Outside the Octagon
Hosted by Charleston K. Payne and Jude Starns, where every episode is the MAIN EVENT! The guys cover all MMA major events, previewing and recapping while also bringing in many MMA guests from all walks of life!
Outside the Octagon
A Melting Pot of Topics with UFC Cutman Brad Tate
Give us your thoughts on the episode here!
What defines a Southern culinary experience? Join us on an exploration of the rich food culture in Louisiana and Texas, featuring stories from the legendary cut man, Brad Tate. From the mouthwatering boudin sausage at a Sinclair truck stop near Baton Rouge to the smoky allure of Texas barbecue and Whataburger, discover why Southern culinary traditions deserve the spotlight. We also share our personal hobbies, such as reading, relaxing by the water, and enjoying a good movie, revealing how these activities keep us grounded amidst the chaos of podcasting, work, and college life.
Ever wondered what it's like to balance a high-profile career with staying true to your roots? Brad Tate takes us through his journey from EMT and paramedic to becoming a cut man in MMA, offering a behind-the-scenes look at a specialized role most people rarely consider. We also ponder LSU's football prospects under Coach Brian Kelly, drawing on Brad's unique perspective and our own experiences living in Baton Rouge, including the daily challenges of traffic and rain. Listen as Brad shares personal stories about his supportive family and how he remains grounded despite his fame.
Social media presence can be a double-edged sword, and in this episode, we unravel the delicate balance of maintaining authenticity online. Learn how to build genuine connections while keeping certain aspects private, and delve into our shared love for military literature, specifically the book "Marine Sniper: 93 Confirmed Kills" about Carlos Hathcock. The episode also highlights the inspiring success story of Kurt Hallibaugh, a hometown hero who won The Ultimate Fighter, and navigates the process of starting a podcast on a budget. Get ready for a conversation that touches on Southern values, gun ownership, and legislative changes in Louisiana, all while showcasing the common threads that bind us.
What's going on, everybody, and welcome to the next guest episode, our next guest introduction for the Outside the Octagon podcast. I'm the host, charleston Payne, to my left co-host, jude Starnes, and joining us today the one and only the greatest cut man of all time. It's a very big honor to have Mr Brad Tate on that damn Tate, and he's that guy too, let me tell you.
Speaker 2:I appreciate you guys. Thank you for you for the introduction man.
Speaker 1:I really thank you so much, thank you for having me. Yes, sir, and before we really get started, man, I mean I know you're kind of in the spotlight most of the time and everything like what's a day in the life of Brad Tate, the person like, and, and how are you doing as a person outside of the the spotlight? That's something I really like to ask all the guests that we have on, just to make sure that everything's all right in life, you know.
Speaker 2:What do you mean? How am I dealing with it?
Speaker 1:Like how are you doing in general? Like how is the man Brad Tate?
Speaker 2:Man, my day is good. I'm surrounded by a great family, a great support system, Like.
Speaker 3:I got a lot of love.
Speaker 2:The fans have embraced me, so I'm very appreciative of that. So, uh, again, it kind of came on and uh, it happened really fast for me and uh, I'm trying to like go with it. But, like man, my days are just simple, man, I keep it very simple. I keep it very happy and lighthearted, so I don't let too much bother me yes, sir, yes sir, absolutely.
Speaker 1:I gotta say I'm pretty much the same way man. I just kind of stay to myself, I do my own thing. You know, I appreciate when people kind of recognize me for what I do and stuff like that, but at the same time, you know, I'm my own person outside of, outside of being a podcast host, like on the side right now, because I'm really just trying to get started in this stuff. Like I said, you know, before we started we've been doing it for a month and a half or since april 1st, so I guess two months now. But uh, I work at a little golf shop and stuff right now like kind of do some, like do full-time work over there. I go to college uh, jude goes to college as well. We're here in, uh, baton rouge, louisiana I don't know if you're really familiar with the area.
Speaker 2:I am how y'all doing with all the rain.
Speaker 1:It don't never stop, man. Let me tell you that it never ends. Jude, tell them about it.
Speaker 3:Oh man, that's always raining. Like every evening it's raining here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know, I was seeing the news. They were saying y'all was getting hit. Was it a tropical storm or something?
Speaker 1:like that going on. It hasn't hit yet, but they shut down in the area we're from, we're from down here. I'm like 45 minutes east of Baton Rouge is where I'm from and they shut down all the waterways and stuff like that. Are you familiar with Hammond Louisiana? I know exactly where Hammond is. Okay, yeah, that's pretty much where I'm from. I'm from a little small town right on the outside of it called Albany. Jude and I both yes, sir where I'm from.
Speaker 2:I'm from a little small town right on the outside of it called albany jude and I both yes, sir, go right down there off the i-10 and then it splits and then it takes you up to hammond and all that stuff, uh, right before you go into mobile, and all that good stuff, right yes, sir, yes, sir, yeah, so you're really familiar with the area then yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:so I used to drive the octagon. Uh, so some years back I used to drive the Octagon. So some years back I used to drive the Octagon around to all the venues and stuff. So I would do that corridor a lot when we go to Jacksonville I would drive down Always on that Friday evening coming into it is Baton Rouge coming in there. You know how the I-10, how you come off that bridge and that traffic. It's like a nightmare trying to get over there because everybody's trying to get on the 10 and keep going.
