#13 Luke Barnatt - From UFC Fighter to 7 Figure Entrepreneur

Welcome back to another episode of The Game Plan podcast. We're kicking off our first podcast with Luke Barnatt, former UFC Middleweight turned entrepreneur.

We explore Luke's evolution from UFC fame to developing an unmatched business mindset. Luke reveals his perspectives on overcoming adversity, transitioning from sports to business, and the lessons learned along the way. He also shares his approach to balancing mental and physical wellness, highlighting the importance of a holistic approach to life.

If you enjoy this podcast, please leave a 5 star rating on Spotify and a review on Apple podcasts.

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(00:00) Preview and Intro
(01:19) Luke’s First Experience with Fighting
(02:51) What Was Luke’s Early Life Like?School Life and Personality
(07:11) Th Real Life Consequences of Gaming
(17:45) Luke’s Introduction to Wrestling and MMA
(20:36) Dealing with an Addictive Personality
(24:39) Lessons from Fighting At The Highest Level
(33:59) How Did Luke Get To The UFC
(40:12) Luke’s Most Memorable Fights 
(48:42) Journey to Vegas and 'The Ultimate Fighter' Tryouts
(59:15) Importance of Cardio in Fighting 
(01:05:14) The Dangers of Weight Cutting
(01:16:02) PED Use in UFC 
(01:25:34) Training with Chael Sonnen 
(01:34:56) Balancing Personal Growth, Business, and Health
(01:40:37) What’s The Optimal Training Frequency 
(01:43:20) Life Post-UFC 
(01:54:00) Finding Purpose Through Entrepreneurship
(01:56:00) Impact of Andrew Tate's Mentorship
(02:02:00) Exploring New Business Ventures
(02:06:00) The Importance of Mentorship and Helping Others 
(02:14:00) What’s The Real Value of Authenticity and Hard Work

Transcript

Luke Barnatt: 0:00

I moved into the gym and I slept on the floor and I gave up my job and there was like a little dark room in the gym where I used to sleep and I had like a sleeping bag, and there's no lights in the room, it's just like a door you open and shut and it goes. Black Cardio is king. Yeah, that's the first. Number one, because it doesn't matter how strong you are, doesn't matter how like muscle endurance is good. It's basically a different type of cardio, but if you get tired you're done. So it's how much output you can do in 15 minutes, which is still a cardio thing. But then it comes down to muscle endurance and it comes under strength. Whoever I'm fighting now, I want my next opponent to watch this fight and shit themselves. From what I'm going to do to this person, it's all about performance at the best. If I can perform to the best, I can perform. No man on the planet can beat me. That was always my mentality.

Rob Lipsett: 0:43

Guys, welcome back to the game plan Marbez number one podcast, something like that. Today we have Luke Barnett on the show, and now Luke. I am the only sport I watch. As you have seen, it's the only one I follow. So I have some genuine questions to get into here and I'm genuinely very excited for today. So, first of all, how are you doing?

Luke Barnatt: 1:05

I'm very good man, but I needed this coffee today and for some reason it's a you know what Spain's like, but Spanish holiday or the Spanish teachers are on strike or something like that. So my kids are off schools, about to look after them this morning, and then I desperately need this coffee man.

Rob Lipsett: 1:19

I'm dead after two o'clock. Usually I have my podcast at like 10 or 11, then after midday I've got all this energy. Then after two o'clock, I need one of these. But today we're going to touch on some really exciting topics how you start out and fighting, went to the UFC, ended up in the world of entrepreneurship. But first thing I want to know is when was the first time you were punched in the face?

Luke Barnatt: 1:45

Wow, okay, would have been at school. God knows how old I was. Let me think Maybe I was. I would have been in Chumford. So I'm from Islington in London. I was born in a place called Redbridge actually, which is technically Essex, but in London, and I went to school there till I was about 10. Then I moved to Essex, to Chumford, and I went to school called Boswell's School and that's where I would have got punched in the face first. But I remember it's a good story because I remember. I don't remember exactly if this was the first ever time, maybe it was on. I got two brothers, so they probably hit me first, but definitely this is the one I remember. There was a kid at school I can't remember his name, but it was an English class and I was walking away from English and I was freezing cold and I had my hands in my pockets like this. But then I cope, cope pockets forward holding onto my thumbs because I was a child and that's how cold it was, and some kid ran at me from behind and then was yelling at me so I turned around and he hit me and I hit him back and I broke my thumb because I was the classic grip. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but that was the first time I remember being punched in the face.

Rob Lipsett: 2:51

Okay, nice, and what were you like in school as a young lad?

Luke Barnatt: 2:54

You have to ask the guys what they scored. No, I wasn't an okay student, I wasn't like good. I would say, I was like the class clown kind of, but not in, I wouldn't say it. So basically, when I was at school my mom was Jehovah's Witness, or still is Jehovah's Witness, but obviously that affected me when I was at school and my dad used to travel a lot, he was a photographer and he'd always be away. So my mom, I was like how do I explain it? I had like a group of friends but I kind of became very what's the word? Introvert and I became a bit of a computer geek, A bit of I was a massive computer geek.

Rob Lipsett: 3:36

Didn't see that one coming.

Luke Barnatt: 3:38

Most people don't know this. It's quite interesting. So at school I was bullied because I moved from London and I was like new to the school, so I was just the new kid. I instantly got bullied. I was obviously tall and skinny, but then I was Jehovah's Witness as well. So when they found there was something to bully me on that was the thing. I didn't get birthday presents, didn't get Christmas presents, whatever. So when it got bullied there but I still managed to get a group of friends like close friends, but even at sometimes they would bully me because they would go be with the guys you know, like into the school thing or whatever. So I wouldn't say Irish and English thing.

Rob Lipsett: 4:12

Yeah, yeah, yeah, slag each other off?

Luke Barnatt: 4:15

Exactly, exactly. So I didn't. I had friends and I had a good childhood and all that sort of stuff. I used to play basketball, but the main thing I did was play computer games, so I started by playing. I'm not sure you won't know them, but there's a game called Tibia, which is basically a role-playing game where you pretend to be a wizard and you Tibia, tibia.

Rob Lipsett: 4:35

I thought there was going to be something to do with the leg. That's what you'd imagine. I just don't want to say. Then you say wizard, oh my.

Luke Barnatt: 4:42

God, but I can tell the story of that score. But when I got betrayed? This is quite funny. So this game, tibia was like everyone knows World, but you know World of Warcraft, of course. Okay, so everyone knows World of Warcraft. Now, if you haven't, you go watch the South Park episode. They explained the World of Warcraft.

Rob Lipsett: 4:58

That's the best way to know what it is.

Luke Barnatt: 5:00

But Tibia was basically 2D World of Warcraft. So back in the back in the day you would have like this little thing man walks around. Your avatar would walk around and be like think, think, think, and then you'd attack a troll or a dwarf or a dragon or whatever. But how it would work is you would just sit next to each other and he would light up, you would light up, he would light up. So it was gay, yeah.

Rob Lipsett: 5:21

That's what it described.

Luke Barnatt: 5:23

It was dogernerny Super no, but I played it a lot and actually two of my friends. They became like the top tier players in the world on this game, right, and I used to play it all the time. And then a couple of my other friends, like fringe friends, got into the game and there was this one kid that I was like frenemies. I don't know, Women have frenemies. Oh yeah, but I had women and kids, yeah.

Rob Lipsett: 5:46

Yeah, it's funny, I was a kid.

Luke Barnatt: 5:49

So this guy that I used to be friends with, whatever I got hidden into the game and for some reason we fell out and I'll never forget. So I was like not big in the game but I was doing all right. Yeah, let's say, if you did levels between one and a hundred, I was like level 80.

Rob Lipsett: 6:03

So I was solid Pretty nerdy yeah, super nerdy yeah, nearly at 100. Yeah.

Luke Barnatt: 6:10

But my two mates were like 130. I was 80 nerdy and this guy was like 50 nerdy, right, and. But we fell out. So somehow this 50 nerdy kid hacked my account and he went and I had all the good shit Like dragon armor, golden maces, wizard hats, all this crazy shit. Make me want to play TV. Yeah, you used to get what they call them runes. Yeah, like fire, like fireball runes, and have the rarest runes, all that crap Anyway. And you just have a bank on the game. So I remember like we fell out and like a couple of days later I logged onto the game. When I set, a couple of days later, as soon as I got home from school, I logged on the game and then I just appeared naked in a field of like some goblins or something and they just hammered me down and killed me and I was like what? And then I respawn and I go to my bank, which is where you have all your armor, your money, and it was empty and this guy who had fell out with it hacked my account and stolen everything I had on Tibia and that was my first real enemy in life.

Rob Lipsett: 7:11

Oh, and this means war. So what happened after that? Did you go kick him in the real Tibia?

Luke Barnatt: 7:19

No, I couldn't find him because I can't. He like we weren't in school anymore, it was a bit whatever. So I never saw the kid again. Pretty much I can't remember if I did anyway. But then I went home years later after the UFC thing and I was doing all right and my mom knew his mom and she said to me I won't go say the guy's name, but have you heard about blah blah? And I was like no, he's, like oh, he's a gambling addict and he's. And so basically this is what I blame. I blame, this is what I do. I blame Tibia on his demise, so him becoming an addict and stealing all my stuff and like stabbing me in the back. We call it karma or whatever. He then became addicted to it and then slowly the addiction of Tibia grew into a gambling addiction and he ended up like stealing all his mom's jewelry and selling it and like it's proper, serious addiction, for real. Yeah.

Rob Lipsett: 8:11

I'm like this is in real life, where his Tibia mom is real.

Luke Barnatt: 8:14

So he stole my stuff and sold it on Tibia. And then 10 years later I stole his own family's property and sold it and became like an addict and whatever. So my mom came to me and was like, oh, maybe you should speak to him.

Rob Lipsett: 8:27

I was like fuck that, yeah, yeah, he stole my loot.

Luke Barnatt: 8:31

So anyway, I'll go back to the story. But that kind of happened. Fuck that guy.

Rob Lipsett: 8:35

Yeah, and so how did we get from Tibia world fighting to real world fighting?

Luke Barnatt: 8:44

Well, I would have been like it's 30 when I started playing Tibia, then it progressed to board Warcraft, but then I ended up playing this game called Call of Duty with my friend James, this game called Call of Duty. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But then, before Call of Duty became big, there was a game on the PC called Tactical Ops, which you won't know.

Rob Lipsett: 9:01

No that's this right, draw the line, yeah, yeah.

Luke Barnatt: 9:04

And so this is back like the same when I was a kid, gaming in general. I mean it's geeky now, but it was super geeky. There was no competitions where you could win a million dollars or go in front of crowds and do Call of.

Rob Lipsett: 9:16

Duty yeah, it's crazy. Now it's bigger than real sports. Yeah, sports is. Yeah, it's nuts, and even that, what's that?

Luke Barnatt: 9:22

There's that free one that you can download that the kids all played. I don't know if it's Fortnite, fortnite.

Rob Lipsett: 9:26

Yes, so it became huge, right?

Luke Barnatt: 9:28

Yeah, when I was playing it wasn't that big. But there's a game called Counter Strike.

Rob Lipsett: 9:33

Yeah, I know that, I know that.

Luke Barnatt: 9:35

So Counter gonna get geeky for a second. Go, please. Counter Strike. Basically, the game I played is Tactical Ops is the Unreal tournament engine version of that game, which basically means that it's run on the Unreal tournament servers and all that sort of stuff. So it's the same game. If you think of Counter Strikes, it's pretty much the same game different maps and slightly different gameplay, but it's Unreal tournament style gameplay. If you ever played Unreal tournament which maybe you didn't so me and my friend James became like the best 2v2 players in the world on this game.

Rob Lipsett: 10:08

And are you exaggerating a little bit?

Luke Barnatt: 10:10

No, no no, no, there was rankings and everything. We weren't in it up there for a few weeks, but we became the best 2v2. You have to play every like we played at wars. They were called every like week, or every five days or four days. We would have different games set up against different 2v2 teams that were like trying to become the best in the world. Yeah, and we became the best in the world for two weeks. So how? The only reason I'm explaining all this is to explain my personality. So you tell us how I was at school. I became extremely addicted to these computer games, right? So I'm talking in England. I don't know if it's the same in Ireland, but we got six weeks on the whole day.

Rob Lipsett: 10:44

Six weeks yeah, and we got like three months, okay. Well, we got six weeks yeah. So yeah you give us a bit of freedom. You're on the European North here. They get three months as well, yeah.

Luke Barnatt: 10:55

When England we got six weeks six weeks on my list, maybe 10 into seven or whatever, but it's our six weeks those six weeks holidays from the age of like 12 to 15, I didn't leave the house, I was on the computer, playing, playing, playing, playing. And you have strategy meetings, all the like. I said the nerdiest stuff you could think of. But I'm saying I got super, super addicted to that. And then I found basketball. So basketball was like the first active thing I did with my actual body Makes sense.

Rob Lipsett: 11:20

Yeah, six foot six.

Luke Barnatt: 11:22

It was easy. There was one me and one other kid. There was a I mean, there was a whole team of us, obviously, but the other kid was Bradley Sganes. He's now actually the physio for you'll know, the best F1 driver in the world, the staff oh for stopping, max for stopping. Yeah, he's the staff and physio now. So I actually saw him in Monaco last year and he's. We were like basketball played. We used to play for the team, but he was the best at school and I was like I'll call myself the second best. Maybe my school friends are going to watch and maybe disagree.

Rob Lipsett: 11:53

They're going to call you out. There's going to be some comments on this. I was just a giant right. So I was six six, nine.

Luke Barnatt: 11:58

There was a couple other kids that were probably better than me. There's a good James Keeble, good friend of mine, but yeah, we. So I would play basketball and I got addicted to that and I became the basketball kid. So I'm saying that we can't. I was the computer guy kid, computer computer kid like Tibia, world Warcraft, um, tactical ups, cooler duty, whatever, addicted. Then I became the basketball kid and I mean I had all the gear like proper into it. I ended up playing for for Essex, for like well, for no, for jumpsuit and whatever. I played like a doke level. Then I went to America, um, on a cruise, like with my family, went to the whole the big one this makes me sound like I have money, but I don't the one big posh family whole day that we did. We went to Disney world and then after that we did a cruise with the Caribbean. That was the only expensive holiday I ever went on the big bar in a trip. Literally no, no, of the decade. Well before that we just camp and do all the normal crap. But, yeah, so we did that and, um, from that trip I played. So basically on the cruise I got two brothers. So on the cruise ship there was a basketball, unlimited pizza and unlimited Coke and whatever they all the drinks. So I was just like, right, I'm going to play basketball and eat pizza. For one week my mom's like we spent all this money to travel the Caribbean. I wasn't even getting off the islands cause I couldn't care less. And the um, dinner time they had like a sit down. I don't know if you've done a cruise, but it was like a posh sit down dinner and my older brother would always go to that. And I got I was like 16, 15, he was 18, you know, 17, 18. I was like what are you doing? We've got free pizza. Yeah, I like to play basketball. What are you doing? I was playing basketball every single day with these American kids and they whooped me and I was like 15, 16, they were like 12. Yeah, and in that trip I realized I'm never going to play professional basketball Like I was deluded as a child you know what I mean Thinking oh, I'm going to play in the NBA and all that. It's never going to happen. This kid was like 5, 10, smashing me. Yeah, okay, so I like the day. Um, before the end of the trip, I was like down because this, this 12 year old kid, had smashed me a horse or whatever it was. Whatever it was, yeah, killing me a week. So I was screwed. I'll go to dinner with my family the last night and I show up and on cruises you have to share a table with another family. I didn't realize. So it was my family and on the other side of family it's like these two Americans and they got three daughters and they're all hot, nice. So that's why my brother had been going to dinner every single time.

Rob Lipsett: 14:16

That's it. He's putting in work with the daughters. He was like who's going to work? He didn't get nowhere. He didn't get anywhere, he didn't get anywhere.

Luke Barnatt: 14:22

Anyway. So that trip killed basketball for me. So I came back and I was like a bit lost and just a bit disgruntled. They didn't want to play basketball anymore and I started, yeah, I left school. All my mates went to university. I didn't want to go to university because I hated it. I wanted to become an architect. So I thought I went to college, but I I come to go for it. I just hated it. So I kind of left school early and I was working. I had three jobs or two jobs at the time, like I was doing glass collecting and working in a restaurant. I was 16 or so, something like that. And then when I got to 18, I realized, like working behind the bar cause I was a cocktail barman I realized like the ones who make more money than me are the dormant. Okay, so it's like you know, you as a, as a barman, you make like I can't remember numbers it's like seven pounds an hour, six pounds an hour, whatever it is, and as a dormant you make 12 pounds an hour or whatever it is, and you do nothing, you just stand it. Yeah, it's not hard. Especially where I'm from, it wasn't very rough.

Rob Lipsett: 15:17

Okay, cause I've seen some terrible videos of doorman just getting in so much scuffles and fights and you just look stressful and people getting like shouted abuse at them and all.

