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00:00:09Not a lot of people even thought we'd make it to 25.
00:00:14We've done a lot of stupid and reckless things in our lives,
00:00:17but I guess that's just a part of growing up.
00:00:22This is our story.
00:00:59This is our story.
00:01:00It's said that nobody was home and could I please leave them alone?
00:01:05But when this goes down, and I'm just trying to get by,
00:01:10trying to escape these dreams, it just will not start chasing me down.
00:01:15I look for you almost every night.
00:01:21See, since you've gone away, I don't have strength.
00:01:24The magnificent Pacific Ocean.
00:01:27It's not surprising that so many Australians decide to live by its shores.
00:01:32One of Sydney's most popular city beaches is Maroubra.
00:01:38Like most places in Sydney, cost of living in these kind of areas has gone up significantly.
00:01:43But things were a lot different 20 years ago.
00:01:47Surfing World magazine described that the only way to survive there
00:01:50was to outrage, out-surf, out-play and out-drink the other guy,
00:01:55even if it ruined your life.
00:02:02But none of that mattered as kids growing up in Maroubra.
00:02:05It was all about the beach, the waves and the mates who rode them beside you.
00:02:11Mark Matthews and Richie Vasilik were two such kids.
00:02:16Rich and I have been best mates for as long as I can remember.
00:02:20He was two years younger than me, but he was never scared of anything.
00:02:25Because he was so small, he was always getting picked on.
00:02:27And I guess the fact that he was the biggest smart-ass in Maroubra didn't help him.
00:02:31I always used to rely on my speed and my smart-ass mouth to fight my battles.
00:02:37Look who it is, the local midget.
00:02:39Look who it is, the local pumpkin head.
00:02:40What'd you say, little smart-ass?
00:02:58Oi! Didn't even hurt you, bunch of girls!
00:03:04But now I guess a little bit has changed.
00:03:15I always looked up to Mark as an older brother,
00:03:17even though he was such a wuss in the surf.
00:03:20I was absolutely petrified.
00:03:22I don't know what it was.
00:03:24I mean, the waves, they weren't even that big,
00:03:26but it was just that feeling of getting rolled around underwater.
00:03:29I'd always paddle out the back.
00:03:31But the thing was, once I was out there,
00:03:33I was stuck because I was too scared to turn around and catch a wave
00:03:36and get back to shore.
00:03:39That would be when my mum would have to swim out and get me.
00:03:42And at that age, it's pretty much the most embarrassing thing
00:03:44that can happen for you.
00:03:48I guess it was that mentality of just making yourself do
00:03:51what the other guy was too scared to do
00:03:53stuck with me over the years.
00:03:56Eventually, I got over my childhood fears.
00:04:13I felt pins and needles coming down my back.
00:04:15I was like, oh, God, what have I done?
00:04:22The thought of losing him to go to jail,
00:04:25I couldn't cope with it.
00:04:26I wasn't sure he could cope with it.
00:04:29The whole corner of my face was just hanging off.
00:04:36I thought he was going to break his arm for sure
00:04:38because it didn't look like Rich was going to tap.
00:05:01I had a great upbringing.
00:05:02My whole family surfed.
00:05:05My dad still calls me Nev after the first surfboard he bought me.
00:05:09I was only young when my parents split.
00:05:12And when they did split, I moved down the beach with my mum.
00:05:16And from that point on, I just spent every day in the surf.
00:05:20And that's when I met Richie.
00:05:23He just happened to be going through the exact same thing with his parents.
00:05:34My dad is from the Czech Republic.
00:05:37He moved out to Australia as a political refugee in the 70s.
00:05:40And that's where he met my mum, who was from Manchester, England.
00:05:43They met in Sydney and they got married and they started a family.
00:05:46And that's where myself and my sister grew up.
00:05:51At a young age, when I was 10, my parents split.
00:05:55My dad, he was a brewer by trade, so he obviously loved to drink.
00:05:59But, you know, often when he did and he'd get in an argument with my mum,
00:06:01as a kid growing up, seeing your parents argue
00:06:04when you know they've had too much to drink,
00:06:05it was pretty upsetting and, you know, it kind of sticks with you too.
00:06:10So even though it never got violent or anything like that,
00:06:12it's just the constant arguments and stuff,
00:06:14you know, it was really sort of, you know, sucked as a kid to watch that.
00:06:18I continued to live with my mum,
00:06:21but my dad moved into an apartment at Maroosa Beach.
00:06:23I guess in some way this kind of eased the pain of my parents splitting
00:06:27because I now had a house at the beach where I could leave my board
00:06:30and I had every excuse now just to spend all my time at the beach with my friends.
00:06:35It was probably like, though we didn't realise it when we were that young,
00:06:38but, you know, we had that sort of similar situation going on
00:06:42that probably brought us a bit closer together.
00:06:45I think there was a surf contest down the beach,
00:06:47also a skate contest and the surf shop put on a pie contest.
00:06:52Australian pie is just, like, boiling hot
00:06:54and to try and eat it fast is just ridiculous.
00:07:03He's always putting a show on for everyone,
00:07:05regardless of what he was doing.
00:07:06He could have everyone in stitches and that's what everyone wanted to see
00:07:09and everyone would egg him on and would just, like, create this little monster.
00:07:27Mark was a bit shyer, a bit quieter than himself.
00:07:30Other kids, they're watching their heroes on TV,
00:07:32but for us, we were growing up with our heroes.
00:07:34It was that much more powerful.
00:07:35We were trying to impress our heroes who were right there with us.
00:07:38The older boys were making a living out of surfing big waves.
00:07:41Everyone saw the boys as being fearless in and out of the water.
00:07:45We didn't know at the time, but we were growing up with, you know,
00:07:48older surfers that were pretty much the craziest surfers in the world
00:07:51and it felt normal to us because we'd been trying to keep up with guys
00:07:54that would go on anything.
00:07:56Like, if someone said to you, you know, you won't do it
00:07:59or bet you you couldn't do it, you'd just do it to prove them wrong.
00:08:03That was, like, our motto growing up is, like, you won't.
00:08:06You won't.
00:08:07So you'd do it in the surf, like, the biggest wave of the day would come through.
00:08:10There's no way you could make...
00:08:12You won't.
00:08:12Yeah, and I'd just look at Rich and I'd go, you won't go this rich.
00:08:15And you'd just swing around and take off on it,
00:08:17regardless of the fact whether it's possible to ride the wave or not.
00:08:20When I was around 17, 18, and I'd finished school
00:08:23and had the dream of becoming a professional surfer,
00:08:27I thought it was possible and I started working towards it,
00:08:31you know, just working in bars and saving money to do trips.
00:08:39Down the beach at Maroobra, I mean,
00:08:41there's a lot of the older guys that are carpet layers,
00:08:42so when you're a kid and you just want a day's work,
00:08:45it wasn't hard to pick up a day's work laying carpet.
00:08:47That's just what happened after high school.
00:08:48Well, I started to learn how to do the trade
00:08:50and did it for, you know, six or seven years.
00:08:52I was just trying to save my money so we could do trips away
00:08:54and chase those swells that Mark was watching on the maps.
00:08:57I knew straight away that I wasn't going to be the next Kelly Slater
00:09:00and win world titles,
00:09:01but I figured out that by being able to forecast
00:09:03where the biggest waves were going to be around the country,
00:09:06I could be the one in the right spot at the right time
00:09:09and possibly make a career out of surfing that way.
00:09:11And that's when I came across this wave in Tasmania.
00:09:13I'd never seen anything like it in my life.
00:09:16And at that point in time,
00:09:17no-one in the whole surf industry had seen a wave like that before.
00:09:27The break presented huge challenges,
00:09:30most particularly the infamous double step.
00:09:32The huge volume of water aggressively builds up
00:09:35and suddenly collides on a reef so shallow
00:09:38that in anyone's language it's a recipe for disaster.
00:09:54You know, at the time we surfed some of the biggest barrels ever surfed,
00:09:58it gave us international exposure.
00:10:04I mean, it was after that happened that I really believed
00:10:07that I could make a career out of this.
00:10:09I wanted to make sure Richie had a shot at it as well
00:10:11instead of, you know, having to lay carpet five days a week.
00:10:15It's so often we'll chase a swell somewhere
00:10:17and it just won't be good.
00:10:19And we'd come back home and then straight away the following week
00:10:22another swell would pop up.
00:10:24And, you know, Richard would have spent all his money,
00:10:26he had saved chasing that first swell
00:10:28and you get nothing out of it.
00:10:30You just don't have the heart to see your best mate
00:10:32not be able to go and get the waves on the following swell
00:10:35just because he didn't have the money to.
00:10:37It did drive me, of course, you know,
00:10:39because I wanted to be there with him,
00:10:40I wanted to be jumping on the plane,
00:10:41but at the time he used to go down like a box of nails.
00:10:44I just wanted him there with me
00:10:45if I was going to score pump and wave,
00:10:47so it was nothing for me to be able to pay for him
00:10:49to go chase that next swell
00:10:50because he's a hard worker
00:10:51and there's no way he's not going to pay me back.
00:10:53Pretty lucky to have a mate like that around here
00:10:55who helps you try and chase your dreams and stuff.
00:10:57From no magician to you rabbit in a hat
00:11:00Rappers, that's clean as how I kick it
00:11:01This is blood, sweat and tears
00:11:03Flesh and bone, a better way of brotherhood of hope
00:11:05With a megaphone in heaven's case
00:11:07Shut me down, raise my head
00:11:10Walk my field of dreams instead
00:11:12Because there's no way you'll march on top of me
00:11:16Not how this is going to be
00:11:18Lift my feet, raise my head
00:11:21As a result of Mark's help and their mutual dedication,
00:11:25Richie started to get some of the respect he was looking for.
00:11:31We surfed as hard as we could
00:11:33and we also partied probably harder
00:11:35and the difference between me and Rich is
00:11:37I kept my clothes on and he didn't.
00:11:44It goes back to the old, you won't get nude
00:11:47because as soon as I hear that
00:11:48I'll be like, yeah, well watch this
00:11:53I was not the only one getting nude
00:11:55There were plenty of occasions where you were the only one getting nude
00:11:58Yeah, yeah
00:11:59Special occasions
00:12:03I can remember the time Rich at a music festival
00:12:07decided to climb a hundred foot light tower
00:12:09in the nude
00:12:11in front of about 30,000 people
00:12:13The whole crowd turned around and watched him
00:12:16and he just put on a show for everyone
00:12:18There was this security guards and police
00:12:20everywhere waiting at the bottom for him
00:12:22but he somehow managed to evade all the cops and the security guards
00:12:26and vanish off into the crowd
00:12:28At the height of his partying days
00:12:30Richie met a beautiful young girl called Lucy
00:12:34The first time I met Rich I was at a friend's party
00:12:38at her house and I pretty much didn't know most people there
00:12:42I kind of knew most of the people at the party
00:12:44and then I saw Lucy and I was like, oh, who's that?