Speaker 1:Man, like I said, we're based in Baton Rouge. Now I live out here, I go to LSU and stuff and let me tell you that traffic does not stop brother.
Speaker 2:How's y'all's football team looking this year? Is it going to be good?
Speaker 1:I'll tell you this man, I'll tell you this I'm really excited. I see what we're going to do. I know they expanded the playoff and everything, and I don't know, are you a big football guy?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, Huge football guy man. I love football. I know y'all got Kelly down there. I hope Kelly. I don't know man, I think y'all missed on that hire. I'll be very honest with you. You know I don't know why they went to get him at Notre Dame, Like they wanted him to be, so I don't know why LSU would go and spend that kind of money on him. I love it.
Speaker 1:You know why I love that. I love that you're saying that, because I do believe that you're the only person that I've ever spoken to, at least in a podcast setting, that agreed with me on that, because that's something I've been saying.
Speaker 2:I don't think like he, I think it was a draw. I don't think he's ever won to be at a school like lsu. You know, when you think of lsu man, you think it's either title or nothing. Y'all don't. Y'all don't play to win ncc championships, y'all play to win in the bowl, to play in the big games. And then, like, I was like, very like, even when he came there and tried to do that old fake louisiana hat, I was like, wow, no, I never. I, I don't know if they, I don't even know if they're going to embrace them like they would. Man, he just he's not a he's not a southern boy.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying, so yeah, and one thing about it, man like the first day he came down to Baton Rouge he did the whole southern accent thing at an LSU basketball game.
Speaker 2:And our students.
Speaker 1:We get the we get the free tickets and stuff for student section basketball. So I go to the student section, I'm in there at the game, I'm like I'm way down low and everything, and I hear him do the southern accent and I was like, oh, like I probably would have liked you a little bit more had you not tried that yeah, he just he came in trying to win y'all over with that.
Speaker 2:Bro, you're not from down here, you don't know about the budan and and and the poe boys, so like it's kind of pointless for him to even try to do that. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:Yes, sir, yeah, no doubt about that.
Speaker 3:So we talking college football. You got a team in particular that you kind of favored or you kind of like.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm from Texas so you know I'm already with the hook'em. So I know y'all got our D-line coach. Y'all stole him because I guess y'all promised, y'all promised, y'all promised him that y'all would recruit his son and give him a freaking scholarship to get him down. And I know bo was his is I think he was from lsu so he wanted to go back home. So I know, like y'all stole a d-line coach. But then I know we're getting a lot of kids from there. I think that receiver decommitted from y'all and he's looking at Texas now. Y'all lost a lot of them, yeah. So, like I said, man, college sports is going to get very interesting here because you know I like to brag, don't. Nobody got the money Texas got and right now it's pay-per so you know a lot of teams are going to be left out.
Speaker 1:And another thing, man, a lot of people say Austin, Texas, the place to be right now. I mean, like, when you think about guys like even Rogan, for example, a guy that's kind of in your field, you know like Rogan moved all his podcasts and all that stuff down there to Austin.
Speaker 2:Man, Austin is good, but I'm telling you, right now there's so many people from California moving to Texas. It's kind of weird right now you know they're driving the price up. So if y'all, like I said, if Baton Rouge is a nice area, man, keep it to yourself, because you don't want these people from California moving down there and taking over.
Speaker 3:Man amen to that. To be honest with you, I wouldn't say it's the nicest area, though they could have that urge.
Speaker 2:No, but you don't. Like I said, y'all say that because y'all been there, man, but like I know, when I've ever driven through there besides the traffic part, like the food is second to none down there. Man, like I remember we had a show in Louisiana, I mean in New Orleans and we went to this restaurant called Mother's and man, everybody in the UFC went to that place every day because it was so good from the gumbo. If we just went in there and like it was crazy, because if you came at a certain time they would run out of food and you would just go there and they'd be like yo, we want the gumbo. We ain't got gumbo. Like what do you got? They were like we got some chicken left. Like give it to us. Like it was, it was so good, man, everybody loved being in Louisiana because the food is so good.
Speaker 2:I mean, there's a place it's probably like an hour west of Baton Rouge and it's a truck stop, it's a Sinclair truck stop and I know they got like the best boudin sausage I've ever had, bro, I literally stopped there, got three sausages and was driving and ate them so fast, bro, I was 20 miles down the road, no lie, turned around and went back and bought the rest of them. Yes, man, that is the true story. I was like this shit is so good, man. The crawfish, the fried shrimp, the tartar sauce. Man, I love Louisiana. The food is second to none down there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and man, one thing that I can say I watched a video on YouTube not long ago and they had a guy that was like ranking all 50 states from top to bottom, starting at the bottom, and he put Louisiana at like number 48. And I was like what is going through this guy's mind. So then I was like, after I heard that, I was like what is going through this guy's mind. So then I was like after I heard that, I was like no, I don't even want to watch it, no more. So then I turned it off and I was like wait, I got to go back again. I got to see what he had at number one. He had New York at number one and there is no way New York is 47 spots better than Louisiana.
