Shawn, how are you?

What's up, Ariel?

It's good to talk to you, my friend.

It has been awhile.

Okay, so there's a lot to get to here.

And by the way, sorry for keeping you waiting.

Um, Mike likes to talk a lot.

He's very excited over there.

Know if you heard any of that, but yeah, he was pumped up.

Okay.

So, congratulations.

Are you happy?

All things considered with the way things turned out with you, Sada?

Yeah.

I mean, it is what it is, but it this it happened.

It's over with.

And ah, you know, that's kind of the common question I get asked about.

It's the holy started thing.

So I've been talking about it quite a bit, but yet I'm glad it's over with, and I'm back on the I'm un suspended and I can book a fight already booked by and I'm ready to go.

Could I ask you So?

You haven't fought in 13 months now, right?

And I know you had two surgeries your your hip and your foot, but then you had to deal with this as well.

How would you like you were on a rocket ship.

You were.

You had all this momentum and it will pick up, no doubt come July when you fight.

But tohave it stopped the way it did because of the injuries.

Because of this.

Like, how would you describe mentally the last year in your life?

Um, yeah, I had a good, good momentum going there.

Uh, it I'm going in the lot.

Last bite us posted by El El Techo.

And I had known I needed hip surgery.

Um, I had a tornado room, which I think a lot of athletes do.

It was to the point where it's like I couldn't really train too much.

I got a cortisone shot and I was going into that fight.

You know, my foot wasn't doing too great.

My hip was certain.

Um, so is going into that fight pretty injured in three weeks before it.

That's when they called and said that I had failed that test.

So I was just, you know, find the positive in it, and I know it might have went in Broke my foot or my hip worst been out longer So I'm just trying to keep a positive mindset about the whole situation and look at it.

You know that it might have been a better thing for me than to go in there and re break my foot.

Tear my hip more so, but as far as the momentum and ah, you know, the hype train, it's still there.

I don't feel like it really left too much.

Um, I've been stick been really busy.

You know, all my sponsors have been super cool.

Um, they've all stuck with me.

None of them said anything about it negatively.

They'll, you know, they'll believe me.

And we have a good relationship.

So everything's been, you know, it's been good.

Besides that, what really sucked was just like the first couple months, maybe the first month or so.

That was It was weird, and then it was super weird.

Not being able to everything.

That's 16.

I always have a fight coming up, no matter whether it's two months away.

Three months away, two weeks.

I always have a fight coming up.

It was really weird to not have a fight coming up at all, not even being able to book a fight that was super weird.

But like I said, it's over.

And I'm you know, I'm happy and it's everything has worked out.

Was there ever a point where you felt like you were going stir crazy like you're seeing all these fights?

Everyone has fights.

Wait, cutting, preparing for fights at the gym and you're on the sidelines.

You're recovering.

You're dealing with this stuff with you side of like in your mind.

Did you feel like you were kind of not so much losing it?

But you know what I mean?

Like, this is your life, right?

And you're so passionate about it and you could tell on social media you are itching to get back in there and you can, right?

Yeah, it was nice.

Looks like I said I had to get that surgery.

So getting that surgery, I was already I had I had to be out for four or five months, so that made it a lot easier having to get that surgery because I literally couldn't fight.

Even if I wanted.

Even if I wasn't suspended, I couldn't fight it.

I was recovering and had physical therapy.

I wasn't ready to go go on fight camp.

So that's what that's why I worked out so perfect that needed to get that surgery.

And i e I didn't want to it like I don't want to get.

Mr J just got one, but it all worked out, and I'm It's I'm ready to go now.

I'm excited.

Okay.

Um, I know you said that your alluded to the fact that you're a little tired of talking about you side of stuff, and I totally get that.

But I'm just wondering, do you know?

So they came out and said that you're getting six months or you got six months because, um, Austrian was found in a contaminated supplement.

You know what that supplement is now?

No, they That's the thing about I think, a lot of these I think they announced four or five UFC fighters and I know of a couple more that haven't been announced it or they're still going through things that we tested all of our supplements and none of us found anything in any of ourselves, but they can't talk for everyone, But I know of two or three people in the UFC that tested all their supplements.

as well as I did and they didn't find anything.

I mean, it's not even just to UFC.

It's all like all the sports going on, that people are tested for that stuff.

And I remember it said, I think I said on your show that ah was right after and I thought I was talking about.

I said, I hope that doesn't happen to anybody And you see no one, even if they're talking, should I hope it doesn't have to.

Now I hope it happens those motherfuckers, because that shit sucks.

And I still hear people talking shit saying I'm taking shit and there's no way possible that you contest for something that you didn't take on purpose.

Um, so all those guys, they're still talking shit.

I hope they do.

You're not in a bad way, just in a way that, you know, open their eyes a little bit.

The book and it could happen.

And it did happen.

And it's happening not just to me, but a lot of other people.

