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Welcome to The Dr. JJ Thomas Podcast! Here I'll be talking all things physical therapy, raw and unplugged, giving you the unfiltered insights you've been searching for in your cash-based physical therapy business. If you're caught in the grind of the traditional model, swamped with paperwork, or feeling like you're not reaching your full potential as a physical therapist, this podcast was created just for you.
Don't ever wanna idle. Alright? And if you're gonna idle, you wanna idle forward. So that's what he's talking about.
Dr JJ Thomas:During the fight. Yeah. Motion. Yeah.
Sean O'Malley:Motion defeats tension. So, you're never in, like, a stagnation period where you're holding ground or planting and then, leaving yourself open for an opportunity. Right.
Andre Petroski:Welcome to the doctor JJ Thomas podcast.
Dr JJ Thomas:Hey, everybody. Welcome to the doctor JJ Thomas podcast. I'm JJ, and I'm here with 2 of my favorite people today, Andre and Sean. If you don't know these guys, Andre Petroski is a UFC middleweight, total stud. I actually just said to him, we've we've known Andre a long time and I just said to him, I was like, I mean you're actually really a stud.
Dr JJ Thomas:And he's like, what do you mean? I'm like, well I actually looked up stats on you and you're you're you know, so anyway not to gush too much, but total stud. And my other and my other, friend Sean O'Malley who's another stud. He's a performance coach. He's worked with a lot of our athletes.
Dr JJ Thomas:I actually originally met Sean through my son the wrestler, high school wrestler and, and since then I've gotten to see his work up close and, really cool stuff he does. So Sean and Andre spent a lot of time together, so I thought it'd be fun to have them both on here, sharing the vibes. Thanks for coming guys.
Andre Petroski:Thanks for having us.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah. In case you're curious what's on Andre's head, we're big believers in lots of sensory, healthy sensory input here and, Andre and I had this conversation about these a while ago. So I I brought them one but Andre already has one. He's like I got this. Tell us about it.
Andre Petroski:So JJ's theory in, in layman's term in my my language my my understanding of it is that, like, if the only time you're getting touched in the head or the face is when you're getting punched or elbowed or kicked or hit, that, like, then you're gonna have a very negative response to it. Right. But if you have, like, some some positive, you know, some positive contact, then you're not gonna be, like, as it won't be, like, a negative response. Like, say you get, like, grazed by a punch rather than hit. You would you would be it'd be, like, oh, that feels good.
Dr JJ Thomas:That might maybe that's kinda like the head
Andre Petroski:massage. Liking it in the face.
Dr JJ Thomas:It's the truth. It's the truth. It's there's actual science behind it that the threshold for response will increase when you have repeated negative stimuli. So if you if you you can counteract that by having positive stimuli. So, anyway, I'm happy to
Andre Petroski:see if you took it. You know, you skipped practice this morning but it's like, no.
Dr JJ Thomas:I'm training right now.
Andre Petroski:That's awesome.
Dr JJ Thomas:I love that and I love that. That's such a reflection of of you, like, that's one of the reasons I wanted to have you on is, you know, our audience is a combination of both PTs and, PTs clinicians and patients and athletes themselves. So, I think it's great you're a great role model for all athletes out there in the way you do things and everything from, like, training to non training things. So I'd love to get into that a little bit.
Andre Petroski:Why, thank you. Thank you.
Dr JJ Thomas:Tell me about, like, what's a day in the life for you guys?
Andre Petroski:Well, my my life's incredible and as cheesy as it sounds, but, like, I do whatever I want. Usually, depending on if I'm in camp or not, like, when I'm in camp, we we typically do 2 a days every day, but, but Saturday, we'll do 1. Sunday is usually a recovery day. So every other day will be will be 2 a days. But even on, like, a day that I have I train twice.
Andre Petroski:Like, I might have practice at 11 o'clock and then or 10 o'clock, I'll be done by noon. And then I have from noon till 6 o'clock before the next session to do whatever I want. Like, I can I can get so much more done because I don't have to work a 40 hour week? And I did. Like, I I remember, my last flight at the 23100 arena.
Andre Petroski:I trained or I worked 7 days a week Yeah. During the camp. So, like, I know what that's like to have no time. So I I feel like I can appreciate that, I have a lot of time during the day to do whatever I want. Like, whether it's hang out with my kids or, you know, get get stuff done.
Dr JJ Thomas:Or go biking.
Andre Petroski:Or or crash dirt bikes.
Dr JJ Thomas:I it's funny though because I I when I hear you say that, like, I don't have to work, I think the the change is that your work I think it's important in all professions whether you're a UFC fighter or a physical therapist or a mindset coach or performance coach, it's important to have balance. Right? And so I think what's really cool for your situation now is that when you're not quote actively training which is which you directly correlate to work, you're doing things that fulfill your life in other ways. And I think that's important. I think that's part of what's helping you continue to be a success, And and it and it shouldn't be, shouldn't be minimized.
Dr JJ Thomas:Like, it it's part of work to balance. Right?
Andre Petroski:Yeah. For sure.
Sean O'Malley:What do
Dr JJ Thomas:you think about that, Sean?
Sean O'Malley:Well, right now, we're living the meathead motto, Tanducian swole.
Dr JJ Thomas:I know.
Sean O'Malley:Putting up weight.
Dr JJ Thomas:I he said that earlier and I had to break I was like, tanjuicy and is that a country?
Sean O'Malley:Tan, comma, juicy, comma, swole.
Dr JJ Thomas:I love it. I love it.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:And tell me, what's a tanjuice tanjuicy and swole?
Sean O'Malley:Well, he's out of camp. Homeboy loves lifting. So we're, and plus he got a fresh tattoo. Yeah. So we're spending a lot of time in the gym.
Sean O'Malley:He needed a strength and conditioning coach. So Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:Of course.
Sean O'Malley:We're we're compensating with the weights right now. And then, but as of next week, once everything heals up, we're gonna start getting back into training again.
Dr JJ Thomas:That's
Andre Petroski:awesome. I just, we just decked my whole basement out with new gym equipment. Yeah. Yeah. There was
Sean O'Malley:a
Andre Petroski:a school in Philly that was getting rid of a bunch of stuff. So I got a we got a squat rack that has the cable pulls
Dr JJ Thomas:Wow.
Andre Petroski:With the rows and tricep extensions. And, and then we got a bench. So we got everything now. That's awesome.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah. The cable pulls up high?
Andre Petroski:Yeah. And and low.
Dr JJ Thomas:You can adjust it?
Andre Petroski:It? Yeah. Oh. No. No.
Andre Petroski:No. There's 2. There's 1 at the top of
Dr JJ Thomas:the top.
Andre Petroski:And a low.
Dr JJ Thomas:That's great.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah. We're turning the you ever you ever hear Doreen Yeats?
Dr JJ Thomas:No. Alright.
Sean O'Malley:Well, for every meat head that's watching
Dr JJ Thomas:this Say no.
Sean O'Malley:We're turning his basement into blood and guts. Oh, that's great. Temple gym. That was, like, where he trained.
Dr JJ Thomas:Oh, that's great.
Sean O'Malley:And it's just, like, some asbestos ridden
Dr JJ Thomas:I wanna come.
Sean O'Malley:Gross pit.
Dr JJ Thomas:I wanna join you guys.
Andre Petroski:So the big thing that we're implementing from Doreen Eads is the 2 working sets.
Dr JJ Thomas:Okay.
Andre Petroski:So every exercise, you only do 2 working sets, but they gotta be, like, to failure.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah. Nice.
Andre Petroski:So, like, I'll try to do at least one of those 2 sets will be a drop set
Sean O'Malley:Okay.
