Has handling the twins led to any adjustments in your training schedule?

No, not really. I haven't changed much because my Mrs is like superwoman, you would think we already had nine kids, with how well she has handled it. She does all the night feeds, she leaves me to get my sleep in because she knows I am in fight camp and I need my rest. So, not much has changed, to be honest apart from the fact that I do have two children now. I can’t just do everything that I used to do, like I'm just going to go to a sauna here or I'm just going to go here and do this because we've got to have babysitters or make sure Laura's alright and stuff like that.

You have always been comfortable in the spotlight of the UFC. Have big fight moments like these started to feel bigger or do they always feel the same?

No, it is just a fight, each fight is a fight. It does not matter who it is against or where it is. You're still just getting in a cage. I always say this; it's just me versus my opponents. Once you get in there, it's only you, him and the ref that matter, that’s all you’ve got to worry about.

When looking at Bobby Green, you both have good wins over Tony Ferguson. How do you compare each of your performances and your wins?

Well he had a much more competitive first round against him. Bobby was dropped by Tony, and I dropped Tony. And everyone's calling Bobby a striker which is a bit mad just because he can't grapple like I can. But, yeah, he ended up catching a sub in the last round because Tony Ferguson give him it whereas I just dominated Tony for three rounds. MMA maths doesn't work in that way lad, just because one person's beat one another, you can't say, oh, he's gonna beat him. As I said, the MMA maths just doesn't work.

I know you want to fight Moicano, but if for some reason things can't align after UFC 304, who would be your second choice to follow Green?

I'd love to fight someone like Beneil Dariush. He's so high up the rankings, it'd be nice to jump up that much, but to be honest, it'd be someone like Dan Hooker I think. But as I say, I want to fight Moicano, that’s who I’d love to fight.

You recently mentioned that obviously, this is the last fight in your contract, and you've been open to boxing YouTubers in the past. If that happened, would it mostly be a financial choice to fight boxers or YouTubers, or do you have any real interest in boxing?

Of course lad, I'm a prize fighter. It'd be all about the money, it goes without saying. All this stupid YouTube boxing is daft, but if they're offering me millions of pounds to do it, then I'll do it. But yeah, people have made a big deal of that lad, I'm not leaving the UFC. The UFC is the marquee MMA promotion in the world. People don't even know what MMA is. People say, oh, you do that UFC. So why would I leave the UFC to go and fight in some B-league promotion like PFL or Bellator or all these other s*** promotions? I'm not doing that. I'm gonna fight in the UFC for the rest of my fighting career, more than likely. But, as I say, if I get offered a couple of million dollars to f***ing box some idiots, I'm gonna do it, aren't I?

How many calories a day are you currently on?

Currently I'm eating around 2,000 calories a day. It's not too bad. Two, three weeks ago I was eating two and a half thousand a day, but at the minute it's like 2,000. The next week when we get to weight cut week, it'll probably drop again to about 1,500.

Typically in a day on your current meal plan, what is your plan from breakfast to dinner?

Well, every day for the past couple of weeks, I've been having 50 grams of crunchy nuts and a shake in the morning and then my meals can vary. I have chicken rice and broccoli. I've got some whole meal pasta, beef wraps, things that my coaching nutritionist is making for me.

Cottage pies and veg, burgers, like a Wagyu burger with sweet potato fries or with sweet potato mash with no bun. Stuff like that. My sponsor macro chef sorts all that for me. It makes life easy.

Do you enjoy it or not?

I'd rather be eating f***ing burgers and chips and Thai food and Chinese food but it's one of them.

What is your favourite post-fight meal or cheat meal?

As I said, I love my burgers, but I love Thai food. I love Chinese food. I love Italian food. I love full English breakfasts. I couldn't pick one thing. I always get asked stuff like this and I couldn't pick one thing, because I love dessert as well. Cookie dough pies and cheesecakes. I love it.

How do you handle any hate online in relation to weight cycling between fights?

I just don't give a f***. Ever since I was like 16, 17 people have been talking s*** about me on the internet. Literally, I put a post on the Cage Warriors forum when I was 16 and I've had people hating on me since then, talking about me since then. It's only gotten more active and worse over the years. So I'm used to it, It’s just water off a duck's back.

Do you use ice baths or any other types of recovery tools? Which ones do you go to after a fight?

After a fight, my go too is just eating loads of food. That's all. I get better by eating food and drinking cans of coke but in this fight camp, I've been using an ice bath, in a gaff called Revive, a new place in Liverpool. They have an ice bath that's 0. 3 degrees, so it's got ice in it, and I've been using that, and it helps. Mainly I'll use saunas and steam rooms, and I'll get massages in the gym off the main man Ty Squires once a week and then another lad that comes in, Conor. Like a proper sports massage. So it doesn't feel nice, it's a little bit painful, but it helps with your recovery so much.

