Fighting Fear 2011

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Fighting Fear 2011

Transcript

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.

00:00:43I miss you, you know, and I just want to come home.

00:00:50I scream into the night, that same old feel good let me tighten.

00:00:54I try calling, but the man picked up the phone.

00:01:00He said that nobody was home, and could I please leave him 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 stop 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 was to outrage,

00:01:52out-surf, out-play, and out-drink the other guy, even 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.

00:02:32I 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?

00:02:59Oi! 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, even 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, I was stuck.

00:03:34Because I was too scared to turn around and catch a wave and 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 that can happen for you.

00:03:48I guess it was that mentality of just making yourself do what 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, I 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.

00:04:35How soon?

00:04:36I thought he was going to break his arm for sure, because it didn't look like Rich was going to

00:04:39tap.

00:05:00I had a great upbringing.

00:05:03My 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.

00:05:21And 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 when you know they've had too much to drink,

00:06:06it 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, but 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, also a skate contest,

00:06:49and 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, regardless of what he was doing.

00:07:07He could have everyone in stitches and that's what everyone wanted to see

00:07:09and everyone would egg him on and it 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.

00:07:36We 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, dear, 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.

00:08:05It's, like, you 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.

00:08:12And 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 at the beach at Maroobra, I mean,

00:08:41there's a lot of the older guys that are carpet layers,

00:08:43so 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.

00:08:49I 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

00:08:55and 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, but 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, no-one in the whole surf industry

00:09:18had seen a wave like that before.

00:09:27The break presented huge challenges,

00:09:30most particularly the infamous double step.

00:09:33The huge volume of water aggressively builds up

00:09:36and 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 you didn't have the money to.

00:10:36It 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,

00:10:51there's no way he's not going to pay me back.

00:10:53Pretty lucky to have a mate like that around you

00:10:55who helps you try and chase your dreams and stuff.

00:10:57From the magician to you rabbit in a hat,

00:11:00rap is as clueless 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 at 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 will march on top of me.

00:11:16Not how this is going to be.

00:11:19Lift 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,

00:11:46you won't get nude

00:11:47because as soon as I hear that,

00:11:49I'll be like, yeah, well, watch this.

00:11:53Like, I was not the only one getting nude.

00:11:55There were plenty of occasions

00:11:56where you were the only one getting nude.

00:11:58Yeah, yeah.

00:11:59Special occasions.

00:12:04I can remember the time Rich at a music festival

00:12:07decided to climb a hundred foot light tower

00:12:10in 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 just security guards and police

00:12:20everywhere waiting at the bottom for him

00:12:22but he somehow managed to evade all the cops

00:12:25and the security guards

00:12:26and vanish off into the crowd.

00:12:28At the height of his partying days,

00:12:31Richie met a beautiful young girl called Lucy.

00:12:34The first time I met Rich,

00:12:36I was at a friend's party at her house

00:12:39and 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,

00:12:45oh, 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 odour

00:12:56and she was wearing this little top.

00:12:58It said, ballerina babe.

00:12:59First thing I said to her was,

00:13:00hey, ballerina babe.

00:13:01That's a lot to think.

00:13:02I was just reading what was said on the top.

00:13:03And what I loved about him

00:13:05when the first time that I met him

00:13:06was just he was so charismatic

00:13:08and 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...

00:13:18Yeah, I want to go out with you.

00:13:20No silly business.

00:13:21I was like, yes, and he was like, oh.

00:13:24And we both kissed

00:13:25and it was a pretty cute time.

00:13:28Looking back on it, it 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,

00:13:43particularly 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

00:13:48a nice little Italian Catholic boy,

00:13:50but, you know, obviously she didn't

00:13:52and 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.

00:14:16He surprised himself

00:14:17by winning tournaments from 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,

00:14:33or MMA as we all know it,

00:14:34is simply that.

00:14:35It's a mix of all the martial arts out there.

00:14:38This all takes place in an octagon.

00:14:40Most bouts are three, five-minute rounds.

00:14:43You can win by submission,

00:14:45whether opponent taps,

00:14:47knockout,

00:14:49or win on points.

00:14:52Every aspect of the sport

00:14:54appealed to Richie.

00:14:55It should be said

00:14:56that it also fed

00:14:57the adrenaline junkie in him.

00:14:59I started to get really excited

00:15:00to 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

00:15:06my limited experience in boxing

00:15:08in the backyard

00:15:09and the jiu-jitsu I'd been doing.

00:15:10I was nervous,

00:15:11excited,

00:15:11and really eager at the same time.

00:15:14The feeling of the whole day,

00:15:15the whole walking in the cage,

00:15:16and that whole buzz

00:15:17is 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

00:15:21if when the bell went

00:15:22if I'd freeze

00:15:22or get really nervous

00:15:23and not do anything.

00:15:33We have a knockout!

00:15:36I never pictured winning that fight

00:15:38the way I did

00:15:38and sort of surprised myself,

00:15:40I went in by knockout.

00:15:41Yeah, that feeling

00:15:42was definitely addictive

00:15:43and I just wanted to stick at it

00:15:44and do more of it.

00:15:45I was pretty keen

00:15:46to get back in there

00:15:47and have another one

00:15:47and that one

00:15:48hadn't been down in Sydney.

00:15:49He's got that in heart.

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

00:15:55in the submission

00:15:56and pretty tough for myself.

00:15:59Although Richie

00:16:00had found a new sporting high,

00:16:02the Maroubra surf culture

00:16:03that had created

00:16:04Mark and Richie's dreams

00:16:05now started to destroy them.

00:16:09That aggressive,

00:16:10never back down mentality

00:16:11that we had grown up around

00:16:12was actually giving us

00:16:14the careers we had dreamed

00:16:15of as kids.