Luke Barnatt: 15:29

I worked at a very nice place and I was a barman, so I thought I don't want to easy, you know. So you have to go do your license or the scraps. I did a license. It's like you go to a two day thing and you, whatever you know, finish the license, become a dormant. So I'm 18 years old, I've had a couple of scraps but I've not. But this time I've done no fighting and I'm a dormant. I'm just a big, tall, skinny guy but I look intimidating and and I, you know whatever I end up working at a bar called B bar Amazing name. We're with a guy called Jack Mason and he's at this time he probably had had 20 professional MMA fights. I don't know a lot, but he was like he was like 5, 10. So to me he was like smash it, yeah. So we'd be on the tour together. And then there was a local wrestling club in Chumpsford that he like brought me to and my mate me and my mate Rory and the guy that I live with at the time we used to go to this wrestling club. Before we'd go to the wrestling club because we were kids like, and we these were like submission wrestling men, men, yeah, I mean we'd go to the pub and we'd drink like three, two, three pints to get the courage to go on the mats and to wrestle with these guys.

Rob Lipsett: 16:37

So pre fight pints. Basically these days we take pre-workout back in this day, but they're drinking pints, exactly, and I think Jack probably doesn't even know this.

Luke Barnatt: 16:49

I don't know if maybe maybe they smell it on us because we were idiots, but so that was my like first transition into any sort of martial art, any sort of fighting anything was me and Rory wanted to be tough men. He, rory, was a dormant as well. We used to live together. His dad ran or his uncle or someone ran the company that we worked for and we were like encouraged to do some. So we went to this wrestling club and I was like scared so I started boozing to go to the club. Yeah, and that became like a weekly thing for maybe I don't know like two or three months and we just got battered. Like you just get anyone who's done any sort of martial art and he and this is like not, you go in there and you all bow. This is like just scrapping. Yeah, it was a guy. I want to remember the guy's names, but I'm sure one of them was called Danny man and then Alan, something with the guys running the club Really good guys, high level guy. They became high level guys. I just went because of Jack. So I'd go like just scrapping I mean fight for my life and getting hurt.

Rob Lipsett: 17:45

Was this wrestling? Or what Submission wrestling?

Luke Barnatt: 17:48

So it's like they call it catch wrestling now or whatever, but it's like jujitsu, but without the, the geek and then without any of the tradition.

Rob Lipsett: 17:56

So they're closer to the other thing.

Luke Barnatt: 17:58

There's a, there's no like bowing or any of that stuff. It's just like what's up, bro? Yeah, let's go Like men just being each other. Okay, and Jack used to go there to practice his wrestling or a submission wrestling because he had professional fights. Anyway, I did it a little bit and I was a cocky little bastard and I basically challenged the guy to do a fight and he used to train at. Like an MMA at the time was because, again, this is 17 years ago or whatever. It was 15, 15, 17 years ago. So it was like 17 years ago there wasn't your local MMA gym. It didn't exist. It's so popular now, yeah, so popular. Everyone knows it. Back then no one knew it. It didn't exist. We were called cage fighters. No one respected it. No one understood what it was. There was no money in it, nothing like that. It was just idiots who wanted to have a scrap. Yeah, basically, and I would go. So we did this submission wrestling and then I challenged Jack and Jack went okay, come to with me to the tsunami gym, which was in Cambridge. So I lived in Chelmsford to Cambridge, it's like an hour and a half drive and he used to do it twice a week, every Tuesday and Thursday or every Wednesday and Friday, I can't remember, but twice a week we used to go up and I was like, okay, I'll come up. So I went up and I've told this story a couple of times. But there's this short guy he's like five, four, five, five, 60 kilo guy. He's five, five, eight, so 66 kilos named Robbie Olivier, who was like the coach and he was a black belt in Judo and a brown belt in Jiu Jitsu. I didn't know that at the time. And he goes, you spot this guy and I got raped and I mean like right, absolutely Disgustingly destroyed by this guy. And then there was another guy there called AJ, when same thing.

Rob Lipsett: 19:37

Right, like these guys are all fucking up. And in what? In wrestling or anything? Okay, open it was MMA. Okay, so this was my first time, so I didn't go Okay.

Luke Barnatt: 19:48

So then I remember, so I didn't even train with Jack. I didn't train with some of the bigger guys there, the better guys. There was a couple of gypsies and all the other. I didn't train with anyone. So I remember getting back in the car with Jack and like sloping down and being like, yeah, all right, you know embarrassed, Like confidence knocked out oh you could not imagine how embarrassed I was. And he like taught me up a little like. He laughed at first and grinned. He's got this like grin that you'll never forget and he like taught me up a little bit. So that's all right, everyone. When they first come, they get here, blah, blah, blah. And then this is where the whole gaming thing that I was talking about before. Then I just became absolutely like I needed. I could not walk around on the streets knowing that it's possible that that could happen to me.

Rob Lipsett: 20:36

Nice. That's a very interesting way to get motivated and interesting way to put it, and it definitely seems that you've got an addictive personality. You know you could have ended up selling like at the divya man, selling your mom's house. You could have been addicted, but it sounds like you got addicted to fighting.

Luke Barnatt: 20:55

I got. I got super addicted, Like I became a whole life. So from that day I got so addicted to the idea of being walking the streets and any of these guys could just murder me, like it was like a fear in my brain. I know it sounds crazy, but in the back of my head I was like, if you met Robbie and seen Robbie, like he's the most at the time. It was the most unassuming guy, he was a firefighter, really nice guy, and we just just destroyed me. I don't have to even to explain it. There's another guy called Mark Day Same. You'd never expect anything, just to know it Destroy you, like all the guys that went there at the time, because it was such a hidden thing they didn't even really talk about it, you know, because people look down on people that didn't martial arts back then. So, yeah, I became like so addicted to it and obsessed is the best word obsessed with becoming better and I joined the Thai boxing gym in my area. Obviously, I went to tsunami with Jack and this is this is like Jack said to me years, years later. He said this to me but he had so many people over the years come to him and say like I want to fight, I want to train, and I was like I'll be there, tell me where I got to go, because he drove to Cambridge. I couldn't drive at the time. He was like I go twice a week, be at the train station 5.30pm, whatever time it was that we had to go after work, I'll pick you up and we'll go. And I was there. I never missed a session On time Ever, ever missed a session. I was like raring to go and I had a million questions and we'd be driving all the way there. And he, I just yeah, I completely. And he said like years later, like you're the only guy who ever stuck it. There was other people that tried, but you get, I got beat up for three years, two years, every day, like there was none. I never won a session. I was the least athletic, the least coordinated, the least talented man. I like there's no one. I'm the best case study for ever. I just really, really poured my heart and soul into martial arts and every day I had something. So I was working at the time I believe I was overworking for graphic, which was a. I totally wanted to be an architect. It was like a. We used to do CAD drawings in London, or I was working for Aldi Arnie, which was a marketing company in London. So I was getting up, go into the gym, train in, go into London and work in, then training in my lunch break and then go into work and then finishing getting back, driving in Cambridge, training, driving back, getting back at 10 PM, eating, going to sleep, waking up at six and doing it all over or five. It would have been then to do it all over again and I did that consistently for until I got, until I could actually throw a bunch, yeah, and so how long did it take you to? get decent? Hmm, well, it depends on what you consider decent. So, so, when your first fight Okay, so I had my first. From this moment when I started training at tsunami, I believe I had my first fight in eight months. Right, and, yeah, I definitely shouldn't have. Yeah, but I had my first fight in eight months and I fought a guy called Alan Pakman and I, yeah, between six and eight months, let's say eight months. So eight months in it was because I was so. Again, let me explain like martial arts, now MMA, I joined a professional gym with professional fighters competing at the highest level, like the highest level in Europe at the time, because it wasn't huge. There was a show called Cage Rage which became our challenge, which was in London in Limehouse, and Robbie Olivier was the featherweight champion of that show. John McGuire became the world weight champion of that show and we had a couple of other like high level prospects on that show, which is the biggest show in England and we would have. Tsunami gym was where there's so many like fighters. I could name that, maybe you'll know, I don't know like Alexander Gustafson, he used to travel to England to train with Robbie and the boys, like we were. They were there at the time.

Rob Lipsett: 24:39

Yeah, so you went right in at the deep end pretty much. Yeah, I was so lucky.

Luke Barnatt: 24:43

Yeah, that is very lucky Because of Jack, yeah, because to this guy, jack, he opened the door for me. But it was also like here you go, bro, if you want to get being up for the next two years, just come here every day.

Rob Lipsett: 24:54

Yeah, it was like an intensive crash crash course.

Luke Barnatt: 24:56

Yeah, and that, that. So I had that eight month course, yeah, but the thing about my gym, or the tsunami gym, was it was full of grapplers like short, stocky, big, strong grapplers, black Belt and Judo Jiu-Jitsu guys. It wasn't anyone like me, like, so I was a six foot six skinny kid learning how to grapple. I was a grappler to start with and I went into my first fight. Eight months later my hands are this Literally literally. No, no exaggeration, and they were like hands up, my hands are up.

Rob Lipsett: 25:27

Yeah, literally Real old school boxing, so I go into the other fight.

Luke Barnatt: 25:35

I didn't have a boxing coach, we just had grappling coaches. So the whole idea was take him down, whatever. But the guy I was fighting was like big stocky guy and he was just winging like you know, winging and hitting me every time because my hands are here, okay, and I was just standing there, you know. So I got, I got battered, absolutely bad. And the first round I got my jaw broken. Well, I didn't know, my jaw was broken.

Rob Lipsett: 26:00

That's fine If you didn't know. Yeah, that's cool.

Luke Barnatt: 26:04

So again, this goes down to the mentality of, of, of cage fighting or MMA. Back then I got hit a lot and I'm in a lot big shots. Whatever, I'm brand new. I remember walking out to the fight like dear and headlights. I just remember watching the video back and when they announced your name, like in the right corner, I was just like yeah, like just absolute no emotion.

Rob Lipsett: 26:28

gotta be one of the scariest things that you'll ever do in your life, you know stepping into a ring with another man fight.

Luke Barnatt: 26:34

I think then, like then I must, I must have been. I had such a Allegiance or maybe not, that's the wrong word but like connection with my team and cause my team believed in me. I don't think I felt as much fear as I was an idiot. I think the first time you do it it's like you. Okay, I'm trying to put into weightlifting terms.

Rob Lipsett: 26:55

So that I'll get the number.

Luke Barnatt: 26:57

The first time you do like a big, heavy leg session, you're not like afraid of the result, but then, when you can't walk for three days, the next time you do the leg session. I don't want to do this because I know you know what's coming. Yeah, yeah. So it's like with the first fight, I wasn't afraid. I was just a bit retarded. Yeah, I was. I did it headlights like confused, but I don't think I had any fear going in because I didn't know what to expect. Yes, and so I had this fight, like I said, got battered in the first round and I and I went back in between rounds, in between the first and the second round, and I said to my coach, robbie, the short guy that beat me up the first time, so I think my jaws broken and he went open, your mouth open. You just cracked a couple of teeth, you're fine, right, keep your hands up. Blah, blah, blah, whatever. A guy in the second round and somehow I have no idea. Honestly, to this day I'd love to watch fight back. I won by TKO or whatever. I won somehow. I think it was a TKO and I won. I think I just got tired, with no exaggeration thing, got tired and I hit him with a big shot and he went down and I won and I come back and Robbie goes. Well done, mate, congratulations. We need to go to the hospital because you break your jaw. So he lied to me in between rounds. He said that you, really you knew, I broke my jaw.

Rob Lipsett: 28:06

Safety first.

Luke Barnatt: 28:09

I was. I'm not going to the hospital, bro. I was just one of my first fight and I was like proper excited and I remember going. I think I went to the bar where I used to work. I probably got free drinks, you know, I mean. And I was drinking like rum and coke and I said I booze will sort me out. I remember waking up the next day Fuck, it was headache from the hangover and my face and jaw was was a nightmare. So I had. Then I had to go to hospital. Then I had surgery or not surgery, but they, they plate. Yeah, yeah, my jaw, your Kanye West, yeah, but I had. I remember I was such a nut but I had a crack, but it was only one side of my jaw was broken, so it wasn't like a clean break. Yeah, otherwise I think it would have been. It was like one side. So they put a plate in, like I'm sure it was on this side, and yeah, and then they like put wire in or something like that no, you got to come back in Six weeks and I'll take the wire out, or something like that. I'd never went back, I took the wire on myself, yeah, your doctor as well, so you're in getting surgery. You got, you got the jaw wired up, yeah, so then what, my jaw was wired, and at this point point in time I hadn't told my parents that was fine At all. So the whole thing I said about going to Cambridge being that my parents didn't know I lived away from home. Never tell my mom, because mom's job is witness hates violence, so it was a nightmare. So she didn't know anything about it. My dad didn't know anything about it. I Cousins knew, but I told them because because they come to watch my fights, but I told them not to tell anyone. And then, so when you do, you are, the question you asked was how long to take it to get any good. So, yeah, I won my first fight, but I wasn't very good and no one was. Back then. This is the thing like no one was, no one had like there weren't, we weren't learning the right things. So how it used to be was like you'd have a judo guy, a jiu-jitsu guy, a boxing guy, and they'd all like come together and try and work out, watch the UFC and be like I did that there, let's try and. And so you literally watch the fights and then, from watching the fights, you would try and replicate the techniques. It was like that back then, change now and all that sort stuff. But then I had another fight. Let's say, now I got my wire chop for Christmas so I couldn't eat Christmas dinner. So I remember, like because of the my broke my jaw and I just told it said I got in a street fight or something you know like, and that actually good story about being on the on the doors, don't if I can tell this, but go on, sure I can, yeah.

Rob Lipsett: 30:33

It's way.

Luke Barnatt: 30:34

Sure it was this one. No, no, it was before my first fight, maybe not, it's before one of my fights, I can't remember exactly. It was before one of my fights. And there was because I was like I told you, I was like a kid on the door really, the place I worked was quite nice, but we did get trouble like a like I didn't realize, but we did get a lot of trouble at the time and there was some like rugby lads in the, in the, in the bar, being dickheads, typical, yeah, and one of them was like playing with my. So you stab like a Mike, you know, like south, yeah, it was like playing with it and I said, listen bro, I was this. Bro, I know you try to be funny and it's all good and they have any good time. Touch my radio again, I'm gonna free, well, yeah, and they were like you know, like thinking, and at this time I was whatever. So I Went to this guy touch my radio again because he thought he was funny. I grabbed him. As I was throwing him out, one of his mates hit me over the back of the head and I went and turned around and looked him and he ran, hit me and then I don't know why it ran, must think before I was a hard-busted at this time.

Rob Lipsett: 31:34

I trust me, I was not yeah, and that is ballsy, hitting a six-foot six bouncer, but that's what I mean.

Luke Barnatt: 31:40

So when, when, he didn't knock me down and I turned round I think he was a oh and then he ran. So he runs all the way out and I'm like in the shape of my life. It was before a fight, so I'm in the shape of my life and I just chase after a jack screaming. I don't need to go, what you doing? And I just pissed because the guy like annoyed me, because the whole group had annoyed me. So run all the way and I never forget this around like fast and these to be a Roundabout. So you come out the bar, you run left. There was a roundabout here and then there was another round about here, but this guy was a rugby player, so he was pretty good shaped, yeah. So I chased him two roundabouts across and he was in pretty good shape because it's been boozing, yeah, he like I remember he turned around and like Put his hands on his legs and I was not even breathing heavy, yeah, and he just like stood there like that, not like not quite hands up, but like what and I just sprinted at him and I don't have you ever seen a Superman punch before? yeah, of course I hit him with a Superman punch and knocked him and I mean clean and he falls. But we were, he was on the roundabout, so you gotta imagine he like fell and his head kind of like hit the grass and then he kind of rolled into the road. So then I'm like he was alright. So I was like dragging him from the road onto the roundabout and as I was doing that, the police Come around and they'd like see me dragging like a body a dead body. Yeah, yeah, yeah onto the roundabout so I get him off the, off the road and they go. They'd like put the sirens on, but they like had to go, they you know. So I just sprint and I sprint from where I was back to the Front door, like the where I was working. Yeah, and Jack, I had blood like splattered across my shirt and I told you and I never forget this work, I forget it. All this happened. And I went back and Jack looked to me. He went your hands, okay, yes, bro, my hands are fine. You chucked a jumper at me. He said put the jumper on, go stand inside by the toilets or something. Yeah, and then the police came by ask us he's up. I don't know what you're about, yeah so and you get away with it, yeah clean and the guy because turned out that Jack because Jack knew everyone back in Chelsea these days the guy, jack knew the guy and the guy ended up coming back and apologizing and so, but it was a Don't know why we've got telling dormant stories, but that was one of the dormant.

Rob Lipsett: 33:54

Dormant stories are essential.

Luke Barnatt: 33:56

I don't know if I could tell a lot.

Rob Lipsett: 33:59

Yeah, I know I now understand why you're like I don't know if I could tell this fucking acting, and so how did you get to the stage where you're in the UFC? So what I'm wondering is, like the UFC is the biggest fighting organization in the world, how do they just call you up, do they email you? Like I presume you've had a few fights at this stage how do you get to that level of the UFC? Ai might be the most important new computer technology ever. It's storming every industry and literary billions of dollars are being invested, so buckle up. The problem is that AI needs a lot of speed and processing power. So how do you compete without costs spiraling out of control? Some upgrade to the next generation of the cloud Oracle cloud infrastructure or OCI. Oci is a single platform for your infrastructure, database, application development and AI needs. Oci has four to eight times the bandwidth of other clouds, offers one consistent price instead of variable regional Pricing and, of course, nobody does data better than Oracle. So now you can train your AI models at twice the speed and less than half the cost of other clouds. If you do want to do more and spend less, like Uber eight by eight and Databricks mosaic, take a free test drive of OCI at oraclecom slash game plan. That's oraclecom slash game plan. Go check it out, you won't be disappointed Well okay, I'll try and wine for it.

