From UFC Commentary to MTV’s The Challenge: Ben “The Bane” Davis on Pressure, Performance & Staying Real

[SPEAKER_00]: Today, on misunderstood with Rachel, you could tell.
[SPEAKER_02]: As there ever been a better casting, than Ben the Bane Davis at these... Oh my god.
[SPEAKER_00]: So good.
[SPEAKER_00]: The mic integrity also.
[SPEAKER_02]: These unboiled.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not just the mic...
[SPEAKER_02]: Please welcome Ben Davis.
[SPEAKER_02]: Black, oh my gosh.
[SPEAKER_02]: Ah, that's about all I know.
[SPEAKER_01]: This demolition machine came from Fastia, son.
[SPEAKER_01]: Robin Black, you ever been to Fastia?
[SPEAKER_00]: I find you fascinating.
[SPEAKER_00]: We know that you're obviously very good at commentating, but you've also gotten in the ring yourself.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know why you would do that.
[SPEAKER_02]: You wouldn't think that I'm the guy that's done bare-knuckle boxing or fought in or sell the sun, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: Surprise is a fun factor ever.
[SPEAKER_00]: But how the hell did you get into reality TV from there?
[SPEAKER_02]: Rachel, I've not seen much reality TV, so when I'm talking with this producer, I was just like, the challenge seems like an interesting one.
[SPEAKER_02]: And then in December, they were like, we've cast you.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I was like,
[SPEAKER_00]: Did you love doing it?
[SPEAKER_00]: Did you hate it?
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, what was that like for you?
[SPEAKER_02]: I underestimated how challenging the house would be and this like non-stop 24-7 social cycle of being around 31 people that you don't know.
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, you ever do reality TV again?
[SPEAKER_02]: I think that.
[SPEAKER_00]: [♪ music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music playing in background music
[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome back to Misunderstood, I'm Rachel Eucatel, and today we are diving into a story that's all about risk, reinvention, and what it means to step into the ring.
[SPEAKER_00]: Literally and figuratively.
[SPEAKER_00]: You probably know my guest today from MTV's The Challenge.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's a new threat, where he made his reality TV debut on season 41 recently.
[SPEAKER_00]: At just 25 years old, Ben, the Bane Davis, has already carved down a name for himself in combat sports, calling fights for UFC fight pass, and some of the biggest promotions in the game.
[SPEAKER_00]: But when he stepped into the world of reality competition, he wasn't just a commentator anymore, he was the story.
[SPEAKER_00]: On the challenge, the stakes are different.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not just about skill or analysis, it's about alliances.
[SPEAKER_00]: pressure, performance, and how you handle being under the lens 24-7.
[SPEAKER_00]: For Ben, this was a new arena, one where personality and authenticity are on display just as much as athletic ability.
[SPEAKER_00]: Today we're going to talk to him about what it means to go from being the voice behind the action to the one living it.
[SPEAKER_00]: How he's managed the scrutiny of reality TV and what it takes to stay grounded when everyone has an opinion on who you are.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is about more than just competition.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's about identity, reinvention, and what happens when the commentator becomes the competitor.
[SPEAKER_00]: Please enjoy my conversation with Ben the Bane Davis.
[SPEAKER_00]: Ben, the Bane Davis, welcome to misunderstood.
[SPEAKER_00]: How are you today?
[SPEAKER_02]: I'll Rachel, I'm fantastic.
[SPEAKER_02]: I must complement the floor behind you.
[SPEAKER_02]: Some fantastic choices.
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know if my plant terminology fails me, but it's a beautiful display you have.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I moved to Palm Beach, Florida, and I felt like I should have something that was very, you know, Palm Beach behind me.
[SPEAKER_00]: So since I've been researching you, I've been the biggest question I have is where do you get the name of the brain?
[SPEAKER_02]: It was probably the most uninteresting thing I would say about me.
[SPEAKER_02]: I was doing some twitch streaming bit of live streaming a couple of years back.
[SPEAKER_02]: And for me, it just felt important to have more of a brand, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: Then just bend Davis.
[SPEAKER_02]: I thought, what would capture someone's attention if they're scrolling by, they go, David's live streaming.
[SPEAKER_02]: Bend Davis is live streaming.
[SPEAKER_02]: Johnny's live streaming.
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't care about that.
[SPEAKER_02]: But the vein is live streaming.
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, who's the vein?
[SPEAKER_02]: What does that mean?
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, so it just felt like a little bit more of a dynamic edge to draw people in, which failed miserably.
[SPEAKER_00]: But it's not a word that meant something to you being, like, where do you even, like,
[SPEAKER_02]: I would say, in terms of specific inspiration, I was a huge Batman fan growing up.
[SPEAKER_02]: I had this like three foot by six foot Batman, poster hanging over my bed at one point.
[SPEAKER_02]: And so, you know, Bane is as a character, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: The one of the most strongest people in the DC universe.
[SPEAKER_02]: I was like, yeah, that's a cool, you know, why not take some emulation from that character?
[SPEAKER_00]: Got it.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, then that makes sense.