00:16:16But we thought that

00:16:17to 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

00:16:22to out surf our mates,

00:16:24we wanted to out drink,

00:16:25out party

00:16:25and out fight them.

00:16:27And when you mix

00:16:27that aggressive mentality

00:16:29with alcohol,

00:16:30partying and fighting,

00:16:31it's not hard to guess

00:16:32what comes next.

00:16:44I remember coming out

00:16:45of the nightclub

00:16:46lying drunk.

00:16:47I walked over

00:16:48and ended up getting

00:16:49in a huge punch up

00:16:50with a bunch of guys

00:16:51but the police came in

00:16:52to break it up.

00:16:53We sort of all fell

00:16:54to the ground.

00:16:55Police officer had jumped

00:16:56on top of me

00:16:57so I just continued

00:16:58to fight him

00:16:58thinking it was

00:16:59the other guy

00:17:00and in the midst

00:17:01of 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

00:17:07with assault,

00:17:08occasionally actually

00:17:09by the harm

00:17:10on a uniformed

00:17:11police officer.

00:17:12I woke up

00:17:13that next morning

00:17:14and the first thing

00:17:16that I did

00:17:16was head straight

00:17:18into the police station

00:17:19and I found the officer

00:17:21that I had assaulted

00:17:24the night before

00:17:24and I apologised to him.

00:17:28You know,

00:17:29I was worried

00:17:30about going to jail

00:17:32for doing what I did

00:17:33but I seriously,

00:17:35I honestly felt bad

00:17:36about what I'd done

00:17:38because I'd almost

00:17:40blinded a guy

00:17:41that I didn't even know

00:17:44and I had nothing

00:17:45against and he had

00:17:47nothing against me.

00:17:47It was just there

00:17:48doing his job

00:17:49and to think

00:17:51that I came that close

00:17:52to blinding someone

00:17:53whether it was the guy

00:17:54that I was in the fight

00:17:56with over a stupid argument

00:17:57or the police officer.

00:17:59So, like, you know,

00:18:01either of them

00:18:02didn't deserve

00:18:03to be blinded

00:18:04and, you know,

00:18:05it's a scary thought

00:18:06that I came that close

00:18:07to actually doing that

00:18:08to someone.

00:18:09Six months down the track

00:18:10when I was in court

00:18:12and I was facing,

00:18:14you know,

00:18:15a long jail sentence

00:18:16if I was found guilty,

00:18:18that moment was

00:18:19the scariest thing

00:18:20I've ever been through.

00:18:21the police prosecutor

00:18:24had handed in

00:18:26their witness statements

00:18:27late

00:18:28and they got thrown

00:18:29out of court

00:18:30and for that reason,

00:18:32you know,

00:18:33I was found not guilty

00:18:34and, you know,

00:18:35it was just,

00:18:36it was so lucky.

00:18:38You know,

00:18:38I promised myself

00:18:39I'd, you know,

00:18:40I'd never put myself

00:18:41in that situation again

00:18:43but I was young

00:18:43and stupid

00:18:44and, you know,

00:18:45a month down the track

00:18:46I got blind drunk

00:18:48all over again

00:18:49and I ended up

00:18:50in more trouble.

00:19:12The whole corner

00:19:13of my face

00:19:14was just like

00:19:15hanging off

00:19:16like I had my head down

00:19:17and I was just

00:19:18hanging out

00:19:18and when I went

00:19:19like this

00:19:19I put my hand

00:19:20like on the inside

00:19:21of it.

00:19:22It just made me feel sick.

00:19:24They put me

00:19:25in an ambulance

00:19:25and, you know,

00:19:27took me up

00:19:27to the hospital.

00:19:38Just been in hospital

00:19:39got 70 stitches.

00:19:41Oh,

00:19:41doctor said

00:19:42I was pretty lucky

00:19:42I didn't lose

00:19:43my eye or anything.

00:19:45Yeah,

00:19:45they had to get

00:19:45like a plastic surgery

00:19:46and fix up

00:19:47a few arteries

00:19:48that had been cut

00:19:49that were spraying blood

00:19:51but, um,

00:19:52it's not too bad,

00:19:53you know,

00:19:54be out fucking

00:19:55be surfing again

00:19:56in a couple weeks.

00:19:57Just having a fucking

00:19:58rough 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,

00:20:07you're not going to fucking

00:20:07just stand there

00:20:08and let them do it,

00:20:09are you?

00:20:10You've got to do something.

00:20:12I don't know,

00:20:13I was real angry

00:20:14after that happened

00:20:15for a long time.

00:20:16Like,

00:20:16all I wanted to do

00:20:17was get the guy back.

00:20:19If he had been in front of me

00:20:20in those first,

00:20:21you know,

00:20:22week or two,

00:20:23I don't know

00:20:23what I would have done.

00:20:24Like,

00:20:24I could have ended up

00:20:25killing him

00:20:26when I was that angry.

00:20:27Pretty keen on

00:20:28doing whatever

00:20:29had to be done,

00:20:29you know,

00:20:29like to try and

00:20:31get the guy back

00:20:31and at that age,

00:20:33that's all you want to do.

00:20:34You know,

00:20:34if someone,

00:20:34you know,

00:20:35it'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

00:20:40how I didn't need

00:20:41any of this stuff

00:20:42before this incident

00:20:43and then this happened

00:20:45and she goes,

00:20:46like,

00:20:46this is where you can

00:20:47make a change in your life.

00:20:48You know,

00:20:48you can let your mates

00:20:49go after the guy.

00:20:51Yeah,

00:20:51you've got no control

00:20:51over that situation.

00:20:52What happens

00:20:53if they go and beat him up?

00:20:55One 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

00:21:02just let it go,

00:21:03you know.