Speaker 2:I mean, if you're from the East Coast, man, it's all relative. Like we just did that show in Jersey and like I'm a Texas boy, so I'm not a big fan of New York, like I'm not a fan of being on top of each other and just small, and you know, you spending a bunch of money for literally nothing. So for me I like my space but like I mean, new York does have good food, but I don't, I wouldn't rank it like that, like for me, like I said, louisiana's gotta be in the top 10. And then I don't know, man, like I like Texas for the barbecue. I'm gonna always put Texas up there because I'm a Texas boy. But as far as, like all my travels where I've had like good food, where I was, like Louisiana was up there.
Speaker 2:New York is cool, but I enjoy Vegas. Vegas kind of has everything. That's a tough question, man. Where are the best places to eat? I'm going to just give it to y'all, man, louisiana, like I got to say Louisiana is the best Texas and Louisiana for me chicken fried steak, you know, or yeah, like, so I don't, yeah, yeah, I would go. It's somewhere in the south, brother, it's got to be in the south. So Alabama.
Speaker 1:I agree it has to be south, south got the best food.
Speaker 2:So for me, I'm going to say Texas, louisiana, georgia, alabama, mississippi. So for me I'm going to say Texas, louisiana, georgia, Alabama, mississippi and Florida that's going to be your top tens right there for the best food.
Speaker 1:I love it. I love the list you gave us and I appreciate you for giving us a little respect, because apparently some of these YouTube guys out here don't really know what the southern food scene is about Especially and I mean a lot of people like louisiana food but then sleep on texas food man, because you go over to texas you get the good barbecue like pull man, texas is great here.
Speaker 2:Man, like I've so, like I've been losing weight but so, uh, I haven't been doing my fast food, but when I man, what a burger. Oh yeah, yeah, bro, whataburger is for me Like you can have In-N-Out Burger, whataburger, then Dairy Queen, like just the food. Like, so you know that's why everybody's so big down here. But other than that, like no, like, yeah, louisiana man, y'all got a sleeping gym there. It's crazy. People don't really recognize and give it love, I mean.
Speaker 2:I definitely know when they go to New Orleans. You know Estes Fast and Mardi Gras, but like I love the South man, the Southern people are really cool man.
Speaker 1:They really are they really get it and you can't match the hospitality 100%.
Speaker 2:And then they get to talk in their accent. Everybody gets called baby. Yeah man, it's amazing. And then, like, when you're driving and you cross Lake Pontchartrain, you see everybody in the middle just fishing and having a good old time. Yeah, bro, like yeah, it's a good experience.
Speaker 2:Yes, sir, Speaking of, I was going to ask you if you had any like hobbies, like fishing or hunting, that you like to do when you're not working man, when I'm not doing a show man, I really like I'm a big reader, I'm an avid reader. So like I'll read, like I probably read like six or seven books at one time. But I'm not big on hunting, but I love like I love being by water, so like when in Florida I'll go to the beach and just chill. I had this little place in Oklahoma like Murray that was a lake house and I would go over there and just chill by the lake. So like when I'm not doing something, man, I like to read and just kind of be by myself. I love going to movies. I go sit in a movie theater all day too. So anything to just kind of decompress and just take a step back is something I'll do.
Speaker 1:Yes, sir, man, I mean what's like your main genre of books that you get into. That's really interesting about you, that I'm sure not a lot of people really know that that you get into that that's really interesting about you that I'm sure not a lot of people really know that.
Speaker 2:So for me, I'm gonna read anything that's gonna make me grow. I love non-fiction. Um, I love like I was big on mafia stuff, but I pretty much read most of that. I love military because I come from a long family full of military, but my brothers have always been in the army. My dad's retired uh sister was in the air force, so, uh, I do that. And then, um, I love true crime. But I love stuff like right now I'm reading um philosophies like marcus aurelius martin, medications, the stoic stuff like that, things that I really like. Even if you go on my instagram, you see me always posting like inspirational stuff and then you see me posting the dumbest thing. So you're like man, this guy can be so smart on one hand and then a complete jackass on the other.
Speaker 1:You know, I like to keep them guessing yeah, I mean no doubt about that man, and that's one thing that really stuck out to me about you is how you really have like use social media to to build a brand around yourself and like the person that you are, because I mean it's incredible to be able to like, in the opportunities that we have now with Instagram and Snapchat and Facebook and YouTube, you know it's incredible to be able to like connect with people without even really being able to be there and like it kind of gives you like a more open end to a person that you know you enjoy seeing a lot.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, I will tell you, like not everything on facebook or instagram is real, because, you know, social media is exactly that. I like to be genuine and I think that's why I've been well received, is because what you see is what you get. You know, you shoot me a message, if I'm not busy I'll respond, you know, as long as it doesn't get to the point where it's too crazy, where you know I'm like I've been asked a million questions but I embrace that man, I hope I never get to a point where I forget about this. These moments matter to me. You know, and don't get me wrong Like you take, like a guy, like those guys that are A-listers, it gets old man, you can't respond to a million people, but like right now, now it's small for me.
Speaker 2:So if I can talk to people and converse with people, I want to do that. I never want to ever get to the point where I, like, don't want to enjoy talking to people, because I still want to learn and I want to know, you know, and, and that's big to me. So, for me, with social media, I'm very genuine with it. You know, I keep some things private, like I'll never post, like my family and that or but like the shows and me at the shows interacting with the fighters, that's all very genuine right, yeah, and one thing I was gonna say when we was talking about books that you say you brought up military books.