[SPEAKER_00]: I like it.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right.
[SPEAKER_00]: I find you fascinating as I was mentioning before we started.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've seen that at such an early age, you have done so much.
[SPEAKER_00]: I feel like that is a very rare quality in the stay in age, especially for kids your age.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I really respect it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I respect to the hustle.
[SPEAKER_00]: What I think is interesting about you, you attended Arizona State University.
[SPEAKER_00]: You graduated with honors and finance.
[SPEAKER_00]: But you didn't take that path.
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, did you start on that path or or right after college you were like, I can't, I don't want to do this.
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, during my undergrad at the Harvard of the West Coast ASU, I was really business oriented.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, true.
[SPEAKER_02]: It was something that I felt was secure.
[SPEAKER_02]: That was the biggest thing why I was in a business mindset is because growing up doing theater and drumming and being on an improv troupe just didn't feel like something that could pay the bills.
[SPEAKER_02]: I didn't understand how to really monetize those interests of mine and what any income stream could look like.
[SPEAKER_02]: So,
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, 18 year old me was like, well, the conventional norm, normal thing, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: The mold of usual people in my age is just go down something like marketing, finance, accounting.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I just figured I could be happy with that.
[SPEAKER_02]: I figured I could find a way to love it and be passionate.
[SPEAKER_02]: And so I did like a year and a half of commercial real estate internship.
[SPEAKER_02]: I interned at Amazon as a manager and all throughout.
[SPEAKER_00]: By the way, what does that mean?
[SPEAKER_00]: I've always wondered what it's like to work at Amazon.
[SPEAKER_02]: It sucks, it really, in short, it's a bad time.
[SPEAKER_02]: I can understand why some people do it, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: The hours are quite, you know, you get a lot of hours.
[SPEAKER_02]: You get a lot of work and I'm sure those great benefits.
[SPEAKER_02]: But it just, man, it was soul sucking, being in a warehouse every day and, you know, feeling kind of purposeless because there was supposed to be like an intern program.
[SPEAKER_02]: Right.
[SPEAKER_02]: But there wasn't in one.
[SPEAKER_02]: I was just working as a manager.
[SPEAKER_02]: I was like, what the hell is this?
[SPEAKER_02]: They've, they've hoodwing to me, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: So I'm just an employee.
[SPEAKER_02]: Now, I'm not really an intern.
[SPEAKER_02]: And so that was that was also a bit satisfying because I was expecting something structured, learning based and in reality, it's just like, okay, I'm clocking in managing 3,000 people and having no clue what the hell I'm doing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
[SPEAKER_00]: And was it like as simple as like people are making orders and you guys are finding shit off the shelves and throwing it on the truck?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I've never ever talked about how that works.
[SPEAKER_02]: It is complex in the sense that you have kind of like the inbound half of the fulfillment center and the of the outbound half of fulfillment center, which is where I was stationed at.
[SPEAKER_02]: The inbound is like really where you're doing a lot of the labeling, the orders are coming in and being packaged and then outbound is where we're kind of processing and putting it on the trucks.
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, and like it really is like this crazy combination every gear was turning um, but the outbound docs was so important because if we got backed up, then the whole fulfillment center would shut down and there's this concept called like blue lighting, it's like, okay, if you've got X amount, that's not being pushed, then we're blue lighting and that's that's terrible.
[SPEAKER_02]: We're in red zones, critical territory and Rachel, I was blue lighting every day.
[SPEAKER_02]: like it was a daily thing where I would push us to the brink of, you know, total collapse.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I remember like the L6 is in L7s.
[SPEAKER_02]: They'd come down from the upper floor, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: They're their thrones up in the pantheon of Amazon warehouse.
[SPEAKER_02]: And they'd be like, Ben, what are you doing?
[SPEAKER_02]: You're shutting the factory down.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm like, I don't know.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh my god, that's amazing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Can you imagine if Amazon was shut down because of little you, that would have been amazing?
[SPEAKER_02]: You know what, honestly, I should have done it one day, just for the story.
[SPEAKER_02]: I should have shut it down and been like, this is, well, my last day, I should have shut down the factory.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's hysterical.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, so what was your job after that?
[SPEAKER_00]: How did you get into eSports commentary?
[SPEAKER_00]: Is that, but anyway, is that when you're calling for games?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like are you actually being like this person's making this play and look at this guy on Roblox?
[SPEAKER_00]: How does that work?
[SPEAKER_02]: That is a very accurate, I would say, depiction.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's a video game.
[SPEAKER_02]: You're commenting on it as if it's real life.
[SPEAKER_02]: And it's sometimes hard to take serious, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: Because you're sitting there and in your pajamas, trying to act as if you're on a live broadcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you're telling your parents you're making money.
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is a real job, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: I was I was transparent in parents.
[SPEAKER_02]: I was like, I'm making shit from this.
[SPEAKER_02]: In fact, at time, I feel like I'm paying to be here and do this.
[SPEAKER_02]: No, like it really spawned out of, you know, efficiency, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: The barrier of entry to getting the sports commentary, especially in the mixed martial arts space, was like on the floor, if not beneath it.