00:21:04Looking back on it now,

00:21:05I can see how stupid

00:21:06and dangerous

00:21:07what I was doing was

00:21:09but when you're young,

00:21:11all you want to do

00:21:12is impress,

00:21:13you know,

00:21:13the older guys

00:21:14and your friends around you.

00:21:15I didn't realise that,

00:21:17you know,

00:21:18I didn't have to do it that 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 to see Mark react

00:21:36that way

00:21:36and actually think

00:21:37the whole matter

00:21:38through so well

00:21:39and come up with that.

00:21:41You know,

00:21:41I'd learnt from my mistakes

00:21:43and I could see Rich

00:21:44going through

00:21:45the exact same stuff

00:21:46and it was only

00:21:47going to lead

00:21:47in one place

00:21:49and it was going to

00:21:49get him in a lot of trouble.

00:21:51There was heaps of my mates

00:21:52who were going out

00:21:52partying and drugs

00:21:54were going around

00:21:54and I wasn't a fan

00:21:55of the drugs

00:21:56but I'd just define myself

00:21:57as getting super drunk

00:21:58instead, you know,

00:21:59and then I'm just trying

00:22:00to sort of keep up

00:22:01with everyone

00:22:01and then just make

00:22:02a mess of myself, so.

00:22:03I'd always used to say

00:22:04to him,

00:22:05look, babe,

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.

00:22:15By 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.

00:22:36I've got no one

00:22:37to blame but myself

00:22:38really for carrying on.

00:22:39And time, time goes by

00:22:45The way things ended,

00:22:51it was quite amicable.

00:22:52We both knew

00:22:53it wasn't working

00:22:55and it was almost

00:22:55like we were growing apart.

00:22:57Commitment was a definite thing,

00:22:58you know,

00:22:58I mean, like,

00:22:58at that age,

00:22:59I think it is for everyone.

00:23:00I was too young

00:23:01to be in a serious relationship

00:23:02and I just didn't know

00:23:03how to handle it,

00:23:04you know.

00:23:04I didn't know

00:23:05I was worried

00:23:06about committing

00:23:06or anything like that.

00:23:07It was just

00:23:08I didn't know what it was.

00:23:09I just, you know,

00:23:11you learn all that later,

00:23:12I guess.

00:23:13I was definitely worried

00:23:14that without Lucy,

00:23:15Rich would go way more

00:23:16off the rails

00:23:17than what he was.

00:23:18To get even wilder

00:23:19can end up dangerous.

00:23:23On the weekends,

00:23:24I'd always be out partying

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 change

00:23:32but at that time,

00:23:33I just had two wins

00:23:34and I was really confident

00:23:35and I was just really

00:23:36looking forward

00:23:37to 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 pre-fight.

00:23:47McLeod seems to strike up

00:23:49and he's been struck

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 favourite

00:24:02and he starts winning fans.

00:24:11A few weeks later,

00:24:13he goes back to Queensland

00:24:14for a rematch

00:24:15with his first opponent

00:24:16who had gone on

00:24:17to win several fights

00:24:18undefeated.

00:24:29Another win

00:24:29keeps his record

00:24:30at an impressive

00:24:31four straight wins

00:24:32with no losses.

00:24:34Promoters start to see him

00:24:35as a draw card.

00:24:36I won four in a row

00:24:37and people were saying,

00:24:39oh, he's just a surfer.

00:24:40He's not a real MMA fighter.

00:24:42He's just giving this MMA thing

00:24:43a go, you know what I mean?

00:24:44And at the start,

00:24:45part of that was true.

00:24:46Obviously, the more I got involved

00:24:47and the more serious

00:24:49about it I got.

00:24:50There was a little bit

00:24:50of buzz around, you know,

00:24:51that he's a surfer kid

00:24:52out there doing pretty good

00:24:53at the MMA

00:24:54and the more opportunities

00:24:55presented themselves.

00:24:56All of a sudden,

00:24:56the opportunity to fight

00:24:57for 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 opportunity

00:25:06put in front of me

00:25:07was amazing.

00:25:08So that definitely

00:25:09gave me motivation

00:25:10to really step back

00:25:11and think about the sport

00:25:12and how far I wanted

00:25:13to take it

00:25:14and wanted to really pursue it.

00:25:19But just when

00:25:20the world title fight

00:25:21was within his grasp,

00:25:23his partying ways

00:25:24finally catch up

00:25:25and his whole world

00:25:27comes crashing to a halt.

00:25:428th of January, 2008.

00:25:45Richie's mother was greeted

00:25:46with four 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

00:25:57of 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

00:26:09we all followed

00:26:09onto 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

00:26:17and ended up

00:26:18just 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

00:26:26of other guys

00:26:26who I was arguing

00:26:27with and that's

00:26:27where the fight started

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

00:26:36to 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

00:27:07through it as well

00:27:07which I'm pretty ashamed of.

00:27:11It took that situation

00:27:12for me to realise

00:27:13which way I was heading.

00:27:15If I get the way

00:27:16I 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 Vesulik

00:27:35on his way

00:27:35to a Golko's court.

00:27:37Is there anything

00:27:37you'd like to say

00:27:38to the victim?

00:27:38I remember seeing

00:27:39Rich on the news

00:27:40in handcuffs

00:27:41and it just freaked me out.

00:27:43Your heart just sinks.

00:27:44Like I wanted to know

00:27:45exactly what had happened

00:27:46what kind of trouble

00:27:47was he in

00:27:48if it was going to be alright.

00:27:49I was trying to ring him

00:27:50but obviously

00:27:51he 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 it was carrying on.

00:27:56You feel bad

00:27:56that maybe

00:27:57you could have done

00:27:58something more

00:27:58to stop it from happening

00:27:59and then

00:28:00it was too late now.