Andre Petroski:Where it's, like, completely to failure.
Dr JJ Thomas:Just go.
Andre Petroski:But it's only 2 sets. Yeah. So it's like
Dr JJ Thomas:You gotta get that.
Andre Petroski:Yeah. You gotta you gotta do it.
Sean O'Malley:So you're putting volume up, the intensity is super high, and, like, you're working till pure exhaustion. So you might not be putting up, like, the most weight, but you're pushing thresholds with, like, your physical max.
Dr JJ Thomas:That's type 2 fibers.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah. Right?
Dr JJ Thomas:Like
Andre Petroski:You're putting yourself in place for your major your major lift. So if you do, like, like, let's say it's leg day, you would do 2 working sets of failure for squat or deadlift. You don't have to do it for, like, you know, calves or something. Like like an auxiliary lift, you wouldn't necessarily go till failure.
Dr JJ Thomas:But yeah. That's cool. Yeah. What, tell me about a week. So you 2 2 a days in in camp when you're in wait.
Dr JJ Thomas:Do you have any events coming up?
Andre Petroski:No. I just fought so I had, I had 5 fights in 14 months. I did 6 events. So I did a grappling match also.
Dr JJ Thomas:Wow.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:So I probably
Dr JJ Thomas:did a conference call. Weeks.
Andre Petroski:I had 2 in 6 weeks.
Dr JJ Thomas:That you won both. That was exciting.
Andre Petroski:Yeah. Thank
Dr JJ Thomas:you. Yeah. You know, you're the 1st match I ever watched live.
Sean O'Malley:Really?
Dr JJ Thomas:Like, not match. You're the first when we first started working with you,
Andre Petroski:Fight or
Dr JJ Thomas:You, MMA fight.
Andre Petroski:You got wild.
Dr JJ Thomas:Because I was, like, I was always afraid.
Sean O'Malley:Like, I
Dr JJ Thomas:would turn it on and, you know, I'm a healer and, like, I would just I I had a hard time watching the punching
Sean O'Malley:Mhmm.
Dr JJ Thomas:And, for the longest time. And then when we got to know you, and I love you, I was like, shit. Now my boy's out there. I gotta I gotta I gotta, like, like Get
Andre Petroski:it together.
Dr JJ Thomas:I gotta get it together. I gotta be there for my boy. So you were the first time I started watching MMA, and then I realized I I my respect for I always had respect for you guys because MMA athletes are strong. They're tough mentally, physically, emotionally. Like, you guys are up here in my in my perspective of, like, athletes in general.
Dr JJ Thomas:But but I just I couldn't I couldn't bring myself to, you know, let my heart go there, but I had to when you so and then what
Andre Petroski:I What fight was that? Atlantic City.
Dr JJ Thomas:It was when it was the I don't I don't know where you were. It was years ago. It was you pulled an anaconda, which doesn't tell us much because I feel like you I mean, you've done that in a lot now.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah. Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:Wait. So didn't you buy a bunch of tickets for the Newark card?
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah. But it was before that.
Andre Petroski:What what did you end up doing with those tickets? Did you still go?
Dr JJ Thomas:I don't think I did. Oh, my son went. Oh. Actually, my husband brought all the boys.
Andre Petroski:Oh, okay.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But no. I don't even just mean live.
Dr JJ Thomas:I mean live on television.
Andre Petroski:I felt bad about that. That was the only fight I ever pulled out of.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah. I know. But you had a reason.
Andre Petroski:I know.
Dr JJ Thomas:And that's no. I would I always want what's best for Andre.
Andre Petroski:Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:But my point was what I was getting to getting to is, like, once I realized the, the respect that the fighters usually have for each other. Mhmm. I I like I was like, okay. I it's still hard for me to see. In fact, when we did watch you in Atlantic City, the only time I was comfortable was when you were punching me, like, when you were striking the other guy.
Dr JJ Thomas:Every other other than that I was like. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, so so that's probably something you never know.
Dr JJ Thomas:That's cool. Yeah. So what about, one of the other questions I had for you was leading up to fights. Like, tell me about do you have, like, a pre fight ritual? Anything like that?
Dr JJ Thomas:Like, something that
Andre Petroski:Yeah. I have, 9. Right? 9 UFC fights now? Yeah.
Andre Petroski:We I think we have it pretty much down to, obviously, the only, like, variable is, like, the location.
Sean O'Malley:Mhmm.
Andre Petroski:And and I guess the time too. But pretty much, from the time we weigh in, we do, like, there's, like, a whole rehydration process, which the UFC provides for us. Like, they'll they'll make the drinks, which work, like, way better than anything I've ever done on
Dr JJ Thomas:my end. So cool.
Andre Petroski:Yeah. They just load these drinks up with different like, it's mostly, like, glutamine, creatine, sodium, obviously, and carbs. I'm sure there's some other stuff in there, but I'll pack on, like, 15, £20 before I go to bed that night
Dr JJ Thomas:Wow.
Andre Petroski:From the night away. It's yeah. You just hold everything.
Sean O'Malley:What were you the night before your last night? Like 208, 206?
Andre Petroski:Yeah. I think it was 206. 208 maybe. Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:That's crazy.
Andre Petroski:Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:Do you chug that where, like, you just
Andre Petroski:No. No. No. They show your they they put a timer on it, and it's, like, 10 minutes for the first drink.
Dr JJ Thomas:Smart.
Andre Petroski:10 to 15 minutes for the second drink, and then it's, like, 20 minutes for the 3rd drink. And, after the second drink, then they're, like then you can start introducing, starch, like a starchy.
Dr JJ Thomas:Oh, cool.
Andre Petroski:Yeah. Usually, like, a brownie or, like, something, but it's, like, a weird tasting brownie.
Dr JJ Thomas:Oh, they they provide that too?
Andre Petroski:They make everything for it.
Sean O'Malley:It's a little cosmo brownies.
Dr JJ Thomas:It's a weird tasting brownie. That's awesome.
Andre Petroski:Yeah. No no THC in the brownies.
Dr JJ Thomas:God. I say I didn't yeah. I figured not.
Andre Petroski:But, and then we'll do that and then just start eating, like, slowly throughout the day. We'll go out we'll have, like, a nice dinner. We usually go out to dinner. Where did we go? Texas.
Andre Petroski:Stay Brazil.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah. We went to, like, some Brazilian steakhouse the last one.
Andre Petroski:Yeah. Which is typically not what you should do.
Dr JJ Thomas:I was gonna say, do you find something that sits better with you beforehand?
Andre Petroski:Or The the recommendation is, 4 to 1 carbs per protein.
Dr JJ Thomas:Okay.
Andre Petroski:So, like, for every gram of protein, you want 4 grams of carbs. Yeah. Which steakhouse isn't really doing that. No. You're getting way too many too much protein.
Dr JJ Thomas:Unless you really like the mashed potatoes.
Andre Petroski:Which is what I ended up doing. But yeah. But, yeah, that was Lockhart, George Lockhart. He he he has a pretty good, program online that breaks down every step from the weight cut to the making weight, to the water loading, to to Wow. Rehydration, to the eating before the competition.
Dr JJ Thomas:That's awesome.
Andre Petroski:Yeah. He's a pretty good one. But where were we?
Dr JJ Thomas:That was it, really. I was pre like, pre rituals. So that's, like, the actual physical, you know.
Andre Petroski:Wake up the morning of the fight. So this this fight was a little different because we fought at, 1:30. Yeah. Vegas time was 1:30. Usually, we we don't fly
Dr JJ Thomas:all day.
Andre Petroski:Usually, you have all day.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:So with a 1:30, So we had to leave the, our shuttle was at 10:30 AM.
Dr JJ Thomas:Wow.