Speaker 3:I like to read here and there, and a book that I was going to suggest to you, if you haven't read it before, is it's called marine sniper. Uh 93 confirmed kills us. About carlos halfcock, if you like vietnam, I've read about halfcock.
Speaker 2:I remember that book I remember when remember when he was hunting that one female lady and like he was like like out in the bush and he was like laid in the sun for like three days and got sunburned and ate by ants, but he was like inching because he shot like a general but he like had to step out and like every day he would only move like a couple of feet to get in the position yeah, they had people walking over on top of them oh yeah, I remember I have read that book before.
Speaker 2:It was really good. Another good book like every SEAL that's read is called Men With Green Faces. Like that was a very good book. So most Navy SEAL guys have read that book. So if you haven't read it, it's a really good book Men With Green Faces.
Speaker 3:Men With Green Faces.
Speaker 1:I'm about to write that down real quick.
Speaker 2:It's a really good read man.
Speaker 1:You'll enjoy it yeah, I got, I got that wrote down yeah I'm a big.
Speaker 3:I was a big carlos hackock fan, so that's why I read that book. I really like carlos hackock a lot man he was.
Speaker 2:His story was pretty amazing. I liked it.
Speaker 3:I did read about he got so many crazy ones. Then he got the one where he shot through the other sniper scope and everything.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I remember that one. I remember that that, uh, because he was in vietnam and I remember like one of the deadliest vietnam snipers was a woman. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I remember that story. And then I remember him with the guys going up the hill. So, yeah, I remember a lot of his stuff. It was a very good read. Yeah, that was a good book. And then the thing about it is, you look at a picture, he was just a little guy, he was like this little wiry guy, but he was a deadly sniper man. It was crazy.
Speaker 3:And he was from the middle of nowhere out in Arkansas, kind of like us here in Louisiana.
Speaker 2:Yeah, one shot, one kill. That's why I saw that post on instagram and they divided the united states up and they had the south and the northeast and the middle. They were like if we went to war with each other, who would win?
Speaker 1:I'm like the south, of course yeah, like sure, like who's gonna debate that?
Speaker 2:like like, but people will like you got east coast people talking trash. Bro, it's the south. Listen the south. Nobody is better than the south. You know you guys hunt for fun, like they've been doing this. They were born to do this kind of stuff yeah, like we we hunt to go eat.
Speaker 1:You know we hunt to put food on the table around here. So, like I mean it, we different man and you know you said you from texas and stuff, so you know how it is yeah, 100.
Speaker 2:Everybody in texas has a gun.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, man, I had one of my friends come by one day. I mean, this is probably going to get demonetized right here from talking about all this stuff. But we were talking and he's like man, what's your stance on guns and stuff? I was like which one you want to know about the kitchen, the bathroom, the bedroom?
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, everybody has guns, man, man. I definitely, like I said, I don't get political, but yeah, everybody should have a gun. Yeah, I mean that's common sense.
Speaker 1:I mean, you are your own militia, you know like not that you should go do something with it, that's ignorant. But like you should have it for your own own self-defense, if need be, because today is getting crazy and that's one thing that louisiana just did, and again, not to like really go into political or anything, but they did the same thing that texas did recently and opened the concealed carry law oh wow, it's like, it's like concealed carry for everybody.
Speaker 2:So congratulations on that. Yeah, I've been noticing like louisiana has been doing a lot of stuff like again, like again, like Louisiana take two steps forward and then take eight steps back and then they'll do this. But I mean, again, what can you say, man? Y'all got the parishes down there, you got a different set of law, but I mean it's still good. I've always enjoyed Louisiana. You know the boot, you know DC's from Louisiana, so he always reps Louisiana. Dustin Diamond, Dustin Poirier is from there. You guys have a lot of good fighters.
Speaker 1:Come out there and they've always shown love to Louisiana. Oh yeah, man, you can't leave the place and not respect it.
Speaker 3:We actually had a guy from the same hometown as us a little small hometown in Louisiana called Albany and Kurt Hallibaugh. He won the Ultimate Fighter and he's from the little town we're in.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he won. I think it was last year or the year before, I think it was. The Ultimate Fighter 31 is the one he won, okay.
Speaker 2:The lightweight guy has he been back there? Is he still there? Did he leave? He fought in.
Speaker 3:April he fought at 299 for the ultimate fighter. And then, no, he's been in and out the. He fought or not? Maybe not 299. It was the o'malley fight.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was o'malley eljo in boston is whenever he fought for the ultimate fighter. Oh nice.
Speaker 2:So let me ask you guys how hard was it to start a podcast? Like how did you guys do it? Like what all do you need to start a podcast? So, because I see everybody's got podcasts now.
Speaker 1:So this is something that I've been doing me personally. I started my first podcast when I was 16 years old, sophomore in high school, you know. So what happened was to get started. This is actually a really funny story and I'm super glad that you asked this. To be honest with you, I saved up a lot of money and the playstation 5 was just coming out. I saved up my money to go get the ps5. I go sit outside of the game stop. I sit there, I get there.