00:28:01He 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?

00:28:14She 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

00:28:27hand 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

00:28:36on any surf trips

00:28:37outside of Sydney.

00:28:40In the middle of Richie's

00:28:41court case

00:28:42he was just so down.

00:28:44I mean I could tell

00:28:45how much he regretted

00:28:46what he'd 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.

00:28:55It just so happened

00:28:56a huge swell popped up

00:28:57at Shipsterns

00:28:58and we 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

00:29:06and 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

00:29:14excited on 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

00:29:22off what was going on

00:29:23and keep him fit

00:29:24and focused.

00:29:27Here we go.

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

00:30:13for wildlife

00:30:13around the world.

00:30:14We just loved his character

00:30:15too the way

00:30:16he was such a great

00:30:17ambassador for Australia

00:30:18you know

00:30:18as he said

00:30:18he loved surfing

00:30:19he loved MMA.

00:30:32He was so unexpected

00:30:35and sad to see him go

00:30:36so I'm sure he would

00:30:37have been looking down

00:30:38and having a laugh

00:30:39at us you know

00:30:39going look at these idiots.

00:30:51I decided to put

00:30:52a helmet

00:30:52with a camera on it

00:30:54to get some

00:30:55point of view footage

00:30:56to show what

00:30:57we get to see

00:30:58when we're pulling

00:30:58into a big barrel

00:30:59at Shipsterns.

00:31:08This got absolutely smashed

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 on the day

00:31:23I think it would have

00:31:24been pretty shallow

00:31:25at the time

00:31:25I rolled up in the lip

00:31:27and the lips pushed me

00:31:28into the reef

00:31:29at 100 miles an hour

00:31:30and that's what's

00:31:31knocked me unconscious

00:31:31and busted my helmet.

00:31:34The first thing I 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 consciousness

00:31:42underwater

00:31:42and I had no idea

00:31:44where I was

00:31:45but everything was

00:31:46so 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 10 or 20 seconds

00:32:01it was like I was floating

00:32:02in the middle of nowhere

00:32:09the buoyancy belt

00:32:10I had on

00:32:11was 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 floating

00:32:14towards the surface

00:32:15of the water

00:32:17as soon as I broke

00:32:19the surface of the water

00:32:21it was like the pain

00:32:23from the injury

00:32:24just hit right at that point

00:32:26I just had the sharpest pain

00:32:28in my neck

00:32:29the back of my head

00:32:30and I felt pins 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

00:32:44terrifying

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 weren't

00:32:52to 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 wasn't going to be able

00:32:59to surf again as well

00:32:59so things couldn't have

00:33:00got any worse for us

00:33:01at 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 point

00:33:06I've ever been at

00:33:07it was just non-stop

00:33:09playing over in my head

00:33:10that I'd broken my neck

00:33:12I was never going to be able

00:33:13to 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 big waves again

00:33:33after seeing the footage

00:33:35of the wipeout

00:33:36and the damage

00:33:37caused 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

00:33:46which made Mark

00:33:47believe he had

00:33:48broken his 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 for

00:33:55was what the accident

00:33:56had done to me

00:33:57psychologically

00:33:59as soon as it became real

00:34:00that I was about to

00:34:01surf the waves again

00:34:02that's when I started

00:34:03just having the craziest

00:34:05nightmares

00:34:23nightmares

00:34:24about 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

00:34:31first 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

00:34:37put a foot in the water

00:34:37it was just exhausting

00:34:54I'd gotten over

00:34:56all those fears

00:34:56of surfing big waves

00:34:58when 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

00:35:04it 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

00:35:18no 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

00:35:36to 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

00:35:50soon

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

00:36:12it'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

00:36:17to going into that court

00:36:21about to walk down the court now

00:36:24get there and then

00:36:25I guess within a couple hours

00:36:27hopefully

00:36:27we'll have a result

00:36:28and nervous

00:36:29but hopefully

00:36:30it comes our way

00:36:32I'll see

00:36:37the thought of losing him

00:36:39to go to jail

00:36:40to go into jail

00:36:42for however 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

00:36:54he could cope with it

00:36:56basically

00:36:57we went in

00:36:58in the courts

00:36:59and the judge

00:37:00saw the night

00:37:00and the case

00:37:01and everything

00:37:02that was put forward

00:37:02for what it was

00:37:03and the victim

00:37:05admitted to drinking all night

00:37:07being with his friends

00:37:08and he said

00:37:09he wasn't a part of the brawl

00:37:10but his friends were

00:37:10and he was witnessing it

00:37:12he also admitted

00:37:13to watching myself

00:37:15get kicked in the face

00:37:16when I was on the ground

00:37:17and then he basically

00:37:19said I 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

00:37:25to give that verdict

00:37:26I was holding my breath

00:37:29because I was scared

00:37:30I was really scared

00:37:31and I can't describe it

00:37:37I'm sorry

00:37:37I was just so scared

00:37:38we were all out there

00:37:40on the drink

00:37:40and a brawl erupted

00:37:41and we all carried on

00:37:43like a bunch of idiots

00:37:44and he agreed

00:37:45that I was in 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 no conviction