[SPEAKER_02]: So for me, I was like, it's impossible to kind of break in any of these doors at the moment when I was a junior at ASU.
[SPEAKER_02]: And the eSports community was like, yeah, we've got 12 people watching our events.
[SPEAKER_02]: Why not let you commentate, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: There was really no backlash, no issue or resistance.
[SPEAKER_02]: And so I was like, sure, I'll make this happen.
[SPEAKER_02]: I was doing shows Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday.
[SPEAKER_02]: And then trying to shop that real all around the country to regional shows.
[SPEAKER_02]: Which was challenging, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, it's difficult to be like, hey, I'm connotating a video game.
[SPEAKER_02]: Please let me do the real thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, what's interesting about that?
[SPEAKER_00]: And please do not take this wrong way.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I'm not, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: I have a 13 year old who loves to like bed raw and go sit in a room and like play Roblox with her friends all day.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm always like, you're going to end up being like an Uber driver, not that there's anything wrong with it.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I wish that that is not what she will be for a living.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, but what's interesting is that you're telling me this isn't for a bunch of losers, like you could actually parlay that into a job, which is what you did and you used that as experience to get you into a world that you are more interested in, correct me from wrong.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's I think all about intentionality.
[SPEAKER_02]: I never had the intention to just do e-sports.
[SPEAKER_02]: I viewed it as like the easiest first step in hopefully a very long journey.
[SPEAKER_02]: And you know that that didn't come without struggle.
[SPEAKER_02]: It was probably a year and a half of doing the e-sports broadcasting.
[SPEAKER_02]: concurrently with like the media reporting and onsite coverage and the content creation and building that brand Like it was something that I was toiling away yet, but I really didn't see a return for quite some time in the sense of an actual promotion given the opportunity But yeah, I think that if you're isolating your time and focus on something without
[SPEAKER_02]: really the game plan to take something further or have just a, you know, a couple step process, then it is a bit of a waste and you're probably not going to get anything out of it.
[SPEAKER_00]: And were you interested in the future, like a bucket list, you wanted to be a commentator for a major league baseball for football, like are any of those things on your radar, or you were like, I want to be in UFC, MMA, all this kind of version, like what were your thoughts?
[SPEAKER_02]: I would say for the first two and a half years, it really was specifically combat sports.
[SPEAKER_02]: I have such a passion for mixed martial arts in boxing now and calling those fights is absolutely a huge box I'd love to check.
[SPEAKER_02]: Leave play by play for UFC, that's a dream job.
[SPEAKER_02]: But I think as this journey continues, I've kind of
[SPEAKER_02]: grasp the reality that in order to probably make x happen, I got to do y and expand outside of combat sports.
[SPEAKER_02]: And so, you know, in the beginning for sure, I was like, yeah, combat sports is everything.
[SPEAKER_02]: And now my head's kind of, well, it's one thing, you know, on the play.
[SPEAKER_00]: So you've said that you try to bring something different to commentary.
[SPEAKER_00]: Can you tell us about what your signature style is and how do you want to change the way fans experience combat sports?
[SPEAKER_02]: I think that there's so many play-by-plays operating at the moment that are tremendous, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: John Annex, the gold standard over at the UFC, and he has a deeply economical approach, no words wasted over an eight-hour period, which is awesome.
[SPEAKER_02]: And the stats he brings, the preparation he provides, is so educational.
[SPEAKER_02]: For me,
[SPEAKER_02]: I can't help but be myself right in the booth and that's a very passion first mentality where it's a lot of high energy.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's a lot of trying to, um, you know, excite the audiences is excited as I am, you know, and um, I don't know.
[SPEAKER_02]: One of my main goals was always if a fighter watches a fight back that I've commented on, I never want them to hit that mute button.
[SPEAKER_02]: I never want them to be like, you know, man, this, you know, I gave my best in that fight, but the commentating team didn't give me a fair shake or, you know, just just, we're going on tangents, the entirety of the fight.
[SPEAKER_02]: Like, as someone who's fought, listening back and hated the commentary, I'm like, well, I, you know, doing to others what you want done to you, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
[SPEAKER_00]: And how hard is it?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, I'm assuming you have to know the sport really, really well to be able to make those play by plays as it's going on.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think that for my role in the booth, having knowledge is deeply important, only in a sense to ask better questions to my color commentators.
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, they're the experts, they're the former active fighters, my analysts, and I have the beauty of like really not having to know too much, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: Like, I'm just setting them up, chewing them throughout the evening.
[SPEAKER_02]: I could, to
[SPEAKER_02]: feasibly walk into something, have no knowledge of the sport, but if I have the, you know, correct play by play mentality, get away with it almost.
[SPEAKER_02]: Is that the best no, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: Being absolutely educated and having experience, I would say is best, but for my role, not entirely required.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: What is the most unforgettable fight you've ever called?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like one still that
[SPEAKER_02]: There is a fight I always reference where it was in Long Island, New York, Patchog specifically, which if you're going to Long Island, don't know why you would be.
