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Ep. #114 – Teshay Gouthro

Teshay Gouthro is a Canadian mixed martial artist who most recently competed as a Featherweight for LFA. The Niagara Top Team prospect is 3-1 as a professional with two victories by way of stoppage.

Transcript

Teshay Gouthro: Boom, we are back with episode. 114. I am joined by canadian prospect. Obviously i like having canadians on being fellow canadian myself. I am joined by tj guthro, who uh fights with niagara top team. He’S got a great camp there with jasmine jason, vicious aaron jeffrey anthony romero. The list goes on and on it’s probably the brightest camp in all of canada right now and uh. Without further ado. I’M gon na bring him in hey man how’s it going good how you doing brother, not too bad, i’m not sure if you heard the little intro there, but i said you’re fighting out of one of the biggest camps in all of uh canadian mma right now. So how does that feel feels great man uh ntt yeah, starting out with them? It’S been a journey, we’re still just getting started right, yeah um man. How are you doing over there? In ontario i mean i’m in nova scotia, so just got news that uh kovids hit elementary schools today, so it looks like everything’s being shut down. How are you guys doing over there, um, like in niagara, we’re on orange zone, so gyms aren’t shut down yet and uh like you, can still go into restaurants, but no sitting down pretty much or if you are sitting down it has to be with someone from Your own house, so it’s kind of weird right and then uh. I know toronto. They shut down like everything. So it’s getting close to us, i’m hoping i’m hoping we stay open. That’S it yeah man, it’s it sucks too, especially for you. I mean you had a an amazing 2019. You went 3-0 in the last six months to start off your your your pro career and uh. You had a lot of momentum coming into 2020, so talk a little bit about 2019 to you and and uh. What’S your assessment on on your 2019 2019 um, it’s a great year, i uh i took like a six-month break in between amateur and uh pro like, and i think it was good becoming pro and then i just three fights in under six months. I had. I don’t know i just kind of felt good and stayed in shape after every single one names kept popping up, so i just kept taking them. That’S how this year probably would have went but colvin right. So what was the uh? The reasoning there for the the long layoff i mean. Obviously you had a lot of momentum too, coming into um jumping into pro. I mean you had some some huge wins. You were on quite the win streak as an amateur. What was the reason for for that? Six months was it just to sharpen your skills, was it a mental thing or what was it um? It was just no one was asking to fight me to be honest, and i wasn’t finding a name. So i was saying ready, but just nothing came up. I was all like always i’m always down to go, but um yeah, nothing came up. So when that name popped up, i went for it. I was uh. I was listening to an interview uh of yours, early in 2020, before the kovid uh, before covert hit uh. The best way to put it uh, pre-covered, um and uh, one of the things you said is you wanted three fights in 2020.. Obviously, that’s gon na change and everything changed and how did it alter your vision and everything for you um it didn’t it just made me look at things differently and uh. I have to try out things differently now for next year, but um with the new management. I’M under i think things are gon na go the way i plan it and if not, i’m not upset. I’M gon na go with the flow and um just keep getting better right because you see guys at the ufc now like getting shot in the ufc with such a lot lower records. But the class is just like it’s so high right now, with even low records. Like guys that aren’t even hitting 10 fights they’re still like, oh my god, it’s the level’s really high right now. You know what i mean yeah for sure i just had uh. I just spoke to you sasha pauli. I don’t know how to pronounce his last name called palitnikov, uh, who’s, five and two and just got signed um, so yeah they’re right now. The level is on a whole, another level, um, so yeah you get two or three fights and you’re next in line. You know you never know, and especially with kovid there’s, so many opportunities right now yeah. So it’s crazy world right now, but so i want to see it ready right. Yeah, i think that’s the big thing too stay ready and the opportunity will come knocking. I want to speak about your fight uh for lfa, so first things. First man. What was it like competing for for an organization like lfa, obviously btc and these canadian organizations are great, but when you compete for an lfa, a bellator, even a titan uh, there’s a whole there’s a whole other level. So what was it like? Um competing for an organization like that it was good man, it was. It was so quick, so i i i kind of i guess i didn’t get like. I don’t know it wasn’t a long build up right. It was just nine days. I was like okay, i’m fighting here. Let’S do it. I was just happy to fight like i was more. I think that’s why i didn’t really hit me like now. I’M, like oh lfa, that’s what’s up. I knew it was our fight pass. I, but nothing really mattered. I was just more focused on fighting. It was just a relief right like yeah, but the lfa great promotion um definitely want to fight for them again. Talk to the ceo right after my fight told me, give me full camp, i’m coming back and taking someone’s head off and he loved it. He actually got pumped. He was uh excited he’s like there was no crowd he’s. I guess it still pumped him up. For my fight but yeah it was fun man. That being said, i mean obviously it wasn’t a losing effort against a very, very talented, justin wetzel, so um. What’S the what’s the biggest lesson from that from that loss um, i guess don’t take a short notice fight. You know what i mean: that’s that’s about it, um nah. The biggest lesson is i i’m a lot better than i thought it was and um as in i know i just felt in my like i was still in my zone. I don’t know i love fighting because the more i get in my zone in there and