I just happen to be the name that sticks out because of the following I have.

And that's why I keep getting asked all the question.

But it's not just happened to me.

It's happened to a lot of people.

I just happen to be the guy that keeps getting asked about it, and that's fine.

But it happened.

It happened and it did happen.

And it's socks.

But who's throwing shade?

Let's name names.

I've seen a couple guys and you see this one guy on the I'm not gonna give him no credit.

But his mother looking keeps talking shit.

And I didn't know.

I just seen his name keep popping up.

I didn't know he was in the UFC has, like, 800 followers or something.

I don't know who's in the UFC, but he kept.

He keeps talking shit on Twitter.

I don't comment on it, because if I do, then it will give him that little set.

That little victory, like I finally got a response out of him.

But ah, I'm not gonna throw it.

No names.

They don't deserve it.

Okay, fair enough.

And it happened twice, right?

I didn't know that.

I thought it just happened once, but it actually happened twice.

Once in September, once in December, right up there at noon, and they said it was the same.

They said it was, Ah, lower amount hasn't been the same.

That's scary for you.

Like, are you afraid this is going to be something that's gonna be in your system like it's gonna keep coming up?

I don't know how that shit works.

I don't think it's scary and tested by you thought I've never had a problem with it.

Every time they came in, I'd say with the bubble ball, do the thing that even I would wouldn't I wouldn't get any emotions out of it like Oh, no until after a cruise.

I didn't take anything and I tested some.

So now, every time you saw that comes in there like it's like, kind of get that anxious feeling like Bach.

This could ruin this good.

I might not be able to fight because when they called me out three weeks out for a fight and I'm like, Well, I'm gonna be a fight I didn't take anything that shows that, like the amount was so small.

And show that and take anything like No, you're not fighting.

So it is scary getting bested now It's like more anxious, kind of like this is just it sucks.

But it is what I'm all or you saw.

I'm pumped about like I'm glad they test us steroids.

All that shit.

I don't want to fight no one.

That's on shit.

Um, I I think it's I totally agree with you sought as faras the fight and clean and Ah, yeah, I maintain, though that the way you handled it I mean, as good if not better than anyone in this game like you came out from what I understand.

Like they didn't ask you to come out.

No one told you to come out.

You came out, you got ahead of it.

Everyone was wondering what was going on.

It was obviously a difficult situation for you.

That was a massive car.

That was the Baby Conner card.

And you came out and you were very up front about it all.

And so that alone, I think, should tell people a little bit about what's going on here because if you have something to hide, your probably not doing something like that.

So I think it's important to give you props once again, as I did back in October, because the new U Sada rule doesn't mean you have to come out.

You could have weight, like we don't know, Like, not throwing any shape.

But we didn't know about Nico Montana.

We found out in that same press release you came out into the world beforehand.

So I think you deserve a lot of credit for that.

Yeah, Yeah, I was.

It sucks.

Because, like, I knew three weeks out that they still had a test sample B and there was millions of a chance that I could That would be a different that it would say It's not different.

Ah, side to it.

So I was still hope holding on to that.

But I knew three reach out before the fight like that Probably wasn't me with fight, but, ah, they weren't gonna.

And then they said they weren't gonna announce anything.

And I'm like, What the fuck I got to tell Like I gotta tell these fans everyone's hyped about my fight like Jack about my fight.

And I couldn't just not say anything like I was, You know, I do.

I do this sport because I fucking love it.

And now that I've gotten a fan base in a following like That's another huge reason why I still do this and want to do this is because of the following.

I have people that you know.

So I had to let him know what was going on.

I think I like my my true fans.

No, I didn't take anything.

Um, but there's still those fucking dildos on on on social media that all that'll get your emotions aroused up.

Funny 50 good comments.

And then there's that one negative comment that you cling on to.

So I'm getting better and not reading comment.

And you can say that they don't bother you, but they do.

It's fucking annoying.

It's like your training.

This is what I'm pouring my entire life into and for that to happen.

And now everyone, all your cheater P d user and all that.

You're on steroid.

You know, it sucks.

But that's just fucking humans.

Yes, I agree with that phenomenon as well.

I know it very well.

You could get 99 glowing comments, get one bad one, and for some reason, we get fixated on the battle.

I don't know what it is.

It sucks, but it's ah, I guess it's human nature did you even watch that card?

Like, were you able to watch it The 2 29 card knowing that you could have been on it and featured in all that stuff?

Yeah, I remember.

I said I was gonna go.

Go on.

Just kind of be out away from it.

I actually did one of my sponsors.

My parents still went to Vegas because I was supposed to find So there are all their hotels, everything.

They were still going.

They're like, Oh, how he loved to you.

I hadn't seen him for a while, and I was like, All right, I'm just gonna go tough it out.

And then I was gonna leave Friday night in my one of my sponsors there said, Hey, mean, I got two tickets if you want to go.