00:37:53which at the end of the day

00:37:56that means

00:37:56there was nothing

00:37:57recorded against my name

00:37:58it wouldn't stop me

00:37:58from travelling overseas

00:37:59and pursuing my surfing

00:38:01or fighting career

00:38:03it was like

00:38:04I just wanted to

00:38:06jump up in the air

00:38:07and shout

00:38:08my mum

00:38:09more so than anybody

00:38:09has been torn up

00:38:10over all this

00:38:11to see her smile

00:38:13and realise it's all finished

00:38:14and it's over

00:38:15is just

00:38:15the best feeling

00:38:16just really looking forward

00:38:17to putting it all behind us

00:38:18and just getting on with life

00:38:20Rich came back

00:38:21from that last day in court

00:38:22and there was just like

00:38:23a spark in his eye

00:38:25like he was really excited

00:38:26to go out and surf

00:38:27and at the time

00:38:29I was still terrified

00:38:30of surfing anything real big

00:38:32but his excitement

00:38:33of wanting to chase us

00:38:35was just 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 reading

00:38:45a book that she had

00:38:46that she'd given me years ago

00:38:48that I'd never bothered to pick up

00:38:50for some reason

00:38:50I just picked it up

00:38:51at that time

00:38:52and it was pretty much

00:38:53life changing

00:38:54the book was all about

00:38:56a technique

00:38:57by questioning your thoughts

00:38:58when they come into your head

00:38:59you're able to detach

00:39:01from that thought emotionally

00:39:02like for me

00:39:03the emotional component

00:39:04was fear

00:39:05the thought came into my head

00:39:06that I was going to wipe out

00:39:08in this next world

00:39:09I was going to break my neck

00:39:11I was going to drown

00:39:12or something bad

00:39:12was going to happen

00:39:13the technique was to

00:39:14question my thoughts

00:39:15and you ask yourself

00:39:16three questions

00:39:17the first question

00:39:18you ask yourself is

00:39:19is that thought true

00:39:22I can't know

00:39:23definitely that that's going

00:39:24to happen in the future

00:39:25so no

00:39:26that thought in my head

00:39:27it's not true

00:39:28the second question is

00:39:30how does that thought

00:39:31make you feel

00:39:33it made me feel terrible

00:39:34made me anxious

00:39:35made me lose my confidence

00:39:37made me not want to go and surf

00:39:39and then the final question

00:39:40this is where the magic happens

00:39:42who would you be

00:39:43without that thought

00:39:45let the thought go

00:39:47don't think about it

00:39:48and straight away

00:39:48when you stop thinking about it

00:39:50that's when you realise

00:39:51that without that thought

00:39:53my body just felt relaxed

00:39:54I straight away felt confident

00:39:56and I started to become excited

00:39:58to surf big waves again

00:40:02the two boys set themselves a mission

00:40:05to be at the top of their game

00:40:07with Mark's eye on the biggest wave of the year prize

00:40:10at the Oakley Big Wave Award

00:40:27Mark Matthews is crazy

00:40:29oh I consider him

00:40:30yeah definitely top five hell man

00:40:32big gnarly

00:40:34whatever shit

00:40:35that people look at

00:40:36I've looked at a lot of his photos

00:40:38and I just went

00:40:38I don't want nothing to do with it

00:40:40it's crazy

00:40:40Mark Matthews has ridden

00:40:42the wave of his life

00:40:43at the Monster Energy Pro

00:40:45in Hawaii

00:40:46the 24 year old Sydney side

00:40:48are threading the thrilling

00:40:49five metre tubes

00:40:50of the Banzai pipeline

00:40:51to score himself

00:40:53a perfect

00:40:53ten points

00:40:55his incredible tube

00:40:56already been described as one of the all time

00:40:58great North Shore rides

00:41:00you know everything I see from him

00:41:01is just charging something big and mutant

00:41:03and you know

00:41:05it's a pretty specialised field that does that

00:41:08you know there's a lot of guys

00:41:09who will just go and charge big waves

00:41:11but then there's guys who can surf good too

00:41:12and surf big waves and small waves

00:41:14and I think Mark's pretty high on that totem pole

00:41:18Richie

00:41:19this crazy little brute

00:41:22I don't think he has no

00:41:24in his vocabulary you know

00:41:26he just goes for it

00:41:28some of the things that I've seen him go

00:41:30and I'll be pulling up marlins for sure

00:41:32on some of those waves

00:41:34he goes for it man

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 the best surfer in the world

00:41:42but he sure will fucking

00:41:45he'll go

00:41:47he'll go on anything

00:41:53we were like two little kids at Christmas time

00:41:55we were chasing every swell that popped up

00:41:57you know we were having more fun than we'd ever had

00:42:00and in between swells

00:42:02we were just doing all kinds of crazy training

00:42:04to help prepare ourselves

00:42:06for every swell that was going to pop up

00:42:08that year

00:42:08just trying to push each other you know

00:42:10I just wanted to get stronger

00:42:11and fitter and more confident

00:42:24I just knew I had to

00:42:25enthusiasm was definitely back

00:42:26and we were both pretty keen

00:42:28to make up for lost time I guess

00:42:29and push a bit harder

00:42:30to try and reach what we were trying to do

00:42:38I couldn't get another sponsor straight away

00:42:41and I just knew I had to

00:42:43maintain that level of exposure

00:42:45I got all my savings together

00:42:47and I spent that year

00:42:48chasing waves as hard as I could

00:42:50I had to keep believing that

00:42:52by the end of the year

00:42:53I was going to find another sponsor

00:43:00After 12 months

00:43:01both Mark and Richie

00:43:03gained substantial exposure

00:43:04in the surf media

00:43:05and Mark surfed

00:43:06some of the biggest waves

00:43:08he'd surf to date

00:43:09including this 20 foot

00:43:10plus wall of water

00:43:11which was recorded

00:43:12as the biggest wave ridden

00:43:14in Australia for the year

00:43:15and the winner of

00:43:16biggest wave ridden

00:43:17in 2008-2009

00:43:19is Mark Matthews

00:43:23you know I got to the

00:43:25final amount of dollars

00:43:26in my savings

00:43:27that won me that award

00:43:28with Rich's help

00:43:30and with some hard training

00:43:31I managed to turn it around

00:43:33and by the end of the year

00:43:34I'd turned a year

00:43:35that was the worst year of my life

00:43:37into one of the best

00:43:38that led straight into

00:43:39a three year deal

00:43:40with O'Neill

00:43:41and I was just like

00:43:42going from rock 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

00:43:52ruined my relationship

00:43:53it made it really hard

00:43:55to 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 on the road

00:44:03I was so focused

00:44:04at the time

00:44:05almost to the point

00:44:06of being selfish

00:44:07but I knew I had to be like that

00:44:09to have that career

00:44:10she was always second

00:44:12to surfing

00:44:12I 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 sort of

00:44:26talk too much

00:44:27about his parents splitting

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 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 that