How do you balance time organising your nutrition along with being a new father?

Luckily enough, I don't have to worry about my nutrition. People do that for me. I mean, as I said earlier, my sponsor macro chefs, sort out all of the food, and then Paul Reed who is my nutritionist and my S&C coach, he'll put everything into place for me. He'll tell me when to eat things, and how to have it.

Like, I was in his last night getting heat acclimatised, using his sauna after a little workout, and then he'd give us a shake after it. I add all my calories up every day and sent it to him. On Tuesday I only had like 1800 calories, so then on Wednesday, he got me to eat 2300 calories just to make up for it. So I had a bit more energy yesterday. As I said, without all these people helping me, I wouldn't be where I am today. Paul Reed and Joel McCarthy and all my coaches, Ellis, Paul, Adam, Chris, like, they need a big shout-out. Without them, I wouldn't be where I am.

Has your sleep been affected by having twins? And if so, how do you continue training at such a high level?

Yeah, a little bit. As I said earlier, my wife is like a superwoman. She really is. She's just that maternal gene that the women have is ridiculous lad, it's scary. Like, I've got such a newfound respect for women. She just went up in my estimation so much. I can't get over how unbelievable she is with two kids, and crying babies.

The other day she went to the co-op for 10 minutes and I had to just hold both of them screaming in my arms, I'm just like, how does she do this? How? Most of the time in the night, as I say, she leaves me asleep. I'm like sleeping beauty when I go to sleep, that's it, I'm out. Once I'm a kip, I'm a kip. A couple of times like last night I woke up at 5:00 AM where they were crying. But 9 times out of 10 I can roll over and go back to sleep. But normally when I'm in bed for about eight, or nine hours, I'll get about six hours sleep where the babies cry every now and then, but I get on with it. I can't not go to the gym because I'm a bit tired. I still go to the gym every morning.

What were your thoughts on Chandler versus McGregor?

Obviously, I wanted to see the fight. That’s the main thing. We wanted to see the fight. It's sad that it didn't happen, but I can see where Conor's coming from. He hasn't fought in so long and then he's coming back off a serious, serious leg injury and then breaks his toe. There are people in our gym who have broken their toe before, even if it is your little toe, after such a long layoff, you don't want to just get back in the cage. You don't want to get back in the cage not a hundred per cent, so I can understand where he's coming from. I also feel very sorry for Michael Chandler because Michael Chandler waited two years for that fight and then it fell through again. I think they're meant to be doing it later this year, so I'm looking forward to it.

From DAZN’s upcoming boxing fight predictions. First one is AJ versus Dubois. Do you have any predictions on that?

I think AJ is going to use his reach and AJ is going to win that fight.

What about the Fury vs. Usyk rematch.

I think Fury could take it, to be honest.

I think it could go to a decision again though. I think AJ knocks Dubois out. But I think, like the last fight (Fury/Usyk) , I thought that it was very close. Fury Usyk could have gone either way, and if Fury had used his range a bit more, he definitely could have won it. Because he was a couple of rounds up early. But yeah, I think Fury might come back with a vengeance and win that fight.

What do you make of a boxer and MMA crossovers?

I haven't got much of an opinion on it, to be honest. Obviously, MMA fighters are going to try and get paid as much as they can and going over to the boxing world, you can get paid a bit more. Like Mike Perry vs Jake Paul this weekend,And I hope to see Mike Perry knock him out. But as I say, give Jake Paul his due. I didn't expect him to take a tough fight like Mike Perry. Mike Perry can bang. So, I take my hat off to Jake Paul.

If you were to step into a boxing ring, who would you most like to face?

Anyone, as long as the money's right lad. Anyone. As simple as that. Jake Paul and Logan Paul have spoken about me a lot, but they're both a lot bigger, So I'd expect a big payday.

If money wasn't a thing, who would it be?

A midget then, because that's the easiest fight. Obviously, if you're giving me the choice, obviously I'm going to pick the easiest fight for the most money. I’d choose Hasbulla.

Have you ever considered something in WWE?

Yes, I have thought about that to be honest. I have because I used to love the WWE growing up. Shawn Michaels, the Heartbreak Kid is my favourite fighter. I'd love to Sweet Chin Music someone in the cage in the UFC. D-Generation X, when I was even younger, X-Pac was my favourite wrestler. So yeah, I would. WWE pays big money as well and you've got to have a character, you've got to have a personality and I've got a personality, so it would work. So yeah, Triple H, if you ever wanted to sign me up, just let me know I'll make an appearance for some cash.

What would your finishing move be?

Eh, probably a flying triangle.

Going into next season, you've got Arne Slot now. What do you foresee for Liverpool under him?