Andre Petroski:So we had to do the shakeout at, like, 9 AM.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah.
Sean O'Malley:But we were
Andre Petroski:getting up early anyway just because of the time difference.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:So we did the shakeout at 9 AM, which is, like my goal is to get my heart rate up for 15 minutes with, like, low impact. So I wanna simulate, like, what my heart's gonna be like during the fight Yeah. But without beating my body up. Smart. I still wanna be to
Dr JJ Thomas:do it with the head massager on next time.
Andre Petroski:Then that that's usually in between each round, I just, you know, a couple strokes. But, yeah. So we do that maybe like a maybe 30 minutes total.
Dr JJ Thomas:Cool.
Andre Petroski:And then then we'll get I'll pack my bag, and we'll we'll we'll head over to the arena. And then once we get to the arena, it's just, like, pretty chill. Like, they do the drug test as soon as you get there. Then they'll do, then wrap your hands. They usually wrap your hands, like, an hour before you walk.
Andre Petroski:What else?
Dr JJ Thomas:So all that keeps your mind
Sean O'Malley:pretty busy. Out, move around for a little bit.
Andre Petroski:Get get get
Sean O'Malley:Kinda just hang out and yeah. Hang out. Gotta keep it as light hearted as possible.
Andre Petroski:Yeah. Make sure you have your cup.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah. Yeah.
Andre Petroski:I'm like, shit. I forgot my mouthpiece.
Dr JJ Thomas:Oh my god. I love it. So it's not just high it's not just high school athletes that are. What about yeah. So, like, I'm picturing the day and I'm thinking to me what sets what sets a lot of achievers athletic achievers apart is is a mindset piece, and I feel like so that keeps your mind very busy.
Dr JJ Thomas:Right? And then you have guys like Sean with you helping kind of subtly Straighten out. Subtly
Sean O'Malley:Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah. What what, what do you notice, Sean? Like, I'm sure there are things that you guys do. Some are intentional.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:Like, some mindset things you guys probably do intentional. And if any of this is not, you know, not shareable info, just tell me.
Andre Petroski:I'm I'm open book.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah. No. I think, like, the one thing, like, watching him and then watching some of the amateur guys prepare is, like, there's so much anxiety building up around that fight. Yeah. What he does really good is he kinda, like, I don't know the right word for this, but he, like, monitors himself.
Sean O'Malley:Like, you're pretty mellow throughout the course of that day. Yeah. And a lot of guys let those, that
Dr JJ Thomas:anxiety sense.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah. Build up throughout the day, and they wanna get, like, 5, 6 shake outs in. Like, we've heard stories of doing that, dudes doing that.
Dr JJ Thomas:Right.
Sean O'Malley:Like, people wanna, like, pace around throughout the day, and they're just solely focused on what's gonna happen during that 15 minute bow.
Andre Petroski:Right. I do think there is something to that. Like, one of our sayings for this last fight was, motion beats beats tension.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:Motion beats tension. So, like, you know, if you're tense, you know, doing, like, a shakeout will help. Now, obviously, that it's not sustainable to do 6 shakeouts.
Dr JJ Thomas:Well, that's what I'm thinking.
Andre Petroski:Like you're really gonna be killing your Yeah. Your energy reserves.
Sean O'Malley:But that was more for, like, in the fight.
Dr JJ Thomas:So Right.
Sean O'Malley:Sometimes, there's, like, Eddie Eddie Torres Yeah. As head coach. Great to do.
Dr JJ Thomas:Talk about Eddie.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah. He he has, like, this like, he was talking about, like, you don't you don't ever wanna idle. Alright? And if you're gonna idle, you wanna idle forward. So that's what he's talking about.
Dr JJ Thomas:During the fight. Yeah. Motion. Yeah.
Sean O'Malley:Motion defeats tension. So, you're never in, like, a stagnation period where you're holding ground or planting and then, leaving yourself open for an opportunity.
Dr JJ Thomas:Right. So Or even just mentally giving them a chance to catch up to what your neck like, it's yeah. I see that. Yeah. So I see that in wrestling a lot.
Andre Petroski:When it comes to the mental part, I think that I always tell amateurs, like, all the amateurs in our gym the same thing. It's like the more you do it, the more comfortable you'll get. Yes. So you get, like, you know, you're getting ready for a fight. You get nervous.
Andre Petroski:You know, your cortisol, whatever physiologically happens Yeah. To you. But, like, the more often you do it, the less your cortisol is gonna get released. Or the less you're gonna or the more you're gonna be like, yeah. Like, I've done this before.
Sean O'Malley:Mhmm.
Dr JJ Thomas:You know
Andre Petroski:what I mean? Like, the more comfortable you'll get. So, I've been competing wrestling. Sean's been competing wrestling since we were little kids.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:That helps. That's but I still get nervous. Like, I'm I have 10 flights in the UFC, and I'm like, I know pretty much everything that's gonna happen on the day of the fight. Yeah. I know everything that's gonna happen leading up to the fight.
Andre Petroski:And, like, for the most part, like, I know what's gonna happen in the fight, but yet I still get, like
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah. But I think that drives us.
Andre Petroski:Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:For sure. Nothing really gets me gets me going like fighting. Yeah. At least that I've I've noticed. Yeah.
Andre Petroski:Nothing like really yeah. Nothing gets me going, like, for
Dr JJ Thomas:Nothing hits the table.
Andre Petroski:Changes my mindset. It changes, like, how I feel every day. Like yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:I have 2 questions leading off that. One is knowing that you you you came out a wrestler, like, you wrestled all your life and then into college, and then how how did your mindset and, like, pre pre competition, rituals change through the course of, like, when you were younger? You know, I see a lot of younger and high school and college age age athletes, and I'm just curious. I've seen my own high school athlete change
Andre Petroski:Yeah. Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:The way he approaches, like, just those few minutes right before the match.
Andre Petroski:Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:Have you changed?
Andre Petroski:Over time.
Dr JJ Thomas:Over time. And maybe you haven't. I don't know.
Andre Petroski:I think there's been well, from from wrestling to fighting I'll I'll start from the beginning. Yeah. From wrestling I didn't I don't know if I really got nervous for wrestling. Not nearly as much as I did as I do for fighting.
Dr JJ Thomas:Okay.
Andre Petroski:Yeah. Wrestling was, like, I don't know. I think part of it is that we did it every weekend. Like, you have a match every weekend, so you get so comfortable. With fighting, it's like you train 6 to 8 weeks and then then you fight.
Dr JJ Thomas:Like Yeah.
Andre Petroski:It's just not as
Dr JJ Thomas:it's your job now.
Andre Petroski:Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:Like, also, there's more on the line. Yeah. Exactly. Not to not to be but
Andre Petroski:I think that in wrestling, a lot of the pressure is just pressure we put on ourselves.
Sean O'Malley:Mhmm.
Andre Petroski:But you're right. In fighting, it's like you lose and then, like, you get people messaging you, like, you lost me fucking $30.
Dr JJ Thomas:Right. And I
Sean O'Malley:was like,
Andre Petroski:you kill yourself.
Dr JJ Thomas:And actually, you I think you said this and I missed the point. You also you it's not like you fight every weekend.
Andre Petroski:Right.
Dr JJ Thomas:So you know, like, you spent training camp preparing for this single The
Andre Petroski:anticipation Yeah. Builds up.
Dr JJ Thomas:And then you're gonna have to wait again and train again for the next one. So I guess that also, like, that makes the stakes higher.
Andre Petroski:The one thing I will say is though so, I struggled with substance abuse when I was, an amateur.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:So, fast forward, I got clean, and then I was able to go pro. Yeah. Because a big part of going pro is you get drug tested. Yeah. So competing completely so clean and sober Yeah.