00:12:46This little guy with this
00:12:49the big head of curls
00:12:51just came up and started chatting away
00:12:54And I just remember sort of making my over
00:12:56and she was wearing this little top
00:12:57It said ballerina babe
00:12:59First thing I said to her was, hey ballerina babe
00:13:01That's what I could think
00:13:01I was just reading what was said on the top
00:13:03And what I loved about him
00:13:04when the first time that I met him
00:13:06was just he was so charismatic
00:13:07and he was really funny
00:13:09I took her out to the movies and stuff
00:13:11and asked her out, you know, to the bar
00:13:14and just said
00:13:14I want to go out with you
00:13:16and he couldn't get it out but
00:13:18You know, I want to go out with him
00:13:20No silly business
00:13:21I was like, yes
00:13:22and he was like, oh
00:13:24and we both kissed
00:13:25and it was a pretty cute time
00:13:27Looking back on it
00:13:28it was really, really lovely
00:13:34One of Lucy's neighbours had told her mum
00:13:36that Richie was actually hanging out
00:13:38with a bad group of guys
00:13:39and she made it really clear
00:13:40that she didn't want anything going on
00:13:41between Rich and Lucy
00:13:42particularly because Lucy was only 16 at the time
00:13:46I think they always had the idea
00:13:47that she was going to meet an ass
00:13:48little Italian Catholic boy
00:13:49but, you know, obviously she didn't
00:13:51and she chose me
00:13:53We were definitely egging him on
00:13:55but Rich just couldn't help me
00:13:56in the life of the party
00:13:57We could all tell it was really
00:13:58starting to embarrass Lucy
00:14:03At the same time
00:14:05Richie's recognition for surfing
00:14:07and his love for Lucy had another rival
00:14:09The martial art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
00:14:12had come to Australia
00:14:13and Richie quickly became addicted
00:14:15He surprised himself by winning tournaments
00:14:18from the start
00:14:19The next logical challenge
00:14:21was mixed martial arts
00:14:22because of the UFC frenzy in America
00:14:25MMA was spreading like wildfire in Australia
00:14:31Mixed martial arts
00:14:32or MMA as we all know it
00:14:34is simply that
00:14:35it's a mix of all the martial arts out there
00:14:37This all takes place in an octagon
00:14:39Most bouts are three, five minute rounds
00:14:43You can win by submission
00:14:45whether opponent taps
00:14:47knockout
00:14:48or win on points
00:14:52Every aspect of the sport appealed to Richie
00:14:55It should be said that it also fed the adrenaline junkie in him
00:14:59I started to get really excited to have my first fight
00:15:01I was fighting a local guy
00:15:03He'd been unbeaten
00:15:04I didn't really know much about it
00:15:05All I knew was my limited experience in boxing in the backyard
00:15:09and the Jiu Jitsu I'd been doing
00:15:10I was nervous, excited
00:15:11and really eager at the same time
00:15:13The feeling of the whole day
00:15:15the whole walking in the cage
00:15:16and that whole buzz is pretty amazing
00:15:18I wasn't sure how I was going to react
00:15:20My first fight
00:15:20I didn't know if when the bell went
00:15:22if I'd freeze or get really nervous
00:15:23and not do anything
00:15:33We had a knockout
00:15:36Like I'd never pictured winning that fight the way I did
00:15:38and sort of surprised myself by winning by knockout
00:15:41Yeah, that feeling was definitely addictive
00:15:43and I just wanted to stick at it and do more of it
00:15:45I was pretty keen to get back in there and have another one
00:15:47and that one hadn't been down in Sydney
00:15:49He's got that in hard
00:15:51He ain't letting go of that
00:15:52He's got to win
00:15:53and I won that one as well
00:15:54but I won that one in the submission
00:15:56and pretty tough on myself
00:15:59Although Richie had found a new sporting high
00:16:02the Maroubra surf culture
00:16:03that had created Mark and Richie's dreams
00:16:05now started to destroy them
00:16:09That aggressive, never back down mentality
00:16:11that we had grown up around
00:16:12was actually giving us the careers
00:16:14we had dreamed of as kids
00:16:16but we thought that to get the respect
00:16:18from the older guys
00:16:19we had to be like that
00:16:20out of the water as well
00:16:21so instead of trying to out surf our mates
00:16:23we wanted to out drink
00:16:25out party
00:16:25and out fight them
00:16:27and when you mix that aggressive mentality
00:16:29with alcohol
00:16:30partying and fighting
00:16:31it's not hard to guess what comes next
00:16:44I remember coming out of the nightclub
00:16:46lying drunk
00:16:47I walked over and ended up getting in a huge punch up
00:16:50with a bunch of guys
00:16:51but the police came in to break it up
00:16:53we sort of all fell to the ground
00:16:55police officer had jumped on top of me
00:16:57so I just continued to fight him
00:16:58thinking it was the other guy
00:17:00and in the midst of a big fight
00:17:01and I put my thumb
00:17:02as far as it would go
00:17:03into the guy's eye socket
00:17:06I'd been charged with assault
00:17:08occasionally actually by the harm
00:17:10on a uniformed police officer
00:17:12I woke up that next morning
00:17:14and the first thing that I did
00:17:16was head straight to the police station
00:17:19and I found the officer that
00:17:22I had assaulted the night before
00:17:24and I apologised to him
00:17:29I was worried about going to jail
00:17:32for doing what I did
00:17:33but I seriously
00:17:34I honestly felt bad about
00:17:37what I'd done
00:17:38because I'd almost blinded a guy
00:17:41that I didn't even know
00:17:44and I had nothing against
00:17:45and he had nothing against me
00:17:47he was just there doing his job
00:17:49and to think that I came that close
00:17:52to blinding someone
00:17:53whether it was the guy
00:17:54that I was in the fight with
00:17:56over a stupid argument
00:17:57or the police officer
00:18:01either of them didn't deserve
00:18:02to be blinded
00:18:04and it's a scary thought
00:18:05that I came that close
00:18:07to actually doing that to someone
00:18:09six months down the track
00:18:10when I was in court
00:18:12and I was facing
00:18:14a long jail sentence
00:18:16if I was found guilty
00:18:18that moment was the scariest thing
00:18:20I've ever been through
00:18:21the police prosecutor
00:18:24had handed in
00:18:26their witness statements late
00:18:28and they got thrown out of court
00:18:30and for that reason
00:18:31I was found not guilty
00:18:34and I was just so lucky
00:18:38I promised myself
00:18:39I'd never put myself
00:18:41in that situation again
00:18:42but I was young and stupid
00:18:44and a month down the track
00:18:46I got blind drunk all over again
00:18:49and I ended up in more trouble
00:19:11the whole corner of my face
00:19:14was just like hanging off
00:19:15like I had my head down
00:19:17and it was just hanging out
00:19:18and when I went like this
00:19:19I put my hand
00:19:20like on the inside of it
00:19:22it just made me feel sick
00:19:24they put me in an ambulance
00:19:25and took me up to the hospital
00:19:38just been in hospital
00:19:39got 70 stitches
00:19:41doctor said I was pretty lucky
00:19:42I didn't lose my eye or anything
00:19:45yeah they had to get like
00:19:46a plastic surgery
00:19:46and fix up a few arteries
00:19:48that had been cut
00:19:49that were spraying blood
00:19:52but it's not too bad
00:19:53you know
00:19:53be out fucking
00:19:55be surfing again
00:19:55in a couple weeks
00:19:57just have a fucking rough head
00:19:58for the rest of my life
00:20:00what can you do
00:20:01you know
00:20:01if someone's fucking
00:20:03doing that to your girl
00:20:04and you know
00:20:06trying to fight your cousin
00:20:07you know
00:20:07fucking just stand there
00:20:08and let them do it
00:20:09you gotta do something
00:20:12I don't know
00:20:12I was real angry
00:20:14after that happened
00:20:15for a long time
00:20:16like all I wanted to do
00:20:17was get the guy back
00:20:18if he had been in front of me
00:20:20in those first
00:20:21you know
00:20:21week or two
00:20:22I don't know
00:20:23what I would have done
00:20:24like
00:20:24I could have ended up
00:20:25killing him
00:20:26I was that angry
00:20:27pretty keen on
00:20:28doing whatever had to be done
00:20:29you know
00:20:29like to try and
00:20:30get the guy back
00:20:31and at that age
00:20:33that's all you want to do
00:20:33you know
00:20:34if someone
00:20:34you know
00:20:34it's like
00:20:35glass is your friend
00:20:36you want to get them back
00:20:37I spoke to my mum about it
00:20:39and I started to learn
00:20:40I didn't need any of this stuff
00:20:42before this incident
00:20:43and then
00:20:44this happened
00:20:45and she goes
00:20:45like this is where
00:20:46you can make a change
00:20:47in your life
00:20:48you know
00:20:48you can let your mates
00:20:49go after the guy
00:20:50you've got no control
00:20:51over that situation
00:20:52what happens if
00:20:53they go and beat him up
00:20:54one of your mates
00:20:55ends up killing him
00:20:56or ends up in jail
00:20:57for doing it
00:20:58you want that on your head
00:20:59I thought about it
00:21:00in the end
00:21:01I would rather
00:21:01just let it go
00:21:02you know
00:21:03looking back on it now
00:21:04I can see
00:21:05how stupid
00:21:06and dangerous
00:21:07what I was doing was
00:21:09but
00:21:09when you're young
00:21:11all you want to do
00:21:11is impress
00:21:12you know
00:21:13the older guys
00:21:14and your friends
00:21:14around you
00:21:15I didn't realise
00:21:16that
00:21:17you know
00:21:17I didn't have to do it
00:21:18that way
00:21:19I mean
00:21:20if you have to test yourself
00:21:22and your skills
00:21:23as a fighter
00:21:24and you want to prove
00:21:25to everyone
00:21:26that that's what
00:21:27you're good at
00:21:27then the only place
00:21:29to do that
00:21:30is in a ring
00:21:30against someone
00:21:31who wants to fight you
00:21:32as well
00:21:33I was a little bit shocked
00:21:34too
00:21:34to see Mark react that way
00:21:36and actually think
00:21:37the whole matter through
00:21:38so well
00:21:39and you know
00:21:40and come up with that
00:21:41you know
00:21:41I'd learnt from my mistakes
00:21:42and I could see Rich
00:21:44going through