[SPEAKER_02]: I would say a void patchog, but we're at this place called the Stereo Garden, and a fighter named Kamal Dunkley goes by dynamite, is making the walk.
[SPEAKER_02]: And we spoke with them the day prior, and there was just a different energy.
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, some fighters have a mentality that,
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, rubs you a different way.
[SPEAKER_02]: You're like, this isn't the average person I'm dealing with.
[SPEAKER_02]: There's something deep or going on here.
[SPEAKER_02]: And he's dressed in this one piece outfit.
[SPEAKER_02]: And, you know, there was a confidence about him that wasn't really like anyone else on the card.
[SPEAKER_02]: And he told me, he's like, I'm going to end this guy with the first punch I throw.
[SPEAKER_02]: And whenever someone says something like that, you, you know, I can note of it.
[SPEAKER_02]: But...
[SPEAKER_02]: 99 times out of 100, that's not what plays out.
[SPEAKER_02]: This night though, he was correct.
[SPEAKER_02]: Went out there, knocked it out in five seconds, and it was ridiculous.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I've listened to the call back many times, and everything about it.
[SPEAKER_02]: just fits perfectly like a puzzle piece.
[SPEAKER_02]: I loved how me and the commentators queued it up.
[SPEAKER_02]: I loved how you know that punch unfolded.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's, you know, I don't, I hate going back and watching clips too frequently.
[SPEAKER_02]: But that is one where I'm like, man, I'm kind of happy with how that turned out.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, so now we know that you're obviously very good at commentating, but you've also gotten in the ring yourself, which I don't know why you would do that.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, listen, you're good looking kids.
[SPEAKER_00]: You've got a lot to say like what makes you want to get in the ring yourself.
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, almost because it's so against what you'd expect, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: Like why you wouldn't think that I'm the guy that's done bare-knuckle boxing or fought Anderson Silva son, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: So that, I don't know, surprise is a fun factor of it, but I do think there's an element where
[SPEAKER_02]: having skin in the game and walking it as much as I talk it is important.
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, I'm not someone that's ever been athletically gifted.
[SPEAKER_02]: I've never been someone that's attached to sports, but in this fight game, there are so many people that love to chirp and chat and don't really ever back it up.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I'm a fun guy, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: I love being personal and whatnot, but like I do have that dog in me and getting the chance to display it on several occasions has been tremendously satisfying.
[SPEAKER_02]: even if most of them don't go my way right so do you go into it thinking okay i'm gonna win this i can win this or you like this is just for fun i've always believed i could win every fight that i've had even when the odds are like stupidly stacked against me i'm like i can probably pull this off right guys um but i think i think the one thing for me that's maybe different from other fight and i'm not i would never call myself a fighter but with my fights is like i just i want to entertain
[SPEAKER_02]: It's the showmanship bone in the body where I'm like, okay, they want to show I'm going to deliver a show with whatever happens and that's like almost why I prioritize the build up more so than the fight itself Is the content online fun is the press conference the way and am I making moments that make people go Oh, you know, I am interested in seeing this fight or this is a bit intriguing like that's that says important to me is the fight itself
[SPEAKER_00]: What is the training that goes into something like that?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like by the way, I went to a baronacle fight.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: I sat in the front row.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was a guest of the owner.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I went with Bam Margera, you know, him from, um, of Jack S. Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I haven't as white.
[SPEAKER_00]: His new wife, Danny.
[SPEAKER_00]: First of all, Danny and I were, they, they give you those little things to hold on to if you need to squeeze something, you know, they have this everywhere.
[SPEAKER_00]: So they get, I was like pretending I was in Rocky.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, Adrian, call the sky.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was like, this is insane.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was blood everywhere.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was like, how do you, how do you, how do you practice, you know, not practice.
[SPEAKER_00]: How do you get yourself prepared to know that this is some serious shit you're about to do.
[SPEAKER_02]: The preparation for the bare knuckle boxing experience was, well, twice a day, I would just go slam my forehead against the concrete wall.
[SPEAKER_02]: And that was it, really.
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, no, there was, you know, two times a day we do our strengthening and boxing, a lot of hard sparring.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think for the bare knuckle boxing one, it was like,
[SPEAKER_02]: okay let's let's get into some deep waters with people in the gym and you know and just see how we react see what we can sharpen and um you know we had a game plan which was stay long stay on the outside and jab them for the first round or two and then um open up with some like really just too much combinations nothing really extended um so there was a lot of intentionality
[SPEAKER_02]: as possible and as probable for me at all times, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: How can I position my opponent to where I'm able to enact my game plan?
[SPEAKER_02]: If you've seen the BKFC fight that I was in, all of that went out the window like in the first two seconds.
[SPEAKER_02]: So, nothing went right in that fight.
[SPEAKER_02]: And you know, it is what it is.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's really funny.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, but did you have any regrets?
[SPEAKER_00]: Was there something that you learned about yourself doing it?
[SPEAKER_02]: I reaffirmed that in the face of extreme adversity where you're getting knocked down.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'll get back up every time.
[SPEAKER_02]: And if you watch that fight, was I unconscious?