I think he's gonna be very good. A lot of people are saying he can't follow in Klopp's footsteps and all that, but Klopp was our Shankly, like my generation's Shankly. He built us from the ground up. When Klopp came in we were finishing 8th in the league. He came in and turned it around and he's won everything. I think Slot’s gonna come in and he's gonna be like Paisley. He's going to take over the team just the way Paisley did, and he's going to win a lot more trophies than Jürgen. Because as I say, Jürgen had to build the club back up to where it rightfully belongs. We're now Slots coming in, and it's all in place for him. It's all ready. So, a lot of people are saying we’re going to fall off and this and that, but I guarantee in the next four years, he's won us a league and a couple of trophies.

People hate Liverpool and they wonder why a lot of people from our city say scouse, not English.

If Liverpool could sign anyone within reason this summer, who would you want it to be?

If you had asked me last summer, I would have said Jude Bellingham. But obviously, he's gone to Real Madrid. If I could sign anyone after that Euro’s, it'd be Lamine Yamal. He's absolutely unbelievable. If we're being more realistic, I'd say Williams, the Spanish player, because he also had a marvellous tournament and he's also brilliant.

Do you think we'll actually see McGregor in the Octagon again or not?

Yeah, 100%. People are saying, oh, he's never going to fight again. He has got enough money to never fight again in his life, but he's a fighter. Even when I've got enough money to never fight again, I'm still going to fight. We are fighters. We like fighting. We're prize fighters, so obviously we want to earn as much money as possible. The fact that McGregor lost his last two fights, with the leg break and before that, he got TKO'd, he's not going to want to end his career on that. He's not going to want everyone to have that as their last memory of McGregor as him sitting on the cage with a snapped leg shouting stuff at Poirier. He's going to want to go out with a bang, at least. He's definitely going to come back and fight Michael Chandler and if he beats Michael Chandler, it wouldn't surprise me if he got a straight title shot against Islam just because of all the bad blood and the beef between the two camps. It wouldn't surprise me if he just got jumped straight to a title shot.

We all love the response of Kingslayer, to Green’s name change. What was your immediate reaction to seeing his name change? How did it make you feel?

I just thought he was a f***ing idiot. He's an absolute idiot. When I saw it, I was like, wow, CTE is real. He's nearly 40 years of age and he's changed his name. He's a f***ing spaceman. I'm not gonna call him King once, like, he's getting called Bobby all week. I've got my videographer's American, lad, and he looked at the poster, he put it up and was like “Dude, he's put his f***ing social security number up and everything.”

Like, where he put the thing. My mate Blaise was like, anyone could open a bank account in his name there or anything, is he messing?

Just following on from there, the Kingslayer reference, Are you actually a Game of Thrones fan? Are there any shows that you watch or hobbies that you have to help you unwind whilst in camp?

Yeah, I'm a big Game of Thrones fan. I absolutely love Game of Thrones. I only got on Game of Thrones when like when the first four seasons were out or five even. I got it when on DVDs or watching online. I got up to where Jon Snow got killed. Then from there, I was watching it live. The last two seasons, but especially the last season they absolutely butchered it. It's still one of the best series of all time. Don't get me wrong. It's still in my top three. It's just, they butchered it. I was so happy when D & D, the two people who butchered it got fired from Star Wars, when they got sacked from that, and that's why they rushed Game of Thrones to do Star Wars. I was over the moon, I was like, yep, you've got what you deserve, you pair of p****s.

I've watched the first season of House of Dragon, but I've been saving this season. I haven't watched any of it yet. Me, Blaise and Laura are going to sit down and watch it over this weekend. I think we've got a bit of time and I've just got to chill. Yeah, I do. I love watching a season and the latest thing I've watched is Succession. I watched the four seasons of Succession over the past couple of weeks. But for me, my top three are; Game of Thrones, The Sopranos, and The Wire.

What was your reaction to the general election? And what are your feelings about the new government under Keir Starmer?

We all knew what was coming. The Tories weren't staying in. There was no chance. Everyone knew that they didn't stand a chance of winning this election. I just wish Jeremy Corbyn was still the Labour leader. I think it's crazy that we've got a Sir, as the Labour leader, and he's a liar. He came to Liverpool and said, “I'll never associate with the Sun” and all that. And then, about a couple of weeks ago, he did a big thing with the Sun. ”I can't thank the sun enough for helping me.” Eat s*** lad, you two-faced lying p****.

With Slot, do you think Liverpool can stop City from getting another title this season?

I don't know if we can stop them from getting another title this season. With Pep's last season, they're gonna go for it. They really are. We've already been robbed of a few league titles because of referees' decisions and stuff like that, so you take it with a pinch of salt. City have got the referees in their pocket. We just get on with it.

You previously revealed that you earned around $12,000 in show money against Rodrigo Vargas. How much will you earn at UFC 304?