Luke Barnatt: 35:23

I've told this story a few times, so I'll try and do it quick. But so, okay, we're sure, broken Wonder fight, my second fight actually lost. But I think, because I had those nerves that we spoke about, I knew what was gonna. I'm a joker get broken. I was, you know, I missed weight and I lost worse fight in my career by long. Not quite, but you know I mean as an amateur. So this was an amateur fight. I had ten of those. So ten amateurs, I had them in the space of the 11 months. So I was fighting like, yeah, pretty much, but I'm broken jaw. So I had nine of them in 11 months, nine fights in 11 months. And then you turn over pro and the difference between amateur and pro Is you decide to fight pro. There's no difference. Right Within MMA it's like it's your decision. What you obviously your coach is. Now it's a bit different, yeah, but but if you want to fight pro, you can fight pro. All that means is it goes on your record, okay you have an official professional record sense and if you lose the fight, you'll be remembered forever.

Rob Lipsett: 36:17

Yeah, so you know you want to wait till to go pro.

Luke Barnatt: 36:20

So now, like the average amateur kid is having like 10, 20, 30 fights Like I'm doing IMF competition, like International Mixed Martial Arts Federation competitions, fighting against people all over the world, bringing his level of size can to then turn pro. Okay, but when I was doing it I was like one of the first guys to be on the amateur scene. It wasn't even called amateur, it was called semi-pro. Yeah, and they didn't even know what they're doing. One of the fights it was different rules. Everywhere I went you'd show up and you'd be like like what, can I kick him in the head? Can I need to the head?

Rob Lipsett: 36:48

Yeah.

Luke Barnatt: 36:51

No one knew the rules. So it was like a real different phase of mixed martial arts. And then I Ted cited and the reason I decided to turn over pro because the guy I fought in my debut I didn't like. He was a. He had a mohawk and a tat on the side of his head and he represented everything I disliked about him a minute. Yeah, like the whole flushing man, hard man guy, he'd had like 26 pro fights or something like that decided to fight him because I don't know why Didn't like him. I got paid 500 pounds from selling tickets, so I got paid zero but I made 500 quid selling tickets and I won by second round knockout or third round knockout or something like that. But but he, he ring my. So going back to tibia, I forgot brought to be around. So whenever I got hit hard, like when I put my jaw broken yeah, miss fights, but I specifically remember it first round I'll get my hands are still a little bit low still haven't got boxing coach, by the way and I got hit with a couple of heavy overhands and I what he used to do is when I used to get here and I was like dazed for something, I would transport my body or my mind would transport, and I would hear. I'm a big Led Zeppelin fan and I used to play tibia to the early hours of the morning, like four, five, six Clock in the morning, listening to Led Zeppelin on repeat, and it would play a song and I would imagine myself Killing trolls on tibia listening to Led Zeppelin. So you gotta imagine I'm in a cage having a fight. A guy just hits me and I'm like, and I hear this song, you're the Led Zeppelin. So, and this is when I realized, ah, this is bad news. Like this means I'm half unconscious. So then I woke up and I ended up winning the fight. So that was like my pro debut. And then I had five from there, not four from there or something like that, so I was five and oh, and I'd be in pretty stiff competition as a pro, because I started by fighting a guy, was that 26 fights. My next fight was a guy called Ben Callum who was like up and come in, amazing guy. The third fight was a bit of a soft one. I didn't even tell the little bit of the story, but my last fight at this point, my fifth fight was against the guy called Matteo Perran, who was an Italian kid, and he was the the first. So I said I was friends with Jack and we did the wrestling club and he was a professional fighter. And there was another kid called Fabio. Believe it or not, his name was Fabio Ferrari. That is a sick name, but half Brazilian, half Italian. Looking dude bodybuilder.

Rob Lipsett: 39:14

What a smooth operator, literally.

Luke Barnatt: 39:17

I used to go to the club and he just watch him like.

Rob Lipsett: 39:20

Watch him do his thing.

Luke Barnatt: 39:21

Yeah, I had a couple of my mates that were like that, so I never used to get any action.

Rob Lipsett: 39:25

Yeah, I'll be action. Mr Ferrari stole the show.

Luke Barnatt: 39:29

Unbelievable, but he was the first live fight I ever watched and I watched him as a middleweight fight, matteo Perran, and he beat Mario Perran on the second round or third round, I can't remember exactly, but he won, but it was bloody and it was tough and it was a hard fight and and so wine forward from that point is probably four years or three years, and I'm fine, mattio Perran, because that's the fight I wanted, because it's the one I first ever seen, and I smashed this kid like Smash it, I want to probably one of the best forms has ever had running flying knee. I remember elbowed him up against the fence and as he was falling down so like he'd like covered up and fell down. As he was falling down I jumped an, elbowed him in the head and carried on over and it was, it was sick. Is this footage out there? He?

Rob Lipsett: 40:12

must be. Yeah, I'm gonna try to dig it up.

Luke Barnatt: 40:14

I've been Luke Barnard versus Matteo Perran. It was on UWC in South End. If you type a, maybe it'll show up, we'll get it. So I yeah, but it was like one of my. I haven't watched it back, but I remember it, remember the feeling and I won that fight and I felt great. And then, how I got to the UFC, there was a TV show called the ultimate fighter. I know well, yeah, yeah, so the ultimate fighter. I was on season 17,. But how I got there? Obviously you know I got there because because this is, you know, the root. But After that fight I come back and I've done loads of stuff pre this, I've missed out loads of things. But like I Left my when I was amateur and I decided I want to do this properly and I told you I'm obsessed and addictive personality and my boss literally said to me like You're gonna have to choose, because you don't, you're not focusing on your work, you're always going to the gym like we're gonna have to fight. Basically is what I said. I said no. Yeah, I'm old, and I literally from them. He said you're ever gonna have to concentrate more at work. Stop this thing. And so I walked back, wrote my resignation, handed it in, and I Contacted friend of mine who, like, owned the gym His name was Nigel and I said listen, I want to do this properly, I want to take it full time. I got old, I got no job, blah, blah, blah. And he, he said to me if you come live in the gym, you can live in the gym and you can teach the beginners and we'll pay you 50 pounds a week. So you're sleeping in the gym. So at this point I, from that I was, I had my own apartment. I Was like 19 or 20 years old have my own apartment in Chelmsford. I was renting with my mate Rory and I decided not to do this. So I left and I moved into the gym and I slept on the floor and I gave up my job and there was like a little dark room and this in the gym where I used to sleep in, I had like a Like a bag, like a what you call it sleeping bag yeah, sleeping bag and and there's no lights in the room. It's just like a door you open and shine and go. It goes black. It's probably really bad for my health when I look at it now.

Rob Lipsett: 42:07

Yeah.

Luke Barnatt: 42:10

Yeah, but it's fine. I ended up sleeping on the mats quite a lot because it was soft. Yeah, with my sleeping bag nice so I did that for about a year yeah, eight, ten months and I was and, like I said, I was making 50 man a week and I used to eat rotisserie chicken from Asda you got as their eyes.

Rob Lipsett: 42:26

Yeah, yeah, some similar as the you'd have.

Luke Barnatt: 42:29

It's like a Like a cheaper supermarket, right, yeah? So I'd get rotisserie chicken and you get those microwavable rice. So I'd have a microwave, but I didn't have any cooking utensils I'm not that. So I'd cut my chicken in half. I'd have half chicken and rice in morning, half chicken and rice at night, and that was pretty much my food, right? Solid, solid, solid nutrition, yeah.

Rob Lipsett: 42:48

I think there's. In a whole chicken there's like 300 grams of protein if you eat like every single part of it. So it's not bad.

Luke Barnatt: 42:55

I was like sucking the bone, you know, and at points I got a bit of money somehow, you know whatever. But this was like the basics. So I was living in the gym, sleeping on the floor, but then Nigel, obviously I was getting better, I wouldn't fight still ever and coaching, and Nigel was, there was a room behind reception and he said, if you all like Work the reception a bit, will give you the room behind reset and he gave me a bed. So he got me a bed, put a bed in this room, so I went from sleeping on the floor in the gym to having a room behind reception or a ball and out. Yeah, now we're born out, exactly. And, if you can imagine, my approach to women wasn't that great at the time. And then, even if I did manage to get the approach down and I did get into a conversation and I, they liked me and everything was going the right way and I was like so do you want to come back? Sleep on the floor?

Rob Lipsett: 43:45

Sounds kind of hot, sounds kind of sexy. To be honest, maybe that could work.

Luke Barnatt: 43:51

Listen now, I could definitely make it. If you saw me when I was 20 years old is the difference to me on the mat? So, yeah, so I wasn't doing very well in the, in the Romantic Department, I, but I was fully, fully, fully focused on what I was doing, like I Unbelievably focused at this point doing this. So I was sleeping in the gym, training every day my training partner, john McGuire. He would sleep in the gym to like he had his own place, but he would spend like he lived about an hour away. So sometimes he'd spend four days, four nights at the gym. We trained together constantly, hours and hours. Know that? He got he got to the UFC as well, john. He had a great career there, yeah, and then From from doing all this and then being my own and all this sort of stuff, obviously had no TV, I had nothing like that. I was reading books. So I was reading like quite a lot of self-help books and like rich dad, poor dad, she had like a business book, but then also like the alchemist, all these kind of kind of books Um thing can grow rich was a big one, and I used to study them because I was Getting addicted personality. Yeah, so I break them down, I talk about them. I had a whiteboard I'd write quotes on. I do affirmations, I'd have all this sort of stuff. So my biggest affirmation back then well, so this is like About after my second pro fight or my first pro fight Um, my biggest affirmation was I will find the UFC by the time I'm 25. So used to say that to myself every single day Wow, um, wait, I had a whole lot of them, and some of them were gay, like I could probably find them. I am powerful, I am, I'm relentless.

Rob Lipsett: 45:17

Yeah, these are things she works.

Luke Barnatt: 45:19

Yeah, he does trust me, yeah when you, when you come to your darkest points, which fighting brings you to a lot, that's when they, they, they appear. So when I'm sparring, we do these things, this thing called shark tank rounds, which would be, say york's, you've got a fight coming up, all right, so you're gonna spar, I'm gonna be a sparring partner, but every two minutes you get a fresh sparring partner. Okay, the rounds are five minutes. You're fighting, so you're doing shark tank. I'm not doing it. I got two buddies with me and we're gonna rotate. So you got two minutes with me, two minutes with him, two minutes with him, and then you get a minute's break and then we go again. Then you get a minute's break, we go again, we do five rounds, so it's 25 minutes. It's basically impossible to win like you can. Yeah, you just go, except you're gonna get tired and then you get, you're gonna hurt. So you have to accept, you're gonna go through this painful process and and that's when these affirmations would come to me like when I'm tired, I can't breathe, literally cannot breathe, and I've got some big Lug on top of me, hit me in the head and I'm like can? That's when you, you'd be like I am relentless, I am powerful, I'm unstoppable, whatever it would be. I mean had more complicated ones than that as well. But one of the things I used to always say is I have endless energy. So I have endless energy. When you are tired, you cannot breathe, that the air feels like it's thin, it's hot, you're just Dying. When you, you would hear I have endless energy. You know whatever Worked so well for me? So I had these yeah, I had these for you know, from around that sort of stage, maybe a little bit earlier. And then I had the fifth fight, or sick fight, when I beat matthew baran and me and my coach had always spoken robbie, that you're gonna go on the on the fire and you're gonna go through the on the fire, that's the best way for you. Blah, blah, blah. But five fights is not a lot right. So this opportunity comes up and they, and my coach gets an email saying we're searching for middle weights to go through the on the fire process. The tryouts are in vegas on this date. All right, that's all he gets in here, so you should do it. All right, I'm like I'm five and I like I know he's saying I believe I can get there, but Blah, blah, blah, blah. He's like you, 100%, you should do it, you're perfect for it, etc. Etc. Etc. I was like, okay, how the fuck am I gonna get to vegas? I make 50 pound a week.

Rob Lipsett: 47:35

Yeah, it's an expensive flight.

Luke Barnatt: 47:38

And again. So I. By this time my parents knew that I was flying, so I went to my family and I was like, listen, I've got this opportunity if I get on this tv show. Like, and my mom was like, no, she doesn't want to yeah, but that was like no typical. And then my grandmother, bless her heart, sent me a thousand pounds.

Rob Lipsett: 47:54

Nice granny's ballon.

Luke Barnatt: 47:55

Yeah, granny is born, granddad was balling yeah. Yeah now granny's balling, but yeah, so From that thousand pounds I got sent, it's like I think the ticket was like 800.

Rob Lipsett: 48:07

Yeah, I can't remember how much it is.

Luke Barnatt: 48:08

I had to be there on specific dates. You know, I mean so, and this, the same business class, this is economy. Um, so I booked the flight, um, but it still wasn't really enough, because I need to pay for hotels, all this sort of stuff. Yeah, of course, um, so the guy I was living with and I wasn't living with him yet I ended up living with him because I was in the gym at this point. The other receptionist at the gym was a guy called mica mica. I'm gonna smash his name up because he's from finland. Uh, mica packer, packer.

Rob Lipsett: 48:36

I can never say that was a nice, nice little twinge. I'll try.

Luke Barnatt: 48:41

Pocker, it's like p, a double k, something with finish. Anyway, he was studying at a university in Cambridge and he was a judo guy and he used to train with us and we became good mates and he was like bro, there's such a big opportunity. And he gave me some more money and he like helped me out and he said, don't worry, I think, give me like another thousand pounds. Nice I had two grand Um. And then, about three weeks before I was flying, mika was like bro, I can't let you go to Vegas on your own, I'm gonna come with you. And he booked no way. So we went together, um, so he paid for my, he basically paid for my flight is how I look at, and I use my granny's money to like survive, to, to do whatever. I've got some great stories about that. I could maybe I can tell them. And he, uh, so he flew with me to Vegas. So, because of my grand and my friend, this guy, mica, ended up going to Vegas. And when you do the tryouts for the ultimate fighter, it's a three stage process. So we show up. There was hundreds of people there. I don't know how many people were there, but there's hundreds and all I've got is like a form that I've filled out. Yeah, I've got no management, I've got no, I don't know nothing, you know. I mean I just go to the thing and I look around and I see people that I know, like other fighters, that are way bad. Yeah, I mean like heard about them and stuff. Yeah, I mean levels. I know their records, I know everything about them and I'm just, I'm five, I know I'm a cocky little cunt, but but whatever, and I was, you know, obsessed. So the first round is your hip pads. So they have like a table of judges that sit there and judge you while you hit pads. It was like back in the day used to have Joe silver who was the matchmaker. So you have Sean Shelby, joe silver. Joe was the matchmaker for, I believe, walter way it above and and, and Sean was the lighter weights, sean's now the lighter weights and the women, I think. And now you've got a guy called Nick Maynard. So they've changed roles a little bit, but back in the day it was Sean Shelby, joe, and then there'd be, like some other guys I can't remember, like there was a TV guy. There was a TV guy. I remember there was a TV guy. I could see his face because he was a mean cunt. I can see his face a gray hair, older guy, glasses, and they'd be watching you. So you hit pads, they study you, they go yes or no, basically. So, after everyone hits pads and then they go for, call your name out, stand over here and they called out 200 people. Those 200 people had to go home, and the other people just like that. Yeah, no, not good enough, Go away. Yeah, we've looked at you, seen it, not good enough. Next round is grappling. So you grapple with another contestant and they want to see your level. I was addicted to jiu-jitsu but I wouldn't say I was very good and End up grappling with some guy. I can't remember exactly how the grappling went, but obviously didn't do bad because I got through, but I think he got through as well. So I think it was quite a competitive back and forth. I can't I don't think I submitted him. I can't remember um. And then from that they do the same thing finish, call certain people's names out, the people that then they called out. They stay. I remember that because they like switched it up, you know, because they called my name out. I was like fuck, I'm going home, you know. And then I know you stay. And then the third one is an interview and you walk into a room and the same table of people is sitting there and you sit down and they ask you questions and obviously I can talk a little bit Back then, not so much. I was quite a shy kid, to be honest. Fighting kind of brought my character out, but I remember the tv guy. This is why I remember him. He, as soon as I sat down, he said Jesus, you're an ugly cunt, aren't you? No way, yeah, straight away. And I was. Oh, I must have said something funny. I wish I could remember because I got on the show but I said like Whatever? whatever something snappy and I laughed and then we had a good chat back and forth and I told my story sleeping on the gym, blah, blah, blah. And obviously my I was an idiot back then so I never knew that my story was actually quite inspirational and Good for tv and all these other things, right. So that's what they're looking for. They were looking for stories of people that had given up their life for fighting. And then, great, you know all this stuff. But there was, I remember there's a guy there at the time called Johnny Phillips, who's a Welsh guy who was a monster murderer, like murderer, and he got through to the interview stage. He's a funny. He's a funny guy, really nice guy, great guy. He'd had like 20 fights. I had five. You know it was like the I was, I thought jenny for Johnny Phillips, he, I get destroyed. You know that's how I felt at the time.