Speaker 1:It was thanksgiving night, so that Thursday night and I guess it was 2021, somewhere in that range, or 2020, I guess and I'm sitting outside of GameStop. I get there Thursday night at like 6, 7 pm. I'm the third person in line for the PS5. And I stay out there all night long. 7 am is when they open the doors. They open the doors when they left that night before they didn't tell us how many they had. They come back the next morning open the doors. We got two PS5s, we got two Xboxes and I was number three in line for PlayStation. There was a separate Xbox line. By this point, there's like 50 people in line and nobody realized how little of a quantity these stores would have because there was no access to the actual numbers that they would get. Like I said, and obviously me being third in line, I didn't get my ps5, so I had money left over and I'll.
Speaker 1:I texted in a group chat with one of my, with some of my friends, I was like, hey, like I got money and I'm a 16 year old kid man it was burning a hole in my pocket like I probably had never even seen 600 at that point and I and I saved up, man, I worked hard, I was cutting grass and everything and then text my buddies. One of my friends takes back. He's like yeah, I'll do a podcast. So I get on. Amazon spent $400 on a soundboard, which not this soundboard, because this one's way more pricey.
Speaker 1:We made a few upgrades and stuff recently Soundboard, some extremely cheap microphones. Uh, I got a decent laptop. I mean just like the basics, like the bare necessities of it, and over the last five years you know, I've been blessed to be able to upgrade the setup, get some more stuff coming in. I got the sm7b microphones, which is the same one that, like a lot of podcasts use, like I don't know if you know the flagrant podcast with andrew schultz, they use them. Uh, rogan uses these, so I've been blessed to get up to this point. Uh, we got the soundboard upgraded. Now, like I have different sound bites and stuff in there, uh, I'll let you hear this one. I don't know if it'll let you hear it through the computer or not, but we'll try it. Let me know if you can hear it. Yeah, yeah, we got that one in there.
Speaker 1:It's like I could throw different sound bites in. You know, I got like an air horn. Oh, wow, okay.
Speaker 2:So how much do you think it takes to start a podcast? What does it take? How much do you think you need?
Speaker 1:If you want to start with a really good setup, you're looking at probably around depending on how many people you're going to have on at a time if it's you and a co-host, you and one other person at a time I would probably say you'd need for a great setup probably around $1,500 to $1,700. But if you want to start out the way I did, you could go the route I went and start out with bare necessities, like not that great of microphones and everything else. I mean, I have the microphone and stuff. I could show them to you post episode or whatever. But you could go with just the bare necessities and you could get into it for probably around $400 from there.
Speaker 2:And now you're just in the process of just building and building, right, right, yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean, we're just building the brand, building around what we have. You know, I started off when I started, like I said, I had just the, the cheap microphones and stuff. I got one of these seven b's, I got, uh, I got another one. Finally, then I got another soundboard and just kept growing from there, man man, that's awesome.
Speaker 2:I love, I love to hear that man. That's that's why, like, I really do enjoy coming on these kind of podcasts, man, because you never know, In a couple of years you'll blow up or whatever. So I really enjoy that, man. Like I said, I really enjoy learning. I love learning from people and I love talking to people. I don't mind doing a podcast at all and sometimes I know everybody wants to talk MMA and this, but I like just to talk to and learn from you guys. And you got a story too, man. Like it's not always about that, so you know and again I really can't thank you guys enough for it, man and like there's so much for us to talk about. I mean, MMA is just a small, small little area about it, but I know that's what you guys want to talk about. So if you have questions about mma and whatever you guys would like, I would definitely answer them for you okay, yes, sir, I mean we got it.
Speaker 1:We got a few that we had kind of debated about before. So if you want to kind of move into that a little bit, no, if that's cool with you, yeah, I'm cool. I mean, the main one I wanted to ask is is how did you get a start in what you do Like? How did you become a cut man? I know obviously you're like a certified EMT, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was a paramedic man and, like I said, I've told, I've told this a lot, like I was a medic and I say that you know, not every medic is going to be a cut man. But the process that I went through is I was a medic I started I was is going to be a cut man. But the process that I went through is I was a medic I started, I was given fighters, ivs, and then I realized I wanted to be part of the show so I went to bird and was like hey, how can I?
Speaker 3:what can I?
Speaker 2:do in this company. I would like a job here and I was like you know, I'm good with blood, I'm a medic I could do this and he was like, hey, you gotta learn how to wrap hands and then work these smaller shows.
Speaker 2:And so that that was what was integral with Jackson's week, because I could go there and at that time they were the gym to be and they had all the fighters in there and it sucked because I would be begging those guys like let me wrap their hands and get the hell out of here. And so guys that were small would do it and I had to buy the gauze and the tape and slowly work my way up. And then Melvin galore liked where I wrapped his hands and he would, I could fly, so I would go to the shows and he told burt, hey, I want this guy to wrap my hands, and the rest is kind of history man from there. But uh, I just didn't give up and kept doing. It took me about six to seven years once I finally started wrapping hands and working on small shows, to get that call to come up to the UFC. Yes, sir.
Speaker 3:Yeah that's really inspirational and stuff and, like I said, we really appreciate you being on and everything. And that's kind of why we came up with the name Outside the Octagon Podcast, because we wanted to talk about stuff like we talked about today. Just chat with people that has to do with MMA and try to, because everybody obviously is going to ask you about MMA. So we want to give people the opportunity to hear about what these MMA fighters or people in the MMA profession do on every day.
