Dylan James Bowker

Lee Mein talks about his Christian Larsen fight at Unified MMA 33, competing in mixed-martial arts since late-2000, and CBD Oil being a big part of Lee's recovery nowadays

On this BTB journey, I was pleased to speak with veteran Canadian MMA coach and Heavyweight fighter Lee Mein...…..Bowks Talking Bouts #71
 
We talked about his early days getting into martial arts, racking up submissions in his last few fights (1:26), thoughts on his Unified MMA 33 bout with Christian Larsen (2:54), adapting newer methods to his approach via cold breathing and cryotherapy (6:07), being an MMA competitor since late-2000 (7:38), the huge growth in the amateur MMA scene and Canadian Nationals ahead of the IMMAF's (9:14), fighting on cards that he has promoted several times (13:12), what the upcoming Rumble in the Cage 58 card will provide for fans (14:50), RITC incorporating combat jiu jitsu and super boxing to their shows (16:25), Lee's Boxing record as well as the crossover nowadays with that sport and MMA (18:51), future goals for his gym Canadian Martial Arts Centre and refining their training programs for kids (23:07), CBD Oil being a big part of Lee's recovery nowadays (25:53), if there's any word on his son Jordan Mein's next UFC bout (28:15), being a big country music fan and working security for several country concerts (28:53), and more!

Justin Lawrence discusses how his uncle fought at UFC 10/ Don Frye's head swelling three times in size, fighting Wonderboy Thompson on the kickboxing scene, and his robust mullet

I caught up with UFC/ Strikeforce/ RFA vet Justin Lawrence (on Bowks Talking Bouts #70) who takes on AJ Mckee Jr at Bellator 197.
 
We discussed his thoughts on AJ as an opponent and AJ's status within the 145lb division, starting training at the age of six and how his uncle fought at UFC 10 (3:46), Justin's dad seeing Don Frye's head swell three times it's initial size after his first fight with Mark Coleman (5:13), his kickboxing experience and his desire to get a kickboxing bout for Bellator's KB brand (6:22), fighting Wonderboy Thompson on the kickboxing scene (8:13), Justin's amateur run in MMA and how he wishes he spent more time at that level (9:42), the work Justin has put in at Alliance MMA with guys like Dominick Cruz and Jeremy Stephens (12:00), how his dad/ trainer gave him the encouragement to move on to train at Alliance (14:27), his powerful mullet and a possible Head & Shoulders sponsorship (16:46), what music he likes training to (17:24), and more!

Bill Mahood talks about how he was supposed to be on the inaugural Ultimate Fighter, partying with Vladimir Putin as well as Jean Claude Van Damme in Russia, and more

On this BTB installment, I welcomed influential Canadian MMA veteran Bill Mahood…...Bowks Talking Bouts #69
 
We talked about his experiences recently coaching at UFC London for Kajan Johnson, his pro debut in 1999 and the growth of the sport (2:37), fighting Forrest Griffin in UFC (5:00), how Bill was supposed to be on the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter (6:13), Bill's past gym wars with Denis Kang (7:35), how some of his trainees at Champion Gym performed at XFFC 17 (9:40), how his coaching role has informed his martial artist mindset (11:39), being a blackbelt under Bibiano Fernandes and what it's like training with him (12:55), the evolution of amateur MMA and Bill's role in it growing (15:36), Amateur MMA Nationals in Lethbridge ahead of the IMMAF's (18:47), Bill's experience as a promoter and matchmaker (20:58), Bill's thoughts on Edmonton's short lived combat sports moratorium (24:21), production and distribution being the hardest aspects of growing a fight promotion (25:54), Bill's Boxing experience and the crossover with MMA (32:03), taking fights overseas and the great memories from the trips (34:19), partying with Vladimir Putin as well as Jean Claude Van Damme in Russia (35:22), and more!

Bowks Talking Bouts #68: Derek Anderson

I spoke with Derek Anderson ahead of his Bellator 197 bout with Zak Bucia at a 165lb catchweight.
 