Yeah. A lot. I'm not going to tell everyone how much I get paid but I'll be earning more than 10 times that.

Are there any specific aspects of fighter pay that you believe need improving?

Yeah probably, some fighters need to be getting paid more. Obviously the starting contract in the UFC, like my first fight, I got 10 and 10. In my second fight, I got 12 and 12. So yeah, the entry-level contract could be a bit higher, like, that's what you do. I had my first fight for 10 and 10, and then I got sponsored by Barstool on a million-pound deal. A million-pound deal over like 18 months two years without actually fighting on the UFC for that 10 and 10 and getting the exposure that the UFC gave me. I wouldn't have got that sponsor. So you've got to take the rough with the smooth lad.

What are your predictions for the Max Holloway versus Ilia Topuria superior fight?

We'll see Max Holloway beating him up five rounds on the feet. Obviously, everyone knows I don't like Ilia, Ilia's a p****. He tried to bully me when I was on my own. He tried to come over to me and start something with me when he was with like ten different people and I just stood there on my own. That's why I bounced a bottle of hand sanitiser off his head after he missed a punch.

Obviously, I'm a little bit biassed towards Max, I won't lie. But after what Max had done to Justin Gaethje, one of the hardest punches at lightweight. I can't see Ilia hurting him on the feet. What we haven't seen much of in the UFC is Ilia grappling and he is a very good grappler. Just because I hate him doesn't mean I don't respect his skills. He's got very good skills. He's very good on the floor. He is very good on the feet. It's just what his wrestling is like. He fought Volk at the right time because Volk had only been knocked out 12 weeks before. I think if Volk takes another 2 or 3 months off there, that punch that Ilia catches him with doesn't knock him out. And I think Volk wins that fight. He was winning up until the point where he got knocked out.

But timing is everything as they say, and everything fell into place for Ilia. The funny thing is with Ilia, I don't think he would have climbed the rankings that fast if he hadn't start beef with me. That helped him climb the rankings faster because no one knew who he was. No one even knew who he was until he started having his stuff with me. No one knew who he was. So, he's lucky.

What are your plans for financial security after your fighting career ends?

I've always said once my fighting career ends, I'll go into acting or hosting programs and stuff like that. I've always said it. You'll find me in Hollywood. I'll probably end up earning more money after my fighting career is over than I will in my whole fighting career.

We all know that a win over Bobby Green will get your ranking, and all being well and you resign from UFC, how quickly do you see yourself getting into the title mix?

I think it's crazy how people have taken what I said completely out of context and used it as a clickbait like I'm leaving the UFC. I'm not leaving the UFC. It'll be a stupid time to leave the UFC after I've just got a ranking because once I beat Bobby Green I'm in the rankings.

As I say, we'll see. I haven't rushed anything so far. I'm 5-0 in the UFC. This is my sixth fight and I'm getting to fight someone ranked. Once I beat Bobby, whatever the UFC offers me I'll take next. But we'll see when I fight as I say I'm gonna move into acting and hosting things and I could have a television program that I'm going to be hosting towards the back end of the year.

I might not be able to fight again this year and then next year, I'll be honest, the babies are one on April 17th so I'll be trying to get a fight in before their birthday so I can enjoy their birthday with them and enjoy the summer with them as a pair of one-year-olds. Like the last eight to 10 weeks have been hard work. I haven't been able to spend time with my kids as much when they are so little. After their first birthday, I'm gonna spend that summer with my wife and my kids and my family.

We touched on Conor McGregor's broken toe earlier on, would you have fought on a broken toe or would that have been out of the question for you as well?

No, it depends. It really does depend. I went into a fight years ago and I got surgery on the 10th of May and then a fought on the 1st of September. When I broke my wrist, I got a big scar there, and I shouldn't have fought. I lost that fight. So I'd probably never go into another fight injured, to be honest, because in that fight, I had a tight choke in the first round, but it was this hand underneath, so I couldn't get the strength to put him to sleep. If I had a fully fit strong hand, he goes unconscious. To be honest, I don't know if ‘d go into another fight injured again.

Is your mindset different and now you're heading into the fight since becoming a dad?

Well, I don't know. I haven't really felt much difference, to be honest, but everyone around me has; Molly, Paul, Ellis, all of my coaches and my mum and dad and my wife have all said that they've noticed a difference in me. They see a difference, so yeah, I must be different, but now I've actually got something to fight for. I've actually got kids to fight for. I need to put food on the table for my kids, so that's going to be in the back of my mind. I'll never quit anyway. You'd never catch me f***ing just rolling over and taking punches or just giving a submission up. I've got no quit in me but even more so now I've got an actual reason to not quit.

Where does Bobby Green rank among the most difficult fighters you've faced in your career?