[SPEAKER_02]: No, I wanted to keep fighting.
[SPEAKER_02]: But the referee decided otherwise, which is very fair.
[SPEAKER_02]: But yeah, I think for me, it was about displaying the durability and toughness and kind of scrawny kid from Phoenix
[SPEAKER_02]: or could have the gumption about him to continue fighting and stay tough?
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
[SPEAKER_00]: Exactly.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right.
[SPEAKER_00]: So now, how the hell did you get into reality TV from there?
[SPEAKER_02]: It very funny story, so the long, long-gish version of it was I did a show in Puket last year called Fight Circus, which is this like variety style combat sports show in Thailand, and one of the guys that they'd brought in has done a lot of work in reality TV over the last couple decades, and we hit it all very, very nice guy.
[SPEAKER_02]: and we're debriefing after the show a week later, and this is probably March, I would say, of 2024, and we just get on the topic of his career.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I was just asking him questions, and one of the things that had come up was like, what reality shows we would want to be on it.
[SPEAKER_02]: He was like asking me, well, which one do you think you want to go on?
[SPEAKER_02]: And I really, Rachel, I've not seen much reality TV, like I watched the biggest loser growing up.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I loved that.
[SPEAKER_02]: Love that show, but I was like, I don't think I'm fit for that one.
[SPEAKER_02]: And the only other reality TV show I'd seen was Season 24 of the challenge, which was like in 2023, I'd randomly watched it at the suggestion of a friend.
[SPEAKER_02]: And so when I'm talking with this producer, I was just like, the challenge seems like an interesting one.
[SPEAKER_02]: And he was like, well, that's crazy.
[SPEAKER_02]: You say that, you know, I worked with the casting director for a bit of time.
[SPEAKER_02]: Let me just shoot her a text and see where she's at in her casting process.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I was like,
[SPEAKER_02]: Sure.
[SPEAKER_02]: Thanks, man.
[SPEAKER_02]: I guess.
[SPEAKER_02]: And then completely forgot about that conversation months and months went by in July.
[SPEAKER_02]: I got a DM from her and we had a conversation submitted in all the reels, did all the medical, physical, mental testing and was thinking the whole time like, okay, yeah, they're not going to cast me like that'd be a weird decision.
[SPEAKER_02]: And then in December, they were like, we've cast you.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I was like, fuck.
[SPEAKER_02]: Well,
[SPEAKER_02]: Well now we're now we're in and now I've done it.
[SPEAKER_02]: Right.
[SPEAKER_00]: So what is exciting?
[SPEAKER_00]: Were you like, oh, shit.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I've got to prepare for something else completely different.
[SPEAKER_02]: It was an element of both.
[SPEAKER_02]: There was absolutely excitement in that.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's so unique of an opportunity.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I was just not in a million years, did I think, okay, this is something that I would get involved with.
[SPEAKER_02]: And then there was the realization that, okay, well, now I have to prepare.
[SPEAKER_02]: And this is, you know, at this point, right, the show is fucking, you know, crossfit and marines and just like NFL athletes, I'm just, and what the hell are we doing here?
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, so, you know, my girlfriend, she didn't cross it for about eight years, so I started doing it with her.
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, but the thing about CrossFit is like, unless you're doing it for a extended period of time, right, longer term, you don't really see the results of the benefits.
[SPEAKER_02]: So I spent like maybe 10 weeks just killing my body and I was so sore and then February rolls around and they're like, all right, it's time to go and I'm just like, well, I don't feel that prepared.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
[SPEAKER_00]: And your body didn't look any different.
[SPEAKER_00]: You had to put on all this muscle or anything.
[SPEAKER_02]: No, yeah, I was like what the hell did I do all that for you know, I don't know Rachel I think it's genetics I don't think I've got the DNA in me to to show muscle like that.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, it's just not part of my body Okay, well you can keep that like thin European love.
[SPEAKER_02]: You were really like that The vampire looked the Romanian in a Dibelly type look Sure, so did you love doing it?
[SPEAKER_00]: Did you hate it?
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, what was that like for you?
[SPEAKER_02]: The first week and a half was really difficult.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think I underestimated how challenging the house would be and this like non-stop 24-7 social cycle of being around 31 people that you don't know.
[SPEAKER_02]: And everyone's task is to get the other person out.
[SPEAKER_02]: So like this layer of just unsettling deception and lack of faith and every conversation I was having, it did get to me in the early frames of the game.
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, and I, I feel so terrible for Nani, who was my partner, um, at the beginning and she was somebody.
[SPEAKER_02]: I thought I was going to be attached for the, at least like the first half of the season, maybe even the full season.
[SPEAKER_02]: We didn't know that we'd be switching every week, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, and I, I was pouring everything into Nani.
[SPEAKER_02]: And, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and
[SPEAKER_02]: I think I was stressing her out more so than anything else because I'd be like nanny.
[SPEAKER_02]: They were just talking over by the dinner table and I heard her Justin's name flying around or someone said something about Gabe, we should keep that in mind over just overdoing it.