Andre Petroski:Is a whole different ballgame than going into a fist fight when you're on a substance.
Dr JJ Thomas:Really?
Andre Petroski:Yeah. For sure. Yeah. When I was an amateur, like, I don't I don't ever remember getting nervous or or really feeling like I just didn't I was just, I don't know.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah. I was just It's funny because I I missed that you you posted about this Yeah. And I had missed it. I didn't see that when you for for whatever reason, I didn't see that one. And then and I saw that.
Dr JJ Thomas:I never actually knew that about you. And I but I saw in your post, like, I, you know, I I prayed and prayed for God to give me another chance
Andre Petroski:Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:To fight. And I was, like, that's awesome. That, that's really cool.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:And I feel like you still live by that. Like, you
Andre Petroski:Yeah. For sure.
Dr JJ Thomas:Every day, you
Andre Petroski:live your life that way. My relationship with God is is definitely important to me. I try, like, in general
Sean O'Malley:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:Like, not just with with my relationship with God, but, like, with people in general. I try my hardest not to forget, like, when people do suffer me. Yeah. Like, in general. So, like, with God, obviously, you know, he he really, really saved my life.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:But with with with everyone that has helped me get to where I'm at today, I think it's important to me that I don't forget that.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:I think I mean, I'm I'm I have a strong faith too. I don't talk about it a ton, but I feel like God is present in lots of different in in everyone you meet.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah. In
Dr JJ Thomas:what in some way, shape, or form.
Andre Petroski:Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:And you talked about that too when when I had you on just with your performance coaching stuff.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah. And then, to piggyback off that, like, seeing him before his fights, and you could add on this. It's like he looks super grounded and, like, appreciative of what's going on leading up to that fight.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah.
Sean O'Malley:It's like it's not a solo it's your solo at that 15 minute mark, like, for that for that bout. But a lot of people get their hands in and help you out along the process. And one thing I've realized with him is he's super duper appreciative of, like, everything that leads up to that moment. Yeah. Which is cool.
Sean O'Malley:Like, you don't get there's always, like, a ego fit with some guys or, people wanna make it individualized. But Right. He does like, he extends
Dr JJ Thomas:his arms around. That he Even if you
Andre Petroski:don't believe in God
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:Like, and you wanna approach everything from, like, just a scientific approach.
Sean O'Malley:Like, you
Andre Petroski:don't have any belief in God. The the scientists will even say, like, you cannot experience gratitude and fear at the same time. So if you that. Are if you just wanna approach it from
Dr JJ Thomas:A scientific point of view.
Andre Petroski:Scientific point of view. Like, if I'm grateful and I walk into this fight, like, wow. Like, I get the opportunity to fight another human being, which I love to do, which it's all in our nature. We all wanna like, at some point, wanna be able to fight. Yeah.
Andre Petroski:And I get paid a bunch of money to do what I love.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:And it get it allows me to have this life where from 12 to 5, I can do whatever I want. Whether it's hang out with my kids Yeah. Or crash a dirt bike. Like, if I go into the fight with that type of mindset, like, I'm not gonna be nearly as afraid.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah. You're not gonna have Yeah. You're not gonna be fear driven. I love that. You have gratitude in your in your, like, sequence of right?
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah. Can you tell me that again?
Sean O'Malley:Yeah. So, like, it it kinda piggybacks off his point too. It's, like, with the whole fear and gratitude, like, having gratitude or fear as a single thought process. Yeah. And when you're going through, let's say everyone has those, like, turmoil periods where they're maybe having a negative self belief or contradict their own thought or maybe they just have something in their personal life that is dragging them down.
Sean O'Malley:Actually, just started I was, like, writing this down last night, and it was like, I am grateful for what is. Yeah. Okay? And I am grateful for what is. That means, like, although everything that happened in the past and is going to happen in the future despite the circumstance of what's going on, in those bookended periods, right now, I could actually appreciate what's going to happen Yeah.
Sean O'Malley:Or what's unfolding in front of me. And watching him step into those octagons, he's in absolute limelight or appreciation of those moments. Mhmm. Like, if you see it in his eyes, you could see it in his demeanor. Yeah.
Sean O'Malley:He's walking there all slouchy. He's not contradicting himself or having, being self absorbed in his own thought. He's not thinking about happened last week or if he feels shitty or if he has an injury. He's just purely driven in the moment. And he's grateful for what is happening.
Sean O'Malley:Mhmm. Alright. What's going on right in front of him.
Dr JJ Thomas:Love that.
Sean O'Malley:And that's something that, like, is awesome to see, especially, like, being a part of his training camps and helping him out as much as I can. He's super driven not only from, like, being grateful or appreciative of what's going on, but extending or giving, his energy.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah. Yeah.
Andre Petroski:That's that's funny because well, I was thinking about this earlier. It's like, obviously, I know Sean a little bit deeper because he's my coach. We've worked together for the last couple fights. We've become good friends. But when, Jonathan Webb was like, oh, who's coming out to fight week with you?
Andre Petroski:And I said, Sean. He's like and he didn't know Sean at the time. Yeah. And he was just like, oh, he's good energy.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:He's like, he's good to have on fight week. He's good energy.
Dr JJ Thomas:That's right.
Andre Petroski:It's like so you get the guy that, like, doesn't know Sean at all.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:And he's like, oh, he's good energy. To me, I've worked with him, so I know all he can bring to the table.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah. Yeah. I think, people with good energy spot that quickly. Right? I think in general, like Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:People who don't necessarily I think it's actually everyone spots it, but especially people who know that level of of excellence, really. It is an it's an excellent thing.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah. It's also a dream to have people that aren't good energy. Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:I mean So we talk about this all the time. Even just down, you know, I'm not a UFC fighter, but when I used to work out at a gym near people, if somebody had bad energy, I would move. Like, you can just feel it. Yeah. It's so concerned.
Dr JJ Thomas:Even
Sean O'Malley:what's that?
Dr JJ Thomas:It's so concerned. It is. It's crazy how you can just feel it. On that note, I did wanna talk about team Tano
Andre Petroski:Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:And, and the energy you guys have there because I've been there. It's a super special place. I've been there a lot. Yeah. I'd like to be there more.
Dr JJ Thomas:But, yeah, talk a little bit about, like, the fit it's really a family there. That's one of the things that I was so impressed by is is everybody there, you know, has that energy. They work their butts off. They have great hearts. They care about each other.
Dr JJ Thomas:Tell me about how you guys cultivate that and and a little bit more.
Andre Petroski:I think it's like more of a, like, a family style gym than, like, a it's not like although me and Pat do train there, it's not like a gym where, like, UFC fighters are, like
Dr JJ Thomas:Right.
Andre Petroski:Leaving their stinky shit everywhere
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:Like, cursing and stuff like that. It's more of, like, a a family environment type thing, but and, like, a lot more kids. But at the same token, like, he does have UFC fighters, like, teaching and and and high level guys coaching and teaching at
Sean O'Malley:the gym.
Dr JJ Thomas:I know. And I think for me, I guess what I'm getting at is one of the things that stands out to me about, high performers is that, they choose to spend their time around people who share values. And I think that's what team Tano says to me. It's like you guys have a shared value not just of of the love of the sport, but of, like, the way you're gonna treat each other and, and the way you're gonna train and the way you're gonna show up. I mean, I I know you guys you guys have, like, barbecues on Sundays.
Dr JJ Thomas:And your your Sunday recovery day, you do lots of things together bonding, which is so cool.
Sean O'Malley:So And that's, like, one thing, like you said, values. I feel like that's one thing that could be kind of fraudulent with some people. Like, you know, the big corporation, like, this is our core values.