Obviously, I'm fighting tougher and tougher opponents each time. He's probably the toughest opponent. But saying that, he's fought Jared Gordon, and Jared Gordon was lighting him up before Bobby decided to flying headbutt him. So, I'll be honest, when I fought Jared Gordon, I think I underestimated him a little bit. I just thought I'd run through him. He's not an easy fight. It was a very close decision. The decision could have gone either way. I was lucky to get that. Bobby is either my toughest fight we'll find out on fight night or it was Jared Gordon.

After your taste of Reality TV, would you fancy giving acting a go later in your career? What are your thoughts on Conor McGregor in Roadhouse?

No, I haven't seen it, to be honest. I've watched the advert and stuff, but I haven't had time to actually watch the film. A lot of people have said that he's basically just being himself. He's not , he's basically just being himself. When I was younger, like when I was like 7,8 9 10,11,12 or something like that I used to like the way girls go to dance, I went to drama school, like a drama club. I played like Daddy Warbucks in Annie, and like, the Artful Dodger in Oliver Twist. I've been on stage before when I was a little kid and acted as it is. I'm comfortable in front of a camera, I don't mind, I would definitely go into acting.

Is there an action remake movie you'd like to star in?

I don't know. Action film. When I was growing up, I used to love Arnold Schwarzenegger. I used to love Arnie. Commando was one of my favourite films. I had that on video with my grandmas. “Bennett!” Used to love Commando a lot, and then, a couple of his other films, like Running Man and Total Recall and Predator and stuff like that. I used to love all of them. So, probably be an Arnie one or like Rambo or Rocky.

Logan Paul has expressed his desire to fight you in the past, we all know that. What do you make of his comments and would you ever consider fighting him?

Yeah of course I would. I'd fight Logan Paul tomorrow in a heartbeat. As I said earlier, that's where the money's at. If someone like Logan, Jake, KSI, or any of these influencers want to have a boxing fight, and you want to pay me, I'm game. Just call my manager, Graham Boylan, and we'll get it sorted.

What do you make of crossover bouts with YouTubers? Do you find them interesting or do you just laugh at them?

Most of them I laugh at. Give Jake Paul his due now. Jake Paul is actually looking like a boxer. His technique's got a lot better. But we'll see how he goes against an actual fighter like Mike Perry. Because everyone else he's fought has been like 40-plus. So, we'll see how he gets on.

We saw you at Jürgen Klopp's leaving party. What are your recollections of that and your interactions with him?

He's an absolute legend. I've always said if there's one person in the world that I could meet, then it'd be Jürgen Klopp. I was actually leaving that party to get home and help the missus with the kids. She wasn't happy when I ended up staying there till about four in the morning. I was actually leaving the party and I got told to move over to one side and as we moved over, I just saw Jurgen and the team walking in and Jurgen just looked at me and pointed at me. He started jogging towards me and went “THE MACHINE” and I was gobsmacked. I don't think I've ever been lost for words and then I said to him, “I'm just about to go home” and he was like, “Oh no, you're not going anywhere, you're coming with us”. He dragged me into the party with him and I ended up in there, as I say, all night. My missus wasn't happy when I got home, like, she bit my head off and didn't speak to me for a couple of days. You know, anyone would have done the same. Jürgen Klopp, he's our messiah. When I spoke to him there, I said to him, “you don't know what you've done for this club and for this city in general”. It's like, Jamie Webster wasn’t there and he told me to say the same to him.

I said to him, “from me and Jamie, we both love you. You don't understand what you've done for this city. Like, anything you ever need, we're there for you because of what you've done for us and this club, we can't put it into words.”

How do you think you will fare against Bobby Green and what are his greatest strengths as a fighter?

His greatest strength is his boxing. He’s got very good hands. As I've said before, he's already been knocked out a couple of times. And once you get knocked out like he has it, your chin starts to go. So, everyone's talking about this fight like it's a striker vs grappler match. It's not. I'm gonna come out and I'm gonna strike with him and I'm gonna take his head off. I really can see myself knocking him out. And a lot of people are gonna be shocked when I do. But as I say, if the opportunity arises for me to take him down, he'll get taken down, he'll get submitted. I can really see myself knocking him out and it'll be just so vindicating when I do. Because I know I'm going to win this fight. I know people are already counting me out and saying I'm going to get beat up for three rounds, but I know I'm coming out and I'm winning this fight. There's no way that he beats me.

Because of the crazy UFC time for next Sunday, has that affected training preparations at all? How do you plan to combat that 3 am start?