Speaker 2:No, I love it, I love it, I love it. I love the way you guys are going, so it's a pleasure of mine. I love what you guys are doing.
Speaker 1:Yes, sir man, I really appreciate you saying that. I really do appreciate it, man. And then there's a couple more that I had, and I know Jude's probably got a few that he wants to get off for you about MMA. But one thing I wanted to ask is if you could do anything different or take another career path. I'm pretty sure I could probably answer this question myself, but if you could do anything different or take another career path, would you do it?
Speaker 2:Uh, I don't typically have regrets. I wish I could have done some things differently, but I'm pretty happy with the way things turned out. So, yeah, man, I'm blessed where I'm at and I'm only going to keep getting better. So I'm happy, man. The final chapter is not written yet. We don't know how big we're going to make this and hopefully, with your guys' help and everybody else, man, we can get it bigger, you know.
Speaker 1:Yes, sir, is helping everybody else. Man, we can get it bigger, you know, yes, sir, I mean that's that's what we want to do, man. We, we kind of noticed that like mma is really like the ufc and stuff is on a rise right now, like it's being more talked about, like it's becoming more and more prominent every day, and it was kind of like the perfect time for us to jump in. And then that's whenever I originally reached out to you and stuff like that, right whenever the ideas were flowing about us getting started. And that's why I'm really honored to be able to have you on and be able to be face to face with you and kind of talking about some of these and asking some questions, you know yeah, brother, no problem yeah, we, we, uh, and, like I said, we from louisiana.
Speaker 3:So that's another reason, like one of our main goals is one we want to talk to dustin poor a, really, of course, because he's from here at some point. So we like to meet him for sure. But to get the UFC event back in Louisiana. We really want them to come back, because Louisiana we got, you know, we do some brawling and stuff, so we want to see those events come back here, man.
Speaker 2:I would love to come back down there. And I mean would love to come back down there and I mean, as far as, like dustin man, you guys just keep reaching out, eventually he might hear, so that's the thing too, like I tell people. Like when people like reach out to me and they're shocked that it's me, I'm like man, you gotta keep doing it. You know it doesn't hurt to ask. I mean, eventually he might see it, eventually he might say yeah, and eventually he might give you guys his shot, because somebody he's really big about that. Like you know, he gave somebody an opportunity.
Speaker 3:So that's the cool part about the sport man, that's what I love about mma yeah, we we've been uh, we've actually been really blessed with the fighters coming on, like we've had liz carmoo she was one of the first women's fighters then miranda maverick we actually uh, so he was asking about her companies and stuff and we actually struck up a deal and we got sponsored by her pickle company like this early on. That's not something we really anticipated coming so soon and it was just like crazy. It was like, man, we can really do something with this podcast. Like we're getting sponsors this quick, consistent and we just we don't get like, just like down about being turned down sometimes and stuff going wrong. We could really do something with this.
Speaker 2:So yeah, consistency is the key in this sport, earning life.
Speaker 1:Consistency, bro, you got to keep doing it, you know yeah, man, I mean, I've, I've always lived by that, and that's one thing that, before we started this podcast, jude and I made a promise like, hey, like, if we're going to do this, we're going to drop every episode at the day, at the time we say we're going to do it unless there is like an absolute emergency. We're not going to miss an episode. We're going to stay consistent, we're going to stay on our path. I appreciate it. Yes, sir, one more. One more thing that I have for you you or actually I got, I got two more for you for sure that I want to ask.
Speaker 1:Uh, I wanted to talk about one fight that I when I really started paying a lot more attention to mma and stuff, right whenever we're about to start the podcast the robert whittaker paula costa fight. You were in robert whittaker whittaker's corner as the cut man and, okay, whittaker got caught with that spinning heel kick to the head. I don't know if you remember that or not, but when he got caught with that, it was right before the end of the first round. He was like absolutely in a daze. What's going through your mind at that moment, as the cut man, knowing that you were about to hop in the octagon and that kick just landed with one second left and you got to try to settle this guy down and obviously it's his coaches and trainers job to help do that. But you're kind of, you're the paramedic in this situation, so like what's going through your mind, to kind of slow the process of what's going on now man, I just read about that today where, like military navy seals, it's like calm is calm, the leader is whatever is calm.
Speaker 2:So like for me to have a calm demeanor. You know so when, when you see things happening like that, like you got to try to stay calm, like it doesn't and I've gotten frantic in the corner before and it didn't go well. So for me, man, you take a deep breath and you just go in there and you just stay calm. You know, you look at him, you get him to sit out on the, take a deep breath and you just go in there and you just stay calm. You know, you look at him, you get him to sit out on the stool, you center him and you just go to work on him. He's a professional, all the guys are professionals. He's going to sit on the stool, he knows what's going on, he knows what and he knows that I'm there to help him. So he's going to let me help him. He's going to receive it. I'm going to come out there and continue to do what he's going to do.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and one thing I was going to ask you, kind of MMA-based, is like is there any like challenges, like is there anything that's in particularly challenging to you at your job?