We talked about how he's bloodthirsty to get back into the cage after an extended layoff, thoughts on the catchweight bout via his perception of Zak Bucia and his divisional goals going forward (1:40), big fights falling through with guys like Paul Daley and MVP (3:46), being part of Bellator for years and how he's growing with the promotion (4:34), what music he likes training to (5:14), and so much more!

Bowks Talking Bouts #67: Dominic Mazzotta

On this episode of Bowks Talking Bouts, Dominic Mazzotta made an appearance ahead of his fight with Josh Sampo at Bellator 197. 
 
We talked about his thoughts on his opponent Sampo, where a victory in this fight puts him in terms of title contention (1:52), switching camps and working with Henri Hooft (3:34), his past as a restaurant owner (4:48), starting training martial arts at the age of 5 and when he initially got the spark to turn fighting into a career (5:54), experience at Featherweight as well Bantamweight and what his ideal weight class is (9:26), submitting Cody Garbrandt in a grappling tourney and also fighting Cody in MMA (10:28), where his "Honey Badger" nickname came from and how he hit the BJ Penn out of the pool jump (11:56), what music Dominic enjoys training to and how he used to be a rapper who opened for Wiz Khalifa (13:18), plus so much more!

Bowks Talking Bouts #66: Josh Sampo

On this BTB episode, I welcomed LFA/ UFC veteran Josh Sampo who takes on Dominic Mazzotta at Bellator 197 in his promotional debut.
 
We discussed his return after a multi year layoff from mma, thoughts on his opponent's skills (1:48), working extensively with Team Alpha Male and a host of other killers heading into this fight (4:03), his college wrestling experience and how he teaches modern kids about wrestling (4:55), whether or not he's had a meathead jock step to him during his tenure as a school teacher (6:14), how he's a full time teacher while competing as a pro fighter and how the majority of the staff at his school are trained martial artists (8:06), thoughts on a future Bellator title shot (9:00), and more!

Bowks Talking bouts #65: Devon Brock

On this BTB, I had on Devon Brock who fights Baby Slice at Bellator 197. 
 
We discussed fighting the sons of famous fighters going against Royce Gracie's son and Kimbo Slice's son, fighting on Paramount Network, his regular training partners/ coaches (2:35), street fighting in Compton growing up (4:15), why he's involved in a catchweight fight this time out (5:00), biggest area of growth heading into this next bout (5:57), favourite music to train to (6:59), and more!

Bowks Talking Bouts #64: Jake Shields

I spoke with multi-time titlist and veteran of UFC, Strikeforce, etc when I welcomed Jake Shields to BTB.
 
We discussed training with the Danaher Death Squad guys and his recent run on the submission grappling circuit, the changing dynamic in submission grappling where the competitors are actually getting paid a solid bit of coin now (3:08), his beef with AJ Agazarm (4:26), his feuding with Dillon Danis (6:41), early days training with Chuck Liddell and when he started considering a career in MMA (8:29), the various eras of the sport he has seen and the time he saw a fat woman fight a skinny dude in a cage in Temecula valley (10:04), his run with Rumble on the Rock as well as what it's like to beat Yushin Okami and Carlos Condit in the same night (11:08), winning the Elite XC Welterweight title and what the overall experience was like (12:23), fighting GSP in one of the biggest MMA fights of all time (13:59), having trouble with Irish fans and how successful Jake has been competing in Canada (15:19), his experiences fighting over in Japan and how he's currently a free agent (16:13), having to fight off Antifa members who were assaulting people at a Berkeley protest (17:33), eye gouging in MMA (20:53), competing in the home town of his opponents regularly throughout his career (22:35), the most underrated opponent of his pro run (24:40), his statement win over Dan Henderson and the post-fight brawl (25:43), submitting Lyoto Machida and how he wants a submission grappling bout with Jon "Bones" Jones (27:40), and more!