I'll be fighting about 4, 4:30 latest. But up to now, everything's just been going normally, apart from this week. I’ve started running in the nighttime for running at 8, 8:30, and 9 and then getting in a sauna after it to heat acclimatise. It's one of them, lad. You've just got to get on with it. It's an absolute joke that we're fighting at that time. I'm really not happy. We stay up every other week to watch the UFC. We sit in that f***ing living room and sit up till 5:00 AM, 6:00 AM watching UFCs and it's not even as if they have to do that. They're five and eight hours behind. So even if I fought at like nine o'clock, that would only be one in the afternoon in LA and San Diego and four in the afternoon in New York. So it's not like they'd have to sit up all night and wait like we do. I don't think it's fair to be honest. It also gives an advantage to all the American fighters coming over because they're already on that time where we have to change our time.

But from Tuesday when I get to the fighter hotel, we'll probably start doing a little pad session at 12 o'clock at night. Probably start going down and doing a pad session at about 12, or 1 am just to get the body clock switched over a little bit. As I said, when I train over in England to fight in America, I still spa at 10:30, or 11 in the morning on a Tuesday - Thursday. It doesn't make much of a difference. People are like, Oh, are you going to change? And it's like when I walk out in that arena and my song is on, and the crowd is going wild, do you think I'm going to feel tired? When that cage door gets shut and it's just me staring at Bobby Green and it's fight or flight, do you think I'm gonna jump over the cage and run away? No. I'm gonna bite down on my gum shield and have a f***ing fight.

How did the Orange Shorts situation go? Is there any news on this yet?

Nothing just yet. We’ll see. I reckon I could turn up on Tuesday and he could have a pair of Orange Shorts there for me. I think he will but I'm not 100%. They haven't confirmed nor denied it, so I think they're smart enough to get me a pair of orange shorts. It's not difficult to make a pair of orange shorts. I think they will, but as I said, I'm not 100 percent sure, and I don't want to say yes, just in case they don't.

Do you think the dress code is a bit too strict?

I think they should let more fighters pick their own colours and stuff because originally when it was what colour you want, I always had to pick red because I can only pick between red, white, and black.

But this fight, obviously where Bobby is ranked, he got asked first and he picked red so I could only pick between white and black. I've always wanted my orange shorts anyway, but that was another reason why I wanted the orange shorts because I don't wanna wear white or black.

I know you've been majorly influenced by Sakuraba, would you ever grapple in a quintet?

Yes of course I would. I love grappling quintet. I love my grappling, it’s what I excel in. I love striking because I love to have a fight but I excel in my grappling. My Jiu-Jitsu is world-class. Of course, I do quintet, especially if you were paying right. As I say, we're prize fighters.

Have you received any offers from the PFL or any other organisations ahead of your UFC contract expiry?

I would not go to the B Leagues. All the clowns in the B League talk about me. I have seen interviews lately of f***ing idiots who are in PFL. They don't shut up about me. It's f***ing embarrassing.

I'm in the UFC, I'm in the marquee promotion in the world. You wish you were there saying, oh, I've gone to PFL for the money. No, you haven't. You went to PFL because the UFC doesn't want you. That's why you went to PFL, you f***ing idiot.

If Nate Diaz was to come back would you be up for it?

Yeah, if Nate Diaz wants to fight me I wouldn't say no. If anyone wants to fight me, I wouldn't say no. We're fighters. I hate it when people say, oh he's scared to fight him. Even though I don't like Ilia, I haven't said he's scared to fight Max. I've said he doesn't want to sign the contract, but I haven't said he's scared. We're fighters, we're not scared, otherwise we wouldn't get in the cage and fight. I'll fight anyone. I was talking about this the other day. I'd love to fight Colby. Colby, he's at welterweight but he's not a big welterweight, and I'm a big lightweight. I'd love to fight Colby Covington because he's a little piece of s***. What he said about Leon's dad that time was disgusting. I'd f***ing love to punch that little p****'s head in.

If you were to fight Diaz, how do you think you'd get on?

I really don't know, Diaz is a quality fighter, but he's a lot older now. So I'd probably use my speed advantage over him. He's a great boxer, so I'd try and kick a lot. And he's got world-class jiu-jitsu. He's been took down and held down by people before and as you know, Tony Ferguson's got world-class jiu-jitsu and I took him down and grapple f***ed him and he didn't stand a chance. So I think I'll probably do the same to Nate. But, I really liked Nate Diaz as well.

I was saying that I liked Tony Ferguson before he started chatting s*** at the press conference. I was always a Tony Ferguson fan and a Nate Diaz fan, but I'm sure he's tried to s*** on me in the past as well. If it comes down to fighting them, it will get put on them.

Jon Jones has been sitting aside for some time and hoping for a fight against Stipe Miocic. Do you think Jon Jones is scared of Tom Aspinall?

He's the greatest of all time. He's never lost a fight. I'll never forget, I watched when he beat Matt Hamill, and it got classed as a DQ. I watched that fight live when I was 15. I watched that live and I've been watching Jon Jones my whole career.