Speaker 2:Yeah, like if the fighters don't face me, like if they stand and lean on the cage like Kevin Hall is really big about that Like if they don't sit on the stool or whatever. But honestly, man, for my years of being a paramedic, this is still a sport. So there's not life and death um, we say that, but I mean the. The toughness of the job is the personalities. Uh, you know, uh, you got a lot of personalities and you are basically with these people more than you are with your family, family members. So sometimes you know that's kind of something but it's fun. But for me, no, man, like I don't.
Speaker 2:There's challenges, but you know, you just take them in stride. You know Kevin Holland won't face me. Hey, you know. And you got there. So you set the situation and you got there. So you assess the situation and you act accordingly, like if he's cut, if a fighter's cut, then they'll sit. If he's leaning against the cage and facing the cage, you know he's really not that bad off. So, and and again, man, I'm still learning. Like I love everybody's, like you're the best, you're great, but I'm still learning. You know, there's still things that you will learn, because no fight is ever the same. So you got to stay humble and you got to stay willing to learn and be a student of the game as well.
Speaker 1:Yes, sir, one thing that caught me off guard that you did back to kind of social media and everything that you do. You got me good man. We started our podcast April 1st and as soon as I finished recording that was like that was probably a couple of weeks after I'd first gotten in touch with you we finished recording. I get on my Instagram on the podcast, uh Instagram page that we had just created. I'm scrolling through and one of the first posts I see is your post and you have the Bellator logo up and you said you was making the move to Bellator and I knew from that moment. I said the day I get to interview Brad Tate, I have to ask him why he did. All of us like that.
Speaker 2:Because that's my personality, man, I love to be like, I love to have fun, I love the smallest genuine. Uh, I was a class clown in high school. I was a class clown all in life and I'm still a class clown. So, again, like I said, my Instagram is genuine and it's mean. So I thought it would be funny. You know, a lot of people were like and it was funny how everything really like people really were. There were fans that were like are you serious? And I was like bro, april fool, oh, april fool's good one, you know. So, man, I like to have fun. Some of the jokes hit and people laugh. Some of the jokes don't hit and people are like what a dickhead move. So, even when I'm commenting on a lot of posts, man, like, sometimes it's funny and sometimes like you know, but you get me, I'm 100 percent me, so you know it is what it is and I just love enjoying life. Man, I love living, I love having fun.
Speaker 1:And that's that's one thing I appreciate about you, man, and that's that's one thing I appreciate about you, man, like every, every social media post you make, you could just tell that it is really genuine and it's really you you know and like, and I appreciate that about people, that that don't put on a facade or anything that you do from what I see is you seem to always keep it real, whether it be on your post, in the comment section of another post or wherever it may be. You're, you're, you're Brad Tate, 100 percent of the time.
Speaker 2:Yes, sir, that's all I can be. Yep 100 percent, thank you.
Speaker 1:Amen, amen, I love it, I love it. Got a couple more things that I have for you. First first thing that I want to say right quick, is about the fans getting the whole, the whole cut man rundown Whenever you're, whenever you're going into the venue. You know I've seen some of the videos you post, like, what are your thoughts on that? What do you mean? Like, whenever you, whenever a fan asks you, hey, like, can you get me right with the Vaseline and stuff like that that you use.
Speaker 2:I love doing it and I'll be very honest with you, it's just as exciting for me as it is for them. So when I do it, but I'm still like shocked, like you really want me to do this, and I'm like, yeah, as a kid growing up man, I used to hate when my mom would like fly me with grease. And now you got people like put grease on me, you know, and it's like all right, you know, but I love interacting with the fans and I will never change like I love that. I mean, and most of the fans are respectful. Sometimes they'll say something you like give them a look like are you serious? Sometimes I have a couple of too many ones to drink and you're like, bro, come on, but I will never change.
Speaker 2:I really really truly enjoy interacting with the fans and it's fun and I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them. So I'm always going to take that moment. You know like I try to acknowledge every one of them, I try to shake every one of them's hand, I try to whatever I can do to make a fan feel like hey, he got the real brad tate and he got a great MMA experience. And I'm going to do it. And I'll say again, I enjoy it just as much as them.
Speaker 2:I really do, man, like, when I wrap a kid's hand, he's lighting up. Bro, the inner kid in me is happy as well. Like you know, I'm a football fan. I could not imagine playing catch with Tom Brady or Troy Aikman or you know, catching a ball with Emmitt Smith or something like that, or hanging out and chopping it up with Lawrence Taylor. So that's kind of great for me, to keep that in the back of my mind. And so when I'm at an event and someone's talking to me, man, it's just great. Like I'm like hey, you know, and I love that, I love that feeling. It's just as much fun for me.
Speaker 3:Hey, you say you love football. You're going to have to. I don't know if you've heard this or not, but Tiger Stadium is the loudest stadium in college football. They say you're going to have to come catch a night game down here one day.
Speaker 2:You know I really want to. I got a lot of friends. I got friends that played at Auburn and I definitely heard that y'all are a rowdy bunch, so I definitely want to experience that. I know I went to the Texas LSU game when LSU played Texas here, so we kind of got a little bit of a rivalry because I remember something about the kids drinking the water or whatever. But I really like college football. I enjoy college football more than I actually do the pros. But like I said again, man, life is about experiences and moments and I definitely enjoy giving moments and experiences with people. So I can't say this enough, man, if I'm at a fight and you want to talk to me, like, please reach out to me, you know, and we'll have a chat.