00:44:42come to an end

00:44:42so I'm sure he was

00:44:43affected by it

00:44:44I know that I was

00:44:45and me and Lucy

00:44:45broke up after a few years

00:44:46you know as sad as I was

00:44:48when we broke up

00:44:49I just tried to use that

00:44:51and 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 to 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

00:45:13relationship did reflect

00:45:14in his surfing

00:45:15to sort of push him

00:45:16to another level

00:45:17it'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 the biggest

00:45:28wave 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

00:45:41I was just so happy

00:45:46to see Mark win that award

00:45:47and it 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 CFC

00:45:54world band and weight title

00:45:55in 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 his name

00:46:12in 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

00:46:18to spend the whole

00:46:19winter swell season

00:46:20in 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

00:46:33How 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

00:46:46if it's big

00:46:46you gotta want it

00:46:47cause 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

00:47:15it's all about getting back

00:47:15to your home

00:47:16and training with all your trainers

00:47:18from the bottom

00:47:18same place

00:47:19where the pain is

00:47:20to sitting on a plane

00:47:21on expenses

00:47:22paid 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 pit bus

00:47:28six run o'clock

00:47:30sluts want me to slay them

00:47:31and after I'm done

00:47:32I store the lips

00:47:33and erase them

00:47:34got 99 problems

00:47:35but a bitch

00:47:36I ain't chasing

00:47:37got all the signs

00:47:38on my mind

00:47:38yep I'm praying

00:47:39they say I'm crazy

00:47:42Richie's good man

00:47:43he's strong

00:47:44little guy

00:47:44when you surf those big waves

00:47:46you're not afraid of any man

00:47:47right

00:47:48the game got me busy

00:47:50like say

00:47:51like whiskey

00:47:52I'm made in a city

00:47:53make me

00:47:54make me

00:47:54know if I'll put them up

00:47:56south

00:47:56I'll keep them high

00:47:58east coast

00:47:59west coast

00:47:59reach for the sky

00:48:00stop

00:48:01I'll put them up

00:48:02no

00:48:02I'll keep them high

00:48:03east coast

00:48:04west coast

00:48:05reach for the sky

00:48:11a lot of strength and conditioning work

00:48:13and show me a whole bunch of stuff

00:48:15I hadn't seen before

00:48:15and it was really good

00:48:16to have a fresh approach

00:48:17on training

00:48:18put them up

00:48:21put them up

00:48:24put them up

00:48:27put them up

00:48:29I'm back

00:48:32I'm back

00:48:46when Rich heard that he was going to be training with BJ Penn

00:48:48you could just see how excited it made him

00:48:50and I guess it would be the exact same thing for me

00:48:52to be able to go surfing with Kelly Slater

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

00:49:03and fought guys much bigger than him

00:49:05which I admire

00:49:06and he's just such a great fighter to watch

00:49:08so to actually meet him

00:49:09and have the chance to train with him was great

00:49:10I definitely think MMA is a good outlet for kids

00:49:15because it teaches them discipline

00:49:17but it's not like trying to hammer discipline on them

00:49:19but as time goes on

00:49:21they start to realise

00:49:22with great power

00:49:24it becomes great responsibility

00:49:25and raise their self-confidence

00:49:27give them camaraderie

00:49:28with their training partners

00:49:29and it's really just a positive thing

00:49:31for the youth everywhere

00:49:33it's great to see their training

00:49:35and what level they're at

00:49:36but to meet him

00:49:37and realise that he's a cool guy

00:49:39and just a normal bloke

00:49:40and he's just like anyone else

00:49:42he just chose to dig deep

00:49:43it makes you realise it's all possible

00:49:45and if you want it you can have it

00:49:59so one minute, one minute

00:50:00and then we'll just do it

00:50:01probably about six minutes

00:50:02the guy might be real tired after three minutes

00:50:03but I'll keep switching him

00:50:06life is about second chances

00:50:07that's the mark of a man

00:50:09everybody can be happy

00:50:11and smiling

00:50:12and happy-go-lucky

00:50:12when everything's going well

00:50:14but when things go bad

00:50:15you can either give up

00:50:17and stay down

00:50:19or 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've got to keep fighting

00:50:25and you've got to keep going

00:50:27we all have had our trials

00:50:29and tribulations throughout our lives

00:50:31and you just can't stop

00:50:32you've got to move forward

00:50:39I'd gone from rock bottom

00:50:41to being back on top of the world

00:50:43and Rich was doing well

00:50:45this fight

00:50:45and we just wanted to keep the ball rolling

00:50:48but there was always just one thing

00:50:49eating away at me

00:50:50since the injury

00:50:52I'd never been back to surf at Shipsterns

00:50:54and it was like

00:50:55no 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

00:51:06I 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 Lucy had been broken 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

00:51:37on the odd few occasions

00:51:39that we would give each other a call and talk

00:51:41so we knew we could always call on each other

00:51:43for whatever reason

00:51:45leading 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

00:52:24he 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 of need

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 wasn't us just sort of 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 this kind of relationship