Dr JJ Thomas:Oh, I know.
Sean O'Malley:And people it's like a massive conglomerate of individuals, and they don't really abide by what that organization values. But looking at we talked about this, a couple weeks ago. It was, like, looking at what you define as family. Right? And the values around family.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah. And exemplifying that standard inside a gym or inside an office or Yeah. A practice, is attractive for people.
Dr JJ Thomas:So, like
Sean O'Malley:like, we talked about, like, the the pillars for for family.
Dr JJ Thomas:Right. So Well, and here's actually, here's because I'm with you. That's a p of mine when a company has, like, a core value system that the people don't represent.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:And at primal here, we have core values, but people I won't keep people at primal if they don't represent those core values because because my environment, the energy around it is too important to me.
Sean O'Malley:Mhmm.
Dr JJ Thomas:And and so for you guys, I guess for the gym and maybe this is something I have to ask Eddie, but do you find that you only attract people that share core values? Or do you have people that come in periodically and and you're sort of like, yeah, you're not cutting it. You gotta go.
Andre Petroski:I think that it's rare that you can be in a position where you can only keep around you people that have the same core values as you. Yeah. So if you're in a position where you can do that, like
Dr JJ Thomas:It's good.
Andre Petroski:Props to you Yeah. For sure. I'm in a position where maybe my innermost circle I can choose.
Dr JJ Thomas:That's right.
Andre Petroski:But outside of that, I I don't have really the bill and I don't know if it would be beneficial to completely push away everyone that doesn't have the same share values. But where I'm at in my life right now is I notice them. I know that. I'm 33 years old, and I can see when people have whether it's a negative habit or a negative mindset or or something they do. And I'll notice it, and I'll be like, okay.
Andre Petroski:And I know that one day that's gonna be their demise. Yeah. And I notice it, but, like, it's not my job. I'm not God.
Dr JJ Thomas:Right.
Andre Petroski:And I'm not gonna try to play the role of God of, like, I'm a if if you're my closest friend and you do something
Dr JJ Thomas:Right.
Andre Petroski:I'll I'll maybe I'll mention it to you because I would want you to do the same for me.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:But aside from that, if I mentioned it to you and you continue to do it, like, that's you know what
Dr JJ Thomas:I mean?
Andre Petroski:That's you.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah. And I don't mean changing people. I just mean chain like, having trying to
Andre Petroski:to Yeah. Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:To cultivate an environment around you that is gonna
Sean O'Malley:I I think it's like a
Andre Petroski:I think some people show their core values right away, but sometimes it takes a little while for them to come out.
Dr JJ Thomas:That's true.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah. But it's a self fulfilling filter too. Like Yeah. The guys who don't wanna be in part of an environment that embodies those family values, they kinda end up believing.
Dr JJ Thomas:That's what I was curious. That's what yeah. Because I feel like that's true here too.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah. For sure. So, like, obviously, there's a filtering process, and if someone has a specific demeanor that doesn't embody what we're all trying to live
Dr JJ Thomas:through They feel uncomfortable.
Sean O'Malley:Feel it. Yeah. Yeah. They'll feel uncomfortable and won't show up.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah. That's cool. What about I wanna talk a little bit more about wrestling since I, you know, I have so many wrestlers, and and this is where some of those stats came out. You have the 4th highest takedown percentage of all time in the for UFC Middleweights.
Andre Petroski:Wow.
Dr JJ Thomas:Did you know that? You must have known that.
Andre Petroski:That I have of all time.
Dr JJ Thomas:It's higher?
Sean O'Malley:It's we were counting the other day. Right?
Dr JJ Thomas:Well, maybe this is just what we I think David helped me find these, but
Andre Petroski:Like, the fight this with my last fight, they said I was 3 for 5 on the takedowns. But I only saw one takedown that was defended.
Dr JJ Thomas:So there was so there were 2 stats that stood out to me. 1 was 4th highest, and, again, this is probably Google. So it could be more current now.
Andre Petroski:I did see that I had the highest takedown percentage right now.
Dr JJ Thomas:The highest takedown percentage act for accuracy is what I is what I saw for current middleweights. That's awesome. That's cool. That's really cool.
Andre Petroski:Yeah. I shared it. I texted
Dr JJ Thomas:it on my Oh, I didn't I missed that too. How am I not seeing your stuff?
Andre Petroski:What the heck? I don't know.
Dr JJ Thomas:Oh. You got me blocked? So obviously and then She
Andre Petroski:muted me.
Dr JJ Thomas:Too busy too busy doing podcast to scroll, I guess.
Andre Petroski:No. I I I've taken some a break from social media.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah. I find a back.
Andre Petroski:I always find my way back. Yeah. I have taken a break here, like, a week off here and there.
Dr JJ Thomas:It's good. I think it's not too. Good.
Andre Petroski:Yeah. It gets so consuming.
Dr JJ Thomas:It does. And it's hard. It's a hard balance because because in some ways, like, you lose touch with some people that you don't get to see all the time. But in other ways, it you lose touch with people that are right next to you.
Andre Petroski:Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:If you're on it too much.
Andre Petroski:For sure. But I like I like how you put that.
Dr JJ Thomas:You know? Yeah. But, but for the takedown stuff in wrestling, like, I do feel like that's a big edge for you, obviously. Right? And so, I don't know.
Dr JJ Thomas:What's the experience like for you? I but I also feel here's here's my question. There's a question in here somewhere. The question is,
Andre Petroski:how do you get good at wrestling?
Dr JJ Thomas:No. Actually, I feel like that's we'll have to do a whole another podcast on that. The question is being such a dominant wrestler in the UFC, it's clearly a huge strength of yours. But also knowing you and knowing how you like to excel in the things you do in life, I'm sure you're always wanting to, like, level you wanna be you wanna also be the best striker, the best Yeah. You know.
Dr JJ Thomas:So how do you, I don't know, where's your mind with that? Like, how do you
Andre Petroski:how do you I think every flight's different as far as, like, the strategy going into it.
Dr JJ Thomas:Good. Yeah. That makes sense.
Andre Petroski:Like, Malcun, our strategy was to stand and and strike with him.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:Was to outstrike him. I knew we we knew we had an advantage in the striking. Not that I didn't think I was a better wrestler.
Dr JJ Thomas:Right.
Andre Petroski:But I thought that, the gap in the striking was better. Now my last two fights, my at least at least the friend fight was it was very obvious that on the ground, I had a significant advantage. Yeah. That was where we were gonna spend the majority of the fight.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:So I think every fight, the strategy is different.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah. That's perfect. Yeah. That's exactly the answer.
Andre Petroski:Styles make matchups.
Dr JJ Thomas:That's right.
Andre Petroski:Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:And that's why you're 7 and 2.
Andre Petroski:Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:8 and 2.
Dr JJ Thomas:8 and 2. Darn. My math is off today. That's cool.
Andre Petroski:Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:How's the UFC changed over the last, like, since you've 2018 is when you started?
Andre Petroski:No. I got into the UFC I think I was on the ultimate fighter in 2020.
Dr JJ Thomas:My god. I can't believe I forgot to mention that. I never saw that. I didn't even know you were on it until I started.
Andre Petroski:Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:That's cool.
Andre Petroski:Yeah. Alright. It was a really worthwhile honestly, it made my career, and it was a worthwhile experience for sure. That's
Dr JJ Thomas:that had to have been crazy.
Andre Petroski:It was really cool.
Dr JJ Thomas:How long was that?
Andre Petroski:It was 7 weeks total. No phone, no TV, no Internet.
Dr JJ Thomas:As I'm gonna I have to watch it now. I can't believe I I can't believe I didn't
Andre Petroski:know that.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah. Yeah.