Rob Lipsett: 52:53

But they picked me and they didn't pick him and there was a couple of other guys I can't remember, isn't it funny how they go on like a little bit, like it's not just on fighting, like they interview you, your personality, because at the end of the day it's like a show. It's tv shows, it's reality tv. Yeah, it's like even if you're the best and you don't do good in the interview, they're like go away. But it's.

Luke Barnatt: 53:13

Johnny definitely did good in the interview. Yeah, I think, just because, maybe because he was Welsh and you can't understand it.

Rob Lipsett: 53:18

That's the only thing I can get. Honestly, bargy's the only Welsh viewer I don't know but for tv it's tougher, right.

Luke Barnatt: 53:23

So I was, I was like I don't know. I think there was other people there too, but he was one of the guys that I remember anyway. So I got through the whole process. And then you, they extend your flight because they're like okay, you're free, we now need to do all of your medicals check your eyes, make sure that you, you know, whatever blood tests, everything it's gonna take a week. So they put you in a hotel in the palace station, which is like they own that hotel and it was not. Now it's nicer, but at that time it was horrible.

Rob Lipsett: 53:51

I mean, I don't know if you've been to Vegas. No, I've been Vegas, but I haven't been to this place, it's old Vegas. Yeah, I have. Yeah, I actually ghost, ghost put me up in a hotel for one night in old Vegas. I was like ghost, what's going on here In something company, I'm wet, and then then they put me to the new one. Yeah, but I've done my night in the old town. Yeah, but very great.

Luke Barnatt: 54:10

Oh, the old town's not great.

Rob Lipsett: 54:12

But you know, it's some really good restaurants there.

Luke Barnatt: 54:13

You know there's some real places that are cheap that people don't know about. There's a good Thai restaurant there, right next to the golden nugget.

Rob Lipsett: 54:20

Wherever it's cool. I've spent a lot of time in Vegas, yeah.

Luke Barnatt: 54:23

Anyway. So this is my first time in Vegas. I got through. I get stuck in a hotel with my mate, mika, because he's still there. He's just extended his flight. Okay, uh, mika's ball in as well. And uh, it was like you. They basically, I remember they say we can call on you anytime, so you can't leave your hotel room. So what, I'm in Vegas, like I'm, I'm 23 years old or whatever. It was like. I'm Don't do whatever. I want the country. But I stayed. I remember for one day I said we're sitting on the beds talking to each other. I'm thinking some people ain't got mate with them, they just on their own in the room. And then they took us out for some medical Bloods, or where is we come back? I'm like it was like five o'clock. There's no way they're gonna come fix up again. Let's go out. So we end up going out. It's Vegas, so we have again Absolutely trash course. Of course, first night in Vegas I'm in the Alma Fire, you know.

Rob Lipsett: 55:16

And that's telling every bird.

Luke Barnatt: 55:19

That's the thing that I heard. I was so fortunate I heard a story about another fire. I'm sure in the fine community They'll know it. I can't remember the names because I'm an idiot, but some guy who did that. He went out, was like I'm in the Alma fire, star chance, all the bird and he like got kicked off the show before even started because he Because you sign like an NDA, all that sort of stuff, so. So I didn't say nothing about any of that. I didn't say why I was there, anything. I just went out and had a good time. I remember going to some lay but we're not roofed off, but like like balcony club there. I can't remember the exact, so but I got trashed and I lose me cuz I was off my face, and End up going back to the hotel and I'll tell you what happened in the hotel off camera, because it's I don't want to embarrass me Too much because watching he knows, and it was hilarious, anyway. So then I get through the week, obviously I parcel my tests and they send you home and they're like you fight in, we'll call you. My own story will call you if you get on the show. Okay, cuz there's there still, I think on the show. So how the show works. For those that don't understand it is you then fight to get in the house. So the house is 14 fighters, 7 v 7, 2 teams. So they got a pick 28 individuals to get on the first rally. Right, yeah, but we had about 36 guys. They got through, so it wasn't 100%. You gonna get on the on the fire. Yeah, they have to go through sexual process. They have to check all your medicals make sure you haven't, yeah, whatever, yeah, back and check if you're criminal, whatever, you know. So I Remember again, I got no management, just my coach, none of that sort stuff. So I got back to England. I just start training like a madman because I don't know when I'm gonna fight, I don't know when the show's gonna start. I don't know anything. And I Obviously at that time I think it was Twitter, but everyone from the show followed each other, we all could talk and I started hearing like I got on the show, you know. So I still haven't heard anything. You know I'm here and one by one, it was like ten of them. They're like yeah, yeah, it's gonna be this day and all that sort of stuff. And I said to Robbie like do you heard anything? He checked emails is like no, no, no, no. And then, like three days before, the four days before I get a phone call, they're like you're on the show. I was like sweet.

Rob Lipsett: 57:26

When is?

Luke Barnatt: 57:27

it. I said four days. I was like, what do you mean? Like, anyway, I End up. This was the first time ever in the honor fire history you could bring. You could bring someone with you to watch your fight, to get in the house, yeah, you can have. And Nigel, the guy who let me sleep on the floor, he flew out with me to Vegas and you show up and the coaches I had with John Jones and Charles Sunnett, so they were the two like the coaches sick guys.

Rob Lipsett: 57:51

Yeah, amazing, I was super fortunate man.

Luke Barnatt: 57:53

That's what I do all together, yeah, and they said they, you get allocated one of the coaches randomly, so you randomly get allocated coach. And my coach was For the for the fight, to get in the house, and my coach was John Jones. So to get in the house, I got warmed up by A guy called Frank mere, which I'm sure you know, so he like wore me up and one of the boxing coaches he was like a tie guy, I can't remember his name and I'm all up for this fight and I had a fight with a guy called Nicholas Co ring who was on team Diaz. So I remember Walking out and seeing Nick there, like not Nate, the Nick Diaz was there to watch Kory, so he was like his plus one.

Rob Lipsett: 58:30

Yeah, yeah, was was Nick Diaz. Yeah, my plus one.

Luke Barnatt: 58:34

My plus one was Nigel. I mean Nigel's a top bloke, but yeah, nick Diaz, yeah, no way. And I probably one of the best performances of my ever my life, probably to this day. And that fight, you can't see it, I've not even seen it. You just see highlights on the episode. Yeah, I never got sent the full fight, but I smashed this kid. I mean like, and again, my secret weapon, I mean, was my mind, but also cardio. I never got tired, I put you know I didn't let endless energy, so I just pushed throughout the whole fight and it went to the two. Because how it worked in the whole fight was you fight two rounds and if the goes to the judges and if they score it one round each, you go into a third round. Yeah, I, wanted to round, smashed it.

Rob Lipsett: 59:15

Yeah, whatever. And so, wait, you mentioned cardio. So what do you think you've got like cardio strength endurance? What do you think is the most beneficial thing when it comes to being a fighter? Cardio is king.

Luke Barnatt: 59:27

Yeah, that's number one number one because it doesn't matter how strong you are, doesn't matter, like muscle endurance is good. It's basically a different type of cardio. Yes, if you get tired, you're done. Yeah, like all of the knowledge I have in fighting now, like I've been doing it for 20 years or 15, 17, whatever a long time, I know everything. I know a lot about fighting a lot. I'll gas in two minutes. Now I'm my stage right now. I'm useless. I'm literally use. If you, if you get tired, you're useless. So I Be a lot of guys that were more affected me. They were stronger than me, that were faster than me. They're like I beat a lot of them because I, my cardio was. Lee Doski used to say who's one of guys is trained with a black belt. They used to train with you say you know good at fighting, luke, you just never get tired. They get tired of punching you in the head. They literally give up and you knock them out. That's literally. Wait. Said what, but what? As a joke, because he was like a funny guy, but it was kind of true. Like I used to beat these people because I just was relentless and stopped. Kept coming, kept coming, kept coming. They take me down ten times. I get up ten times and barren, like I would never stop, and they would just be like go away, yeah, and I was Like, had God given like Homer Simpson head? Yeah, I could get battered and I would just keep coming and and there's a fire had in Italy. That really demonstrates that was. It was a five round fight for a title. This is after the UFC, yeah, and three rounds of it I got Absolutely battered and I mean like in about like probably two, ten, eight rounds and I was my first fire the UFC and John McGuire, one of my corner guys, he literally said to me goes white For round three to four. I've been bad for three rounds and he walks in the cage, looks me goes, why are you fighting like a cunt? I've never forget I was like bro, he's like you know, you find I could cut, take this guy down and finish the fight because I was like you know Whatever, I can't remember.

Rob Lipsett: 1:01:14

I was the whole time. I just found off.

Luke Barnatt: 1:01:17

Couldn't switch on. Fourth round come out. I take it down. Submit him in like under a minute. So if I had just done what John had told me to do from the beginning of the fight, I would have won the fight with no marks and it would have been sick. But anyway, cardio for 100% is the most important thing, because Nothing else works without it.

Rob Lipsett: 1:01:33

Yeah, it's kind of like if you've got infinite cardio, you got super good cardio. It's like you can just keep going, as in like all skill kind of get. I'm not saying skill doesn't matter, but it kind of get and come second because, like you're saying, you just keep going.

Luke Barnatt: 1:01:48

But that so that again, zone again depends on the level that you're competing at. But if you're gonna have your first fight or your second fight, I would like my number one advice for guys getting into fight sports, it's cardio. Okay, because your first and second fight, your third fight, your fourth fight, fifth fight, like you said, they're frightening. You are, yeah. You don't understand how much Tension and fear can do to your cardio. You get so tired so fast. Yeah cuz you're adrenaline it's just all over the place and then getting hit like the. I think again, the reason I had a Homer Simpson head was because my cardio was was off the, off the chain. I mean I had I Probably still do, but at the time I had a resting heart rate of like 36 37 beats per minute, waking up, which is low, yeah, and the doctors UFC doctors used to say that don't know how this is a compliment, by the way they used to say I had the heart of a cow.

Rob Lipsett: 1:02:40

Nice.

Luke Barnatt: 1:02:42

He was like no, it's a compliment, trust me, cows have big hearts, okay, cool. But um, you know, I had amazing a met like an amazing cardio and that's my advice for anyone getting to fight. But then as the the level increases, because then you got to remember that it's a 15 minute fight, so it's how much output you can do in 15 minutes, which is still a cardio thing. But then it comes down to muscle endurance and it comes under strength and that's where later on in my career I struggled because I switched weight classes from middleweight, which is 84 kilos I was the tallest middleweight in the world and then I went to 90, 93 kilos and I say like, 93 kilos, 84 to 93 kilos is the biggest weight shift in martial arts, because the guys are 84 kilos and the guys at 93 kilos are the same height. Yeah, so it's just then muscle density, bone density and just pure power. So they're like this how I used to describe that two different species. Because Okay, if you find out featherweight, 66 kilos and you find a lightweight, 70 kilos, it's a four kilo weight difference. But that four kilo weight difference is probably two inches in height and just and not.

Rob Lipsett: 1:03:49

Yeah, it's just like general human, it's a longer humans. That's why you have your.

Luke Barnatt: 1:03:54

You know, yes, it's not, it's not quite the same. But when it come from my weight class difference, the middleweight to lightweight, it's just that they're Just different. So I, when I used to train, I used to train with a lot like heavy weights guy called Phil Davis. It just be like a different species. Like how am I gonna compete with this guy? He just bat at me Alexander Gustavs, and different species is the different different. He grabbed your wrist and you just play Like a child, yeah, I can, normally I can get this off, but you it's impossible. So that that for me is the biggest difference. But then when I switched, because I was so cardio focused, I couldn't win, I couldn't compete at the elite level. I like heavy weight because I wasn't powerful enough. So, and I couldn't this is the conundrum I literally couldn't become powerful enough as a middleweight because I had to make the weight class. So you, so I. So my advice like if I knew now, like again, if I go back 17 years, I would have started as a light heavyweight yeah, one, because they're worse in general, as you go up the weight classes, the skill level goes down. Yes, you've got the power difference, but that's it. But, like a banon weight or a feather weight, knows more about martial arts than a light weight because they have to get put in more Situations and whatever. So I would have computers like heavyweight, because then I would have grown into my body more. It would have been much healthier, I would have been much stronger, much physically. I would have had less injuries, less Hydration to the brain and all that sort of stuff from kind weight and everything else.

Rob Lipsett: 1:05:14

Well, what did you actually do when you're cutting weight? Because there's some insane protocols that fighters go through and I think it's like there's a debate saying they should remove the weight caught that you know fighters should just fight at their Normal weight. You know what's your take on that, like you, because there's some fighters dropping 25 pounds.

Luke Barnatt: 1:05:33

I was one of those.

Rob Lipsett: 1:05:34

Yeah.

Luke Barnatt: 1:05:38

I think the problem I think Dana's touched on this a few times but the problem with athletes at the elite level is they will do anything, anything, to win, to get advantage, to get advantage. Yeah, to win to get advantage is like the rules affair. You have to weigh in. For me it was 84 kilos at this day, at this time. Yeah, after that, do whatever you want. So I can push myself up to whatever I'm willing to do. But if you say, okay, there's no weight class, no weight cut, sorry, and you're gonna cut, you're gonna fight at 84 kilos and you're gonna weigh in on the before you step in the cage, yeah, you'd have so many fights cancelled. Yeah, the fighters are cheap. What's are they gonna cheat? They're gonna. This is gonna happen, or I wouldn't, maybe I don't make the weight and my livelihood, the money I make to feed my family, is on the line. So I've got to be 84 kilos and I'm 86. I'll cut two weight, two kilos in weight, and fight directly. So I'm gonna weigh in and then fight and then I'm really a danger of my brain because I've literally I'm fighting another human completely the hydra. Yes, so I I wish there was a way, and even in Asia there's a. There's been called one FC. Yeah, I know like they do Like hydration tests on that, on their guys and this whole new like I think they weigh in same day or you can only cut so much weight you have to and you get tested from the moment you arrive at the hotel for your hydration levels. So they really trying to eliminate it. But people are still cheap. Yeah, whatever, but that maybe that is a better way. I don't know because I've never been through that process. You have to speak to a one, one FC file. But the hydration tests maybe work. But for me I used to car lightweight like a lot. Again, I'm six foot six. I used to fight 84 kilos, 185 pounds. For the people to do two pounds is like I would weigh on Back in the day. I mean, now I'm Way up. I'm like 110 kilos at the moment. Nice, of course of course but so Back in the day I'd be like in pounds, I'd be like to 10. Maybe you know I actually on the ultimate fighter, we're talking about it on that series there was four fighters. I remember they used to call it the 210 club and it would be because we all had to make weight all the time and in between weight cuts they would. We'd all look at our each other's weights, one sort of stuff, and anyone over 210 pounds would get on the scale and they were part of the big boy.

Rob Lipsett: 1:08:03

Yeah, I mean I?

Luke Barnatt: 1:08:05

I Maybe the guys would see what. There was a guy called Clint Hester, bubba McDaniel, who else was in the two 210 club? I can't remember. There's one, there's one more guy and then me. But at that time when I did the weigh-in and they did this whole thing, I wasn't 210. I put a bottle of water in my pocket to be 210, to get in the club. To get in the club, but also for all the other fighters to think I was bigger than I was. Yes, my games because we were gonna fight each other.

Rob Lipsett: 1:08:29

Yeah, and so when you were going for the way cut, did you cut out carbs, like to cut water, like what was your, what was your go to Wake up routine?

Luke Barnatt: 1:08:38

So there's two different ways you can look at weight. Okay, most people get this just confused. So fight camp is 12 weeks. Yeah, so the start of a fight camp 12 weeks out. You would be a x weight or whatever and you would diet and you would. You would watch your carb intake. A lot of people doing them at fasting like there's loads of ways you could do it. You do like a high fats diet, you know, and then you try and get as lean as possible, but you know you need to maintain top level performance. Yes, you need a lot of carbs. You need to eat. You need to. You know, you need to feel good. For me, the point where I'd start to Feel like elite, like a really, really top level fighter, was about around 95 96 kilos, like naturally. So I was 96 kilos walking around, but that's when I felt like Great yeah if I was, that was like your your optimal weight. Yeah, optimal weight, if I was out of training I'd go up to like 101 102, but like fat eating junk, you know. So you cut all the junk, you go on a strict diet, you do. You know, an optimal fight camp now is considered to be eight weeks. It used to be 12, but I think now people take it more seriously all year round. So that eight week camp you do seven of those weeks you're on like a strict diet and you you drop little by little by little. I'm sure for bodybuilding shows is like yeah.

Rob Lipsett: 1:09:51

It's similar. You know you just stick to a deficit. Yet You're protein intake and the goals to preserve as much muscle while getting to as low body fat as possible, and then you do so. Some people are against. You know, manipulating water intake to look dry. But you can. You drink loads of water like Monday to Thursday, then Friday you pretty much like cut it out. Then maybe you compete Saturday and you just sip water on the day. So you do like a huge water intake and then you cut it. But some people think, like you know you're really kind of just messing around with things, that doesn't make that much of a difference. But in terms of weight, you know, then it definitely is for a fighter? It definitely does. But in terms of appearance, some people can say it actually makes you look worse from a bodybuilding standpoint. Like some people say you can look flat. Yeah, you need to look fuller. Yeah, exactly, yeah, yeah so there's a little debate on that.