[SPEAKER_02]: I was overprocessing and it took me like, yeah, we can have to chill out.
[SPEAKER_02]: But once I got chill, I was like, this is great, you know.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I've been on a reality show before.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know how that is when you have cameras everywhere.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're mic'd all the time, except for in the bathroom or whatever.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it becomes, you know, people don't realize you're like, oh, that must be really intrusive.
[SPEAKER_00]: I remember when I left, I was on celebrity rehab.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it was like three weeks.
[SPEAKER_00]: And where when I left, I almost felt lonely.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, no one's going to follow me to go read my books outside and do nothing.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, I loved it, it felt really comfortable and I never even noticed them around after the first day.
[SPEAKER_00]: Did you end up getting comfortable with that?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, the reason why I'm setting up for this question is because you've had a voice that mattered already, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because you've been in there, you've been doing journalism and the commentating.
[SPEAKER_00]: But now your reality star and you've come to see, I'm sure, that people put a lot of weight in
[SPEAKER_00]: did you mind that all of a sudden you had this media in your face, the cameras in your face, that everything you said was on air?
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know if I minded it necessarily, you know, I am definitely used to that setting of cameras, microphones, um, and so it wasn't wasn't too unfamiliar, but it definitely was a little bit of an adjustment in just the content of these conversations, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: speaking with like Cara about my sexuality and just having a whole photo, you know, a video shoot there was, that was a little bit of an adjustment, but, you know, something that I embraced and cherish, I think that the opportunity to, you know, deliver words that could be impactful to not only the people in the house, but anybody watching, right, and either providing
[SPEAKER_02]: just any level of encouragement.
[SPEAKER_02]: I thought was, um, that was, that was a weight and a cross that I was more than happy to bear, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: Because sometimes sometimes you need to hear something, whether it be from the TV, whether it be from the radio, you know, Spotify musicians.
[SPEAKER_02]: So like I think that, um, in today's society, messaging is deeply important.
[SPEAKER_02]: And so having the responsibility to do that on this season was, was nice.
[SPEAKER_02]: Even if, you know, there wasn't really much of me on the show.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm curious if anything happened that was like a sense of betrayal that still sits with you today, even though now it's over, like, did something, was there something very personal that you were like, that fucking sucked.
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, I think that nothing, you know, because I was, I was able to dissect the game versus what was real life, you know, some people making games specific decisions and how that really, that's not something that they're coming up me personally about like city for instance.
[SPEAKER_02]: big betrayal right off camera told me you're you're my number two we're going to the final and I was like sure that sounds good and then three days later voting me into the arena that was something where I was like out kind of hurts my feelings you know but it's it's hard to get me to take things personal you know I think that you know especially in combat sports is just been a
[SPEAKER_02]: a tsunami of either homophobic messages, crazy DMs, you know, people disliking me.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm like, I could give less of a shit about that.
[SPEAKER_02]: So if you want me to take something personal, then it has to really be impactful, not, you know, making a game decision on a reality TV show.
[SPEAKER_00]: Stop it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: I like it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I respect that.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right.
[SPEAKER_00]: But would you consider yourself misunderstood by any means?
[SPEAKER_00]: Are you feel like you're fully grounded in who you are, what you are, and how people see you?
[SPEAKER_02]: I feel pretty grounded.
[SPEAKER_02]: I feel incredibly myself.
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't think that there's any layer of facade to me.
[SPEAKER_02]: I try and be transparent.
[SPEAKER_02]: I try and be open.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think that, I don't know.
[SPEAKER_02]: If people have problems with the, it's more of a product that they don't know me and they're twisting in their own minds, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: So, and then again, like I said, that isn't shit.
[SPEAKER_02]: I can be accountable for if you are interpreting something in the stupidest way possible, how on earth is that my problem, you know, so I feel on me if you don't like it, you know, is what it is.
[SPEAKER_00]: okay, love it.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, you've carved a lane that blends intellect, media, fighting, all these different things that you've got finance, all these things that you've done.
[SPEAKER_00]: For people that are listening, that are young, or old doesn't matter, can you give a little bit of insight or tips on like really going after it and becoming who you want?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because I think you've done it really well.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think the biggest tip or suggestion I could offer is that if you don't have a truly relentless pursuit for what you want to do, then don't expect that full result.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think that in today's society, people think that if they just have to ask it or if they imagine and fantasize about a poll, then it'll just magically come true.
[SPEAKER_02]: And that's like the most opposite of the truth, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: a job you want or a career that you want or a life you aspire to live, then break it down into reasonable steps and take those steps.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think that in our world, like unfortunately, it's not really a meritocracy.
[SPEAKER_02]: It doesn't, it's not really who's most qualified or not.
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, shit, you can just look around in this country and see, yeah.
[SPEAKER_02]: That dumbass doesn't deserve that spot, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: But it really does speak to the networking aspect of things.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's a lot about who you know, not what you know.
[SPEAKER_02]: Your network is your network.
[SPEAKER_02]: So find creative ways to build bridges, have people fighting for you because it's what it comes down to.
