One of the most decorated coaches in MMA, the founder of the legendary AKA… But what do you know about Javier Mendez as a kid? As a young Mexican in a dangerous neighborhood? As an up-and-coming fighter? This is probably the first time coach Javier got that deep into his early life and long combat sports journey. We present you the first episode of the Red Corner Talk podcast. Enjoy!
00:00 Intro
00:37 Who was 'The Thunder'?
01:52 Javier's hardest kickboxing fight
05:32 Scott Coker's role in Javier's career
13:44 'I pooped my pants'
14:55 Wetback
15:54 Street gangs
17:54 AKA's famous logo
19:32 Luke Rockhold, Daniel Cormier, Cain Velasquez
20:15 Father's plan dynasty
21:42 Dagestan village named after Abdulmanap
22:21 Khabib Nurmagomedov's first day in AKA
24:45 King Mo bringing Khabib to AKA
27:21 Islam Makhachev winning rounds against Khabib
28:21 Usman and Umar Nurmagomedov
28:53 Umar Nurmagomedov's last fight before UFC
30:07 Javier's popularity in Russia and Middle East
31:35 Opening of Abdulmanap's gym
32:18 Respected as a coach in Dagestan
33:40 Coaching the best grapplers as a kickboxer
34:58 Javier assesses his MMA potential
36:04 Coach Bryan 'The Fury' Johnston
36:37 Early UFC days
39:03 Cain Velasquez
43:06 Daniel Cormier
44:38 Bareknuckle & Mike Perry
45:56 Questions from followers
50:40 Does Islam spar with Usman Nurmagomedov?
50:55 Sharaputdin Magomedov (Shara Bullet)
52:42 Life lessons