Luke Barnatt: 1:10:41

It'd be interesting because I'll explain the method for an MMA or my method. So my method started on the MMA fighter, how I got good at it. Before the MMA fighter I was, I was still good at it, but it was all about being tough. So before the ultimate fighter, there was like again, this is, I'm a fighter. Now is 11 years ago, I think. So they say 12 years ago there wasn't so many people doing such big weight cluts. They all come from America, they'll all be wrestlers, they all had their own. So they'd be like whispers about how to cut weight right. And Then people got into it, really into it, and I was one of those people and I used to buy the way I used to cut weight originally, not before I learned my method, the way I used to cut weight originally, which is in a sauna. Yeah, I would dehydrate my butt. So we would do the water loading, which is what you're saying. Like you would drink a lot of water. So I'll explain it the water loading process, what we do. We normally do that leading up to the fight. So if I'm going to fight on the Saturday, my weigh-ins on the Friday, I would cut the water out on the Thursday, right. So Up until Thursday morning I would slowly increase the intake of water I have from Saturday. I would Saturday, I drink six, six liters. Sunday, seven, monday, a 9, 10 bomb. Yeah, I cut it off and then on Thursday morning I drink like a liter just to get the body going. And what you're doing is you're tricking your system into believing that you are coming to Like you're gonna put more water in your system, exactly. Yeah, so flushing it all out. Yeah, so you're flushing your system. So your, your body, gets used to like overloading with water and having to piss it out. Yeah, so it's like then it thinks any water that goes into my system I need to get rid of, so it sends it straight out of the body. Okay, so that that's what we call water loading.

Rob Lipsett: 1:12:21

You can also do sodium loading, yeah, which is another that's a tricky one as well, because it's, so you know, intricate, yeah, so it's a tough one to do and and everyone needs to know there are average sodium levels.

Luke Barnatt: 1:12:32

That takes a lot of input and output, but I did that a little bit. I manipulated my sodium. I used to use things like soy sauce and whatever, yeah. So again the until I knew what I was doing. But then. So then when my water dropped because I'd heard rumors about this water loading thing but I didn't really understand it at this time so I did the water loading thing and then on the Thursday I would train, but dry, like I wouldn't drink. Then after training I would. I would wear sweatsuits or that sort of stuff and train and shadow box and try and drop as much water as possible, and then in the evening I would do sauna and then my weigh-in would normally be at like 12 o'clock or 10 o'clock the next day. So wake up 7 am. You'd sleep through the night, no water, wake up, sauna and we would do like 20 minutes stints in the sauna. Okay, so you do 20 minutes on a 10 minutes out, 20 minutes in, 10 minutes out, and for me it would be like at this stage I was probably cutting like 8 kilo, 9 kilo, like around this time. Yeah, again, because I was younger and I was whatever, I hadn't built up as much muscle mass, all these sort of things, um, and then I went on the ultimate fighter. So Again, to explain, the ultimate fighter you fight the on the show. I fought Nicholas, like I said, the Diaz kid. I beat him and we went in the house. We go in the house there's 14 of us, all like Mid 20s, early 30s at the older guys on a tv show. America, massive American reality tv show, everyone Super happy. Yeah, we get there and you show up at this mansion in Vegas and you all get handed out a piece of paper with your name on it and they and again, remember I've been sleeping on the floor Eating chicken and rice and at this moment they say write down whatever you want on this piece of paper and we will bring it to you tomorrow. Right, food wise. Yeah yeah, this point is like Anything you want me else to put in the fridge, will put it in, and I'm an idiot. So I just wrote chicken and rice because I didn't know. I didn't, I literally didn't know what other food was at home, humble as ever, yeah, yeah so I don't know. But this is a great lesson actually when you talk about that so humble, I write chicken and rice because didn't know. But then you come into the whole thing, to the I mentioned. They got like a bar. They got all the booze you can imagine because tv show, they wanted to get drunk and do stupid shit, yeah, so they pushed that on you a little bit.

Rob Lipsett: 1:14:43

That's surprising because that mess up your performance. Yeah, of course, but I don't care about that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Luke Barnatt: 1:14:48

And then we had a big barbecue or someone I can't remember, but someone cooked and it was like this big thing. So I'm like Just can't wait, just for just one. Got on the on the fire and there's beer and I'm like, so I ended up eating. I didn't get drunk but I had like a few rams or whatever to like bond with the guys. Next day we come into the gym and we by this time we've been selected. What teams are on all that sort of stuff? And I was on A chale son and his team still good friends with chale. I was the number one pick for his team because I put on the performance of a lifetime and I had amazing cardio. Blah, blah, blah. And also chale didn't really pick me. I learned out there. It was his coach guy called scott and he was a judo guy and I threw a couple of judo throws and he loved that. So that was kind of what it was, chale told me. And then we come in and they're like right, first fight, team jones gets to pick the fight. They go away, they think about it, they come back and it was gilbert smith who's one of their guys against me. So I was the first fight of the show. I was the first pick on the show, the first fight of the show. For being the first fight in the show I'd won, got on eating a load of crap, had a few beers at a good time, feeling amazing next day. You'll find tomorrow, or what do you mean tomorrow? Okay, not tomorrow, the next day, all right. So I had to make wait the following day.

Rob Lipsett: 1:16:02

I knew probably had like a really heavy weigh in after after all that.

Luke Barnatt: 1:16:06

So I got. I remember, like going back After I've been selected to fight, looking at my weight, and I was 27.2 pounds over the limit, because what your body does is when it like rebounds.

Rob Lipsett: 1:16:18

Yeah, yeah. So when you actually drink alcohol and you're hung over the following day and you're all dehydrated the following day, you, you're really watery, like so you. That's why, if I was listening, you wake up and you're hung over and like I'm looking pretty lean, I'm looking good, and then the next day the high over the depression kicks in. Yeah, because it, because it trolls your water balance out of whack completely.

Luke Barnatt: 1:16:39

Yeah, you see, you're completely dehydrated to then then your but. So once you've been dehydrated, in a state of dehydration, your body clings onto everything like a survival mechanism, right? So it's like anything you eat, anything you drink, it clink like stores and he does not want to let go of it. So I'm 27 pounds overweight and it does not, and I'm into this. The other thing I'm in the old firehouse. I have no friends because I don't know anyone yet. I've got teammates, but no, it's like an ego thing. No one, no one becomes friends because and I'm the first fight no, so, because we all knew we'd eventually have to fight each other. It was super weird situation. So I had to cut weight on my own, like I got no help, just just like caution to the wind. Yeah, literally on my own. And the way I did it then was, uh, I had A hot bath. So this is the, this system of baths. I'd like become a new thing, right? So I, rather than being in the sauna, because I didn't have a sauna at the house I had a sauna in the gym. So I did sauna as well, and I so, dude, I saw 20 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 10 minutes. And then I had my, my, my hot bath. I remember being in the house I'll never forget it like in in this bath, sweating like crazy, no one to help me get out the bath, no one to make sure I'm okay you could faint, you could like whatever and I cut 27 pounds in 20 hours or something like that. So and then we do the weigh-ins and I am being so okay. So from that, anyway, on that process, one of chaol's mates is a guy called Mike Dolce. Um, it became the Dolce diet and he was specialized in weight cutting. For a little while he could be on the omelafire as well, he, so he. He had a lot of knowledge about combat sports and he'd really looked into it. He wasn't qualified as nutritionist he had no but he first hand experience done it, you know. Yeah, and his whole thing is about eating whole foods and he's not so much about counting calories but making calories count. I think that's one of his phrases or whatever. Um, but he's specialized in cutting weight and from then on that series, I worked with him for my next two or three fights and he taught me his method and his method included. I mean, it's all common knowledge now, but back then it was like secret.

Rob Lipsett: 1:18:45

I know my course method. Yeah, back then, like you didn't even have like a youtube video, you didn't have barcass, really None of that so.

Luke Barnatt: 1:18:51

So it was real like gold and information. And I became this like weight cutting guru. You know like I was like the king because I had extreme Mental fortitude from having to do the weight cuts in the sauna on my own, be a big guy and cut the weight. So I I was like, again, I'm in psycho, but I was like I would prefer to die cutting weight than not make weight. That was like my mentality. So I was like that and you, we always it was like a they actually have them like sauna contests in, like russia versus finland and all that sort of stuff yeah you can stay in the lounge. Yeah, and we was like that with the. So when you go to a show and your teams they got five guys on your team, fine, we'll come right together. You'd be like, okay, okay, 20 minutes in the sauna guys you're getting. And I would just be like Like a monk.

Rob Lipsett: 1:19:38

Yeah, you only got in an ice bath.

Luke Barnatt: 1:19:45

I said I got a good story about after me all the fire was all pretty similar to what I said. I'm much better with hot than I am cold Okay. Ice baths I'm okay, but cold showers can suck a dick, yeah.

Rob Lipsett: 1:19:56

I think they're harder to do Because the water's always moving on you, the ice flat. You kind of get a little bit of zen. I hate cold shower as well.

Luke Barnatt: 1:20:04

But ice. But so the again. This is 11 years ago and they all were fired. Everyone's doing ice baths, so this was a brand new thing now Everyone's doing now, it's all that stuff, and and I spoke about this on a recent podcast but, um, there was Team chale. For some reason, we decided to do ice baths and the I think was the UFC had like to set up or something Make good content, I guess and um, there was a guy on the team called Uriah Hall.

Rob Lipsett: 1:20:29

Yeah, I know, yeah, the yeah no, that's your eye favor, I'm thinking I'm favorite. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Luke Barnatt: 1:20:34

Hall is the, the Jamaican guy, black guy who did the spinning knockout kick.

Rob Lipsett: 1:20:39

Oh man, I think he's sitting in the UFC now. Yeah, that, that that spinning kick was kind of recent, I think.

Luke Barnatt: 1:20:44

Yeah, that was that was on the homifier.

Rob Lipsett: 1:20:45

Oh, okay, okay, Knockout is like no.

Luke Barnatt: 1:20:48

So my first fight? I never again. My first fight against Gilbert Smith Uh, on the homifier, knock him out with a jump in knee. It's like a jumping. It was more like a galloping because I'm a giant and he like shot into it and I knocked him out and for getting the knockout the season I think we used to get 25 grand. So getting it like a jumping knee knockout, I was like sorted yeah give me that 25 cheese. Yeah, give me 25 cheese, please and then the next fight was Uriah Hall against Adams Salah. Also come every second name Adam, and he did that spinning kick Fuck there, I mean there's like everyone's like Wee, and I'm just like hey, yeah, yeah, you're just watching at 25. Yeah yeah, anyway. So Uriah Was. So the guy did the spinning kick, Uriah, he got the 25 grand knockout. I think you got the best knockout in the homifier fight history. Like still, yeah, um, he, we were all set up. There's another guy called Kevin I can't remember his second name, it's really annoying me, but um, kevin was like a gangster, yeah, like a proper older guy, bit of a G he was. I always I had privado very like manly guy, you know. I mean like I was a kid I was 20, 24 at the time so he was like a bit wiser and very, very understood image, understood that he was a guy always sat like this yeah, never looked, never seen a motion from anything. And we're all lining up to do these ice baths and Uriah like, touches you, oh, it's cold, I'm not doing that, that's good. And remember it's Ultra-competitive environment. Yeah, we're like seven was nine of us, nine dudes that all could fight against each other, ultra-competitive. And Uriah's like, oh, come on, you're right, you could still right, mate, come on, we're all trying to support you or whatever. And Uriah's like, oh, no, I don't know. And and Kevin just looks in like this, this, like dead stare, literally walks to the ice bar gets in, but doesn't take his eyes off. Uriah Sit down, gets right under Fucking. I will never, ever, ever forget it was epic. I hope they have it on video.

Rob Lipsett: 1:22:45

There was a recent one. It was a Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler in the most recent ultimate fighter. They were having a. They were having like an ice bath competition. I think they did like 20 minutes or some crazy shit. And so when you talked about, would weight cuts? And you know a fighter will do anything to get a competitive advantage, how prevalent are PEDs in the UFC?

Luke Barnatt: 1:23:06

I mean, Everywhere, I think yeah so. So now there's actually been a big news on that because they're they're moving away from Yusada. So I don't know how that's gonna go, but back when I was doing it, they're 11. It's with pre-Yusada. Yeah, this is pre a lot of the pre-Reboc, pre-reboc UFC. I don't know if it's a long time. They know? Um, and I've never taken a PED in my life. Yeah, this was like I was. I was what's the word? Naive, I was an idiot. I never understood this and I don't wanna. I could name people that I know are on PEDs, but I'm not gonna do that. But I say like I just know that 90% of the athletes in the UFC at this point were taking PEDs Some form, some form Easily, easily, and it was only idiots like me that weren't doing it, and even like I would, cause I never understood PEDs. I never understood anything about them. I never understood the advantages to them. Really, again, I knew that they could make you stronger, I knew that you could make get tired all these things, but I never really understood them.

Rob Lipsett: 1:24:09

So I just thought they were dangerous.

Luke Barnatt: 1:24:11

So I was just like I'm not touching them and this was installed in me by John McGuire, the guy I used to train with, but it was. It was installed in me in not a way like, oh, you have to be careful if you're held. It wasn't like that. It was like the moment that gets taken away from you, you're never gonna be able to perform at the level mentally that you believe you could. Exactly. Yeah, it was like you're giving yourself a crutch, You're giving yourself something to rely on. You know, like if you then can't take that whatever or it doesn't go right or the cycle doesn't go right or whatever you then mentally are gonna be broken, not physically, but mentally Exactly. And I was like I'm not gonna take that risk, so I never got involved in it. But I know it was super prevalent and everyone you know, and I think the issue with all high level sports, elite level sports, is when the money gets involved and this is what again being retarded. I didn't even realize like, okay, if I just took the PEDs and I got better at fighting, I'm gonna make more money, exactly. Yeah, I didn't know that because I was just I wanna be the best fighter on the planet. That's all I cared about, but I wanna do it the right way. Very honest kind of guy. But people, then what happens is the guys do it or good at it, because again that's kind of like weight kind, you need to know all the secrets to it cycles. Again, I don't. I really don't understand it. So me talking about it, I probably sound like a retard, but it's like if you understand all the knowledge about it and you can utilize it to the best of its ability, then great. And then when you get to the level where you are gonna get tested because people were tested back then but it was like main event, exactly, you know.

Rob Lipsett: 1:25:34

Like wasn't like Vitor Balfort, like you seen his physique back then, like people called him like TRT Balfort, like it was just huge and this was like pre-Yusada. And then you noticed a lot of fighters knew of see, they like shrank. When Yusada came in they got more stricter on the testing. Vitor Balfort's the best example.

Luke Barnatt: 1:25:53

Yeah, he's the best. He's famous Vitor of him pre-Yusada and post-Yusada, and he goes from Superman to normal man, yes, and, but everyone. So this is the greatest thing about it. So it's like when I again, naive as I am went through the series, did all right, and then I had a fight, my debut on the UFC was coming up and I went out. I was fortunate enough to go out and train with Chael, so Chael invited me out to his camp, which was in Portland, oregon, so I flew out there for six months, or for a very, very long time, with John. My mate had an amazing time, like an amazing time, and I got to train twice a day, every day, with Chael right for four months or five months, whatever it was, and so that was hilarious. It was. So this is the thing about Chael's very, very different to what people assume it to be like, which is funny because he is hilarious, absolutely hilarious, and you also expect him to be this super serious, organized person. And I just remember showing up to training and he didn't know where his gloves were, didn't know where his wraps were, didn't know where his mouthpiece was, didn't even know where his kit bag was, you know, and his mom used to go to every single one of his training sessions. And literally, here you go put your mouthpiece in wrap his wrap up From Mama Chael, Honestly an amazing woman amazing and she used to look after him so he never had anything. now, being an older again, I was a kid back then, but being an older guy, I realized the importance of having a support network and a support system so you can focus 100% on the task at hand. So I'm not worried where your kit bag was. It sounds stupid, but the mental energy you spend on that he's spending on becoming better. That's what he was doing and you know Square wife comes in handy quite a lot of times.

Rob Lipsett: 1:27:26

Yeah.

Luke Barnatt: 1:27:29

So he's like he's an early riser and he works hard and all these sort of things, but he's not the guy that you'd expect him to be or for me at least, I didn't expect him. But funny. Yeah, we had some good times, but he's also the busiest man alive. Yeah, especially now with his YouTube channel, and he's blown off. Yeah, he's been helping me with YouTube. Recently I had him on my live.

Rob Lipsett: 1:27:47

Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.

Luke Barnatt: 1:27:48

He's DM me a couple times like you need to do this or this or this. He's great at it, he's killer and he's got his own studio and he just can talk. He just stands there and talk Like I can talk, but on my own for an hour, like I don't know, and he just has everything down.

Rob Lipsett: 1:28:05

But anyway, he does his YouTube videos in one take, like he does them. They're like a 12-in-a-video and like there's not one cut in the ring. He doesn't mess up his words once.