00:21:44the exact same stuff
00:21:46and it was only
00:21:47going to lead
00:21:47you know
00:21:48in one place
00:21:49and it was going to
00:21:49get him in a lot of trouble
00:21:50there was
00:21:51heaps of my mates
00:21:52were going out
00:21:52partying
00:21:53and you know
00:21:53drugs were going around
00:21:54and I wasn't a fan
00:21:55of the drugs
00:21:56but I used to find myself
00:21:57as getting super drunk
00:21:58instead you know
00:21:59and just trying to
00:22:00sort of keep up
00:22:01with everyone
00:22:01and then just
00:22:01make a mess of myself
00:22:02so
00:22:03I'd always used to say
00:22:04to him
00:22:04look
00:22:05babe
00:22:05I don't like you doing this
00:22:07you know
00:22:07she probably had enough
00:22:08of me going out
00:22:09and carrying on
00:22:09the way I was
00:22:10and you know
00:22:10often embarrassing myself
00:22:11which obviously
00:22:12embarrassed her
00:22:12and just things like that
00:22:14you know
00:22:14by the end of it
00:22:16it started to get
00:22:17really tiresome
00:22:20and it put a strain
00:22:22on the relationship
00:22:23she likes to have
00:22:24a good time
00:22:24but you know
00:22:25all in moderation
00:22:26where I obviously
00:22:27try to do it
00:22:28you know
00:22:28not in moderation
00:22:29I don't think
00:22:30I could keep up with him
00:22:31he was just
00:22:32one of those
00:22:34just really nutty people
00:22:35I got no one to blame
00:22:37but myself
00:22:38really
00:22:38carrying on
00:22:49the way things ended
00:22:51it was quite amicable
00:22:52we both knew
00:22:53it wasn't working
00:22:54and it was almost
00:22:55like we were
00:22:56growing apart
00:22:56commitment was a
00:22:57definite thing
00:22:58you know
00:22:58at that age
00:22:59I think it is
00:22:59for everyone
00:23:00I was too young
00:23:01to be in a serious
00:23:02relationship
00:23:02and I just didn't
00:23:03know how to handle it
00:23:04I didn't know
00:23:05I was worried
00:23:06about committing
00:23:06or anything like that
00:23:07I just
00:23:07I didn't know
00:23:08what it was
00:23:08I just
00:23:09you know
00:23:11you learn all that
00:23:11later I guess
00:23:12I was definitely
00:23:13worried that
00:23:14without Lucy
00:23:15Richard go way
00:23:16more off the rails
00:23:17than what he was
00:23:17to get even wilder
00:23:19can end up dangerous
00:23:23on the weekends
00:23:24I'd always be out
00:23:25partying
00:23:25but I never missed
00:23:27a training session
00:23:27through the week
00:23:28and I knew
00:23:28it wasn't a good mix
00:23:29I knew if I was
00:23:30to take it serious
00:23:31things would have to
00:23:31change
00:23:32but at that time
00:23:33I just had two wins
00:23:34and I was really
00:23:35confident
00:23:35and I was just
00:23:36really looking forward
00:23:36to my third fight
00:23:37and Richie Vaas
00:23:40in the black shorts
00:23:41both young men
00:23:43and plenty of feeling
00:23:44in this one
00:23:45pre-fight
00:23:47McLeod seems
00:23:48to strike up
00:23:49and he's been
00:23:50struck
00:23:50and stopped
00:23:52it is over
00:23:55he wins in a record
00:23:5712 seconds
00:23:58and people start
00:23:59to take notice
00:24:00his personality
00:24:01makes him a crowd
00:24:02favourite
00:24:02and he starts
00:24:03winning fans
00:24:04a few weeks
00:24:12later
00:24:13he goes back
00:24:13to Queensland
00:24:14for a rematch
00:24:15with his first
00:24:16opponent
00:24:16who had gone
00:24:17on to win
00:24:17several fights
00:24:18undefeated
00:24:28another win
00:24:29keeps his record
00:24:30at an impressive
00:24:31four straight wins
00:24:32with no losses
00:24:33promoters start to see
00:24:35him as a draw card
00:24:36I won four in a row
00:24:37and people were saying
00:24:39he's just a surfer
00:24:40he's not a real MMA fighter
00:24:41he's just giving this
00:24:42MMA thing a go
00:24:43you know what I mean
00:24:43and at the start
00:24:45part of that was true
00:24:46obviously the more
00:24:47I got involved
00:24:47and the more
00:24:48serious about it I got
00:24:49there was a little bit
00:24:50of buzz around
00:24:51that he's this surfer
00:24:52kid out there
00:24:53doing pretty good
00:24:53at the MMA
00:24:54and more opportunities
00:24:55presented themselves
00:24:55all of a sudden
00:24:56the opportunity
00:24:57to fight for a world title
00:24:58came about
00:24:59and I was stoked
00:25:01and I was still
00:25:02kind of new to the sport
00:25:03you know
00:25:03only after four fights
00:25:04to have that kind of
00:25:05opportunity
00:25:05put in front of me
00:25:07was amazing
00:25:07so that definitely
00:25:09gave me the motivation
00:25:10to really step back
00:25:11and think about the sport
00:25:12and how far
00:25:13I wanted to take it
00:25:14and wanted to really
00:25:14pursue it
00:25:19but just when
00:25:20the world title fight
00:25:21was within his grasp
00:25:22his partying ways
00:25:24finally catch up
00:25:25and his whole world
00:25:26comes crashing to a halt
00:25:428th of January 2008
00:25:44Richie's mother
00:25:45was greeted with
00:25:46four detectives
00:25:47at her front door
00:25:48Richie was wanted
00:25:49for an incident
00:25:50that had occurred
00:25:50a few months earlier
00:25:51in Queensland
00:25:55it was the day
00:25:56of professional surfer
00:25:58Mick Vanning's
00:25:59first world title
00:26:00celebration
00:26:00on the Gold Coast
00:26:01it had been
00:26:02a terrific win
00:26:03and Rich was proud
00:26:04for his friend
00:26:05as were thousands
00:26:06of his other fans
00:26:07and fellow surfers
00:26:08that night
00:26:09that night we all
00:26:09followed on to a pub
00:26:10and the night
00:26:11led on
00:26:12and everyone
00:26:12was pretty much
00:26:13in good spirits
00:26:14and you know
00:26:15we were getting
00:26:15pretty drunk
00:26:16and ended up
00:26:17just being
00:26:18your typical
00:26:19bar argument
00:26:20the argument
00:26:21started inside the pub
00:26:22and it moved outside
00:26:23I went outside
00:26:24the pub by myself
00:26:25and there's a bunch
00:26:25of other guys
00:26:26who I was arguing
00:26:26with and that's
00:26:27where the fight
00:26:27started
00:26:28and I got pretty
00:26:28dusted up
00:26:29at the start
00:26:29of the fight
00:26:30and before long
00:26:31my friends
00:26:32who were there
00:26:32with me
00:26:32came out
00:26:33to help me out
00:26:33and it turned
00:26:34into a brawl
00:26:34and I ended up
00:26:35just getting back
00:26:35to my feet
00:26:36and ended up
00:26:36punching a guy
00:26:37who was there
00:26:38in amongst the brawl
00:26:49I know a huge part
00:26:50of why I was
00:26:51sitting there
00:26:51in that cell
00:26:53was because
00:26:53of how drunk
00:26:55I'd got myself
00:26:55that night
00:26:56and the last thing
00:26:57I wanted to do
00:26:58was go out
00:26:59and get that drunk
00:27:00and get into fights
00:27:02where people get hurt
00:27:04and not only that
00:27:05I dragged my whole family
00:27:06through it as well
00:27:07which
00:27:09I'm pretty ashamed of
00:27:10it took that situation
00:27:12for me to realise
00:27:13which way I was heading
00:27:15if I get the opportunity
00:27:17I just want to show
00:27:18my family
00:27:19my friends
00:27:20and just everyone
00:27:20just how sorry
00:27:22I am about all this
00:27:23and it's going to be
00:27:25a long nervous wait
00:27:25until it's all over
00:27:30Arriving from Sydney
00:27:31handcuffed
00:27:32and escorted
00:27:32by police
00:27:33brawl boy
00:27:34Richard Basulik
00:27:35on his way
00:27:35to a Gold Coast court
00:27:37is there anything
00:27:37you'd like to say
00:27:38to the victim
00:27:38I remember seeing Rich
00:27:40on the news
00:27:40in handcuffs
00:27:41and it was just
00:27:42freaked me out
00:27:43your heart just sinks
00:27:44like I wanted to know
00:27:45exactly what had happened
00:27:46you know
00:27:46what kind of trouble
00:27:47was he in
00:27:48if he was going to be alright
00:27:49you know
00:27:49I was trying to ring him
00:27:50but obviously
00:27:50he didn't have his phone on
00:27:52and I knew it was going to happen
00:27:53it was only a matter of time
00:27:54the way he was carrying on
00:27:55you know
00:27:56you feel bad
00:27:56that maybe
00:27:57he could have done
00:27:58something more
00:27:58to stop it from happening
00:27:59and then
00:28:00you know
00:28:00it was too late now
00:28:01he was
00:28:02you know
00:28:02he was in that trouble
00:28:03I was actually
00:28:04in bed
00:28:05watching TV
00:28:06one afternoon
00:28:07and I couldn't believe
00:28:08that what I saw
00:28:09my first reaction
00:28:11was like
00:28:11oh my gosh
00:28:12what have you done
00:28:13she knew my mum
00:28:14would be pretty upset
00:28:15so at least she gave my mum a call
00:28:16and just to see how things were
00:28:18and just to see how I was
00:28:21Richie turned up
00:28:22for his hearing
00:28:23and was granted bail
00:28:24but he had to remain
00:28:26living with his mother
00:28:26hand in his passport
00:28:28and report to the local
00:28:29police station
00:28:30once a week
00:28:31until the court case
00:28:32was over
00:28:33he even had to get
00:28:34special permission
00:28:35from the police
00:28:36if he wanted to go on
00:28:37any surf trips
00:28:37outside of Sydney
00:28:40in the middle of Richie's
00:28:41court case
00:28:41he was just so down
00:28:43I mean I could tell
00:28:44how much he regretted
00:28:46what he had done
00:28:46and the position he was in
00:28:48at that time
00:28:49I just wanted to help him
00:28:50I just wanted to get him
00:28:51away from it all
00:28:51and you know
00:28:52get him back in the water
00:28:54take him surfing
00:28:54it just so happened
00:28:56a huge swell popped up
00:28:57at Shipsterns
00:28:58we were lucky
00:28:59because the only place
00:29:00he could travel to
00:29:00was locally
00:29:01he couldn't travel
00:29:01internationally
00:29:02I didn't want to go
00:29:03to be honest
00:29:04when Mark
00:29:05came and grabbed me
00:29:05that day
00:29:06I was like
00:29:06you know
00:29:06we're going to Tassie
00:29:07this afternoon
00:29:07and just dealing
00:29:09with court
00:29:09and knowing that
00:29:10I had to sort of
00:29:11read my lawyer
00:29:11to say look
00:29:12I'm going to go to
00:29:12Tasmania
00:29:13and wasn't too excited
00:29:14on going
00:29:14but Mark was pretty
00:29:15persistent