[SPEAKER_02]: If you don't have the right people fighting for you in the right conversations, at the right times, you're not going to get the right results.
[SPEAKER_00]: I totally agree, um, what do you have a failure you could tell us about that you're grateful for something that didn't work out, but shaped you anyway?
[SPEAKER_02]: I think that I could say that multiple times of like my social media accounts getting suspended having to start from zero was deeply frustrating, um, but that's, I would say more trivial.
[SPEAKER_02]: of a challenge to get through, right, that's, you know, not too big of a dealio.
[SPEAKER_02]: But there were multiple jobs I was fired from, you know, multiple commentating gigs I was let go from.
[SPEAKER_02]: And UFC fight pass on, you know, the regional scene media gigs, right, content creation for certain companies where they're like, yeah, we're, you know, we're just not.
[SPEAKER_02]: interested in pursuing that for our company anymore.
[SPEAKER_02]: And a lot of instances where I could have stopped and pivoted and given up and shows not to, I'll give you a short story on one specific example.
[SPEAKER_02]: I was doing reporting on this organization called Fight Club, which is partially owned by Michael Bisping, who's a huge combat sports figure.
[SPEAKER_02]: just so elated to have the gig right be a media correspondent for pretty well-known outlet that's great and on the road interviewing athletes providing coverage bringing stories back and the day before the fights after like two weeks of covering these organizations the day before the fights I get a call for my boss and he's like yeah man we got to let you go you know the investors and management just don't think you're a good look for the brand and so yeah we're gonna you know we're gonna have to part ways with you
[SPEAKER_02]: And I was like in the bathroom at the sports bar listening to this and just deeply crushed.
[SPEAKER_02]: I was like, man, I've kind of busted my ass for you guys the last two weeks and given every second of trying to create the best that I could.
[SPEAKER_02]: And just to get thrown away like a piece of trash, wasn't exactly that, you know, didn't feel that great.
[SPEAKER_00]: I would you have been a good luck.
[SPEAKER_00]: What did they mean by that?
[SPEAKER_02]: Honestly, I still don't know.
[SPEAKER_02]: I really don't know.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think that it was a couple other people on the team that were unfairly messaging my bosses because they wanted someone else to get the media correspondent gig.
[SPEAKER_02]: And it's all to me, it's all speculation.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I've never cared enough to really try and find a root of it.
[SPEAKER_02]: But it was confusing, frustrating, and at the end of the day, I was like, man.
[SPEAKER_02]: I thought I was going to be with these guys for a long time and little did I know it was going to be 14 days.
[SPEAKER_02]: So I think that yeah, it's a product of like you're going to have fail.
[SPEAKER_02]: You're going to have setbacks.
[SPEAKER_02]: You're going to have things that don't go your way, but you know, it's a marathon, not a sprint, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: And greener pastures will come.
[SPEAKER_00]: Totally.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, last couple of questions, your thoughts on the White House fight scheduled for next year.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I think that it's stupid.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think it's kind of a waste of a lot of people's times.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's like why, because I know taxpayers are paying for it.
[SPEAKER_02]: Right, so I'm like, that's not something that I really want to be contributing to, you know, it's it's a very interesting concept and a spectacle, but it's just it's not something that's going to come to people's expectations right whenever the UFC has done these huge events these huge cards, it really falls a bit short
[SPEAKER_02]: of expectations, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: You can think of, you have seen no chat, you can think about, you have seen 300, the sphere show, like in concept, and in the marketing and lead up in all this, it's the greatest thing ever.
[SPEAKER_02]: And then you've got kind of a lackluster fight card, and, you know, just,
[SPEAKER_02]: a reality that's not what the vision is.
[SPEAKER_02]: So I saw those graphics that were created and this is what it might look like.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's gonna look far from that.
[SPEAKER_02]: So we'll see what happens.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm kinda doubtful that it will.
[SPEAKER_02]: But at the end of the day, it's hard for me to care.
[SPEAKER_00]: Got it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: Will you ever do a reality TV again?
[SPEAKER_02]: Absolutely, 100% I think that my first season of the challenge wasn't really a great reflection of what I can bring, whether that be from a competitive standpoint, whether that could be from a dramatic standpoint.
[SPEAKER_02]: So I do hope that there's a little bit more in the tank on, you know, that avenue and listen, I have been training.
[SPEAKER_02]: I've been doing my rock climbing.
[SPEAKER_02]: I have been back in the CrossFit gym, so we are in better shape than we were for 41.
[SPEAKER_00]: There are a show that like is on your bucket list.
[SPEAKER_02]: I would love to do some cooking-related one, like worst chefs in America would be interesting.
[SPEAKER_00]: Wow.
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_02]: Right, I don't have to get my body punished twice a week, doing something like that, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I thought you were going to say, like, special forces or whatever that show.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, what?
[SPEAKER_02]: It's me on a special force.
[SPEAKER_02]: It no thank you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like jumping out backwards out of a helicopter, where you're hit, you know, you have a helmet over your face or a bag.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, that would scare the shit out of me.
[SPEAKER_02]: Rachel, I'd much rather try and create a souffle, you know, then, then drive a tank.