Luke Barnatt: 1:28:14

Well, that's what I'm trying to do, so I do two camera pieces now and I try and aim for them to be 15 minutes long. And I talk about a topic and I just talk and I don't want even if I mess up, I don't want it to be cut, I don't want it to be edited, I want it to be raw and I want to try and express myself and talk about the subject. Maybe not the best thing to do, but that's how I feel like it will work. And I've actually took a bit of training from Chayle about talking, and this is all back in the day. I used to talk to him about, okay, I'm going on this TV show, what do I do? And he'd give me some advice and all this sort of stuff. So I'm very fortunate in that regard as well, and I believe the reason I talk fairly well is all down to my mom. I told her my mom was Jehovah's Witness. Yes, she used to force me at the age of like six to 16. I used to get up and read Bible verses in front of a church, but the church was big, they called Kingdom Halls as a Jehovah's Witness and it'd be like 400 people me reading Bible at six. So I became very comfortable with public speaking. But I never realized this until now, because I don't understand why people struggle with it. I just don't get it because it's so natural to me from that long ago, especially when you're talking about something that you understand. So for me, when I was going on TV and talking about fighting, I did zero research, didn't think about it showed up. What were we talking about today? Oh, the fight between X and N. Okay, I know everything because it's my whole life and I just talk about it. And yeah, I mean going down to Tangents. I can't remember what you were talking about.

Rob Lipsett: 1:29:43

PDs so.

Luke Barnatt: 1:29:45

PDs. I bring Chail up because I was training with him twice a day for six months for him to fight John Jones, right, and he got bad by John Jones, like so many people have. But I remember I was like I said, cardio was my thing and what we used to do with Chail is we on a Sunday or on a Saturday. We used to run up this mountain every Saturday with coach Clayton, who's coach he used to drive and we used to have to run and it was steep and it was horrible, and then we'd do sprints. So it'd be like you run the mountain, then there'd be like a sprint track, you'd sprint and then you'd do stairs. You know, like in Rocky, we see him do the stairs. Yeah, yeah, we do stairs outside in cold in Portland. It was miserable. And first, couple of times we did the mountain or the hill. That wasn't a mountain. He beat me, you know. And then I started thinking how could I compare it? No, so addictive, whatever. And I started winning this hill and then sprints, I was very, very fast, for again, I was 92 kilos, 93, 94 kilo.

Rob Lipsett: 1:30:42

That's crazy. Being that fan, I thought wait, like that's a lot of energy to be looking that around.

Luke Barnatt: 1:30:48

I've got the Usain Bolt stride you know what I mean Like so over 100 meters. I was pretty far. I was never Usain Bolt. I was far for an athlete, a fighter, who's not meant to be running. I was pretty fast so I'd win the sprints. Then it gets to the stairs, and the stairs is all like what did you say?

Rob Lipsett: 1:31:07

Oh yeah, you're mostly endurance right, it's a different aerobic capacity. Yeah, it's completely different.

Luke Barnatt: 1:31:11

And I would do that and Che would literally laugh at me as he's running up and going. No, you started, yeah, bro, like taking the piss at me and I'm like, how is this? And then we sparred and there was this one exercise Clayton used to make us do, which was punching the punch back, super basic 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off, for five minutes, minute rest, repeat. And you would just punch straight punches as fast as you can for 30 seconds. Then you can't touch, you can't. You have to hold your hands up and do it again.

Rob Lipsett: 1:31:41

Brutal, it's so easy, but it is brutal trust me, yeah, man, a combat sports train is the hardest.

Luke Barnatt: 1:31:47

Yeah, so I do this with Chell. So me and Chell, I'd be, he'd be on one side of the back, I'd be on the other side of the back and I'd be punching, and then my hands would be up. Then he'd be punching and I'd be whatever. Again, it's muscle endurance in the shoulders, same thing. And he would laugh at me and make jokes. And I was naive, 24 years old, thinking this guy's fighting John Jones, he's an athlete, he's a. You know, blah, blah, blah, blah, like. Three years later it comes out that he was on every P.

Rob Lipsett: 1:32:10

He was on King Kong, him and John Jones.

Luke Barnatt: 1:32:13

Yeah, he was taking the, what was the one that helped your muscle endurance?

Rob Lipsett: 1:32:17

Oh, epo, epo.

Luke Barnatt: 1:32:18

So he was on, so I've never spoke to him about it.

Rob Lipsett: 1:32:21

Actually, I should bring it because I'm not being placed in the place.

Luke Barnatt: 1:32:23

Yeah right, get him on. But I'd be like, bro, you were insulting me, literally making jokes about me, whereas I was running upstairs and you're on Epo. Running upstairs, yeah, prick, but no, it was super, super inspiring, but it's just again. When it came to the PDs, I didn't know anything about it, I just knew nothing. But then you saw the car being cleaned it up to an extent, but as you're making the money, you mentioned John Jones. It's like if there's millions of dollars on the line, well, who's the famous cyclist that did?

Rob Lipsett: 1:32:50

it. Oh, lance Armstrong, that's the most famous case. So.

Luke Barnatt: 1:32:53

Armstrong, whatever if you've got the money to facilitate the doctors, the doctors know more about it than the. You saw it like they were always one step ahead.

Rob Lipsett: 1:33:02

Exactly. Yeah, it's like their protocols are ahead of the testing protocols and the testing protocols are trying to catch up on the doctors. That's it, yeah.

Luke Barnatt: 1:33:12

It's like climbing the police they're trying to catch them. So I believe even now, when you saw the day and age, there's definitely people doing it. I don't know who, but there definitely is people doing it?

Rob Lipsett: 1:33:21

Yeah, there was one fight in Israel at a sign you turned up and he had gyno. Like he had fully developed gyno breast tissue, which is usually, you know, from an imbalance of testosterone and estrogen. I don't know what happened there, but he, full on, just had gyno and, like he tried to say it was from like smoking weed or something. It was the most, that's the most suspect thing that I've seen personally. But yes, 90%, you know, it's kind of the same in the fitness industry. When I was starting out, I was very naive as well and I was like, oh, you know, surely you know these guys just been training for long and you know, when there's money involved, people do whatever it takes.

Luke Barnatt: 1:33:58

Yeah, and again, if you again, I think the reason I've never touched it and still haven't is because of my personality. Yeah, Because I'm so addictive and if I get start doing things like that, I've never until now. So I changed this because I like to think the way I speak is very important. Until now, I've never really trained about my appearance. Yeah, I've never cared how I look. It's a good way to be. I've never worried about how big my shoulders are, how big my chest is or anything like that, because I've always cared about performance. I've always cared about winning. I always used to say like, when I have this fight, whoever I'm fighting now, I want my next opponent to watch this fight and shit themselves from what I'm gonna do to this person. It's all about performance at the best. If I can perform to the best I can perform, no man on the planet can beat me. That was always my mentality. Now that kind of athletic pursuit's over. I understand why people go to the gym to look good.

Rob Lipsett: 1:34:52

I get it now. You know, that's my job. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's my world.

Luke Barnatt: 1:34:56

I get it and it's like and I'm it's a real internal battle for me at the moment because I'm going and now I'm basically bodybuilding, you know, on a very amateur level, but I'm doing bodybuilding to try and because I wanna feel good, I wanna look good, I wanna be in shape, so but I don't think I'll ever go down the road of I don't wanna say never, but go down that road. Because I understand, if I start fixating on how I look and getting and I think a lot of women do this this might go a bit deeper and more serious than our conversation. But if you start fixating and making how you look, how you validate yourself, it can become a very slippery slope because with women especially, men are different, because as we age, we become, we're like fine wine.

Rob Lipsett: 1:35:36

Yeah, exactly.

Luke Barnatt: 1:35:37

But women. They get to a certain age and then things start to fall apart for them. And I used to be the pretty girl and now I'm not the pretty girl, exactly, yeah, and they become life-or-ing, but that's because they're fully way they validate themselves is how they look. Men validate themselves or I validate myself on how useful they are.

Rob Lipsett: 1:35:52

Exactly, and your resources, what you can do. And it's funny they say a woman's life begins. It's like a woman's life ends. A man's life is only beginning, almost in a way, the timeline. There's some quote, a butchered it. But it's like men. No, men have to, they have to put into action to become themselves. Women, just like, are given value. Yeah, you know what I mean. It's like men have to go out and do, whereas women, just like, are valued based on their looks.

Luke Barnatt: 1:36:23

At the moment. Currently, how we have it is, like you said, the women have. They gain their value from the way they look.

Rob Lipsett: 1:36:29

In a way, that's not how it should be, yeah, but it just is. That's just how it is, but for women.

Luke Barnatt: 1:36:33

It's a real battle because if the society they've touched themselves too much, if society are telling them that and all the men are telling them that, then they kind of think that and if no one's there to guide them to say, no, you don't value yourself on this. You value yourself on this something else, your character or the way you are or anything it is, then that becomes everything to them. And Instagram is a big problem with that right, because Instagram gets validation constantly from the outside. Rather than getting internally validated, they get externally validated and because of that they go down this path. And then all of us I mean again plastic surgery and all this sort of stuff they can maintain it for a little bit longer, but then as a man gains value, because a man has to build himself and construct himself and become a person of value. Because no one cares about a skinny 19 year old kid that works in McDonald's Nobody, nobody. So you've got to build up into something. So that takes time. So by the time the man does that, he's normally in his late 20s, early 30s, if he's lucky. Some people take a bit longer, and that's when the women in their early 30s, that's when they start not becoming as youthful and beautiful as they were.

Rob Lipsett: 1:37:38

So it's a real like how do you say converging, peer-reviewed, or something?

Luke Barnatt: 1:37:43

Yeah, yeah it's difficult for them. So I think that's. But anyway, for me that's what I've never done. I've never tried to base my value on the way that I look. But even now, as a man going into business and doing all these other things, the way you look is like ultra, important, ultra, and I never I kind of never had to worry about it in a way, because I was always in shape because of what I was doing. I was never, I never looked particularly appealing. I was like a skinny rack of bones, but I was still in shape. I wasn't fat, I wasn't you know whatever. So that was never really an issue for me. But now, as I go in like when you meet somebody, you're judged on the way you look yeah 100% true. It's just reality. So men need to be in shape, especially me, ex-UFC fighter, If I'm just some. Look at all the old athletes, the boxers that get out of shape.

Rob Lipsett: 1:38:32

Yeah, he is on Ronaldo. You know the Brazilian Ronaldo. People have made memes about that and everything. So you have, you have been an appearance to keep, you know. You have, you know a character to keep. So you know you got to be looking after your health and fitness now. And so what is your current training and nutrition looking like? I see you in UP.

Luke Barnatt: 1:38:50

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're elements. I've been at UP for a little while but I train at Oxygen, which is by my house, great, great facility there. I was training at a few different gyms but that's the one that I try and get to the most. I'm in the situation now and again. I used to always think, like how the hell can anyone complain about training? How can it be difficult? This is how I used to think because I was like I was my whole life. I was like it's not difficult. And my brother I always use my brother as an example he used to give me the 10,000 steps. Yeah, I thought it was gay. Yeah, he said I did my 10,000 steps and my brother's in great shape, like he's arguably a much better shape than me now and we used to kind of used to compete, but now he's winning. And 10,000 steps, he used to wear a what do you like? A weighted vest, weighted vest and do his step. And I was like, bro, this is all just horrible. Like why are you doing it, talking about how much you can bench and shoulders and all those like very, very regular things I mean, like all men always talk about? I just think it was shut up, bro, who cares? You know how is that difficult is what I used to think, like you should see what I'm doing. But it's more difficult Now I've gone into like becoming an entrepreneur and businesses and family and all these other external things I have to struggle with. Getting to the gym is not easy. Yeah, it's a challenge, right? So I now really understand why people struggle with it. So I'm in the situation now where I try, I don't try, sorry. I'm in a situation now where I do three unnegotiable sessions a week. So I have to train three times a week and I'm doing the bodybuilding style, lifting three times a week and then I have optional sessions two to three times a week. So I sometimes I train six times a week, yeah, but I always train three times.

Rob Lipsett: 1:40:37

Yeah, tree times is like the minimum to really see significant results. And some people you know there's an argument to be made, and I kind of agree with it, that training three times is almost the most better than for some people, than training six times, because you obviously get to recover a lot better. So some people will fucking blow up on three days a week, you know. So three days a solid.

Luke Barnatt: 1:40:57

I think for me I've got the muscle memory, or whatever you want to go.

Rob Lipsett: 1:41:00

Yeah, exactly, it's true, that's a legit, science-based thing.

Luke Barnatt: 1:41:02

Yeah, so I I'd say about a year it's about six months ago, not quite Time with me is I feel like I've lived a thousand lives.

Rob Lipsett: 1:41:12

Me too yeah.

Luke Barnatt: 1:41:13

And I'm no good at talking about months and dates and anniversaries. I can't remember any of it crap. So let's say six months, but it could have been five years, who knows about that time ago. Let's say six months, I had a sparring session with a friend and I got absolutely beaten, the shout out and I mean like similar to how I felt when the first time I ever trust everyone. But it was all cardio based. First two rounds I was sharp moving but but you know whatever. And then I just got worse and we did 18 rounds. So two I did okay, 16. I was couldn't breathe, right, yeah, and I was like there's all. I think everyone has that moment. I was talking to a friend of mine. He said he had it when he was walking up the stairs and he was like heavy breathing up the stairs. This was my moment. I was like I'm the fighting guy training with a guy. It was not really the fighting guy, but he kind of beat the crap out of me and I was like whoa, something. And then I got my body weight checked and my body fat percentage and I was like 27%. I used to be eight, eight percent when I was fighting Right. So I was like I basically put on 19% of body fat since I stopped. Yeah, taken two, three years, but I've done it and it slowly. My focus has gone from being about physical condition to being about money and family, but money being the main focus. So, okay, my, my bank balance looks better, without a doubt, undeniable, but my health and who I am is gone In my mind, has gone downhill. So about six months ago, I slowly started to try and figure out ways to get into a route, but again, never cared about how I looked. I never really trained in commercial gyms. So even for me and again so I, a lot of people will probably come to you with all these issues Like I don't like going in the gym. I feel embarrassed. I went through all of it because I'm a professional athlete Used to find the UFC, never trained in commercial gyms, because I'd trained in MMA gyms and I'd have personal training. I'd have a strength conditioning coach. I'd go to, like you know specific facilities to lift, I know how to lift, I know how to train, I know everything about exercise. But going to a commercial gym, I literally walked in the first time and I was like, did a bit of chest press. I didn't know what to do. You felt a bit lost.

Rob Lipsett: 1:43:20

Completely lost, actually. So, right, how was it going from? Okay? So two questions here. Right, you're in the UFC, and then you have your stint in UFC, then you retire, okay, and then you go into normal life really. So, first of all, what was the reason you said, hey, I'm going to retire. And second of all, what was that transition that one day you wake up and you're not a UFC fighter anymore? This is a long story but yeah.

Luke Barnatt: 1:43:44

So when I got to UFC, I didn't even tell the bit about the UFC. So I want my fight happened. I said I was training with Chael for my UFC debut. The phrase I said to myself every single day for 22 months was actually it was less than that, I think it was 18 months, but it was I will fight in UFC by the time I'm 25, right, so there was every single day. Then I went through the ultimate fighter. I didn't win the ultimate fighter, I lost in the semis or whatever it was. Again, it's a guy called Dylan Andrews, new Zealand, kiwi kid. He was 32 and had 36 professional fights and I was five and oh, he beat me. I could have, should have smashed it, but he beat me. He dropped me with a body shot, got tired, blah, blah, blah, whatever.

Rob Lipsett: 1:44:27

Where's the?

Luke Barnatt: 1:44:27

body shot. Yeah, it was horrible. There was moments in that fight that I should have won. It was back and forth, back and forth and we actually won the fight of the season. So, although I didn't get knocked out of the season because fucking you're right I got fired the season, so I still got my 25 Gs. Anyway, my debut was on April 13th 2013, which was my 25th birthday. So I said to myself for nine on 22 months, I will fight in UFC by the time I'm 25. And my debut in the UFC was on my 25th birthday. So you could say it's coincidence. You could say whatever you want, but when we talk about affirmations, I believe it. I believe in all that stuff, right? So this was like this magic thing that happened and I ended up fighting in UFC. From that, I had like nine fights something like that, six, I think, in the UFC, because they're the ones I won on three fight win streak. On that three fight win streak, I was trying. I moved from being on the floor getting the room behind reception. Now I got a bit of money not a lot, but a bit of money and ended up renting a flat above the gym.

Rob Lipsett: 1:45:31

Okay, but you're moving off in the world Literally.

Luke Barnatt: 1:45:35

And the guy that lived with me was Meika, who was the guy that paid for my ticket to go to the gym. I moved to America because my gym I was training at the tsunami gym went under financially and they were to train. I had a big sponsor at the time called Bad Boy yeah, and they gave me free equipment, they paid me a monthly stipend, they gave me a place to live, which was a $2 million yacht and they gave me. Then they gave me a G wagon to drive in San Diego so we can set up. So I got set up. I went from living in a gym in Cambridge to living on a yacht and driving a G wagon and getting paid every month in San Diego, which is a beautiful place in the world, and love it. I had this whole system, mental system that I used to like. I used to again, I talk about the affirmations, but I had a very I'm not going to go into it because we're going on forever but a very, very in detail strong system that I built that I would again mainly around the affirmations and talking to myself and systems and all this sort of stuff that I built out of training sessions, the training journal. Every single training session I had I would review, I would talk about I had nothing else in the world going on before, right? So my current wife, she moved out to me into America with me, traveling and doing whatever. For what I made it? I made it. My goal was to be in the UFC. Yeah, my goal, my life goal, and this is, you know, it didn't take me very long to do it. I think from turning professional to fighting in the UFC was something like 22 months. Like I said, it was very crazy, it was unbelievably fast, right? Yeah, I had 10 amateurs, so I think it was five, like my first.