Speaker 1:Yes, sir, man, and that's awesome about you, like, I'll tell you this Whenever I first reached out to you, I was probably thought that there was probably like a 3% chance in my mind that I would get an answer, and you've just been. You've been so incredible in the whole process leading up to this point to to finally be able to get you on. Man. I've said it a lot throughout the episode. I'm probably bringing your ears off with it, but it is just an honor to really be able to sit down and talk to you finally, man, I'm really enjoying it and I hope you feel the same.
Speaker 2:No, I do, man, I'm very thankful for it. Yes, sir.
Speaker 1:So one thing I wanted to ask as well is what's something that you do before you go out, like knowing that you got to go and do your job on a Saturday night? What do you do before you walk in the venue? Is there like a certain step-by-step thing you do to prepare yourself mentally, knowing that you're going to be in there for hours on end and doing the same thing and a lot of different stuff could go different routes?
Speaker 2:I eat breakfast, I have a good breakfast, I read a book and then I get ready, I iron my clothes the night before, I make my knuckle pads the night before. Come Saturday it's just a pretty much easy load and go kind of road, but the consistency is the same thing. And then just doing the same thing, my routine Eat, a good breakfast, have my knuckle pads ready, wake up, go down and let's go to work. So smile at everybody, greet everybody, shake everybody's hand and go into the building and let's get the show on the road.
Speaker 1:Yes, sir man. And then I just got like two more things that I want to ask you, if that's okay with you, bud. Okay, would you rather? Do you prefer to be in a corner with the contender or the champion?
Speaker 2:it doesn't matter to me, because at some point I'm in somebody's corner. So I enjoy doing good work, I enjoy wrapping the hands in the back and being in the corner and bonding with my fighters. But I don't. It doesn't bother me, man, you're going to get the best version of me. If I'm in the contender or if I'm in the red corner, it has no bearing on me yes, sir, yes, sir, and then and then.
Speaker 1:The last question I wanted to ask is who are some of the favorite fighters of yours that you've worked with and who are some of the funniest?
Speaker 2:rashad is the my favorite. He's the funniest. Gilbert is a good one. Charles, like I said, man guys will ask me this question and it's very hard to understand. What's your favorite finger?
Speaker 1:Yeah. I get where you're coming from.
Speaker 2:So I mean, we are a family that fights. I'm looking forward to seeing Ian Gary. I'm looking forward to seeing Ian Gary. I'm looking forward to seeing Michael Venom Page. I'm looking forward to seeing Jamal Hill. So imagine your brother being somewhere else and then all of a sudden, in a week, you know you're going to get to see him and we're going to have fun and they're going to talk trash and I'm going to talk trash and it's the Fan Exo next week. Man, it's going to be a blast because me and Gilbert are going to be goofing around and I'm going to be. You know, it's just.
Speaker 2:The MMA community has embraced me and I'm very thankful for it. So I can't say that I have a favorite, because we're a family. You know, I don't know if you got brothers and sisters. Which brother do you like, which? Which brother do you like? Which sister do you like?
Speaker 2:So you know, like this is my family, you know, and, and I spend time with them and, and I'm bro, I'm happy when they win, but I'm just as devastated when they lose. You know, and it's been times I've wrapped a guy that's fighting the same guy and, and, bro, and I'm happy that you won, and then I I got to go over and say, hey, man, it wasn't your night Like it's. Mma is definitely ebbs and flows of emotion, cause I can be in one locker room with Charles and me are cheering, and then I can go over to the next guy and be like, damn bro, like I know, you know so, and that is it man Like. And then after the show I go home and go to sleep because it's such a roller coaster of emotion that you have to just rest up yes, sir.
Speaker 1:And then one thing, one quote that I'd seen from a podcast. Somebody said mma is different from all the other sports, because in any other sport you play football, you play baseball, you play basketball, you, you play soccer, you play hockey mma you don't. You can't play mma, you compete in mma. And I thought that that was a really like a deep quote in a sense. You know, the more you think about it, the more it kind of it's kind of realistic very much.
Speaker 2:So I agree, I mean I, I can agree with that, but I mean, but you compete in hockey and all those other things too. So I mean you can compete in football. You compete against the other team, you compete against yourself. All sports have a competition and the competition starts with you right, yeah, I mean that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's very true as well, man, yeah, but, brad man, I I greatly appreciate you coming on. I mean, it's been an absolute incredible episode. I hope you feel the same. I hope you enjoy being here with us. Uh, jude, you got anything else you want to say?
Speaker 3:I was just going to say you know, I'm thankful for you coming on, I'm thankful for you being a part of the MMA community and we just need more people like Brad man. Need more people like Brad man because he's I mean, you're just a cool, down-to-earth person. I really appreciate that about you. I think that's why so many people in the MMA community admire you.
Speaker 2:I'll be honest with you. You'd be shocked, Most of everybody in the UFC and around is just like me. They're all low. If you get to meet them, you'll be impressed at how easygoing they really are.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, and I know we'll get that opportunity at some point very soon. You know it's there for us. You know, like I tell Jude all the time, man, the foundation's set, we just got to build the walls and ceilings around it.