He's had a couple of close fights that people thought he lost, but he's the greatest of all time. No one comes near his resume.

I know why he wants to fight Stipe, because Stipe beat Cormier, twice and his hatred for Cormier. He wants to have that win over Stipe who's beaten Cormier twice, just so it's another f*** you to Cormier. That's how his brain works. I don't think he's scared to fight Tom. I don’t think he is at all. I think to be honest, it's crazy that Tom's defending an interim title. Most of the champs would have been stripped, but we're talking about Jon Jones here, the greatest fighter of all time. I don't think he's scared to fight anyone. Tom could be his biggest test out there. I think Tom's going to win at UFC 304 against Blaydes. I'd love Tom to win. Then I'd love Jones to beat Stipe and then to fight each other early next year. That's the scenario that I think every UFC fan wants.

Obviously you're fighting in Manchester. Are you excited about being in Manchester? Are you excited to fight in front of a northern crowd?

Yeah, of course, the King of the North is back. I haven't fought in the North West since 2018 with a crowd anyway. Two weeks after COVID, come in, I fought. Or a week after COVID, I fought behind closed doors in Manchester in 2020. But then yeah, I haven't fought in the North West since. I haven't fought in Liverpool since 2018. I can't wait to fight this. The arena's only about 30 to 40 minutes from Liverpool. Every time we fought in the UFC it has been down south in London and we've still taken over the arena every time. I can't wait for this in Manchester. It's going to be absolutely spectacular. It’s going to be scousers everywhere.

Do you think Leon Edwards can become Britain's first two-way UFC champion?

Yeah, I do. Leon could do that. Give Leon his due though, he's trying to build his welterweight legacy up. I've always said to myself I think that a fighter should have to defend his belt three times before he moves up and fights for another division's belt. That's what Leon's doing. This is Leon's third title defence. He's defended against Usman, defended against Colby. I think he's going to defend it quite easily against Belal. I think he's gonna finish him. If Leon wants to move up and fight for the middleweight title, I think he should be allowed to. If not, he'll end up fighting against someone like Shavkat Rakhmonov or someone like that. But as I say, it wouldn't surprise me if the winner of Adesanya vs Du Plessis ends up defending the title next against Leon and Leon going for double champ status.

Obviously you and Molly have got your new show together and she spoke about imposter syndrome after her losses. Have you ever experienced similar doubts and how would you overcome them?

Well, years ago, as I say, that fight when I went into it just after surgery when I shouldn't have fought and I had a tight rear naked choke in the first round, and that was like some of the worst I've ever felt after a fight. I was so depressed after that and was just waking up every morning when the missus was going to work and giving me a kiss and saying bye I was just crying my eyes out. I was just sitting there crying to myself and didn't speak to anyone. But then, obviously, after the Jared Gordon fight, I won the fight in a very close fight, but everyone thought I lost. The amount of hate I received online was crazy. Like after I fought in July when I beat Jordan Leavitt and I said men need to speak up, I was the best thing since sliced bread. Everyone loved me and then literally five months later, I had a close fight and I have people in my comments saying, “Oh, you might as well go and kill yourself. You're never going to get anywhere in the UFC.” And it's just like, wow, a couple of months ago, all of you people were praising me for telling men to speak up and now the exact same people are in my comments telling me to kill myself. Social media is just crazy. The amount of keyboard warriors out there that, if they saw me in person, they'd come over and ask for a picture but on social media, they'd call me a fat dickhead and say I should kill myself. Like one the other day we did my head in where people were saying 97 wasn't enough. Like what? Talking about 97 dead Liverpool fans.

How do you overcome the hate?

I'll be honest, I read comments, but I don't let them affect me. If comments affected me, I would have killed myself by now. Seriously. If the comments affected me, I would have already slit my wrists or eaten a load of tablets or hung myself.

Because of the amount of nasty comments I get. Obviously, the nice ones override the nasty ones as well.

I’m not gonna lie this week I've had some f***ing vicious comments and dirty comments all because I won a bet and I celebrated winning a bet. I've had so many people commenting on things. People saying that I hate my own country. I don't hate my own country. I've never said I hate my own country. I just won a bet, and I was happy. It's one of them lad how people say you're not English. I am English, I've never once said I'm not English. I’m proud to be where I'm from. People are just crazy and jump on the bandwagon when they don't have the prior context and they don't know what they're talking about. That's what social media is terrible for.

Recently, Alex Pereira has been labelled as the biggest star in UFC. Firstly, do you agree with this? And then, secondly, who in your opinion is the most exciting UFC fighter to watch right now?