00:53:34would be suited

00:53:35if we were both five or ten years older

00:53:37you know

00:53:37so I don't know

00:53:39now that five years has been

00:53:40we're hanging back out

00:53:41so it's seemed a lot more possible

00:53:43Come save me now

00:53:45Come save me now

00:53:47Come save me now

00:53:50Come 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

00:54:02you know

00:54:02at home

00:54:03and I had a lot of

00:54:03friends and 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 of him fighting

00:54:15Everything's on the line

00:54:16you've got all your friends

00:54:17and family in the crowd

00:54:18the 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 CFC world title

00:54:30please welcome

00:54:31hailing from Maho

00:54:35Richie Penn

00:54:51you spin a wheel in your brain

00:54:52just hoping that you walk out of the cage

00:54:54and it lands on the right frame 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

00:55:01to be doing right now

00:55:01and fight in front of all these people

00:55:02and then the 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

00:55:06you know what I mean

00:55:07bouncing 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 that 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 so easily

00:55:34that 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 three five minute rounds

00:55:53this one is scheduled for five five minute rounds

00:55:56it's a tall order to go the distance

00:55:58and requires superhuman endurance

00:56:15he sees his advantage

00:56:18and a right hand

00:56:30the first round started off well

00:56:31I was stuck to the game plan

00:56:32and I felt my 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 you know very experienced

00:56:52and he was a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt

00:56:54so you know 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 in the dreaded arm bar lock

00:57:29a circumstance where the fighter will often tap out

00:57:32in order for his arm not to break

00:57:34but to tap out is to lose the bout

00:57:37I just thought you know the 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

00:57:44because it didn't look like Rich was going to tap

00:57:45and I was just going

00:57:47dude what's he going to sit here

00:57:48and watch this guy's arm break right now

00:57:51one thing I learned surfing big waves

00:57:53if you do find yourself in a bad situation

00:57:56you're under the water

00:57:56if you panic it'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 you know

00:58:02what you got to do to get yourself out of it

00:58:07this is the occasion you've been preparing for

00:58:10for you know for a long time

00:58:11and you're not just going to have that opportunity

00:58:13of getting that bill around your waist

00:58:14sort of slip by just by tapping

00:58:17so I was just going to give you know

00:58:20everything I could to try and escape the situation

00:58:28Richie's determination not to give up and tap out

00:58:31is as bewildering as it was miraculous

00:58:34you are an elastic man

00:58:40gosh

00:58:41I don't know if the guy knew he was going to break the arm or what

00:58:44and he just got a little slack for a second or whatever

00:58:46but Rich just like bent out of the thing somehow

00:58:50it's pretty crazy he's going to laugh no matter what happens

00:58:53I was grateful to get out of the arm bar obviously

00:58:55but I was kind of dirty for even letting myself get in that situation

00:58:58and I have to you know make it hard for myself to get out of it

00:59:01and you know and continue on to the fight

00:59:08he's in the third and starts with a great long right hand

00:59:25I was still standing able to try and throw punches into the last round

00:59:28but then again I felt fatigued and probably a little bit more tired than I would have liked

00:59:34Richie Bass needs a submission or a knockout

00:59:36it's going to be a very tough round for him

00:59:46Richie Bass they have gone the distance

00:59:49after getting almost knocked out in the first round

00:59:52and then withstanding an arm bar in 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 from the crowd

01:00:01and from the guy who's fine

01:00:03he's got a character where he just

01:00:05it's not an option to fail

01:00:07he wants to succeed

01:00:08he needs to succeed

01:00:10ladies and gentlemen

01:00:11after five rounds of action

01:00:12we went to the tennis scorecard

01:00:14so we have a decision

01:00:15and new

01:00:17back away

01:00:18CFC world champion

01:00:22Cristobal

01:00:24Garcia Rodney

01:00:28I ended up getting beat on points

01:00:29yeah I was gutted

01:00:30I didn't even think about losing in 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 to take out of it

01:00:42he 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

01:00:56I was pretty emotional

01:00:57not winning the fight

01:00:58but having Lucy there

01:00:59and realising not all was lost

01:01:01and that it'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 that 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

01:01:44that I'm in a relationship with 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 yeah

01:01:50I wanted to give another proper crack

01:01:54that's as official as it gets these days

01:01:56like

01:01:56you can like

01:01:57hide your wedding ring

01:01:59but you can't really hide

01:02:00your 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 to kick in

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 was actually in Australia

01:02:32and he'd 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 Shipsterns 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 Avedon

01:02:47the guy that made my career possible

01:02:48from 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

01:02:54well I lift you up

01:02:58well I lift you up

01:02:59well I lift you up

01:03:01well I lift you up

01:03:05well I lift you up

01:03:07well I lift you up

01:03:08well I lift you up

01:03:09well I lift you up

01:03:10well I lift you up

01:03:11well I lift you up

01:03:12well I lift you up

01:03:13well I lift you up

01:03:14well I lift you up

01:03:16well I lift you up

01:03:45It was probably the most nervous I've ever been in the surf, you know, I'd flomp 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.

01:04:04If I was going to wipe out, he was going to be there and I could see that he had

01:04:08the confidence

01:04:09in me that I was going to be able to do this.

01:04:14If I could play any part in getting his confidence back and then seeing him surf those waves again,

01:04:19I'd do anything.

01:04:19I 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.

01:04:44I had to do it.

01:04:46No matter what the wave was going to do, I was going it.

01:04:48What the wave was going to do?

01:06:22As I hit the wave surface, I'd fall.

01:06:25I 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.

01:06:56You know what's about to happen.

01:06:57And then all of a sudden it just goes, boom, like the craziest loud noise just smashes you

01:07:05into 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.

01:07:12And I was just tucking up.