Rob Lipsett: 1:47:23

Even from lessens your story. It seems very fast, you know what I mean Like there's one minute where we're knocking out rugby lads and now we're in the UFC.

Luke Barnatt: 1:47:34

Yeah, but it was like that. But it was like that because I the one thing I do, and I have done my entire life, is I give 100%, like 100% to it. I quit my job moving slips in the gym. Most people would have got a side job. They would have trained a little bit. And some of the guys like Jack Jack Mason's 10 times the fire I ever was, 10 times the athlete I ever was, 10 times the knowledge I ever had he never fully committed. He had an ever and good on him because now he works in banking insurance makes multiple six figure. He's doing great. But he never got the feeling of finding the UFC Cornered. Create loads of stars, whatever, but that's just one example. But most people they don't fully commit in anything in life, right, same as the gym, I'm sure.

Rob Lipsett: 1:48:17

Oh man, they don't fully go for it. 8%.

Luke Barnatt: 1:48:20

They don't do the diet in a new way ever. So I was all in and that's why it happened so quickly for me. I had the idea of it. Then I had my UFC journey and I moved to America and I stopped doing all of the things. It wasn't the gym so much so. My gym was my family, the guys that I trained with. They're my support system. They were everything to me. I think really that were. They were like Jack and the boys were kind of a lot of the reason. I even enjoyed fighting Because, again, I was bullied a bit at school, bit of an internal guy computer geek. Then I had this group of boys. You know what I mean, the lads. I was a part of it. I was part of this mission that like drove me forward. Then I went on the old fighter. Then my gym went under. I had to move to America. Now I'm on my own, you know, with my wife, but on my own right, and I'm walking this gym with Dominic Cruz, phil Davis, all I think it was 27, ross Pearson was number one, 27 UFC fighters on the map and me. A gym called Alliance. Eric Del Fierro is the head coach and my main training partner is Phil Davis. So training with Phil Davis every day is impossible, not to get better, possible. Yeah, I was trying to lock a nutcase. I would go deep into it, but I won't. And it's like then. From that moment onwards, I had three more fights in UFC. The next fight was in Germany against the guy that everyone should know now and Sean Strickland. So I fought Sean Strickland in Germany back in 2014 or 15, whatever and I lost a split decision which I won. It's fine, but Dana tweeted that I won the fight. It was the worst decision of the year. All these sort of things, sean, doesn't matter, like there's just one fight at a time. I definitely felt that I won but I lost. But I lost by this much right. Even if I won and the judges got, I still lost right. So I should have knocked that guy out. But because I'd got rid of my system and I hadn't been doing my journaling, hadn't been doing my mental work, I thought I'd made it. I was chilling out a little bit.

Rob Lipsett: 1:50:14

I was living right. I got complacent.

Luke Barnatt: 1:50:16

But I was training harder than I'd ever trained before, but I wasn't doing my thing, which was this system that I created and then. So I lost a split decision, second fighter for a firefighter from Texas that got to the UFC I can't remember his name I lost a split decision, definitely won, Lost. I won two rounds, lost the third round, but I lost split decision. Close like this I'm lying. So then I realized that my mentality, like the reason I was losing these fights, was something to do with my mentality, or it wasn't my training, but it was my training, because I believe solidly now you should always train with someone better than you and someone worse than you. So I was training with the better people, but I never had anyone worse than me to train with, because when you train with the worst guy, you can develop, you practice your skills, you build confidence, you get better. When you train with the A team player, the Phil Davis, I got smashed. He was a weight class above me, he was number four in the world. Whatever it was, he just smashed me every session. I learned so much from him, so much, but mentally I was just leaving and then every set I was coming to the set. Oh, I got a sparring with Phil. It's great, you know like again, I'm turning up to every session. I'm extremely tough. The whole PED's conversation I'm not saying Phil's on PED's, I don't believe he is but it's like I was not doing any of those things and I went because I was a bit naive. I went to every single session, didn't miss a session, whereas these guys had setups, they had different coaches, they wouldn't, like I was, at every group session, they wouldn't go to everyone because they were a bit more advanced and they knew that rest was important and I was beating my body up every single day and because I'm tough, I would just show up, show up, show up, show up, show up, show up and that's it's like my biggest benefit, my biggest curse right, or it kind of drove yourself into the ground. Yeah. So I was driving myself into the ground, training negatively and not doing my mental system. That got me where I was in the first place and didn't have my support network. So I lost, lost a split decision. Third fight I was gonna fight actually a member of the Ommel fight I called Clint Hester, with like friends, but we were gonna fight and he got injured or whatever it was, so he dropped out and there was a fight with a guy called Mark Munoz who was in the Philippines and I was like I want that fight because if I beat Mark Munoz everyone knows him, I'll be a name Yep. And also at that time I was doing a lot of TV work and I got offered a position well, they say offered, but like a trial to work for Fox Sports, which had been like on the desk talking about fighting or stuff because I was quite good at that. And they were like if you beat Mark Munoz you'll get a trial because you need to be established, blah, blah, blah blah. So on this last fight against Mark, if I'd have beat him I would have got a trial at Fox and if I'd have got that trial, that's like big money, like big TV money would have been established, blah, blah, blah blah. But I lost that fight as well. So after I lost that, my visa was coming to an end anyway around that time and the UFC would give me a visa if I was a part of the UFC. I got cut from the UFC and I moved back to Liverpool all the places, all the world, if people know England very well and I live with my wife's family. So I went from sleeping on the floor, sleeping above the gym, sleeping on $2 million yard in San Diego, driving a G-Wagon, to then sleeping in my wife's family house. And I spent money, bro, but I was like all these things I was waiting for that bit. So I did a right in the US. I made a bit of money but I spent like living in San Diego and the mentality of a fighter is every three months, every four months, I'm gonna fight again, I'm gonna make another 50 Gs, everything is never gonna end yeah, everything is never gonna end, like every fight on the planet. So I spent a lot, and I had to spend a lot on camps as well. So I spent a lot of my money and I come back to Liverpool and I'm asleep in my. I remember waking up in my wife's family house like we had a wedding coming up, so I was getting married and I couldn't afford to pay for it. So I literally, I think at the time, for fighting this level, I was on like 20 and 20, or 18 and 18, so if I won I got 40 grand, if I lost I got 20 grand, something like that, right, plus sponsors, plus all the other bits that aren't included, but just four showing up, right, and I obviously got paid 20,. And then it was like I got caught because I lost and I had a great relationship with the UFC, great relationship with Dana, with Sean, with Joe, with everyone. Joe's email was to me when he said they were coming. They were like sad that I was leaving and yeah, all this crap. So I was quite well established in the company because I used to do a lot of the like they'd have other fighters at the events, so we didn't interact with the fans. I can't remember what they used to call it, but I did like 10 of those so I'd fly all over the world, be part of the UFC band where I knew the marketing team well like I was involved, and I remember waking up for some reason. It was like five o'clock in the morning in Liverpool and I woke up and I'm like thinking how the fuck am I gonna pay for this wedding? I think I owed like 16K or 15.

Rob Lipsett: 1:55:02

Yeah, man, weddings are expensive.

Luke Barnatt: 1:55:03

We're trying to organize ours.

Rob Lipsett: 1:55:05

We just gotta quote off. You know, think at conception. Yeah, they're like 12K for the day. I'm like fuck for a few hours.

Luke Barnatt: 1:55:12

Yeah, of course I got married on a Wednesday. Yeah, that's a tip. I got married on a Wednesday because then everything's a bit cheaper. If you do a Friday night, I'm screwed.

Rob Lipsett: 1:55:20

And if you go, we got like three quotes like May, june and September and October. I'm like might happen in October. It's better time of year anyways, perfect, yeah, yeah.

Luke Barnatt: 1:55:31

But yes, all those things were lining up and I was feeling this pressure and I just get an email. I remember ping an email from the UFC and they said thanks to the service, all that sort of stuff, and they sent me my win bonus from the last fight, even though I didn't win. So I was like that paid for the wedding. So I was in bed again. I was in bed, stressed, woke up like how am I gonna pay for the rest of this wedding? And I get this email bing man, that's good universe.

Rob Lipsett: 1:55:55

That's the universe, getting you just a leg off.

Luke Barnatt: 1:55:58

But even that, like that, covered the wedding but we were done broke, you know. So amazing wedding, incredible time, and then my mom moved out here so I decided to come visit my mom. So after the wedding we were gonna have like a honeymoon over here, but we had no money so we had to. You know you'll get it when you have your wedding. Hopefully you get a little bit of dough from everyone.

Rob Lipsett: 1:56:20

Yeah, yeah, every good point, yeah, every good point To cover, because you're paying for everyone's meals, all that sort of stuff.

Luke Barnatt: 1:56:25

So I remember the next day like waking up and like opening all the cards and that was the amount of money we had to our name.

Rob Lipsett: 1:56:32

Just from wedding, yeah.

Luke Barnatt: 1:56:34

Because, like, I haven't worked a job in whatever, so I carried on fighting. That's not why I carried on fighting for the money, but this is just. You understand the financial situation I was in. I then fought for a show called Venator in Italy. I moved out to Spain, moved out here with my because of my mom. I lived with my mom for a little while, found a gym out here, started training and I fought for Venator and I became the middleweight champion there and I beat a couple of Italian guys, made a bit of good money and I got back on the road a little bit and then it got to the point where I had five fights outside the UFC and the UFC and I won all of them. And the UFC contacted me and they were like we want you to come back. What I don't know this, no one knows it. So they were like offered me a return against because I was asking for it, you know what I mean and they offered me I can't remember who it was against or where it was or anything like that. I'll probably find the email and at the same time there was a show called ACA absolute champ or ACB absolute champs at Burkow, who I used to work for as a commentator, and they offered me a fight. So I got offered a fight on ACB and I got offered a fight in the UFC. But the guy I got offered the fight again my mentality the guy I got offered the fight in ACB was ranked seventh in the world. His name was Mamed Khalidov. He's a super famous Polish Chechnian fighter, but seventh in the world. And when I won a three-fight win streak in the UFC, the highest I'd ever been ranked was 21st. All right, so if I'd have gone to the UFC this is again how you got, kind of understand it, because the sound's retarded that I turned down the UFC and I took the ACB option. But if you join the UFC, everyone in the UFC's a league.

Rob Lipsett: 1:58:11

They're the best of them.

Luke Barnatt: 1:58:13

It's so hard right and to get to fight a top 10 guy in the UFC. I was on a three-fight win streak and I was ranked 21st. So I'll probably have to win another two fights to get to the top 10, right? So that's five fights against killers I would have to win. So this is how I did the maths. In my mind I was like I've got to win five fights in UFC to then get to the top 10. Or I could beat Mamed Khalidov and I could go back to the UFC as a top 10 in the world guy. That was my mentality. I was like, okay, so I'm gonna fuck Khalidov up and then I'll go back to the UFC. So I fought Khalidov for pennies on a dollar. I can't even remember how much I got paid, but it wasn't a lot of money. I agreed to fight, trained like an absolute animal for three months, like harder than I'd ever trained, ever Like. It was by far the biggest moment of my fighting career. So fighting Mark Winters in the Philippines was big. All the UFC fights were big. My debut in the UFC was big. They're all big moments, right. My pro debut is big they're all big. But this one for me was like a guy that I'd been watching and all that sort of stuff and I knew I could be in. I was like I just know I can sense it. This guy's amazing at leg locks, like amazing at leg locks, amazing at guillotines and he's got knockout power. He's a dangerous motherfucker. He's a Chechnyan. Everyone knows him. You just don't know him. Brofination yeah, yeah, yeah, but I thought he's like coming to the end of his career, all these sort of things. And I just knew like, for me, I'm built to beat this guy. Yeah, trained like a madman, went into the fight, started the fight, really really well established. My jab got knocked out 21 seconds. So I didn't. I didn't. I built it up. I didn't build up enough. So this fight was in Manchester Arena. All of my family were there, all my friends were there. Haven't fought in the UK for three years or something like that. It was, like you know, built up. If I win this fight, I'm going to be again the next big thing. All that crap Sold 200 tickets or whatever it was, lot of tickets, lot of people there for me, all that sort of stuff, 21 seconds knocked out, and that was it.

Rob Lipsett: 2:00:09

That was, that was I had a lot of feel Like when you, when you woke up, like what was that?

Luke Barnatt: 2:00:12

I mean, I'm way like that. So I remember I thought that I got touched and it was over.

Rob Lipsett: 2:00:20

So that's what it felt like for you, because I just got switched off First time.

Luke Barnatt: 2:00:22

I've ever been knocked down in my life, as well as another thing. So got switched off, boom. And then I watched the fight back and I get hit with the right hand and I'm still standing.

Rob Lipsett: 2:00:29

I get hit again and I get hit again and the lights are on for no reason.

Luke Barnatt: 2:00:33

Yeah and then I go down and I get hit again and I get hit again and I get hit again. So I was actually still there well, not there, but still there but in my mind he hit me with one shot and I got unconscious and I woke up and he was walking away from me like hands in the air, whatever, and I was off. Yeah, I remember I went back into the changing rooms, burst out into tears with my coach, all that sort of stuff, and then my wife came and I remember posting a picture in the back of a taxi with my wife and my wife's friend Both fairly attractive Just saying like life's not that bad, yeah, or something like that, being funny, it wasn't. I was devastated, yeah, I'm absolutely broken, and a part of my heart died, I think, on that day. So it's like I carried on fighting, for I think I had 11 fights or something like that, because it was all I knew. I literally I didn't know how to do anything else apart from competing in the English martial arts, so I just kept moving forward. That was my mentality, keep moving forward. Then I like won a couple, lost one, won a couple.

Rob Lipsett: 2:01:34

But I wasn't invested in it. I mean the higher I was in wasn't trained in the same I had.

Luke Barnatt: 2:01:38

By this time I opened the gym I had different things going. I was out. I should have just retired. At this moment in time when I lost, I should have given up. But you gotta pay the bills. If you get paid 20, 30, 40, 50 grand, you just gotta take the pay days when they come. I carried on fighting in Russia for ACB became ACA. I had like 10 or 11 fights. I fought all over the world. I fought in Australia, I fought in Kazakhstan, I fought in Dubai, I fought everywhere and then I was fighting Kazakhstan. My last fight, which was about three years ago, in December probably three years ago in a couple of weeks was my last fight and I fought some guy called M I can't even say his name MNB, the ever, whatever it was and I'd moved up to lightweight. So I spoke about my transition from middleweight to lightweight earlier, but I moved up to lightweight because I wasn't involved as much, I wasn't kind of weight as much. I didn't want to do 12-k weight cuts but I didn't want to stay dedicated and not drink and I was T totaled during the year. There was loads of stuff. So my whole life had changed and I fought this guy and I had a kid by this time as well. So I had my first daughter and I traveled to Manchester with my coach, karl Prince, to train for this fight. I was there six weeks, eight weeks, staying in his house, trained, but I was just. What I say now is like if you don't have intention in your sessions, you can be there, but if you don't have intention like you're not there switched on for a reason. Because of the. I was just showing up to the session, doing I was good, I was talented, I was beating people, I was enjoying it, but I wasn't like I'm going to this session to improve this, I'm doing it. And then afterwards, because I said I had a journal, I'd write down afterwards like this was good, this was bad, this was bad, I wasn't doing any of that, I was just showing up but not on us, kind of not just doing it, whatever. I flew out to Kazakhstan, fought this guy. He knocked me out of a left hook. My hand was up but he like touched my chin, like scraped it. It was on the bottom, but whatever and I was out Fuck.

Rob Lipsett: 2:03:34

Sweet chin music.

Luke Barnatt: 2:03:35

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then I was like after that fight, before that fight even happened, I remember saying to Karl like when I lose, I think I'm done, because I had a three fight series with the Polish fighter as well. And I got to the point where if I won the fight, I was like it's not my mechalilov, that was always my. Who cares? Who cares about this guy, karl Ors or Karl. I bought a guy called be, a guy called Max Nunes, who's a great fighter. Swedish kid known him forever. I beat him in the first round, knock out, no one cares, no, it just it meant nothing to me. So I got to the stage where beating these people meant nothing. And then when I lost it, meant nothing, you just clocked out. Yeah, okay, sweet, take the paycheck, go. So I realized that probably a couple of fights before this one and this fight, I even said to Karl I'm just doing it for the money, I need the money, I'm just doing it for the money. So did it for the money lost and I was like that's it, I'm never doing that again. Once that happened and I realized that I was doing it to make a, before that I believed I was doing it because I wanted to be the best fighter in the world. Now I'm doing it to get paid. I don't want to get paid, but there's better ways to get paid. You know what I mean. And I decided there and then to stop. And when I came back from that Kazakhstan trip, I haven't trained since. It's been three years, fuck. I've not trained consecutively for two days in a mixed martial arts gym, a Jiu-Jitsu gym, a boxing gym, any martial arts. I've not trained consistently for two days. So I was depressed is the wrong word, because definitely wasn't depressed, but I think when you're adrenaline and you're testosterone and you're in incredible shape and you're competing in front of 20,000 people and people are screaming at you and you're like your dopamine, level was like shot. It's like extreme stimulation, yeah, so someone described it to me, especially in UFC days. I mean, aca, oh that was good, but the stimulation was here. So my base level of existence like if this is an average guy living an average life my base level existence was here. And then, on the moments where it was here, right, but my base level was here. Then when I decided to stop stop training, stop anything, all the thing about all the endorphins, all that, just so my base level existence was probably just a normal person. But to me it was like I was in the floor so I don't call it depressed, because I don't believe like so much in depression in that way but I was just low, my energy was low, my sex drive was low, everything was low. I was just like kind of what's the point? Didn't know how to make. Like I had a gym, so the gym made a bit of an income. There was I was commentating, so commentary made me a bit of an income. Like I had money coming in but I had no purpose. I lost. My purpose was to become the best fighter I can be on the planet. That was taken away. I had a kid, obviously that's purpose. I have a family, that's purpose. But it's not the same as this intense, burning desire to become something.