the calmer i am um yeah. I was just. It was just more experience right. Just another fight. This one ended up to be the one that got me, but [ __ ] it. I think, that’s the the sort of mentality you have to have, i mean so you think about all the fighters that have had losses early on their career. I mean guys like gsp, i mean look what happened to him. You know, so i i really think a loss early on really doesn’t damage any fighter stock better now than down the road right later on right, yeah. 100. That’S the way i see well, it was good. It was like um. Sorry uh go on. No! No! No! You! You continue. I was uh. I was gon na. Ask you a good question, but you’re good um yeah. I was thinking like the way i took it. I’M like what, if this was a short notice fight to the ufc. You know what i mean. I want to see how it would be just taking a short notice, fight in a big organization, and it all went well right, especially having no crowd like everything was so new. So it’s good to learn it now and take that yeah and later on, yeah. Just good learning experience exactly, i mean he saw it so much in the ufc or especially at the beginning, with guys, like anthony smith, when the no crowd really affected their their performance negatively. As someone who was in there and experienced it, what was it like for you? That’S fine uh. I actually didn’t even notice it really. It was just i’m so zoned in it was actually i liked it better, because the crowd pumps me right up and i got ta focus on calming down, so it was good. It was, i don’t know it wasn’t much different man, it was. I just wasn’t as pumped it was like. I had to get myself more excited. Well, i was just excited to fight, but uh. No, i don’t mind i’d rather the crowd, though i love the. I love the fans right we’re doing some gladiator [ __ ] in there. So people need to see it live. It’S yeah, it’s exciting. What was it like competing on the same card as a a friend and a teammate and aaron jeffrey, who obviously got to win in the main event? Oh, it’s great man um. Usually our team actually fights together. We usually always have someone on the same card, so it was nice to come back after a year and fight with a teammate like once i heard jeffrey was on it too. I um well. I was hopping on it, no matter what as long as my coaches were down, but once jeffrey was on, i was like yeah. Let’S just let’s do it: let’s go fight so much talent there uh at ntt, i mean aaron jeffrey you jasmine um, anthony. What’S it gon na take for one of these guys to get a shot in the ufc like it’s they’re, always right, there aaron had his chance. Anthony has chance jasmine. If she had won that fight, she would be in the ufc. In my opinion, what’s it going to take to get over that hump just couple more ways: man, like um romero, i’m pretty sure just uh signed a fight for the lfa yeah. Once he takes out that guy 9-0? That’S that could be it. You know what i mean that could be it or it could be before that. Who knows, i don’t know just one more win: we’re just gon na keep winning and then that’s it they’re gon na find us, but no stress right time, it’s in time and time. What’S the uh, what’s the secret to the success there i mean there’s so many other gyms in in canada that aren’t finding the success right now that that you guys are what is the secret? I think it’s a wrestling to be honest. We got a high level of wrestling that canada doesn’t like. I don’t know, because brock right number, one in the country and our head wrestle and coach are chris frick like we’re wrestling every day, all day hearing it so um and it’s the grind. It’S that wrestling grind we’re here, not even for um just wrestling, but everything we do in our jits and we’re striking we’re grinding what we’re thinking smart, methodical and he’s just pushing us. It’S a different mentality too, when you’re in the room, if you ever want to come, see the room, it’s uh, there’s a vibe in there. It’S just i don’t know you got ta, feel the energy’s high. It’S uh, we’re all thriving on and hungry. You know. So when we enter when we enter that cage, we just we just feed off each other right, the guy’s, feeding off the air and he’s feeding off of me. It was good and even after my fight, i lost it, but i was still like as happy. I want it, you know i mean, and i had to keep that spirit because he’s about to fight so it’s it is what it is. Maybe once all this is over, i can go up there and poke my head in there and see what’s going on, because it looks like there’s uh whatever: whatever it is, man, it’s working uh, you guys are all doing really really well um and it’s only a Matter of time, before uh before there’s a signing to the ufc or bellator um, i’d like to ask about canadian mma, i mean since george st pierre, there really hadn’t been a big boom until rory and now it’s kind of like down a little bit. Why do you think canadian mma is at kind of like the standstill? There’S not a whole lot of canadian talent um? Do you think it’s lack of organizations in canada? Do you think that’s what it is and what’s it gon na take to kind of get a push into the ufc? I think it might be management to be honest thinking about it and like looking at all our guys and seeing who they’re managed by. I think it might be management like we have some high level guys but, like their management, wasn’t right and i think that’s what it was to be honest. But who knows that’s my opinion right management because of this there’s a lot of good guys, a lot of good fights. Well, how do you get to that bigger light? You need that management, to put your name out there right so yeah for sure. That’S the way. I see it yeah. Definitely i can’t go without asking um. You know i have a canadian fighter on. I can’t go without asking. Is gsp the goat for you and, if you’ve ever had the chance to to meet the guy? What was it like? No, i’ve never met him and is he to go to me? Nah he’s not the goat. Sorry, he um. I don’t know it’s just because there’s fights that he won that i thought he lost. You know what i mean. So it’s hard to say. I don’t know who the goat is. Man like, i think bones might be the goat, because