00:29:16and saying
00:29:16it's going to be big
00:29:17it's going to be pumping
00:29:18let's go
00:29:18let's go
00:29:19you know
00:29:19that was the perfect
00:29:20thing to get his mind
00:29:21off what was going on
00:29:23and keep him fit
00:29:24and focused
00:29:51that's well that we went on
00:29:52to Surf Shipsterns
00:29:53it just so happened
00:29:53that it was
00:29:54on the anniversary
00:29:55of Steve Irwin
00:29:56one of Australia's
00:29:57biggest icons
00:29:58death
00:29:58and we wanted to
00:29:59do something special
00:30:00to Mark that day
00:30:01and one of our good mates
00:30:03brought along
00:30:03a huge blow up croc
00:30:05and he had the idea
00:30:06to get a huge barrel
00:30:07with the crocodile
00:30:08just to pay tribute
00:30:10to everything he'd done
00:30:11for Australia
00:30:11everything he'd done
00:30:12for wildlife
00:30:13around the world
00:30:14we just loved his character
00:30:15too
00:30:15the way
00:30:16he was such a great
00:30:17ambassador for Australia
00:30:18you know
00:30:18as you said
00:30:18he loved surfing
00:30:19he loved MMA
00:30:35so unexpected
00:30:35and sad
00:30:36to see him go
00:30:36so I'm sure
00:30:37he would have
00:30:37been looking down
00:30:38and having a laugh
00:30:38at us
00:30:39you know
00:30:39look at these idiots
00:30:51I decided to put
00:30:52a helmet
00:30:52with a camera
00:30:54on it
00:30:54to get us
00:30:55some point of view
00:30:56footage
00:30:56to show what
00:30:57we get to see
00:30:57when we're pulling
00:30:58into a big barrel
00:30:59at Shipsterns
00:31:08this got absolutely
00:31:10smashed
00:31:11I don't remember
00:31:12anything about the wave
00:31:14but going back
00:31:15and looking at the footage
00:31:16the wave was like
00:31:17a second wave
00:31:18of the set
00:31:19and it was all
00:31:19just whitewash
00:31:20and bumpy
00:31:21even though it wasn't
00:31:22a big wave
00:31:23on the day
00:31:23I think
00:31:24it would have been
00:31:24pretty shallow
00:31:25at the time
00:31:25I rolled up
00:31:26in the lip
00:31:27and the lips
00:31:27pushed me
00:31:28into the reef
00:31:29at 100 miles an hour
00:31:30and that's what's
00:31:30knocked me unconscious
00:31:31and busted my helmet
00:31:33the first thing
00:31:35I remember
00:31:35and I can still
00:31:36you know
00:31:37I see this picture
00:31:38pretty vividly
00:31:39was regaining
00:31:40consciousness
00:31:41underwater
00:31:42and I had no idea
00:31:44where I was
00:31:45but everything
00:31:45was so silent
00:31:51looking up
00:31:51and all I could see
00:31:52was the surface
00:31:53of the water
00:31:54and the sun
00:31:55coming through
00:31:55all the turbulence
00:31:56and the whitewash
00:31:59I was sitting there
00:32:00for like
00:32:0010 or 20 seconds
00:32:01it was like
00:32:02I was floating
00:32:02in the middle
00:32:03of nowhere
00:32:09the buoyancy
00:32:09belt I had on
00:32:10was just slowly
00:32:11bringing me to the surface
00:32:12I didn't even know
00:32:13what was happening
00:32:13I was just like
00:32:14floating towards
00:32:14the surface
00:32:15of the water
00:32:17as soon as
00:32:18I broke
00:32:19the surface
00:32:19of the water
00:32:21it was like
00:32:22the pain
00:32:23from the injury
00:32:24just hit
00:32:25right at that point
00:32:26I just had
00:32:27the sharpest pain
00:32:28in my neck
00:32:29the back of my head
00:32:30and I felt
00:32:31pins and needles
00:32:32coming down my arms
00:32:33and down my back
00:32:34I was like
00:32:35oh god
00:32:36what have I done
00:32:37luckily enough
00:32:38I had that helmet on
00:32:39because without it
00:32:40I'm pretty sure
00:32:41I would have died
00:32:42I was really scared
00:32:43terrifying
00:32:44I seen your mate
00:32:45down there
00:32:45unable to move
00:32:46and there we were
00:32:47in the middle of nowhere
00:32:48and I was just thinking
00:32:49I could get home
00:32:50and go to court
00:32:51and if things
00:32:52weren't to go my way
00:32:53I could be behind bars
00:32:54and with Mark
00:32:55looking the way he was
00:32:57there was every chance
00:32:58that Mark
00:32:58wasn't going to be able
00:32:59to surf again as well
00:32:59so things couldn't
00:33:00have got any worse
00:33:01for us at that point
00:33:01both myself and Mark
00:33:03it was such a great day
00:33:04to just
00:33:05pretty much the lowest
00:33:06point I've ever been at
00:33:07it was just
00:33:08non-stop playing over
00:33:09in my head
00:33:10that I'd broken my neck
00:33:12I was never going
00:33:13to be able to surf again
00:33:14my career's over
00:33:16what am I going to do
00:33:17if I can't surf
00:33:18saying to myself
00:33:19that's it
00:33:19I'm never surfing
00:33:20big waves again
00:33:33after seeing the footage
00:33:35of the wipeout
00:33:36and the damage
00:33:36caused to his helmet
00:33:38the doctor told Mark
00:33:39it was a miracle
00:33:40he didn't sustain
00:33:41permanent spinal injuries
00:33:42what happened
00:33:43was the disc
00:33:44had collapsed
00:33:45on the nerves
00:33:45which made Mark
00:33:47believe he had broken
00:33:48his neck
00:33:49the physical rehab
00:33:50was going to be long
00:33:51but that was bearable
00:33:53what I wasn't prepared
00:33:54for was what the accident
00:33:56had done to me
00:33:56psychologically
00:33:59as soon as it became
00:34:00real that I was about
00:34:01to surf the waves again
00:34:02that's when I started
00:34:03just having the craziest
00:34:05nightmares
00:34:23nightmares
00:34:23about drowning
00:34:25about breaking my neck
00:34:26about it happening
00:34:27all over again
00:34:28ended up in a wheelchair
00:34:29leading up to that first swell
00:34:31in my head
00:34:33I'd already wiped out
00:34:34a hundred times a day
00:34:35even before I'd even
00:34:36put a foot in the water
00:34:37it was just exhausting
00:34:54I'd gotten over all those fears
00:34:56of surfing big waves
00:34:57when I was a young kid
00:34:59and then
00:35:00it was like that injury
00:35:01just brought it all back
00:35:03it was like it brought it
00:35:06into a new light
00:35:07like just how dangerous
00:35:08what I was doing was
00:35:11I'm not invincible
00:35:12and it completely
00:35:14wrecked my confidence
00:35:16I tried everything
00:35:17no matter what I did
00:35:19the confidence
00:35:20wasn't coming back
00:35:23Mark's inability
00:35:24to overcome his fears
00:35:25affected his profile
00:35:27and all of his sponsorships
00:35:28his contract came to an end
00:35:30and he started
00:35:31to fall off the radar
00:35:32it was almost like
00:35:34you know
00:35:34a pause button
00:35:34had just hit on our lives
00:35:37to see him now
00:35:37question himself a little bit
00:35:39and confidence
00:35:39or motivation drop
00:35:40it definitely just
00:35:41rubbed off on me as well
00:35:44before he went up
00:35:45for that final day of court
00:35:46I just wished him
00:35:47all the best
00:35:48and just said
00:35:49it's going to be over soon
00:35:50you can put all this
00:35:51behind you after this day
00:35:52so
00:35:53and then when he went up there
00:35:54I was just
00:35:55you're that worried about
00:35:56which way it's going to swing
00:35:57and you just want to know
00:35:58you just want to know
00:35:59that it's all going to be good
00:36:00and we can go back to
00:36:01chasing what we were chasing
00:36:09I'm just glad to see
00:36:11the end of eight months
00:36:11it's just gone on a long time
00:36:13I've just got a knot in my stomach
00:36:15and I'm not looking forward to
00:36:17going into that court
00:36:21about to walk down the court now
00:36:24get there and then I guess
00:36:25within a couple of hours hopefully
00:36:27we'll have a result
00:36:28and nervous but
00:36:29hopefully it comes our way
00:36:32we'll see
00:36:37the thought of losing him
00:36:39to go to jail
00:36:40to go into jail for
00:36:43however long
00:36:44even for a week
00:36:45was really upsetting
00:36:48I didn't want it to happen
00:36:49and I didn't know
00:36:51if he could cope with it
00:36:52I couldn't cope with it
00:36:53I wasn't sure he could cope with it
00:36:57basically we went in
00:36:58in the courts
00:36:59and the judge saw the night
00:37:00and the case
00:37:01and everything that was put forward
00:37:02for what it was
00:37:03and the victim had
00:37:05admitted to drinking all night
00:37:07being with his friends
00:37:08and he said he wasn't a part of the brawl
00:37:09but his friends were
00:37:10and he was witnessing it
00:37:12he also admitted to
00:37:14watching myself get kicked in the face
00:37:16when I was on the ground
00:37:17and then he basically said
00:37:19I got up
00:37:19and then came at him
00:37:21and assaulted him
00:37:22that moment
00:37:23when he came back
00:37:25and he was about to give that verdict
00:37:27I was holding my breath
00:37:29because I was scared
00:37:30I was really scared
00:37:31and
00:37:34I
00:37:34I
00:37:35I can't describe
00:37:37I'm sorry
00:37:37I was just so scared
00:37:38we were all out there
00:37:39on the drink
00:37:40and you know
00:37:41a brawl erupted
00:37:41and we all carried on
00:37:43like a bunch of idiots
00:37:44and he agreed that
00:37:45you know
00:37:46I was
00:37:47you know
00:37:48in the wrong
00:37:48for hitting the guy
00:37:49but under the circumstances
00:37:50he thought it was fair
00:37:51to record
00:37:52no conviction
00:37:53which um
00:37:54you know
00:37:55at the end of the day
00:37:56that means there was nothing
00:37:57recorded against my name
00:37:58it wouldn't stop me
00:37:58from travelling overseas
00:37:59and uh
00:38:00pursuing my surfing
00:38:01or fighting career
00:38:01so
00:38:03it was like
00:38:04it was
00:38:05I just wanted to
00:38:06jump up in the air
00:38:07and shout
00:38:08my mum
00:38:08more so than anybody
00:38:09has been torn up
00:38:10over all this
00:38:11so
00:38:11to see her smile
00:38:13and realise it's all finished
00:38:14and it's over
00:38:15is just
00:38:15you know
00:38:16the best feeling
00:38:16just really looking forward
00:38:17to putting it
00:38:18all behind us
00:38:18and just getting on with life
00:38:20Rich came back
00:38:21from that last day
00:38:22in court
00:38:22and there was just like
00:38:23a spark in his eye
00:38:25like he was real excited
00:38:26to go out and surf
00:38:27and
00:38:27at the time
00:38:28I was you know
00:38:29still terrified