[SPEAKER_00]: But maybe traders, that could be a good one.
[SPEAKER_02]: Maybe traders, you know, I've been tuning into big brother and survivor the last couple of years.
[SPEAKER_02]: So, you know, either of those would be a lot of fun.
[SPEAKER_02]: Survival, honestly, survived would be good in the sense that like I need to lose a little bit of weight and it seems like everybody slims down on that show for some reason or another, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: No, they came to me like four years ago and asked me to do like a celebrity version of naked in a freight and I was like, yeah, what are you paying me like $2 million a month?
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're getting that and I get to lose 22 pounds while I'm there.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then I'll do it.
[SPEAKER_00]: But no, that is not something I want to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: it's generational wealth or I'm not doing it right exactly and then I'm always cold but to think of myself on some island naked freezing in the rain with snakes and like pick to like get my food forget about it.
[SPEAKER_00]: It sounds terrible.
[SPEAKER_02]: Now, yeah.
[SPEAKER_02]: And like, I'm, you know, I, I think I could sharpen some survival instincts, but I, I just wouldn't bet on myself if I was naked in the wilderness.
[SPEAKER_02]: I feel like that's, I don't know, how long do they, they make you do?
[SPEAKER_02]: It's like a month out there, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, I think it's 21 days.
[SPEAKER_00]: Three weeks with no clothes, are you kidding me?
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I don't know, not for me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, not for me either.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, last question, speaking of bucket list from before, we are so young, what is on the horizon for you?
[SPEAKER_00]: What are some things maybe totally different than this or if you want to do this forever, but what do you want to do later?
[SPEAKER_02]: it's difficult because like I have so many boxes I want to check and a lot of random broadcasting goals whether that be you have ceiling play by play whether that be you know a big part of the Olympics on air crew for their summer and winter Olympics.
[SPEAKER_02]: I would love to be a voice of one of the Phoenix base sports teams if it's the D-backs, the sons.
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, cardinals, I think that would be a really, that's someone that's born and raised in Phoenix having the opportunity to do play by play for one of these major organizations would be really fulfilling.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think, yeah, in reality TV, I'd love to continue that and keep being in the drum.
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, shit, Johnny's been doing it for 19 years, so.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was just going to say he'd made a total career of that and it's phenomenal.
[SPEAKER_00]: Made a work for some people, not all.
[SPEAKER_02]: Exactly.
[SPEAKER_02]: So if Johnny can do it, I think I can maybe do a little bit of it.
[SPEAKER_00]: He is very well spoken, but I have to say, even though I like him, you're much better spoken than him.
[SPEAKER_00]: Would you ever do commentating for like Savannah bananas?
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you watch them?
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, yeah, absolutely, yellow, yellow tucks, Jesse and the whole gang, I think they're tremendous.
[SPEAKER_02]: Like they, I don't know, I have loved watching their evolution in the last couple of years from right, the small town Savannah, Georgia, ranking stadium to like 90,000 fans at Clemson University.
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know, it's, we don't, I feel like in these days, we don't see really truly inspirational sports stories like that anymore.
[SPEAKER_02]: So, man, like if getting involved in some way with them would be a lot of fun.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I agree.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, last question.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know you said you have a girlfriend.
[SPEAKER_00]: I saw you posted about her recently for a year or something like that.
[SPEAKER_00]: What, I mean, do you want to have kids?
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you want to get married ever?
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, marriage absolutely.
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, that's that's on the doc that we've gone ringing shopping.
[SPEAKER_02]: So, it's becoming, I know it's becoming more real.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I don't think you're not going to go on love as blind anytime soon.
[SPEAKER_02]: No, I don't, I mean, you know, I found the one.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think I found the one.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think that she is the best partner for me.
[SPEAKER_02]: She's my puzzle piece.
[SPEAKER_02]: She inspires me to be better.
[SPEAKER_02]: And there's like a level of comfort that I have in our relationship that I just haven't found with anybody else.
[SPEAKER_02]: And she's very ambitious, smarter than me.
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, shit, she's a quality engineer at a fiber optics manufacturing plant.
[SPEAKER_02]: Like that is, I just love this.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't even know.
[SPEAKER_02]: Every time she talks about her job, I'm just like, I am the dumb one in this.
[SPEAKER_02]: But no, she's great.
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know if I don't think kids are on our future, but you know, I think that that toy and I have a really beautiful plan for what we want to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: Amazing.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wish you the best of luck.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't wait to see how life turns out for you and I will be watching your journey.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for joining us today.
[SPEAKER_02]: Thank you, Rachel.
[SPEAKER_02]: I appreciate you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for listening to Ms.
[SPEAKER_00]: Understood.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm your host, Rachel, you could tell.
[SPEAKER_00]: Please be sure to subscribe to the show and give us a five-star rating and review.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Understood with Rachel, you could tell.
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you have ideas for the show or want to reach out email us at info, Ms.
[SPEAKER_00]: Understood podcast at gmail.com.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's spelled m-is-s-s-understood.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much, and I'll see you next time.