all those wins silva could be. Who knows right? I don’t i don’t know like my favorite fighters, you know what i mean. That’S how i look at the sport, the goat, there’s, no goat, you can’t be the goat – could be only one that can only hold that championship for four like four times right: yeah yeah, three defenses yeah yeah he’s never been defeated before but like neither has bones. So i don’t i don’t know but yeah it’s it’s such a such a hard conversation man, especially with the weight divisions and the eras, and you know um it really. It really is obviously being canadian. I i’m always gon na. Have the gsp ohio, yeah yeah his his mentality is, unlike anybody else’s his character, his class, but he’s top two for me like for sure but um go. I don’t. I don’t know, there’s a uh. So so you talk, you had a long layoff. You wanted three fights, probably a little bit unrealistic now, with a month left uh, i guess a month and a few days but uh. When do you want to get back in there? Is there a timeline that you’re looking at for a return? Yeah, i’m thinking i told my manager end of january um and anytime after that end of january. That’S it once that happens i’ll, be ready anytime after that, but i want like a six to eight week camp. You know what i mean. Is there any sort of uh holes in your game that you feel like you have to have to fix up before the next one or just make sure you get a proper training campaign, uh proper training camp, the holes just get better everywhere? I wan na um. I’M just gon na tighten up on some things and uh. I wan na i’ve been thinking about like the sport differently lately and just like how to take these guys out, like just end them real, quick and it’s like different ways of doing it right. I can either take them down choke them out or just sleep them standing up, so i’m just figuring out those ways and get calcul like getting them down right. If i want to take you down, i’m going to find that way and i’m going to take you out, you know what i mean because, like we don’t get paid to fight like [, __ ] 15 minutes right, i don’t like going a decision. I want to put him out. I want that rep pull me off of him like and then i get paid. I don’t get half of what i would have got paid. That’S some [ __ ] losing man, some [ __ ], it’s a it’s an eye-opener man. Having to pay everyone, half of that, you know what i mean yeah like when it comes down to it, like i’m fighting for that money right and like that opened my eyes and just even losing like [ __ ] one round. I was one round one round. Man, that’s it if i would have stopped that last. You know i mean inches this, this shit’s a game of inches, that’s just being calculated and yeah, just tightening up all of that and then taking these guys heads off, there’s uh in that same interview that i listened to is like the btc awards. Uh you mentioned. Potentially uh going down to uh to alpha male uh to possibly get some training there. Obviously uriah uriah faber’s got high level um uh submissions and that whole team. There i mean you look at what they’ve done and the champions that have come out of there is that still something that you’re looking forward to and and uh, and what sort of how far away do you think it is realistically right now, i’m not thinking of That, because of covid yeah, like that’s the only thing, i don’t want to quarantine again for like unless i’m fighting right, yeah. Okay, if they take that 14 days like quarantine away, i’m i’m down to leave anywhere um but yeah. I don’t know the shit’s got me out of stand still so yeah yeah there’s a i want to i’ll. Ask you a couple more questions and then i’ll, let you go um. There’S a big fight this weekend. I don’t know a lot of guys. Don’T don’t tune in to certain fights they just focus on their own fights but alex perez versus davidson figueroa. Do you have a prediction? Yeah yeah? I watch all the fights man every freak, all the time bellator it could be anything. I watch the premiums um, but yeah that’s a hard one. I was actually just about to watch the countdown that’s hilarious um, but [ __ ]. I don’t know i was able to watch the countdown to make my prediction i like to bet. So i want alex perez to win. I like the underdog, obviously yeah. I don’t know i feel like i’m always an underdog, but i don’t know he might get slapped like i. I can’t i can’t tell you man, i have to watch this and then i’ll message. You after and let you know, okay all right, sounds good watch this yeah all right, perfect and uh last question: is there anybody you want to shout out any sponsors that you want to uh to thank it and uh. This is your chance to do that. Yeah um. I want to thank my management by sports. They got me we’re gon na do big things. Ntt we’re gon na do big things too: uh chris prickett d, marc antonio um, all my teammates sponsors weird times, and now i don’t got any but check it. Next fight’s going to be a big one or whatever that is um and they’re going to hop on because we’re going to show up but uh. No thanks for having me brother now thank you for jumping on and uh for any sponsors that may be watching man. This guy is very, very legit um one of the brightest prospects, in my opinion, out of canada and uh. If you know the success of niagara top team, you know good things are coming so um best of luck. Man stay safe and hope all is well over. There and uh wish you the best of luck. Okay, thank you. Brother. Take care all right boom. There we have it uh t-shirt, uh guthro been a fan of his for a little while uh, like i said and like we talked about one of the brightest prospects out of canada. If you haven’t yet make sure you donate to prostate cancer, that’s why i’m rocking this thing and uh make sure you like comment and subscribe, and i will see you guys next time.

Sergio Pineiro

Sergio Pineiro is the Founder of FighterPath.com and host of the Quarantinecast podcast. Based in Canada he is both a sports journalist and MMA enthusiast. He practices the sport but has a passion for the individual stories of training, fighting and living the fighting lifestyle.

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