00:38:30of surfing anything
00:38:32real big
00:38:32but his excitement
00:38:33of wanting to chase
00:38:35as well
00:38:35just rubbed off on me
00:38:40my mum's really spiritual
00:38:42and she's into
00:38:43a lot of meditation
00:38:44and I remember
00:38:45reading a book
00:38:46that she had
00:38:46that she'd given me
00:38:48years ago
00:38:48that I never bothered
00:38:49to pick up
00:38:49for some reason
00:38:50I just picked it up
00:38:51at that time
00:38:52and it was
00:38:52pretty much
00:38:53life changing
00:38:54the book was
00:38:55all about
00:38:56a technique
00:38:57by questioning
00:38:58your thoughts
00:38:58when they come
00:38:59into your head
00:38:59you're able to
00:39:00detach from that
00:39:01thought emotionally
00:39:02like for me
00:39:03the emotional component
00:39:04was fear
00:39:05the thought came
00:39:06into my head
00:39:06that I was going
00:39:07to wipe out
00:39:08in this next world
00:39:09I was going
00:39:10to break my neck
00:39:11I was going
00:39:11to drown
00:39:12or something bad
00:39:12was going to happen
00:39:13the technique
00:39:14was to question
00:39:14my thoughts
00:39:15and you ask yourself
00:39:16three questions
00:39:17the first question
00:39:18you ask yourself
00:39:18is is that thought
00:39:20true
00:39:22I can't know
00:39:23definitely
00:39:23that that's going
00:39:24to happen
00:39:24in the future
00:39:25so no
00:39:26that thought
00:39:26in my head
00:39:27it's not true
00:39:28the second question
00:39:30is how does
00:39:31that thought
00:39:31make you feel
00:39:33it made me feel
00:39:34terrible
00:39:34made me anxious
00:39:35made me lose
00:39:36my confidence
00:39:37made me not
00:39:38want to go
00:39:38and surf
00:39:38and then the final
00:39:40question
00:39:40this is where
00:39:41the magic happens
00:39:42who would you be
00:39:43without that thought
00:39:45let the thought
00:39:46go
00:39:47don't think about it
00:39:47and straight away
00:39:48when you stop
00:39:49thinking about it
00:39:50that's when you
00:39:51realise
00:39:51that without that
00:39:52thought
00:39:53my body just
00:39:53felt relaxed
00:39:54I straight away
00:39:56felt confident
00:39:56and I started
00:39:57to become excited
00:39:58to surf big waves
00:39:59again
00:40:02the two boys
00:40:03set themselves
00:40:04a mission
00:40:05to be at the
00:40:06top of their
00:40:06game
00:40:07with Mark's eye
00:40:08on the biggest
00:40:09wave of the year
00:40:09prize at the
00:40:10Oakley Big Wave
00:40:11award
00:40:27Mark Matthews is crazy
00:40:40Mark Matthews has
00:40:42ridden the wave of his
00:40:43life at the Monster
00:40:44Energy Pro in Hawaii
00:40:45the 24 year old
00:40:47Sydney side of
00:40:48threading the
00:40:48thrilling 5 metre
00:40:50tubes of the
00:40:50Banzai Pipeline
00:40:51to score himself
00:40:53a perfect 10
00:40:54points
00:40:55his incredible
00:40:56tube already
00:40:56being described
00:40:57as one of the
00:40:58all time great
00:40:59North Shore rides
00:41:00everything I see
00:41:01from him is just
00:41:01charging something
00:41:02big and mutant
00:41:03and it's a pretty
00:41:05specialised field
00:41:07that does that
00:41:08you know there's
00:41:09a lot of guys
00:41:09who will just go
00:41:10and charge big waves
00:41:11but then there's
00:41:11guys who can
00:41:12surf good too
00:41:12and surf big waves
00:41:14and small waves
00:41:14and I think
00:41:15Mark's pretty high
00:41:16on that totem pole
00:41:18Richie
00:41:18this crazy
00:41:20little brute
00:41:22I don't think
00:41:23he has no
00:41:24in his vocabulary
00:41:25you know
00:41:26he just
00:41:27he just goes
00:41:27for it
00:41:28some of the
00:41:28things that I've
00:41:29seen him go
00:41:30and I'll be
00:41:31pulling up
00:41:31marlins for sure
00:41:32on some of those
00:41:33waves
00:41:33he goes for it
00:41:35man
00:41:35fuck he's crazy
00:41:37he has balls
00:41:38big balls
00:41:39and you know
00:41:40he might not be
00:41:41the best surfer
00:41:42in the world
00:41:42but he sure
00:41:44will fucking
00:41:45he'll go
00:41:47he'll go
00:41:47in anything
00:41:53we were like
00:41:53two little kids
00:41:54at Christmas time
00:41:55we were chasing
00:41:56every swell
00:41:57that popped up
00:41:57you know
00:41:58we were having
00:41:59more fun
00:41:59than we'd ever
00:42:00had
00:42:00and in between
00:42:01swells
00:42:02we were just
00:42:02doing all kinds
00:42:03of crazy training
00:42:04to help prepare
00:42:05ourselves
00:42:06for every swell
00:42:07that was going
00:42:07to pop up
00:42:08that year
00:42:08just trying to
00:42:09push each other
00:42:10you know
00:42:10I just wanted
00:42:11to get stronger
00:42:11and fitter
00:42:12and more confident
00:42:25enthusiasm
00:42:25was definitely
00:42:26back
00:42:26and we were
00:42:27both pretty keen
00:42:28to make up for
00:42:28lost time
00:42:29I guess
00:42:29and push a bit
00:42:30harder
00:42:30to try and reach
00:42:31what we were
00:42:31trying to do
00:42:38I couldn't get
00:42:39another sponsor
00:42:40straight away
00:42:41and I just knew
00:42:42I had to maintain
00:42:43that level of exposure
00:42:45I got all my savings
00:42:46together
00:42:47and I spent that year
00:42:48chasing waves
00:42:49as hard as I could
00:42:50I had to keep
00:42:51believing that
00:42:52by the end of the year
00:42:53I was going to find
00:42:53another sponsor
00:43:00after 12 months
00:43:01both Mark and Richie
00:43:03gained substantial
00:43:04exposure in the surf
00:43:05media
00:43:05and Mark surfed
00:43:06some of the biggest
00:43:07waves he'd surfed
00:43:08to date
00:43:08including this 20 foot
00:43:10plus wall of water
00:43:11which was recorded
00:43:12as the biggest wave
00:43:13ridden in Australia
00:43:14for the year
00:43:15and the winner
00:43:16of biggest wave
00:43:17ridden in 2008
00:43:182009
00:43:19is Mark Matthew
00:43:21you know
00:43:24I got to the
00:43:25final amount
00:43:25of dollars
00:43:26in my savings
00:43:27that won me
00:43:28that award
00:43:28with Richie's help
00:43:30and with some
00:43:31hard training
00:43:31I managed to turn
00:43:32around
00:43:33and by the end
00:43:33of the year
00:43:34I'd turned a year
00:43:35that was the worst
00:43:36year of my life
00:43:37into one of the best
00:43:38that led straight
00:43:39into a three year
00:43:40deal with O'Neill
00:43:41and I was just
00:43:42like going from
00:43:43rock bottom
00:43:43to being back on top
00:43:49I was on the road
00:43:50all year that year
00:43:51which pretty much
00:43:52ruled my relationship
00:43:53it made it really
00:43:54hard to travel
00:43:55it made it hard
00:43:56to leave home
00:43:57because you know
00:43:58you didn't want
00:43:59to leave them behind
00:43:59it was really hard
00:44:00for her too
00:44:01if I was always
00:44:02on the road
00:44:03I was so focused
00:44:04at the time
00:44:05almost to the point
00:44:06of being selfish
00:44:06but I knew
00:44:07I had to be like that
00:44:08to have that career
00:44:10she was always
00:44:11second to surfing
00:44:19I was pretty heartbroken
00:44:21when I broke up
00:44:22with my girlfriend
00:44:22you know
00:44:23it was pretty hard
00:44:24to take at the time
00:44:25when we were kids
00:44:25he didn't really
00:44:26sort of talk too much
00:44:27about his parents
00:44:28splitting
00:44:29he keeps all that
00:44:30kind of personal stuff
00:44:31pretty close to his chest
00:44:32and it was the same
00:44:33when he broke up
00:44:34with his girlfriend
00:44:34he's not the kind of guy
00:44:35to cheer you off
00:44:36about his personal problems
00:44:37he just gets on with them
00:44:38and deals with them
00:44:39in his own way
00:44:40it was quite a long
00:44:41relationship
00:44:41that's come to an end
00:44:42so I'm sure he was
00:44:43affected by it
00:44:43I know that I was
00:44:45and me and Lucy
00:44:45broke up after a few years
00:44:46you know
00:44:47as sad as I was
00:44:48when we broke up
00:44:49I just tried to use that
00:44:50and turn it into a positive
00:44:52in the fact that
00:44:53now I had absolutely
00:44:54nothing to be at home for
00:44:56none of my family
00:44:57live here in Sydney
00:44:58where I live
00:44:59I didn't have family
00:45:00to come back here
00:45:01to see
00:45:01so it was kind of like
00:45:02I'd rather be on the road
00:45:12the break up
00:45:13and the end of his relationship
00:45:13did reflect in his surfing
00:45:15to sort of push him
00:45:16to another level
00:45:16it's a very fine line
00:45:18between doing something
00:45:19recklessly dangerous
00:45:20and doing something
00:45:21dangerous but calculated
00:45:22and Mark was pretty good
00:45:24at doing the most
00:45:24dangerous things
00:45:25but calculated
00:45:26and often came off
00:45:27with surfing
00:45:28the biggest wave of the day
00:45:29well I don't think
00:45:30it'll come as a mega
00:45:31surprise to know
00:45:32the biggest slab
00:45:33winner for this year
00:45:35is Mark Matthews
00:45:45I was just so happy
00:45:46to see Mark win that award
00:45:47and it just
00:45:48it just proved to everyone
00:45:49his confidence was back
00:45:50and on top of that
00:45:51I was given the opportunity
00:45:52to fight for the
00:45:53CFC world band and weight
00:45:55title in a few months
00:45:56and with the title
00:45:57on the line
00:45:57I just totally focused
00:45:58on putting all my energy
00:46:00in the gym
00:46:00and getting ready
00:46:01for that title fight
00:46:09Mark was well and truly
00:46:10starting to cement
00:46:11his name in the world
00:46:12of big wave surfing
00:46:13but he felt he needed
00:46:15to push the envelope
00:46:16even further
00:46:17so he decides to spend
00:46:18the whole winter swell
00:46:19season in Hawaii
00:46:21Richie accompanies Mark
00:46:23to use the trip
00:46:24to further his preparations
00:46:25for his upcoming fight
00:46:26with the opportunity
00:46:27to train with some
00:46:28world-class fighters
00:46:34oh is it out there
00:46:35looks pretty gnarly
00:46:36Mark Matthews
00:46:37called me the other morning
00:46:38hey come on
00:46:39I'm fucking at the airport
00:46:41I'm coming in
00:46:42alright
00:46:42I like Mark
00:46:44I like surfing with him
00:46:45he wants it
00:46:45if it's big
00:46:46you gotta want it
00:46:47because if you don't want it
00:46:49you don't belong out there
00:47:07change of environment
