Fitz and a Fighter

Text me a question for the show UFC veteran Lando Vannata joins Fitz Nation!  We had a wide-ranging chat about his journey from BMX racer to combat sports enthusiast to UFC action fighter! Included on the show: Lando’s gaming rig (passion for car racing, adrenaline of a race vs. the rush of fighting) Cancelling fight with Andre Fili (tumultuous fight camp, expected return date) Being mentally stro...

Text me a question for the show Fitz is joined by the future UFC Hall of Famer and former champ Frankie Edgar. Edgar held a UFC title in the lightweight division.  He then moved down to featherweight, where he competed in multiple title fights and has ultimately spent the last stage of his career as a bantamweight. Edgar recalls the early days of his MMA career, how coming up short during his wres...

Text me a question for the show Watch Fitz Nation on UFC Fight Pass Check out my NEW YouTube channel Fitz catches up with UFC lightweight contender Beneil Dariush to talk about his upbringing in Iran, moving to to the United States as a kid, always being a fighter and how he's had to work really hard to be the nice guy people think of him as. Be sure to check him out this week at UFC 280 in Abu Dh...

Text me a question for the show Watch Fitz Nation on UFC Fight Pass Check out my NEW YouTube channel Fitz chats with UFC welterweight Alex Morono. Morono has an interesting back story as a person who was never an athlete growing up.  While he was always active, it was never in an organized activity.  After his mom signed him up at a local boxing gym, he fell in love with combat sports.  Boxing the...

Text me a question for the show Watch Fitz Nation on UFC Fight Pass Check out my NEW YouTube channel Fitz chats with UFC Hall of Famer Cub Swanson as he gets ready to make his first walk as a UFC bantamweight in October. Cub has had a decorated career as a pro fighter and is one of the originals when it comes to transitioning from the WEC to the UFC.  He has fought all the big names of his era and...

Text me a question for the show Watch Fitz Nation on UFC Fight Pass Fitz chats with UFC middleweight Brendan Allen.  "All In" talks about his upbringing in a military family, settling in Louisiana and finding a love for martial arts. Allen is 7-2 in the UFC since arriving through an impressive win on Dana White's Contender Series back in 2019.  He has finished most of his victories, including an i...

Text me a question for the show Watch Fitz Nation on UFC Fight Pass Fitz Nation  is back with new UFC middleweight Joe Pyfer ! Joe is the first guest in Fitz Nation history that is a fighter yet to make his UFC debut.  He had a major moment on Dana White's Contender Series in July when he scored a KO win and brought big time energy during and after the fight in his interview. That was put on hyper...

Text me a question for the show Watch Fitz Nation on UFC Fight Pass Fitz chats with UFC bantamweight contender Cory Sandhagen. Sandhagen is one of the most exciting bantamweight fighters in the world.  He also has a very unique mindset in how he thinks of himself and the place in the world. He talks a lot about the art or martial arts being the most important part.  To Sandhagen, there are two pro...

Text me a question for the show Watch Fitz Nation on UFC Fight Pass Jalin Turner is the latest UFC contender to join Fitz Nation after his big win over Brad Riddell in Las Vegas.  Turner not only has an impressive win streak that's propelled him to the top 15, but he has also finished his opponents at a dizzying rate, making him a prospect to watch at 155 pounds. In this interview, Turner talks ab...

Text me a question for the show Watch Fitz Nation on UFC Fight Pass Eliot Marshall is a former UFC heavyweight and veteran MMA coach.  He was the long time head coach of Elevation Fight Team in Denver before abruptly wanting to stop coaching MMA fighters as a team.  He talks about the regrets he has in how he handled stepping away from the team, but more importantly, his upbringing as a mixed race...

Text me a question for the show Watch Fitz Nation on UFC Fight Pass Cody Brundage is a UFC middleweight prospect who has won back to back fights, most recently an emphatic 1st round stoppage of Tresean Gore at the UFC Apex. In this interview, Fitz and Cody dive into what it's like dealing with the nerves that come along with a fight, his journey as a privileged kid to wanting to prove himself as a...

Text me a question for the show Fitz Nation is supported by Manscaped.com !  Get 20% OFF + Free Shipping with promo code FITZ20 at MANSCAPED.com! #ad #manscapedpod Watch Fitz Nation on UFC Fight Pass Jason and Randy Sklar (aka The Sklar Brothers) chat with UFC announcer Brendan Fitzgerald on Fitz Nation about their upcoming show 'The Nosebleeds' on UFC Fight Pass. They also go into their careers a...