Rob Lipsett: 2:06:35

Exactly, and so how did you find your new purpose?

Luke Barnatt: 2:06:39

Well, it kind of found me which is I was. I mean, I don't believe in like being lucky. I believe that relationships are built and I think I don't wanna say that I was lucky, but I met so many people in my past and everyone that I've interacted with since, like I'm a bit of a dick, let me put it this way. I'm trying to explain myself there. I can be a bit of a dick, I can be very, and it's never, ever with any bad intention. I am just so focused on this one thing. I don't care about anything else. So if I meet you and I, if you can't make me a better fighter, I couldn't care less who. You are Nice to meet. You see you later. Right, that was my whole life Tonal vision, tonal vision for my whole life, 15 years, tunnel vision. So I never and I'm a sort of guy that if you think you're right and I'm wrong, you're definitely wrong and I'm definitely right, like I always believed, like that. So I can rub people up the wrong way a lot. I've had a lot of instances with them, but most of the people that I come across in my life remember me and remember good things about me and the basic story about it the photographer at the UFC, an old guy, I don't know his name I've topped my head really nice guy. I hadn't seen him in 10 years because I hadn't been part of the UFC and I cornered LaRone Murphy, one of the fighters that I know, and I was cornering him and he goes hey, Luke, how are you? Duh duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh. And I was like how does this guy remember my name and who I am? And he's taking pictures of thousands of people, and people like Dana White is a good example, Like me and Dana had a good relationship, chat and whatever, but I still talk to him to this day. Wow, I love.

Rob Lipsett: 2:08:21

Dana White yeah, he's the man, he's the man.

Luke Barnatt: 2:08:22

But it's uncharmed. Anyone I make a connection with for some reason. Whatever that reason is, I believe it's because I live my life like heart and sleeve. I'm an upfront person. I never fucking do what that cunt did to me on Tibia. I never do anything like that. I'm never that guy that worms in and out. I might lose interest in people and move forward like I'm not saying I'm the perfect guy and I keep in contact with them. None of that. I'm the opposite like. I don't have many friends because I'm always looking for the next thing. But people that recognize that and are kind of similar to that, they're kind of vibe with me, you know. So that leads me to like I was down, I was low, I was living in Marbella, I had a few again. I started to start a few businesses. I was doing a few things. I had an athlete management company, had an events company, I had a gym. I was doing personal training like I was doing okay, commentating. You know I'm not like. I never sat around and did nothing but I've always been a hustler. And then a friend of mine that we all kind of know now in Andrew Tate, was in Marbella and he hit me up and he was like I don't even know, but we were texting each other. I fought Andrew years ago and we used to be training partners. Who won? He won, he won, he won. He was my second amateur loss I described. But yeah, so I came across him and he's the one who, like sat me down and we had like a three hour like deep. Who's that? A pork up Mowgli, if you know Mowgli's where they shot over there.

Rob Lipsett: 2:09:49

Yeah, he's just down the road. Yeah, it's right there.

Luke Barnatt: 2:09:51

So at Mowgli I show up and he's on some super car rally with his brother and a load of ballers, rappers and all this sort of stuff, and I just kind of broke down to him to be honest in a way, like I just kind of like said, like you know, and he goes, bro, and he just took me through all of the things I've done in my life and how I've gained experience from it and all these things and we'd known each other 10 years or whatever at this time, yeah, and he was like you'll be fine, you just got to do X, y and Z and blah, blah, blah. And then from that conversation he wasn't anyone, like he is now now everyone, he was making money, but no one knew who he was. And he was like you'll be fine, blah, blah, blah. And then I kind of lent on him as a bit of a resource. You know, whenever I would, you know whatever and he did this what do you call it? Like a live or a webinar. He did a webinar on money and he said, like, what money is? And it was really interesting and I watched it along with maybe 10,000 other people and they all paid him for it and I was like, and then I text him afterwards because he mentioned crypto, yeah, and I was like I want to get. That sounds good, I want to get into that kind of thing. So I text him goes, I don't know enough to eat, he knows about it, but he goes the guy's talked about this is my cousin. So I messaged his cousin and we go back and forth and he makes me join a group like crypto group. So I joined this crypto group and I get deep again. Obsessive personality my whole life gets taken over by crypto. Turn a crypto nerd. I become a proper crypto nerd. I don't know how to a little bit of money from fighting. I turn a little bit of money into quite a lot of money, then it becomes a little bit of money, then it becomes quite a lot of money, then it becomes a little bit of money, then it becomes quite a lot of money and then I kind of cashed out an okay spot, yeah. And from joining that little crypto group, I become part of this thing that Andrew's started, which is called the warring, and I start meeting all these people that are like financially well off, doing one in finance, but they've got no draw, like they don't have any, like I said, purpose. So they've got money. Maybe there's some IT nerd or some crypto nerd or some guy that has a fulfillment company or some guy that sharpens pencils, but they got money, some timber guy, whatever. And I meet hundreds of them, hundreds of these multimillionaires, and I'm meeting them, I'm talking to them and I'm just like, if this guy has got money, not the and they've always had this mentality like how have I not got any money?

Rob Lipsett: 2:12:18

Yeah.

Luke Barnatt: 2:12:19

I've done all these amazing things and lived this amazing life and I've got all these stories and blah, blah blah, so that kind of it. And then I started speaking to this specific guy that actually lives here. It's called Daniel Kelly. He runs like a business, like a mentoring business. Can I act us? Yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, he's a great guy and he really spent a lot of time with me, talking to me and all the things within the war room we have, like courses and events and all these really interesting people. Like they just showed me my value, if you want to call it that, like the value in the story that I've led in my life so far. And again I had Andrew to lean on, so speaking to him quite a lot in the background about things, and he's been through the same thing as me. This is what people don't get because he was a world champion kickboxer who had 84 fights I only had 40, so he was more but kickboxing and MMA MMA fights take a bit longer to prepare for kickboxing Not you could have one every week, but you could fight a lot more regularly. So, yeah, he had 84, but he did the same when he gave up his new addiction because they're all just addictions that we're trying to fill is making money and that became mine in a way. But then mine became on the what's the word, like what Outside of that can't pick up all the phrases like because of that. It became like helping people, because I started working with entrepreneurs that make like multiple six figures or seven figures and talking to them about their lives and I started helping them not become happier, because it sounds a bit, but become more well-rounded. Yes, probably their way to talk about it, Because you'd have some crypto nerd that's made a load of money but can't talk to women. Exactly Shy.

Rob Lipsett: 2:14:01

Skinny, skinny, whatever.

Luke Barnatt: 2:14:02

And you just talk to him and you'd realize, you go through, you reflect about all the bad parts of his life and you it's just like I went to and again this process. So what happened was this from doing this the process that I used to build myself from sleeping on the floor to find in the UFC I've reinstalled into my life. So I started building affirmations, doing goals, saying doing all these things that I've been doing and the target became different. Rather than it being about wanting to find the UFC, it became wanting to become the best version of myself and I built out this whole system for it. And then I started using this system with other people and helping them grow their lives. And then, from doing that, that became one of my revenues and businesses that I helped people. I started doing one-on-one coaching with these guys and I'd call them every week and help them out, and I used to charge quite high ticket for it, which I never and in my mind I would never imagine that my experience as a UFC fighter and my system that I built and my mentality was valuable because I was surrounded by everyone else doing it. It's like you go into the gym and everyone's in shape. It's easy to get in shape, but then when you sit with an average guy and you talk to them for five minutes, you're like bro, you need help. Yeah exactly.

Rob Lipsett: 2:15:19

Yeah, you're ahead of the 80%.

Luke Barnatt: 2:15:21

Yeah. So it's like you just don't, you don't. I never saw that and that's what Andrew saw in me and that's what he highlighted to me is like, bro, trust me. And then for me and all these guys I made some really great friendship groups and networked through it and they were all saying the same thing and they were encouraging me to do something. And then from that I'm a again work-holic, addicted to everything. So I just started pushing myself in every different sphere, learning different things about sales and marketing and et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And then all the other little businesses that I had, they improved because of it and I my management company and my events company and they will stay growing and growing, and growing and growing. And now I just all of those things I kind of get put to one side and yeah, so it's. That's kind of what gave me purpose again. And my purpose became like teaching others the things that I've learned and also helping Andrew, like where I feel so you work closely with Andrew?

Rob Lipsett: 2:16:15

yeah, yeah, I mean I.

Luke Barnatt: 2:16:18

When's he coming to Marbella?

Rob Lipsett: 2:16:19

When they let him bro yeah.

Luke Barnatt: 2:16:21

He would come every year before.

Rob Lipsett: 2:16:22

I know, yeah, I see pictures off from there.

Luke Barnatt: 2:16:24

So he was here the year before. Like he got arrested in December that year he was here. Yeah, so it's he loves Europe, he loves traveling around Europe. I work closely. I don't talk about it Like I talk about the war room, I don't talk about my roles so much sometimes, but I'm working very, very more and more with him as well, because I'm fortunate enough to even go to Romania and see him every now and then.

Rob Lipsett: 2:16:48

Yeah, yeah, you were there recently, I think. Yeah, I was there a couple of weeks ago.

Luke Barnatt: 2:16:50

I actually got to see him a couple of weeks, yeah, and just what people don't understand about this guy and everything. It's like I'm so fortunate to be around the energy of this person, because there's no one that pushes you harder. Like I go there for days and I leave. I'm more motivated than I've ever been in my entire life Physically, mentally, financially, everything. I'm just like bro, like because his whole world is about that is about like leveling up, leveling up and him and his brother Tristan. That's all they do to each other all day long is push each other. And then it's funny, like that's why I try and go there as much as possible. I just go there for a recharge.

Rob Lipsett: 2:17:29

Yes, like an energy recharge.

Luke Barnatt: 2:17:31

I go there and I try and suck all the energy in and leave. You know, they know that yeah that's a good thing. And they've got to the point now where all they want to do is help people, and what's going on with them is disgraceful, but it's part of life.

Rob Lipsett: 2:17:43

It's so funny. Like everyone I've talked to, that is as Matt Andrew or as close friends with him, they always say the best things ever, and it's crazy how the media has just painted the polar opposite.

Luke Barnatt: 2:17:53

I mean, they've got an agenda. He is just, it is what it is right. So I don't want to go on about it with that situation because I think it would be it to death and I think the people know that. People know it's obvious.

Rob Lipsett: 2:18:06

I think the craziest was when he won the court case. Like that's hard to do, like that's extremely hard, when you've got like the media against you, the government against you, to actually turn around Like. So you know he was like investigated every facet of his life. If that happened to anyone, they would find some dirt. Hey, you fucking dig up some shit on me, you know, but like he's maybe a saint. You know, that was crazy. I think that really really said it all.

Luke Barnatt: 2:18:32

And Tristan, and that it's the reality of the situation. It's again. This is what people will never understand and they'll never believe. Even there's a guy, hector Lombard.

Rob Lipsett: 2:18:42

You know, Hector Lombard. Yeah, yeah, TFC right.

Luke Barnatt: 2:18:45

UFC Fire. He was a Jidoka, I think he's Cuban or he's somewhere, like can he represent them in the Olympics for UFC? Badass killer, absolute killer, and I know him pretty well and I was at an event with him talking to him and he's talking about Andrew and he was like yeah, where's that man got his money from? That's all lies.

Rob Lipsett: 2:19:03

No one believes.

Luke Barnatt: 2:19:05

And he goes. He doesn't know how to fight. I'm like, trust me, bro, you know I was at a fight. He's got like all of the things. The thing that Andrew has over everything is like honor, as in everything he says he does. And that's the company. Is it? That really? Is it? It's like there's no smoke, there's no mirrors, there's no. Yeah, obviously he's a. What's the word? Like an?

Rob Lipsett: 2:19:29

influencer, what a guy. So there were being an influencer.

Luke Barnatt: 2:19:31

Like, obviously he's got cameras and video, but there's no secret the reason he's become so big and so popular? Because he's just himself. He really is just himself. He turns the volume up a bit when he's talking about certain subjects and all the crap he got in trouble for with the videos. It's just him trying to be funny, him showing his opinion, but in a funny way and but. But as a person he just is that guy. He just is mode of aim hard working, too hard working too, mode like this is why that's it Like for some people kind of sounded.

Rob Lipsett: 2:20:00

You know, but I just mean for him.

Luke Barnatt: 2:20:01

It's like for his health and for his as his friend, like I said to him, but it just needs to like training. Maybe last month or I'm gonna take this one he broke my ribs so I can say about it we we spar, like and he broke my rib, I come back we spar and he tore his tendon and his elbow. But he's next day he's training Like. He doesn't, doesn't stop and I'm like bro, he doesn't do any PDs, he likes.

Rob Lipsett: 2:20:25

I said to him about taking TRT or TRT, but yeah, whatever they're called that that, that genre of medicine.

Luke Barnatt: 2:20:34

It's not even PDs.

Rob Lipsett: 2:20:36

Oh I I peptides, peptides taking peptides.

Luke Barnatt: 2:20:39

I know don't want to touch you, he doesn't believe in any of that sort of stuff. He's like I just you know he believes in old school hard and I'm like you got limitless money you could buy whatever you, but he's not into any of that stuff. So he suffered with a broken tendon all the way. He like black arm, you know, like going through.

Rob Lipsett: 2:20:56

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Luke Barnatt: 2:20:57

Still, and he had an event at his house within the war room where everyone can go train with him and meet him. So anyone part of the war room can be a part can can apply to go to his house. I think what he did is he has a charity called tape pledge and anyone who pledged to tape pledge was invited to his house. Any amount of money that's wild. He was like the top 50 people that put that money to go go hang out with him for the weekend and he he's got one arm and he sparred with 50 people.

Rob Lipsett: 2:21:22

Man, that's energy.

Luke Barnatt: 2:21:24

Bro, these people understand about him so and then give speeches, talk to everyone, you know, hangs out with everyone and all that sort of stuff and he he's like. This mentality he has, I actually think is like almost like a negative for him, because he he put, works nonstop, trains nonstop. We like sitting there together working on a laptop and then we have to do shoulder press. Let's just do what we did. I did. I think it was 1,600 shoulder press in sets of 100. It's high rap work, so it was like seven and a half kilos per hand If to sit there.

Rob Lipsett: 2:21:57

I think I saw a video of that. Yeah, yeah, I saw it. Yeah, but as I'm saying so.

Luke Barnatt: 2:22:02

You see, you've seen a video of it and people are like whatever, 1,600 reps, fuck, 100 reps, no, no break. Then you have. So what it would be like you do 100 reps, I do 100 reps, you do 100 reps, I do 100 reps, and in between reps, so I do 100, I'm dead. Yeah, he does 100 work. Waits for me goes, you done. Yeah, yeah, sweet does 100. There's 1,600. And this mentality that he has is why he's become who he is, because he's works like a worker. It's not. He has, you know, there's nothing else about it. So I think obviously it's unfortunate what's happening to him and I'm sure it'll work out at the time in the end. But yeah, I think people, if they really knew who he was the problem was with the people that don't like him they will never even open their minds to accepting that side of it or, having you've seen it with the mainstream media, they'll answer a question. They just know what about this.

Rob Lipsett: 2:22:57

You know, like they don't they don't give the other person chances.

Luke Barnatt: 2:23:01

So there's no real even point in trying to convince people.

Rob Lipsett: 2:23:06

We move past that.

Luke Barnatt: 2:23:06

Let people what they want they want to make that judgment about him, I make that judgment about him and we just keep going in the courts or that sort of stuff. There's nothing you can do about it anyway.

Rob Lipsett: 2:23:12

So yeah, but that is an insane journey from sleeping on the gym floor the UFC to now living it up in Marbella and running things over the war room. So tell the people where they can find more about you.

Luke Barnatt: 2:23:28

Well, I recently got banned.

Rob Lipsett: 2:23:29

Oh yeah, yesterday. Yeah, I shouted you out on Instagram, thank you bro appreciate that.

Luke Barnatt: 2:23:34

So I've now all of my handles are basically Luke Barnett official. So I'm on X. I'm on YouTube now, a new YouTube product that I started two months ago I'll be there soon, don't worry, I'll be up there and Instagram. So it's at Luke Barnett official. I'm sure we'll put it in the video. I'm putting out bucket loads of content now. It's my whole focus. I've got the studio, my podcast studio. So, yeah, if you want to find out more about me, I'll be easy to find.

Rob Lipsett: 2:23:57

There we go On. Real bro. I think this is the one the longest podcast we've done on the channel.

Luke Barnatt: 2:24:02

That's a record. Right there, Smash it. Dude On real. I appreciate it.