00:47:08change of training partners
00:47:09and trainers
00:47:09just for that short period of time
00:47:11it can really just re-energise you
00:47:13and get you really excited
00:47:15about getting back to your home
00:47:16and training with all your trainers
00:47:17from the bottom same place
00:47:19where the pain is
00:47:20to sitting on a plane
00:47:21on expenses
00:47:22big bits
00:47:23still the same shit
00:47:24I couldn't care about fame
00:47:25and I don't need to hear
00:47:26your props chump
00:47:27show me the paper
00:47:28six round o'clock sluts
00:47:30want me to slay them
00:47:31and after I'm done
00:47:32I store the list and erase them
00:47:34got 99 problems
00:47:35but a bitch I ain't chasing
00:47:37got all the signs on my mind
00:47:38yep I'm praying there
00:47:40they say I'm crazy
00:47:41for me it's just the way
00:47:42Richie's good man
00:47:43he's strong little guy
00:47:44and you surf those big waves
00:47:46you're not afraid of any man
00:47:47right
00:48:12a lot of strength and conditioning work
00:48:13and show me a whole bunch of stuff
00:48:14I hadn't seen before
00:48:15and it was really good
00:48:16to have a fresher part
00:48:17on training
00:48:18put em more
00:48:22put em more
00:48:24put em more
00:48:25put em more
00:48:29I'm back
00:48:32I'm back
00:48:34I'm back
00:48:36baby baby baby
00:48:37in my city
00:48:46when Richie heard that he was going to be training with BJ Penn you could just see how excited
00:48:49it made him
00:48:50and I guess it would be the exact same thing for me to be able to go surfing with Kelly
00:48:53Slater
00:48:53that's what it was like for him to train with BJ
00:48:56BJ is one of my all time favourite fighters
00:48:59he's not bothered about getting in the ring with anyone
00:49:01he's gone up in weight categories and fought guys much bigger than him which I admire
00:49:06and he's just such a great fighter to watch
00:49:08so to actually meet him and have the chance to train with him was great
00:49:10I definitely think MMA is a good outlet for kids because it teaches them discipline
00:49:17but it's not like trying to hammer discipline on them
00:49:19you know but as time goes on
00:49:21they start to realise you know with great power it becomes great responsibility
00:49:25and raise their self confidence
00:49:27give them camaraderie with their training partners
00:49:29and it's really just a positive thing for the youth everywhere
00:49:32it's great to see their training and what level they're at
00:49:36but to meet him and realise you know that he's a cool guy and just a normal bloke
00:49:40and it's just like anyone else
00:49:42he just you know chose to dig deep
00:49:43it makes you realise it's all possible
00:49:45and you know if you want it you can have it
00:49:59so one minute one minute and then we'll just do it probably about six minutes
00:50:02the guy might be real tired after three minutes
00:50:03but I'll keep switching them
00:50:06life is about second chances
00:50:07that's the mark of a man
00:50:09everybody can be happy and smiling and happy-go-lucky when everything's going well
00:50:14but when things go bad
00:50:15you can either you know give up and stay down
00:50:18or get back up to your feet
00:50:21and it's a tough world out there
00:50:22it's a dangerous world
00:50:23but you know you gotta keep fighting
00:50:25and you gotta keep going man
00:50:27we all have had our trials and tribulations throughout our lives
00:50:31and you just can't stop
00:50:32you gotta move forward
00:50:39I'd gone from rock bottom
00:50:41to being you know back on top of the world
00:50:43and Rich was doing well with his fighting
00:50:45and we just wanted to keep the ball rolling
00:50:48but there was always just one thing eating away at me
00:50:50since the injury I'd never been back to surf at Shipsterns
00:50:54and it was like no matter what I did
00:50:56what awards I was winning
00:50:57or what big waves I was riding
00:50:59it was like Shipsterns had got the better on me
00:51:03I had to get over that fear completely
00:51:06you know I had to go back down to Shipsterns and surf
00:51:09at the height of his training
00:51:11Richie received a personal phone call from Australia
00:51:15it led to an unexpected reunion
00:51:32me and Luke's been breaking up for four or five years
00:51:34and we were still friends
00:51:36like when we bumped into each other
00:51:37we were still chatting
00:51:37the odd few occasions that we would give each other a call
00:51:40and talk
00:51:41so you know we knew we could always call on each other
00:51:43for whatever reasons
00:51:44leading up to Richie's title fight
00:51:47we started to spend a lot of time together
00:51:49my mum got diagnosed with cancer
00:51:53and that killed me to hear that
00:51:58but it was my fear that
00:52:00and it's still my fear to this day
00:52:02that I might lose her
00:52:06and that's the hardest thing for me to
00:52:09for me to even comprehend
00:52:12and I didn't have
00:52:15the coping mechanism or strategies
00:52:18to deal with that situation
00:52:20but having Rich as a friend
00:52:23he helped me through that
00:52:25he comforted me
00:52:27he supported me
00:52:28no one else had the time
00:52:30or had the want like he did
00:52:32and I have the utmost respect
00:52:34and thank for him
00:52:36because he really saved me
00:52:37in such an awful time in my life
00:52:39it surprised me he was there
00:52:41in my time with me
00:52:42and he just stepped up to the mark
00:52:44he's just the most amazing person
00:52:46I'll just try to be as supportive as I could
00:52:48and as I said
00:52:49I always thought of Lucy
00:52:51through that time all together
00:52:52and I consider her a really good friend
00:52:53and I know she's a really good person
00:52:56and she'll do the same for me
00:52:57and the same for any of her friends
00:52:59so it's just really easy to be there for her
00:53:01and help her deal with it
00:53:02because it's not an easy thing to deal with
00:53:03obviously when a family member
00:53:04gets ill with cancer
00:53:14I always had feelings for her
00:53:15when we were apart
00:53:16even though it was unfortunate circumstances
00:53:18it was nice to start hanging out
00:53:19and being there for her
00:53:21I guess sort of proved
00:53:21that I still had strong feelings for her
00:53:23that sort of led into us
00:53:25spending more time together
00:53:26and really enjoying our time together
00:53:29when we first started going out
00:53:30I was too young to commit
00:53:31to a proper relationship
00:53:33and I always thought
00:53:34this kind of relationship
00:53:34would be suited
00:53:35if we were both 5 or 10 years older
00:53:37so now that 5 years has been
00:53:40we're hanging back out
00:53:41so it's seemed a lot more possible
00:53:42Come save me now
00:53:45Come save me now
00:53:47Come save me now
00:53:56I got there that night
00:53:58it was pretty packed
00:53:58and I was lucky enough
00:53:59to have the title fight
00:54:01in my backyard
00:54:02at home
00:54:03and I had a lot of friends
00:54:04and family there
00:54:05supporting me
00:54:05and yeah
00:54:06I was just so excited
00:54:07to get in there that night
00:54:09I've been wanting to see Rich
00:54:10fight in person
00:54:11I haven't seen him fight before
00:54:12I've seen some footage
00:54:13of him fighting
00:54:15Everything's on the line
00:54:16you've got all your friends
00:54:17and family in the crowd
00:54:17the fight's in your backyard
00:54:19and your heroes in the crowd
00:54:20come to watch you fight
00:54:21it's a massive whirlwind of emotions
00:54:22when you're in your backstage
00:54:24Ladies and gentlemen
00:54:25the night continues on
00:54:26for the Bentham White
00:54:28CFC World Title
00:54:30please welcome
00:54:31hailing from Mahooba
00:54:35Richie Penn
00:54:51you spin a wheel in your brain
00:54:52just hoping that
00:54:53you walk out of the cage
00:54:54and it lands on the right
00:54:55frame of mind
00:54:56and just thinking
00:54:57why am I even doing this
00:54:58do I even enjoy this
00:54:59couldn't think of anything worse
00:55:00to be doing right now
00:55:01and fight in front of all these people
00:55:02and then next breath
00:55:03I'll be super capable
00:55:04jumping out of my skin
00:55:05can't wait to get out of that cage
00:55:06I mean bouncing around
00:55:07it's a crazy experience
00:55:19Rich had only had a handful of fights
00:55:21before that world title match
00:55:23you know it was a huge stepping stone
00:55:25he'd never faced an opponent
00:55:26that good
00:55:27but at the time
00:55:29there was no one in the country
00:55:30that wanted to fight Rich
00:55:31because he'd been beating everyone
00:55:33so easily
00:55:33that he really had to step up
00:55:35most fighters in his position
00:55:37there's no way that early in their career
00:55:39they'd take a fight like that
00:55:40but Rich just wanted that title
00:55:42and he wanted it now
00:55:48as this is a title fight
00:55:50instead of the usual
00:55:52three five minute rounds
00:55:53this one is scheduled
00:55:54for five five minute rounds
00:55:56it's a tall order
00:55:57to go the distance
00:55:58and requires superhuman endurance
00:56:15he sees his advantage
00:56:18and a right hand
00:56:29the first round started off well
00:56:31we stuck to the game plan
00:56:32and I felt
00:56:33my striking was working well
00:56:35and I was able to keep him on his feet
00:56:37we got sort of into a clinch
00:56:39and he landed a good knee
00:56:40we sort of buckled my knees
00:56:42and we ended up going to the ground
00:56:49my opponent he was
00:56:51you know very experienced
00:56:52and he was a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt
00:56:54so on the ground
00:56:56he's a very strength lay
00:57:03it was a tough round
00:57:04but there were four more to go
00:57:26Richie's opponent had him
00:57:28in the dreaded arm bar lock
00:57:29a circumstance where the fighter
00:57:31will often tap out
00:57:32in order for his arm not to break
00:57:34but to tap out
00:57:35is to lose the bout
00:57:37I just thought
00:57:38you know
00:57:38the fight's over
00:57:39he has to tap out
00:57:40you can't possibly get out of that
00:57:42I thought he was going to break his arm for sure
00:57:43because it didn't look like Rich was going to tap
