yeah, but yeah, so yeah, we're in camp.

Camp's going good.

I'll be up right, right after Hayden.

I'll be the next one up.

I'm gonna help you get prepped.

Yeah, she's helping me get prepped.

We are training partners.

Yes, and then I also look forward to, uh, getting my butt in syndicate.

I'm gonna start training at.

I believe back into jiu-jitsu, jiu-jitsu, a little striking, just see where it goes.

Um, I have the time for it and that's where my passion's at.

So we'll see where I'm at.

I'm excited to see where I'm at.

That's it.

Do you want to get to the point where you can compete in a tough enough or something?

Ah, let's go.

I think you would like to do a tough enough within the next year or so.

Oh really, maybe a year or two, which I need to definitely.

Train techniques, but I feel based on technique and just natural like I'm an unorthodox fighter.

I got that dog in me, so I think with some good guidance, um, I could do something.

Hey, you can't teach the dog.

You can teach everything else.

So, exactly, yeah, you'll be all right.

Hell yeah, I'm excited.

We're, we're excited to have you.

Syndicate's the best.

You'll love it.

It is.

I love the energy in there.

It's awesome, yeah.

I will say though that I'm bothered.

Something I'm bothered by is they told me I'm not on the live card, which is crazy because I'm ranked number 3.

Wow, uh-huh, hmm, yeah, maybe that could change.

Fucking better work on it.

Yeah, things change.

We better work on it, yeah, cause Brian, Brian.

Some guy he made his debut and then the second one he was supposed to be on the pre-card, he ended up getting on the live.

Just keep doing your thing.

And then who's the goat of power slap?

You first.

Wolverine.

I'm gonna give it to Wolverine.

That's yeah yeah.

Yeah, and he's retiring in Texas with you up there.

That's crazy.

People think he's gonna lose.

I, I hope he doesn't.

I hope he doesn't just because that's like you think this guy could be him.

I, this is the first time where I'm not like one where I'm like Wolverine's got this, so Logan is a young guy, he's hungry that He's been on a tear.

Um, it's gonna be very entertaining, you know.

And then I don't know how much Wolverine is still hungry, you know.

I don't know if he's still, he never seems like he always just, he doesn't have that like because I've been to quite a few of his matches and got to, I've actually interviewed him one on one, and he just has that.

Like, he's just he's just, he's just even keel the whole time, which maybe that's why he's so good in the sport.

He doesn't like get too high or too low or you've been in other slap organizations before power slap.

He's gone like 27 rounds with somebody back and forth.

His brain wherever it sit it's just crazy.

I think that's the number.

It's 20 something rounds that he went back and forth with somebody.

Could you imagine that?

That's what I used to say about Zoey Dubois because she does not like doesn't like flinch, really, you know, and I'm like, I'm like maybe she just don't have a brain.

He's an old school trucker, I think he's a logger, you know, he, he's a badass.

Do you wear boots like he does?

No, I don't wear boots.

I just wear Nikes on stage.

This is my daily outfit, but when I'm in the gym, I don't wear boots.

You have to wear shoes up there.

We'll do that.

You gotta go barefoot.

You can be barefoot, but you'll gone barefoot.

Michael.

Michael Bisbek will talk shit about it.

The Hawaiian goes barefoot, the one skinny one.

It's uh he's competing in Texas too.

Oh no, is he on mine the main event for yours for mine.

wow, he's the got knock out the last one.

It's Pono's brother, fam.

Yeah, I always mispronounce his name.

He got a knockout out the last one, right?

Yeah, mhm.

He goes barefoot.

I could go barefoot.

I don't because I feel like my feet move a little and, and, in the shoes you can't see that.

But if I was to go barefoot, they would probably call like a roll or something, and it just doesn't feel as stable.

You need grip on the stage, right?

Yeah, I don't know what they look like that.

I mean, honestly, I don't, I think it's fine.

I don't know what the stage feels like barefoot up there, but like on mats I'm fine.

I, I'll give a trick.

This is my method, um, so I like the look of like, you know, some Jordans or some Air Forces something Nikes, um.

So I was going all around Vegas before my debut, like trying on a bunch of shoes that I wanted, like just trying to think of what I should wear.

I ended up now I've only competed in Jordan golf shoes.

So the shoes that I wear , those the spikes on them, or no, no spikes, they're just very stiff, very stiff.

And grippy and very flat footed, um, so I don't know you can look into that, but Jordan golf shoes I do dunks dunks dunks, yeah, I do dunks.

Just have a little too much of a heel for me.

I feel they're flat oh.

I don't know.

Maybe I'm thinking Air Forces, yeah, yeah, I see that.

Yeah, for sure.

With boots though, I'm off balance.

I'm like it's too much of a heel, you know.

OK, so, before I start to wrap this up, tell me like, what, where do you see yourself?

Obviously, you know, you're competing this month.

Do you want to have another match at before, before year's end.

And, you know, where do you say, where do you see yourself within the next year?

Within the next year, I see myself.

Competing for the lightweight championship again, 100%, um.

Ideally, If I'm gonna be honest, I'm gonna go, I feel like I'm gonna go knock out Jay Bougie first round, and I wanna tell them I want to run it back in Vegas 3 weeks later.

With it's like with who anyone, anyone in the top, you know, I would like Dakota McGregor because he's had two title shots already, you know, so I feel like it's just only right, um, see how Brian Scrambler is doing, you know, there's a few good guys, you know, that, um, I just, I just wanna prove I'm the best again and then go against Robert.

What was your ranking?

I'm, I'm ranked number 6 in the lightweight division.

Number 6.

All right, and this guy's obviously unranked because he's new , right, ranked number 10 after his debut.

OK, OK, yeah, um, but the October 9th 1 would mean a lot to me.

My birthday is October 6th.

My dad died on October 8th.

Um, so I would like to ideally go show Jay Bougie a lesson.

I'm not overlooking anybody, but I know what I'm gonna do.

And then, uh, yeah, ask him if I can run it back 3 weeks later.

Give me one, period.

Well, let's go.

There you guys have it.

Is there anything you wanna say before we let you go, Hayden, to your fans and everybody that's just been, you know, rocking with you up until this point cause it's been a journey?

Yeah, you know what?

God is so good and no matter what you're going through right now, you keep getting up, and I promise you, you will be proud of yourself, and God has amazing things for you.

If you put it in your heart, it's for a reason .

See what's on the other side of that.

I love it.

You got anything, Doug?

I got nothing.

All right, well, thank you so much for being here in the corner with us, Hayden.

Thank you for having me, of course, super excited for you.

You guys do not miss him competing at Power Slap 23 2 weeks from this week.

Uh, it's going to be live on YouTube.

Thanks so much for tuning in and listening to us talk.

This is in the Corner with Destiny McCuben.

I'm Doug Vy.

Real fighters, real stories, real talk.

We'll see you next round.