Andre Petroski:I understand. Interesting. I fought first. So you for those who don't know, you're fight you get in a house and, there's two weight classes and you guys fight in a tournament over a 7 week time. And, you live in the house.
Andre Petroski:You train. The coaches are the the 2 coaches are UFC fighters. And in on the final season, those coaches fight for fight for the title.
Dr JJ Thomas:Oh my god.
Andre Petroski:So for my season, it was, Brian Ortega, who was my coach, and, Alex Volkanovski.
Dr JJ Thomas:That's so cool.
Andre Petroski:Yeah. So I trained under, Brian, which was incredible because his jujitsu coach is Henner Gracie, which was like he opened my eyes up, like, so much as far as, and Brian Brian talks about it all the time too. It's like you get so spoiled with with Henner
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:That it's like you don't wanna learn from anyone else.
Dr JJ Thomas:Just to, like, the the intricacies of what you're doing?
Andre Petroski:He's so the like and and and Henner will talk about it too. He's like, when I was growing up, we spent 50% of our time learning the technique.
Dr JJ Thomas:So we
Andre Petroski:spend 30 per we spend 30 minutes learning a double leg takedown.
Dr JJ Thomas:That's awesome.
Andre Petroski:The next 30 minutes, we would spend learning how to teach that double leg takedown. He's like, because my dad knew that without being able to teach this, we would make no money.
Dr JJ Thomas:That's right.
Andre Petroski:So they're they're just so good at at teaching. Like, keep it no. I have terrible ADD, and he kept my attention the whole time.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:He, you know, he just right here. Like, this is where I want the wrist. Yeah. He's so good at just keeping your attention the whole time. Everything's step by step, organized.
Andre Petroski:He gives it to you one slice of pizza at a time.
Dr JJ Thomas:That is awesome.
Andre Petroski:He's really good. Yeah. And and so like I said, I fought first. I was the first fight. As soon as we they picked the teams, they circled us all up.
Andre Petroski:And Brian, like, Brian was like, who wants to fight? And I I was the only one that raised my hand Because I knew I'd watched Ultimate Fighter a bunch
Dr JJ Thomas:growing up. So how did that happen? Like, how did you get on the show?
Andre Petroski:Well, I'll come back to that.
Dr JJ Thomas:Okay. Okay.
Andre Petroski:Okay. I'll come back to that. So I had watched this the the show before a bunch of times. So I knew that, you know, if you win the first fight, you're gonna fight again in 6 weeks.
Dr JJ Thomas:Got it. So
Andre Petroski:or in 5 weeks. So I was like, I wanna have that time between the the as much time as possible.
Dr JJ Thomas:Right. Rather than fight
Sean O'Malley:last week.
Andre Petroski:The first one to raise my hand.
Dr JJ Thomas:That's awesome.
Andre Petroski:He was like, oh, wow. Like, this dude look more come here, wants to fight. He's like, pick who you wanna fight. And I was like, so then I got the first choice. So I fought first.
Andre Petroski:I fought this kid from, Alaska, Aaron Phillips. He's a good kid. But I heard in the interview he was talking about how he, like, taught himself jujitsu with YouTube videos.
Dr JJ Thomas:Oh, no.
Andre Petroski:And I was like
Dr JJ Thomas:Oh, no. You're like, oh, poor guy. Wait. You're I'll be
Andre Petroski:healthy for the semifinals, baby. Let's go.
Dr JJ Thomas:That's amazing. I was
Andre Petroski:like, I want him, the guy that learned jujitsu
Sean O'Malley:on YouTube.
Andre Petroski:Oh, no. That's awesome. Doing better now. He he he moved well, there's not much opportunities in Alaska. So he moved to Texas and joined, like, a good gym.
Andre Petroski:So he's doing better now. Yeah. Cool. But yeah. So I fought him 1st round, and then I had 6 weeks off.
Andre Petroski:So circling back to the original point.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:So 6 weeks I had I would go there every day. And Henner, Gracie, who and I asked him before. I was like, how much would it cost me to get you to come do a seminar in Philadelphia? And he was like, I would need at least a $150 a person, at least a 100 people, and it have to be 2 he was like $35. He said, that's what I get to do a seminar.
Dr JJ Thomas:Okay.
Andre Petroski:And I got him every day for 2 hours. Wow. Like by myself. Every day. Right?
Andre Petroski:So I would Amazing. He would come in every day and he'd be like, who wants to work today? And half the kids were 1, I gotta get on treadmill. I gotta cut weight. I gotta I gotta fight this week.
Andre Petroski:I gotta cut weight. Then there was a couple guys that were hurt. They're like, I'm hurt. I can't do anything. So I would be the only person like, me again.
Dr JJ Thomas:I'm ready.
Andre Petroski:So he would just give me 2 hour privates. I learned my whole front headlock series from him. That is so cool. Back escape from him. Like, dude, I learned everything from Henner in that 6 weeks every day.
Dr JJ Thomas:That's really cool.
Andre Petroski:Yeah. And he taught me a lot about, like, how he, like, earned his business, how he started his businesses, different companies, different like, dude, he's that guy is special.
Dr JJ Thomas:That's really cool.
Andre Petroski:Yeah. He he's special. And then when I got then I got when I got Donaldson Fighter, I read his book, 32 Principles.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah. I didn't read that.
Andre Petroski:Really good. I recommend it for sure.
Dr JJ Thomas:I'm on it.
Andre Petroski:Yeah. And it's like different principles that apply not only to jujitsu, but, like, in life. Everything. Don't you
Sean O'Malley:think every theory is
Andre Petroski:cross, you know, can be cross?
Sean O'Malley:Like
Dr JJ Thomas:If I teach you a technique Cross trainable. That t technique only works
Andre Petroski:in, like, certain situations.
Dr JJ Thomas:Right.
Andre Petroski:But I've the theories, the fundamentals, like, can be applied to different techniques.
Dr JJ Thomas:100%. Yeah. And all that and same, like, what I'm saying is his principles probably, like you're saying, they can be applied to jujitsu. They can be applied to running a business, opening your own business. Right?
Andre Petroski:Yeah. I I see the principles, like, all the time now what when I'm doing jujitsu. That's true. Like his one principle is the ratchet principle.
Dr JJ Thomas:Okay.
Andre Petroski:Like a ratchet can only go one way.
Dr JJ Thomas:Okay.
Andre Petroski:Right? You flip it and then it can go the other way, but it can't go back.
Dr JJ Thomas:Got it.
Andre Petroski:So, like, let's say I'm on top side and, I'm digging an under hook.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:And I'm walking my fingers
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:For the to get the under hook. That's a ratchet.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:Right? I can I can if I walk my fingers, it can go up? But because my hand's planted, it can't come back down.
Dr JJ Thomas:Got it.
Andre Petroski:So even if he, like, pulls the overhook down, it can't go because my hand's planted. Cool. Like, I see that stuff all the time.
Dr JJ Thomas:That's so cool.
Andre Petroski:Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:So how'd you get on there?
Andre Petroski:So I was with, at the time, I had no manager. I fought a bunch of times. I I bought I fought 5 times again, 5 times in 14 months from the time I turned pro. My pro debut, I just kept fighting, kept fighting. And I was, like, kinda hurt at the time.
Andre Petroski:Like, my hand swelled up after this last fight. I thought I broke my nose. So moral of the story is I needed a break.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:And so, then COVID hit.
Dr JJ Thomas:Okay.
Andre Petroski:And no fights.
Dr JJ Thomas:Got it.
Andre Petroski:The the you know, they weren't sanctioned fill in to to have a fight in Philadelphia. No events.