Text me a question for the show Fitz Nation is supported by Manscaped.com !  Get 20% OFF + Free Shipping with promo code FITZ20 at MANSCAPED.com! #ad #manscapedpod Watch Fitz Nation on UFC Fight Pass Cody Stamann is fresh off a recent win vs. Eddie Wineland at UFC Austin and chats with Brendan Fitzgerald about his life and career on Fitz Nation.  Hear Cody's journey from his blue-collar background...

Text me a question for the show Fitz Nation is supported by Manscaped.com !  Get 20% OFF + Free Shipping with promo code FITZ20 at MANSCAPED.com! #ad #manscapedpod Watch Fitz Nation on UFC Fight Pass Chris Curtis chats with Brendan Fitzgerald on the Fitz Nation Podcast. Curtis broke into the UFC in late 2021 with a huge win over Phil Hawes.  He then went on to finish Brendan Allen shortly after. R...

Text me a question for the show Support the show at MANSCAPED.com by using the promo code FITZ20 Here's another repost of an old episode that is relevant this week!  Yair Rodriguez is back in a main event at UFC Long Island this Saturday, so I thought I'd post our chat from February of 2020. This was one of the last shows I did with an in-person guest (as I did for all of the first 23 or so episod...

Text me a question for the show Support the show at MANSCAPED.com by using the promo code FITZ20 I spend Friday at UFC X in Las Vegas, the UFC's gigantic fan expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center. As part of my day, I sat down at the UFC social media booth with Kevin Holland.  As always, he was great to chat with.  Hope you enjoy! The video version is available on my YouTube channel. Follow Fitz...

Text me a question for the show Brendan Fitzgerald chats with UFC veteran and featherweight contender Alex Caceres. Caceres is a recognizable character to fight fans with his free-flowing style and of course the trademark hairstyle. He has been on a long journey in the UFC and is still going strong as he is about to turn 34 years old. Full episodes of Fitz Nation are now exclusively on UFC Fight P...

Text me a question for the show Full episodes of Fitz Nation are exclusively on UFC Fight Pass Fitz is back with UFC featherweight contender Josh Emmett.   The veteran from Sacramento is ready for his main event vs. Calvin Kattar in a high stakes match-up at UFC Austin later this month. In this episode, Emmett discusses his upbringing with a single mom and older brother that dealt with addiction,...

Text me a question for the show Check out the full interview only on UFC FIGHT PASS. On this episode of Fitz Nation, Brendan Fitzgerald chats with UFC flyweight contender Maycee Barber.   Barber has packed a lot of life experience into her first 23 years.  She was just 20 years old when appearing on Dana White's Contender Series in 2018, getting a big win and earning a UFC contract. She has been t...

Text me a question for the show Fitz chats with UFC bantamweight Davey Grant. Grant has really had a nice run of exciting fights since 2020, returning after a long injury layoff to score a 3rd round KO at the first event on Fight Island. In his last two fights, he's gone toe to toe with Chito Vera (now a title contender) and Adrian Yanez. At 36, he says he still has a lot of fight left! Head to UF...

Text me a question for the show In this episode, Fitz chats with UFC light heavyweight veteran Khalil Rountree. Khalil has been in the UFC for years now after appearing on The Ultimate Fighter to get his shot with the promotion. But what makes his story so impressive is about how he grew up.  After his father was murdered when he was 2 years old, Rountree developed into an introvert who saw the wo...

Text me a question for the show Clayton Guida is a UFC lightweight who's been a professional competitor since 2003. He also competed for Strikeforce, becoming the inaugural Strikeforce Lightweight Champion, WEC, and King of the Cage among other promotions. UFC fans know Guida for his long hair and high energy.  He attributes his aggressive attack to his days as a high school and college wrestler,...

Text me a question for the show Fitz Nation is back with new episodes as Brendan Fitzgerald speaks with UFC welterweight Vicente Luque. Luque is currently ranked 4th in the UFC's welterweight division.  This Saturday, he will fight 5th ranked Belal Muhammad in the main event at UFC Fight Night: Luque vs. Muhammad. In this episode, Fitz talks to Vicente about his roots in New Jersey, but growing up...

Text me a question for the show Before new episodes come back at you in the next few weeks, thought I would repost this episode from 1 year ago with Chris Daukaus. He fights this week in the main event at UFC Columbus.  This is an evergreen interview about his life and career, going from 300-pounds to becoming an MMA fighter that balanced training and serving as a Philadelphia police officer. Chri...

Text me a question for the show Drew Dober fights Terrance McKinney this week at UFC Vegas 50. He is a veteran contender in the lightweight division and has spent time inside the top 15.  This interview is from March of 2021, just before he fought Islam Makhachev.  He lost that bout and then fought Brad Riddell in a Fight of the Night match-up later in 2021.   Now, he looks to turn things around a...