To be honest, I've got to say, Alex Pereira, haven't you? He's absolutely phenomenal. He's come into this sport and has been a breath of fresh air. He's fighting all the time. He's taking short notice fights. He's saving cards. I don't understand how he didn't get Fighter of the Year when he's won four fights with three finishes and that finish the other week over Jiri Prochazka, I was sitting on my couch just like, you probably saw the reaction video to it because I was getting videoed. He has got some scary power in that left-hook. And then the way he set that head kick up was absolutely phenomenal.

The other fighter that has come on my radar recently is Jean Silva. He knocked Charles Jourdain out like three weeks ago and then took a fight on short notice against Drew Dober on Saturday like a week's notice and TKO’d Drew Dober. He's an exciting fighter. He broke both his hands in the first round and then in the second round was just landing spinning back elbows and elbows. I've never really seen anyone do that to Drew Dober. It was f***ing exciting.

I've seen Mark Goddard recently defend MMA judges and claim that judging has never been better than it is now. As a fighter, what are your thoughts on judging right now and have you experienced any contentious decisions in the past?

Obviously everyone's gonna mention my fight with Jared Gordon because so many people thought I lost that fight. Still people to this day see that it was a robbery, when that fight wasn't a robbery. It was a close fight.

The worst set of judging I've seen recently was on that Dalby card not so long ago. Nicholas Dalby fought someone and I thought Nicholas Dalby won, but he lost a split decision. I thought that he won that fight. And then again, Jared Gordon, he's got no luck. I thought he got robbed. I thought he won the second and third rounds, but he lost a split decision. So as a whole in general, I think the judges, as Goddard said, it's better than it's ever been. If you go back years ago and look at the s***, look at Shogun vs Machida 1, look at Matt Hamill vs Bisping, look at Leonard Garcia vs the Korean Zombie, the first fight. They're robberies. Even Nan Pham vs Leonard Garcia. They're robberies. You don't see robberies like that anymore because judges are so much more on the ball now and they have so many things and it's drilled into them. Like, MMA was still relatively new back then, it's not now. They've been judging for years and years.

I've seen Dana White also recently mention expanding UFC to new cities. He mentioned Minneapolis and Seattle. If you could pick any city in the world to fight in, which you haven't already, where would it be and why?

I was gonna say, Liverpool, obviously, bring the UFC to Anfield. I mean that'd be absolutely spectacular. That's what I want to do one day. I'd love to bring the UFC to Anfield and have the biggest crowd you've ever seen.

Somewhere I've never fought - I know I'm gonna in the next couple of years. I'd like to fight in Abu Dhabi, Dubai. That's a city, and country I'd love to go and fight in also it’s tax-free, so it's even better.

I've got a big fan who I love, I speak to him. He's got my phone number and I speak to him on WhatsApp. Steve Jeffs. He's from Vancouver. I'd love to go there and fight there in front of him because he's been one of my biggest fans since like 2014, 15. After my last fight, I shouted out for his son because his son killed himself a couple of years ago and it was on his anniversary. I shouted out for his son and he got on me after it and was like, I can't thank you enough. I have an absolutely amazing relationship with him. As I said, we message each other every day on WhatsApp, and he's been one of my biggest fans since day one. I'd love to go over to Canada and fight there.

Adesanya recently spoke out about how they took a hiatus when it was crucial for his career, allowing him to gain a bit more clarity and patience. How important do you think it is for fighters to take breaks like this? Do you think it can rejuvenate a career?

Yeah. Definitely, it can rejuvenate your mindset, and how you look at things. If you have a few months off, you realise how much you love fighting. You realise how much you want to fight. Once you've had a few months off, it's like wow, I love fighting, I want to get back in the cage and punch someone in the face. That's what it's like. So yeah, I completely understand what he is saying there.

Do you think the UFC take enough measures to protect their fighter's long-term health, or do you think they should be doing more?

I think they do enough. The amount of medicals and stuff like that that we have to do, brain scans and all that. I think they do well enough. If you get an injury in a fight and stuff like that, they get your private surgery sorted. They've done it with my ankle. They paid for my ankle to get fixed. I had to get three surgeries in one, Inner ligament reconstruction, outer ligament reconstruction and my CFL. So, I've got artificial ligaments in my ankle now, thanks to the UFC. I'll be honest, I think they do enough.

Maybe once your career's over and you've left the UFC, they could do a little bit more, but you're not fighting in the UFC anymore, so I can understand why they don't. But CTE, you can't see if you've got CTE until you're dead. Until they f***ing take your brain out of your skull and f***ing research you. So, as I said earlier, Bobby Green's probably got CTE. f***ing hell he’s changed his name to King at the age of 40.

How do you personally approach these risks?

I don't even think of these risks. I just don't see the point in thinking about it lad when I'm getting in a cage to fight with someone. I don't need to worry about what's gonna happen after it. I need to worry about what's gonna happen when I'm in the cage and when I'm fighting them.