00:57:45and I was just going
00:57:47dude I'm going to sit here
00:57:48and watch this guy's arm break right now
00:57:51one thing I learned
00:57:52surfing big ways
00:57:53if you do find yourself
00:57:54in a bad situation
00:57:56you're under the water
00:57:56if you're panicking
00:57:57it's just going to make things much worse
00:57:58and pretty much the same
00:57:59when you're in the cage
00:58:00and you do got to stay calm
00:58:01and just think
00:58:02you know
00:58:02what you got to do
00:58:03to get yourself out of it
00:58:07this is the occasion
00:58:09you've been preparing for
00:58:10for you know
00:58:10for a long time
00:58:11and you're not just going to
00:58:12have that opportunity
00:58:13of getting that bill around your waist
00:58:14sort of slip
00:58:15by just
00:58:16by tapping
00:58:17so I was just going to give it
00:58:19you know
00:58:20everything I could
00:58:20to try and escape the situation
00:58:28Richie's determination
00:58:29not to give up
00:58:30and tap out
00:58:31is as bewildering
00:58:32as it was miraculous
00:58:34you are elastic man
00:58:40gosh
00:58:41I don't know if the guy
00:58:42knew he was going to break the arm
00:58:44or what
00:58:44and he just got a little slack
00:58:45for a second or whatever
00:58:46but Rich just like
00:58:48bent out of the thing somehow
00:58:50it's pretty crazy
00:58:51he's going to laugh
00:58:52no matter what happens
00:58:53I was grateful to get out of the arm bar
00:58:55obviously
00:58:55but I was kind of dirty
00:58:56for even letting myself
00:58:57get in that situation
00:58:58and I have to you know
00:58:59make it hard for myself
00:59:00to get out of it
00:59:01and you know
00:59:01and continue on to the fight
00:59:07he's in the third
00:59:09and starts
00:59:09with a great
00:59:10long right hand
00:59:24I was still standing
00:59:26able to try and
00:59:26throw punches
00:59:27into the last round
00:59:28but then again
00:59:29I felt fatigued
00:59:31and probably a little bit
00:59:32more tired than I would have liked
00:59:34Richie Bass needs a submission
00:59:35or a knockout
00:59:36it's going to be a very tough round for him
00:59:49after getting almost knocked out
00:59:51in the first round
00:59:52and then withstanding an arm bar
00:59:54and five five minute rounds
00:59:56it's not in his nature to give up
00:59:58and he just pushed through
00:59:59and he gained a lot of respect
01:00:01from the crowd
01:00:01and from the guy
01:00:02he's fine
01:00:03he's got a character
01:00:04where he just
01:00:05it's not an option to foul
01:00:07he wants to succeed
01:00:08he needs to succeed
01:00:10ladies and gentlemen
01:00:11after the final round of action
01:00:12we went to the gender scorecard
01:00:14so we have a decision
01:00:27I ended up getting beat on points
01:00:29yeah I was gutted
01:00:30I didn't even think about losing
01:00:32in preparation for the fight
01:00:33I just felt so confident
01:00:34but then again
01:00:35there was no push over
01:00:36he was a really experienced fighter
01:00:38so I had plenty of positives
01:00:39to take out of it
01:00:41he came up to all of us
01:00:43and he was like apologising
01:00:45for letting us down
01:00:46he trained as hard as he could
01:00:48and he fought as hard as he could
01:00:50and he didn't leave anything behind
01:00:51and you know
01:00:52you're not letting anyone down
01:00:54when you give it your all like that
01:00:55I was pretty emotional
01:00:57not winning the fight
01:00:58but having Lucy there
01:00:59and realising not all was lost
01:01:00and that's still pretty lucky anyway
01:01:02so I was still pretty happy with my life
01:01:08he came up to me
01:01:09and told me he loved me
01:01:11I think he wanted to show his love
01:01:15and also his appreciation
01:01:16for my support
01:01:18that I had given to him
01:01:19leading up to that point
01:01:20me and Lucy were pretty serious
01:01:21before the title fight
01:01:22hadn't really made it official
01:01:24or any of that
01:01:24we knew where we were at
01:01:25I came about to say
01:01:27you know
01:01:27yep
01:01:29let's do this
01:01:30let's go out
01:01:31and let's give it a go
01:01:35and yeah
01:01:35it so happened
01:01:36that he posted
01:01:38his relationship status
01:01:40on Facebook
01:01:41the next day
01:01:42the next day
01:01:43I was put up there
01:01:43officially
01:01:43that I'm in a relationship
01:01:45with her
01:01:46so it would be a great opportunity
01:01:47to put it up
01:01:48and prove to her
01:01:49that I wanted to
01:01:51give another proper crack
01:01:53that's as official
01:01:55as it gets these days
01:01:55like
01:01:56you can like
01:01:57hide your wedding ring
01:01:59but you can't really
01:02:00hide your relationship status
01:02:01on Facebook
01:02:04so shit
01:02:05soon after Richie's title
01:02:07fight a huge swole
01:02:08popped up in Tassie
01:02:09and straight away
01:02:10you know
01:02:11the nerves just started
01:02:12to kick in
01:02:13it's in your eyes
01:02:15a colour fade down
01:02:18having to say to myself
01:02:20if I can overcome this fear
01:02:21then nothing's gonna scare me
01:02:23Mark hadn't served it
01:02:24since his neck injury
01:02:25so
01:02:25going back
01:02:27it was a lot of excitement
01:02:28but still
01:02:28a little element of unease
01:02:30Kelly Slater
01:02:31was actually in Australia
01:02:32and he had been my hero
01:02:33ever since I was a young kid
01:02:34growing up
01:02:35last week
01:02:36I talked to Mark a lot
01:02:37and I've been wanting to go down
01:02:39to ship's rooms for a while
01:02:40I was nervous enough
01:02:41but on top of that
01:02:42I also had
01:02:43my all-time surfing hero
01:02:44in Kelly Slater
01:02:45I had
01:02:46Kobe Aberdon
01:02:47the guy that made my career
01:02:48possible from a young age
01:02:49and then I had my best friends
01:02:51in Rich
01:02:51it felt like the whole world
01:02:53was watching
01:02:53what I was gonna do
01:03:21if you had may not have
01:03:24beslee Conway
01:03:30I
01:03:32don't
01:03:32then mix it up
01:03:35well it's
01:03:36この the white
01:03:37Romania
01:03:45It was probably the most nervous I've ever been in the surf, you know, I'd want butterflies
01:03:51in my stomach.
01:03:52Having Rich there at that moment gave me that little edge of confidence, you know, we'd
01:03:57been pushing each other our whole life to surf bigger and crazier waves and having him
01:04:01being the one there to tow me in, it was just, he had my back, if I was going to
01:04:05wipe out
01:04:05he was going to be there and I could see that he had the confidence in me that I was
01:04:10going
01:04:10to be able to do this.
01:04:13If I could play any part in getting his confidence back and then seeing him surf those waves again
01:04:19I'd do anything.
01:04:20I just wanted straight away, first wave, no matter what, I wanted a big one.
01:04:24The only thing that was going to get me over the fears was getting a proper huge wave.
01:04:29I guess you've got to be careful what you wish for because one of the biggest waves I'd seen
01:04:35popped up, you know, ten minutes later and it was my turn.
01:04:39I was a little bit like, alright, there's a big one coming, you want the next big one?
01:04:43I just had to go, I had to do it.
01:04:46No matter what the wave was going to do, I was going it.
01:05:17I can do it.
01:05:35Myécourt Dog.
01:06:22As I hit the wave service on four, I just went, all right, this is it.
01:06:27This is the wipeout, you know, you're going to have to get through.
01:06:33I was a little bit worried because of the history in his previous wipeout down there, being
01:06:38his first wave of the trip.
01:06:39It was a massive one and those massive ones, they can do all sorts of things down there.
01:06:46The wave just drew me up into the lip.
01:06:49It feels like you're airborne underwater.
01:06:52And I was just like, it's just that sort of one or two seconds of floating, you know what's
01:06:56about to happen.
01:06:57And then all of a sudden it just goes, boom, like the craziest loud noise just smashes
01:07:05you into the water.
01:07:06And, you know, the turbulence is just trying to rip your limbs off your body.
01:07:10Like my arms are going everywhere and I was just tucking up and I was just like, please
01:07:14don't hit the bottom, please don't hit the bottom.
01:07:16I just remember rolling and rolling and rolling and rolling.
01:07:34All of a sudden it just stopped and let me go.
01:07:39I was just like, what?
01:07:40Just one stroke, two strokes.
01:07:47I was up, the wave was over and I was just like, I've done it.
01:07:50I've never felt happier in my life, you know.
01:07:55You got a pretty good beating, but he just popped that whole smile, you know.
01:07:58I was pretty keen to jump on the rope and get on one.
01:08:00As soon as you handle a wipeout that big at a wave, you're like, alright, I'm back.
01:08:05I was ready to take on anything after that.
01:08:07That was like a great relief.
01:08:10And if there was any concerns about surfing shibis again, they were definitely gone.
01:08:13Woo!
01:08:15Woo!
01:08:16Woo!
01:08:18Woo!
01:08:19Woo!
01:08:20Woo!
01:08:21Woo!
01:08:22Woo!
01:08:22Woo!
01:08:23Woo!
01:08:25Woo!
01:08:26Woo!
01:08:29Woo!
01:08:42Woo!
01:08:42Woo!
01:08:42Woo!
01:08:42Woo!
01:08:42Woo!
01:08:42Woo!
01:08:46Woo!
01:08:56Woo!
01:09:03Woo!
01:09:03going to serve stipstones. He's obviously been through so much in his career, ups and
01:09:08downs, and he just shed a new light on it, you know, not to worry. He kind of put it
01:09:11in perspective for me and just made me feel better about the situation.
01:09:14You know, honestly, I would probably argue that having that loss with Danny was the best
01:09:18thing I'd ever have in my career. And it's, you know, I think if you look at anyone's
01:09:23stories of their lives, any person, you know, it's in real sort of deep despair or a bad
01:09:30loss or, you know, something seemingly terrible happens in your life where you can find what
01:09:36life's about, you know, or why you do what you do. You know, for me, it was to re-energize
01:09:42what I do and find, like, a new life in it. You know, for Richie, that could be, it could
01:09:47be the same. It could be something different. You know, it's really how you take it and what
01:09:51you learn from when you lose.