Dr JJ Thomas:Right.
Andre Petroski:So I went, like, a while without fighting. And I was like, I don't know what the move is next.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah. What do I do?
Sean O'Malley:What do
Andre Petroski:I do? So I basically, long story short, I was forced to sign with a management company. And I signed with this company Iridium who, at the time, they were like, we won't charge you anything till we get you to the UFC. And then we'll charge you. And I was like, alright.
Andre Petroski:Deal. I was like, sounds good to me. So that company got me on the Ultimate Fighter.
Dr JJ Thomas:That's cool.
Andre Petroski:And it was just luckily at the time well, there were some road bumps too. They the the show kept getting canceled or postponed. They had to take the 2 years off. They couldn't get approval. Because they gotta go through the whole filming crew has to get through, like, their their different unions.
Andre Petroski:Yeah. Every film crew has a different union and
Dr JJ Thomas:Plus even I feel like even production had a hard time during COVID. It would because they had a hard
Andre Petroski:time getting people to
Dr JJ Thomas:work. It was so
Andre Petroski:crooked too. Like crazy. They, so when we finally got to it, it was they just kept postponing it, post I ended up taking another fight, but then they came back and they're like, no. It's official now. We're gonna do the ultimate fighter.
Andre Petroski:This this season, it's your weight class. I was like, alright. Perfect.
Dr JJ Thomas:That's so cool.
Andre Petroski:I know.
Dr JJ Thomas:I can't wait to watch it.
Andre Petroski:Week 1, we fly out there and, it was, they they fly out 11 guys at each weight class. So it's 185, 135. But they only 8 make it on the show. So they fly out 11. 1 or 2 at each weight class test positive for COVID.
Andre Petroski:They send them home. Then you do, like, your medicals the whole week, but you're quarantined in a hotel room by yourself for a whole
Dr JJ Thomas:week. Oh, god.
Andre Petroski:A whole week.
Sean O'Malley:That's what I'm
Andre Petroski:trying to prison.
Dr JJ Thomas:That is prison.
Andre Petroski:Dude, it was crazy. We got out for 1 hour a day.
Dr JJ Thomas:Are you kidding me?
Andre Petroski:It was terrible. It was terrible.
Dr JJ Thomas:Wait. How did you exercise?
Andre Petroski:They gave us 1 hour. So I'd run down to the brand new Raiders
Dr JJ Thomas:stadium. You exercise way more than that. Like
Andre Petroski:1 hour. I would I would run down to the Raiders stadium, do sprints, and then come back.
Dr JJ Thomas:Did you do stuff in the room? You had to.
Andre Petroski:Yeah. I was going
Dr JJ Thomas:nuts. Oh my god.
Andre Petroski:For a whole week. And then after that week, they would they sent 2 or 3 guys from each weight class home. And then they they announced they said they said, make sure you watch the fights tonight. It was like a Saturday.
Dr JJ Thomas:And they announced it?
Andre Petroski:They announced it on the TV.
Dr JJ Thomas:Oh my god.
Andre Petroski:They made it. Then they come in, they take all your clothes that doesn't have logos, they take your phone, your wallet, everything else.
Dr JJ Thomas:That's cool.
Andre Petroski:They they they leave you any clothes that doesn't have a logo on it And, they're like, call your family, and then they give you a contract.
Dr JJ Thomas:That's really cool, though.
Andre Petroski:Yeah. Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:It's gotta be a little surreal looking back.
Andre Petroski:It it was crazy. Yeah. Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:When did you 2 meet?
Sean O'Malley:Like a year ago. Right? But we we, like, trained a couple times before.
Andre Petroski:Yeah. When Daniel had his old gym in the basement, on American Street, we trained with Miles. Right? Yeah. I've I've I went back and I found a picture of it.
Andre Petroski:That was probably that was before I was in the UFC. So that was probably like 5 years ago.
Dr JJ Thomas:Okay.
Andre Petroski:But he was in college. So he went back to college to wrestle.
Dr JJ Thomas:Got it.
Andre Petroski:Fast forward however many years, 3, 4 years, he came back to Eddie's to train. And we trained the one day I actually trained with your brother first.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah. I
Andre Petroski:trained with Mickey. Bro, that's
Dr JJ Thomas:what I had
Sean O'Malley:I came in when I had the ankle surgery, and you were training with Mickey. I was sitting on the side the whole time.
Andre Petroski:I don't remember that.
Sean O'Malley:He was double overthrowing everybody. You must not have been big
Andre Petroski:back then. No. No. I wasn't
Dr JJ Thomas:because you would have remembered?
Andre Petroski:Because I would
Dr JJ Thomas:have remembered. Yeah. That's funny. You weren't on the
Andre Petroski:He wasn't big enough to catch my radar.
Dr JJ Thomas:The tan juicing.
Sean O'Malley:Tan juicing. Tan juicing.
Andre Petroski:He he had the tan part, but not the not the swole. So, I train yeah. So long story short, I ended up training with Sean, and then Eddie was like, yeah. We should use him for this camp. And Eddie says that all the time.
Andre Petroski:Guys never come back. But Sean stuck around. Sean kept coming
Dr JJ Thomas:back. Loyal.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:Sean's a loyal bird.
Andre Petroski:Sean's Sean's a good guy.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah. What about, so last couple we're wrapping up here. Last couple questions I had for you is, I guess, advice for anyone looking to excel in either their sport or their business or I think this is Yeah. Sean.
Sean O'Malley:Alright. Like, with fighting?
Andre Petroski:So Fighting or wrestling or anything?
Dr JJ Thomas:Anything. Like, really. I mean yeah. Well, let's do both. Let's say, like like, I guess here I could frame it this way for you.
Dr JJ Thomas:Like, when you meet with an athlete for the first time, what are the what things go
Sean O'Malley:Sorry. Alright. I'll I'll I'll, let me piggyback off that one then.
Dr JJ Thomas:Okay. So
Sean O'Malley:I think exposure's king with everything.
Dr JJ Thomas:Okay.
Sean O'Malley:Like, getting involved with him, or the gym or any of the other fighters or any of the people that I work with. You're constantly gonna be exposed to new experiences and new hurdles and new obstacles, but it's just about putting yourselves in the putting yourself in that situation. Yeah. So prime example with wrestling. You may learn a double leg or a single leg or whatever the technique is.
Sean O'Malley:But in order to build a personalized style, execute the technique properly, and be adaptable with that technique, you have to be exposed to certain situations. Yeah. That's just with wrestling alone. It's the same exact thing with business.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yes.
Sean O'Malley:Alright. You may have some schizophrenic client or some dude who's persistent on saying no Yeah. Or someone who is very, very assertive of what they want. But you have to be put in those situations in order to adapt, learn, and understand how to accommodate that situation.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yes.
Sean O'Malley:It is exemplified in fighting. Alright? Because it's a multifaceted sport. So you got the boxing, the wrestling, the, jujitsu. You got everything conglomerated to 1, but you constantly have to be exposed to situations and understand how to adapt.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah. He's been training for his whole life. Yeah. Alright. And he's been exposed to so many different experiences.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah.
Sean O'Malley:Within that sport. People give him new looks. He's got a ton of different training partners. He's got a bunch of coaches, but they put him in situations to grow.
Dr JJ Thomas:Mhmm.
Sean O'Malley:So if you're gonna if you have anything you wanna do, whether it's a construction worker or a lawyer or a MMA fighter, show up. Alright?
Dr JJ Thomas:Get their reps.
Sean O'Malley:Show up. It's not even about getting the reps. It's just show up and expose yourself. Yeah. I'm not saying get naked, but I'm I'm I'm saying, like Depends on
Dr JJ Thomas:what your goal is.