01:09:53Ten times world champion now and one of the best athletes that, you know, there ever was.
01:09:57If he can give you any advice on how to deal with loss and how to remain positive, yeah,
01:10:03you're going to listen.
01:10:05I can understand being devastated. You know, he had a perfect record until then, but everybody
01:10:09loses. You know, that's just part of life. It's just really having your mind open enough
01:10:14to accept that maybe that's a good thing. Not to be okay with, like, going out there
01:10:19and losing every time, you know, but to be okay with that you have already lost. Just process it,
01:10:25get through it, learn from it. You don't learn until you're shown something. You know, even
01:10:29from a little kid, you can't expect to get up and run when you come out of the womb, you
01:10:32know. Somebody's got to help you out, you know. It takes a while. So, you know, we're
01:10:37all just in different places trying to learn more and more.
01:10:45I had dreams of fighting the UFC and make it the global stage. So, if I didn't win this
01:10:49next fight, my dreams and my goals of fighting on those massive stages, it would seem more
01:10:53distant. It's important to get a win and keep those dreams alive, I guess.
01:11:10Straight away, we got in there and I worked for the clinch, got the clinch and ended up
01:11:14taking it to the ground.
01:11:23When Rich got his back, you could see that he had him in a good position and he was choking
01:11:27him. I'm just that nervous. I was just going, tap, tap, tap, please tap.
01:12:01Now, with six MMA fights and five victories, Ritchie McDonough!
01:12:14Me trying to take MMA seriously and become a professional athlete has definitely introduced
01:12:19things into my life like discipline and dedication that have made me grow up and matured me which
01:12:24I don't know where I would have got them from had I not have got involved in the sport so
01:12:28definitely they helped mold me to the person I am today.
01:12:39Definitely helped me resurrect my relation with Lucy and just really appreciate if it
01:12:43wasn't for my friends around me and Lucy things would have been different so I'm pretty happy that I are.
01:12:48He's obviously matured a lot, he's gone through a lot, those pitfalls that he had in his life has
01:12:53obviously changed him as a person but the relationship now is different in the sense that
01:12:57it's a relationship based on a big foundation of friendship.
01:13:06I don't reckon there's any way either of us on our own would have gone to where we are now.
01:13:11To have been able to help each other out and through the ups and the downs and to be where
01:13:15we are now, it's a good feeling.
01:13:17We've developed such a strong mateship over the last couple of years with everything that's happened.
01:13:21It's just unreal to celebrate these moments together.
01:13:38I want to keep chasing the biggest waves around the world and find the biggest shades in the world.
01:13:42My dream is to one day be in the UFC and be on shows of that calibre and after years
01:13:47of getting things wrong
01:13:47I'm finally trying to understand what has to be done to reach that level and become a professional athlete and
01:13:52do the right thing.
01:13:53So I don't have any plans. I'm giving up one for the other.
01:13:56I believe I can really push both as far as I can go and the goal is to be on
01:14:01the world stage in both sports.
01:14:06Keep listening. Keep listening. Keep listening. Keep listening.
01:14:17Falling the street between my teeth. Trying to find the in-between.
01:14:25That is Mark Matthews.
01:14:31My dreams are just to enjoy what I'm doing for the next five years.
01:14:35Like as amazing as it is being a professional surfer, it's still easy to get complacent and find everything negative
01:14:41about it.
01:14:42The travel and being away from home.
01:14:45I see parts of Richie and Lucy's relationship that I really do want companionship.
01:14:50Always having someone like that there for you to rely on.
01:14:53But for me, just the way I'm travelling and stuff at the moment, I don't know what the future will
01:14:58hold.
01:14:58I know what sort of people I'll meet down the track.
01:15:01But I'm so happy just with the friends and the family that I've got that, you know,
01:15:05I don't feel like I need to have that other one strong relationship.
01:15:08I'd rather just spend my time with my family and my friends and my career.
01:15:12Definitely in the next five or ten years. I'd love to have kids. I can't wait.
01:15:15But I don't think I'll be risking my life the way I do when I have kids.
01:15:19I'll just be selfish.
01:15:20Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:16:26We had such an amazing two or three years, so we wanted to celebrate, but, you know, in the past
01:16:32we'd gone out and celebrate on the drink and had an all-night drinking session and then end up in
01:16:37trouble.
01:16:37So we just wanted to do it differently and there couldn't be a better way than spending the whole night
01:16:43instead of in a nightclub drinking, out surfing our favourite wave in the world.
01:16:48Mark always believed it was possible, you know, surfing hours at night, surfing hours at night.
01:16:53Surfing hours at night.
01:16:57We had gotten our careers in a place where we could actually afford what it would cost to put all
01:17:01these massive lights in place, get the insurance, get the permits, get everything together and pull off something that was
01:17:09just a dream in the past.
01:17:11People were advising us against it for all sorts of reasons, but pretty much made our decision and we had
01:17:16the confidence we could pull it off, so sometimes you've got to back yourself, I guess.
01:17:19Ours is the most dangerous wave in the world, size for size, and the waves at the opening of Botany
01:17:23Bay, so the big swell lines charging out of deep water, they fold over themselves.
01:17:28Pitch onto this reef ledge that's only one or two feet deep, below that is just razor blade barnacles, and
01:17:36then ten feet down the line from that is a cliff face.
01:17:39So if you don't hit the bottom, get cut on the barnacles, you'll get smashed in the cliff.
01:17:45You know, there's been crazy cuts from the rocks.
01:17:48I dislocated my hip out there once.
01:17:51Burst eardrums, there's been broken neck.
01:17:55There's so many risks, but the rewards, when you make a wave like that, make it all worthwhile.
01:18:02I get nervous and scared, you know, paddling out there, yeah, in the middle of the day.
01:18:05To be out there in pitch black, the adrenaline's pumping and the fear factor's there, but it's all there, so
01:18:10it helps you switch on and try and do your best.
01:18:12You know, doing all that in the day's hard, but you can pull it off, but doing it in the
01:18:17night was just something else.
01:18:18Nobody sleep, nobody get hurt.
01:18:22Nobody sleep, nobody get hurt
01:18:25Nobody sleep, nobody get hurt
01:18:29Nobody sleep, nobody get hurt
01:18:33The night comes crashing in
01:18:38The madness flash begins
01:18:42On the road to anywhere
01:18:46On the road to anywhere
01:18:53Nobody sleep, nobody get hurt
01:19:11I kick shot the weekend with a campaign
01:19:14Can I take a Monday, there'll be back pain
01:19:16A few days of madness is expected
01:19:18Except this, things are gonna get hectic
01:19:20If you're in, then you're in for the long run
01:19:22In the morning we'll be taking a walk home
01:19:24Anything goes up and he's so cool
01:19:26All you gotta do is follow the rules
01:19:31Follow the rules
01:19:34Follow the rules
01:19:38Follow the rules
01:19:43Nobody sleep, nobody get hurt
01:19:47Nobody sleep, nobody get hurt
01:19:51Nobody sleep, nobody get hurt
01:19:51The night comes crashing in
01:19:56The madness flash begins
01:19:59On the road to anywhere
01:20:03On the road to anywhere
01:20:07On the road to anywhere
01:20:08On the road to anywhere
01:20:08On the road to anywhere
01:20:08On the road to anywhere
01:20:08On the road to anywhere
01:20:09On the road to anywhere
01:20:10On the road to anywhere
01:20:12On the road to anywhere
01:20:17On the road to anywhere
01:20:24On the road to anywhere
01:20:52Now the place is rockin' in full swing
01:20:55Everyone's as high as Yao Ming
01:20:56I walk in and see everybody
01:20:58Eat biscuits like they said I'd take party
01:21:00If you're goody-goody have a little bit of cheat
01:21:03We all got favors and ain't a freak
01:21:04Anything guys up and he's so cool
01:21:06All you gotta do is follow the rules
01:21:11Follow the rules
01:21:15Follow the rules
01:21:19Follow the rules
01:21:37We just surfed through the entire night
01:21:40It was just unreal and start to be a part of it
01:21:42It's definitely something you'll remember forever
01:21:45It was just surreal to end the surf as the sun was coming up
01:21:48You know, this way we got to go on a surfing bender
01:21:56You know, I don't know what's gonna happen next
01:21:58I guess anything's impossible
01:22:08Everything's impossible
01:22:09Don't bother about doing anything
01:22:13Don't even try, seriously
01:22:38Every time there's something else there
01:22:40And the purple God comes out
01:22:43Oh, oh
01:22:46Oh, oh
01:22:48Somebody looks like a monster
01:22:49See, now evil speak my sin
01:22:51Still the sad eyes can't be found
01:22:54Oh, oh
01:22:56You know, oh
01:22:59And I try to find the feeling
01:23:02The fear that God has been fighting all night long
01:23:08So good it can't be wrong
01:23:10I try to hide the emptiness inside
01:23:13The essence of this pill has got me living that timeline
01:23:16I'm trapped in my own ways in a cave with no key
01:23:18What can I say? It's the animal in me
01:23:21Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
01:23:24With every step I take I see the truth
01:23:30And it's all in you
01:23:32Oh-oh-oh-oh
01:23:35With every triumph comes a new breakthrough
01:23:41Much better than you knew
01:23:43Every time I look around
01:23:46All I see is smiles turned down
01:23:49Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
01:23:54In my head I'm thumping pounds
01:23:57Something's gotta give right now
01:24:00Oh-oh-oh-oh
01:24:02Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
01:24:05And I try to find the feeling
01:24:07The fear that God has been fighting all night long
01:24:13So good it can't be wrong
01:24:16But my mind is at the ceiling
01:24:18The way I find the healing in this zone
01:24:24So good it can't be wrong
01:24:27Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
01:24:30With every step I take I see the truth
01:24:36And it's all in you
01:24:38Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
01:24:41With every triumph comes a new breakthrough
01:24:46Much better than you knew
01:24:49Much better than you knew
01:25:08Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
01:25:13With every step I take I see the truth
01:25:19And it's all in you
01:25:22Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
01:25:25With every triumph comes a new breakthrough
01:25:31Much better than you knew
01:25:33Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
01:25:36I feel my body standing strong again
01:25:40Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
01:25:47-oh
01:25:53And I feel no pain
01:25:56Don't ever look back
01:25:59Don't ever look back
01:26:01Don't ever look back
01:26:05Don't ever look back
01:26:07Don't ever look back
01:26:09Don't ever look back
01:26:12Don't ever look back
01:26:15Don't ever look back
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