Sean O'Malley:I'm saying I'm saying
Andre Petroski:how bad do you want it?
Sean O'Malley:Yeah. How how bad
Andre Petroski:do you want it?
Sean O'Malley:No pity. But, yeah. Go out there and, put your comfortability on the line. Our buddy Parker says, like, I guess my roommate, but he always says, like, get comfortable being uncomfortable. Yeah.
Sean O'Malley:He still gotta work on that. But we Yeah. We we always, like, we always talk about that. Like, you constantly wanna progress towards an uncomfortable situation so that you have the exposure to overcome it or adapt and learn from it.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah. So that yeah. And the confidence.
Sean O'Malley:And the confidence.
Dr JJ Thomas:Right? Like, it's the same thing. I I love that you're saying this because as you know, this is not just for people interested in fighters and wrestlers, but also for clinicians. And it's the same thing, like, if you wanna you gotta get the reps in, you expose yourself with lots of different patients, and the more experiences you have and you whether you succeed or fail in them, whether you're fighting or treating a patient, you learn from that, and then you're better next time.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:That's cool.
Sean O'Malley:Stop being so uptight about yourself. Everyone wants to hold on to their ego. Yes. Like, in Eddie's gym, it says, like, leave your ego at the door, like, right above the jujitsu mat. But you have something more authentic inside of you, and that's what comes out when you're broken.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah.
Sean O'Malley:So try to break yourself mentally, physically, spiritually, all that stuff, and you're gonna uncover what you really want.
Dr JJ Thomas:And the process goes, like, you break yourself, you become more humble, and you become more grateful.
Sean O'Malley:You either become callous or you become malleable. So Yeah. You're gonna be more flexible to situation or you're just gonna be pissed off at the world. So I love that. Find a way to be desperate.
Andre Petroski:Yeah. The gift of desperation. That's what God stands for, gift of desperation.
Sean O'Malley:I like
Dr JJ Thomas:that. I've never heard that. What is it? Bible is, basic instructions
Sean O'Malley:before leaving Earth? Oh my god. It's amazing. Yeah. So those are some acronyms your fans could
Dr JJ Thomas:take home. There you go, guys.
Andre Petroski:And and ego is edging God out.
Dr JJ Thomas:Oh, that's good too. I just actually, Ian, my high schooler just got me back into reading that book, Ego is the Enemy. It's a good book.
Sean O'Malley:That's why it's Ryan Holiday or something?
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Really good book. And, it's true.
Dr JJ Thomas:A lot of it's true. So well, I appreciate you guys. Thank you so much.
Andre Petroski:Thanks for having us.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah. Thank you.
Dr JJ Thomas:It's I said when they got here, you guys, I was like I I have a hard time containing myself sometimes, and I was just, like, excited because a lot of times when we're working together, we're working.
Sean O'Malley:Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:And I don't get to, like, you know, the visit part with you. So this is this is really fun for me.
Andre Petroski:Well, hey. We do, we're doing seminars.
Dr JJ Thomas:Mhmm. Yeah. Yeah. At Team Tano or anywhere.
Andre Petroski:For anywhere. Travel. You know?
Dr JJ Thomas:Let's If
Sean O'Malley:you got
Dr JJ Thomas:a hot
Sean O'Malley:a hot area.
Andre Petroski:If you have a hot area.
Dr JJ Thomas:I got Sunsets,
Andre Petroski:beaches, you got the beach. We're coming.
Dr JJ Thomas:Oh, because you need the you need the, you need the tan for the tan. The mountains.
Sean O'Malley:Tan for the ocean. Mountains.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah. You like the mountains? You were just showing me the pictures from Colorado.
Andre Petroski:We'll do the mountains.
Dr JJ Thomas:You guys, wherever you live, if you wanna get better, be better at anything. What'd you say?
Andre Petroski:Half off if you have good sun.
Dr JJ Thomas:If you have good sun, that's great. Yeah. We'll hook you up for Yeah. We do seminars. I want I want a seminar.
Sean O'Malley:Okay.
Dr JJ Thomas:Alright. It's pretty nice around here.
Sean O'Malley:Alright. Yeah. Not today. It's a little cloudy.
Dr JJ Thomas:Alright. Well, we'll schedule
Sean O'Malley:it for
Dr JJ Thomas:the summer. We'll do it in Brigantine. We'll we'll
Andre Petroski:Full price.
Dr JJ Thomas:We'll have
Sean O'Malley:a break
Andre Petroski:darn it.
Dr JJ Thomas:No. Seriously. It'd be crazy for people not take take you up on that. So Yeah. Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:Awesome. Alright, guys. You heard it from them. If you wanna get you wanna get some training in with the best, Sean, Andre, the team, they're ready for you. Otherwise, check them out on social media.
Dr JJ Thomas:Sean is Arter and Grit.
Sean O'Malley:Mhmm.
Dr JJ Thomas:Is his Instagram handle? Andre is Andre. Andre Petrosky. I don't
Sean O'Malley:have it here.
Dr JJ Thomas:Which one is it? Andre Petrosky fan or Andre? I I I just noticed that. Who what is that?
Andre Petroski:That's, this kid, he's in he lives in Ukraine. He's 16 years old.
Sean O'Malley:Ah.
Andre Petroski:And he made that page.
Dr JJ Thomas:That's so cool.
Andre Petroski:And now he, he hits me up sometimes. He just hit me up recently, and he was like, dude, my family is really not doing well. Uh-huh. There's no way to make money over here. Like, he's like, do you can I do, like, some videos for you and you pay me?
Andre Petroski:And I was like, yeah. Of course. And I was like, one I was like, this dude's about to ask for $5.
Dr JJ Thomas:Oh my god.
Andre Petroski:He asked for $5.
Dr JJ Thomas:Oh my God.
Andre Petroski:Yeah. It's a shame because all the money that our country has sent to Ukraine and not a single dollar has gone to these families.
Dr JJ Thomas:Oh my god.
Andre Petroski:You know what I mean? It's just it's sad. But, yeah, he's he's cool. He's a good kid. He he's awesome, dude.
Andre Petroski:He'll literally get footage of, like, the walkout, which won't even be aired on, like, YouTube. Does he do that? I know. He like, did you
Dr JJ Thomas:I wanna be real. I wanna be real.
Andre Petroski:Yeah. We've looked into it. He he must be screen recording from the TV. Because if you go to u US or ESPN plus and you go back and watch a fight, it doesn't even show the walk ins.
Dr JJ Thomas:So cool.
Andre Petroski:He gets footage somehow of stuff that's not even aired.
Dr JJ Thomas:Great. Yeah. That's awesome.
Andre Petroski:I know.
Dr JJ Thomas:Alright. Cool. Yeah. I wanna meet him. Yeah.
Dr JJ Thomas:He sounds like a good dude.
Andre Petroski:We'll fly him here.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah. No. I'm not asking you to join him. I'm just, like, I'm gonna But no. Circle back to him.
Andre Petroski:More other stories, my Instagram is Andre Petroski.
Dr JJ Thomas:Alright. Cool.
Andre Petroski:But you can follow the fan one too.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah.
Andre Petroski:He's a good kid.
Dr JJ Thomas:Sounds good. Alright. Appreciate you guys.
Sean O'Malley:Thank you. Appreciate you.
Dr JJ Thomas:Yeah. Thanks guys for joining us. I'm sure we'll have these guys on again. Andre's Andre's just getting better and better, and and Sean's always always fun to have on. And, like I said, he does great work with his athletes, so make sure you check him out.
Dr JJ Thomas:Till next time, and and until then, if you have any questions, just put them in the discussion, shoot me a DM, you know, you know the deal.