01:07:13And I was just like, please don't hit the bottom.

01:07:15Please don't hit the bottom.

01:07:16I'll 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.

01:07:56He had 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, all right, I'm back.

01:08:05I was ready to take on anything after that.

01:08:08That was like a great relief, and if there was any concerns about surfing shibis again,

01:08:12they were definitely gone.

01:08:38Mark was finding that passion and that desire to surf big waves again by going down to ship's

01:08:42turns and surfing again, and that's exactly what I wanted to do in my fighting.

01:08:46I wanted to get back in there and prove to myself and prove to everyone who was there

01:08:49to support me that I was better than that last performance.

01:08:54After that loss, I was trying to be positive and remain upbeat, but, you know, I still

01:08:58just couldn't get out of the fact that I felt like I blew it.

01:09:02Going away with Kelly shortly after it, going to surf ship's turns, he's obviously been

01:09:06through so much in his career, ups and downs, and he just shed a new light on it, you know,

01:09:10not to worry. He kind of put it in perspective for me and just made me feel better about the

01:09:14situation.

01:09:14You know, honestly, I would probably argue that having that loss with Danny was the best

01:09:18thing I'd ever had in my career, and it's, you know, I think if you look at anyone's stories

01:09:24of their lives, any person, you know, it's in real sort of deep despair or a bad loss or,

01:09:31you know, something seemingly terrible happens in your life where you can find what life's

01:09:36about, you know, or why you do what you do. You know, for me, it was to re-energize what

01:09:42I do and find, like, a new life in it. You know, for Richie, that could be, it could be

01:09:47the 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.

01:09:57So if he can give you any advice on how to deal with loss and how to remain positive,

01:10:03yeah, you'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 and

01:10:19losing every time, you know, but to be okay with that you have already lost. Just process

01:10:24it, get through it, learn from it. You don't learn until you're shown something. You know,

01:10:29even from a little kid, you can't expect to get up and run when you come out of the womb,

01:10:32you know. 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. If I didn't win this next

01:10:49fight, my dreams and my goals of fighting on those massive stages, it would seem more distant.

01:10:57It's important to get a winner and keep those dreams alive, I guess.

01:11:10Straight away, we got in there and I worked for the cleanse, got the cleanse 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 was just that nervous. I was just going, tap, tap, tap, please tap.

01:11:31I was just going, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.

01:11:38Thanks, Dave.

01:12:00And now, with six MMA fights and five victories, Richie LeVeux!

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

01:12:23matured me, which I don't know where I would have got them from had I not got involved

01:12:27in the sport.

01:12:28So, definitely they helped mould me to the person I am today.

01:12:39Definitely helped me resurrect my relationship with Lucy and just really appreciate it.

01:12:43If it wasn't for my friends around me and Lucy, things would have been different.

01:12:46So, I'm pretty happy that they are.

01:12:48He's obviously matured a lot.

01:12:50He's gone through a lot.

01:12:51Those pitfalls that he had in his life has obviously changed him as a person.

01:12:54But the relationship now is different in the sense that it's a relationship based on a

01:12:59big foundation of friendship.

01:13:06I don't reckon there's any way either of us on our own would have gotten to where we

01:13:10are 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

01:13:20that'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

01:13:42world.

01:13:42My dream is to one day be in the UFC and be on shows of that calibre.

01:13:46After years of getting things wrong, I finally don't understand what has to be done to reach

01:13:50that level and become a professional athlete and do the right thing.

01:13:53I don't have any plans.

01:13:55I'm giving up one for the other.

01:13:57I believe I can really push both as far as I can go.

01:13:59The goal is to be on the world stage in both sports.

01:14:06He was so, he was so, he was so.

01:14:17Falling the sweet between my teeth, trying to find the in-between.

01:14:25That's my Matthew.

01:14:31my dreams are just to enjoy what i'm doing for the next five years like as amazing as it is

01:14:36being a professional surfer it's still easy to get complacent and find everything negative about

01:14:42it the travel and being away from home i see parts of richie and lucy's relationship that

01:14:48i really do want companionship always having someone like that there for you to rely on

01:14:53but for me just the way i'm traveling 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 but i'm so happy just with the friends and

01:15:03the family that i've got that you know i don't feel like i need to have that other one strong

01:15:07relationship i'd rather just spend my time with my family my friends and my career definitely in

01:15:12the next five or ten years i'd love to have kids i can't wait but i don't think i'll be

01:15:17risking my

01:15:17life the way i do when i have kids and just be selfish

01:16:48Mark always believed it was possible, you know, surfing hours at night, surfing hours

01:16:52at 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

01:17:01to put all these massive lights in place, get the insurance, get the permits, get everything

01:17:07together and pull off something that was just a dream in the past.

01:17:11People were advising us against it for all sorts of reasons, but pretty much made our

01:17:15decision and we had the confidence we could pull it off, so sometimes you've got to back

01:17:18yourself, I guess.

01:17:19Ours is the most dangerous wave in the world, size for size, and the waves at the opening

01:17:23of Botany Bay, so the big swell lines charging out of deep water, they fold over themselves,

01:17:29pitch onto this reef ledge that's only one or two feet deep.

01:17:32Below that is just razor blade barnacles, and then ten feet down the line from that is

01:17:38a cliff face, so if you don't hit the bottom, get cut on the barnacles, you'll get smashed

01:17:44in the cliff.

01:17:45You know, there's been crazy cuts from the rocks.

01:17:48I dislocated my hip out there once, burst eardrums, there's been a 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

01:18:10all there so it helps you switch on and try and do your best.

01:18:12You know, doing all that in the day is hard, but you can pull it off, but doing it in

01:18:17the

01:18:17night was just something else.

01:18:19Nobody sleep, nobody get hurt.

01:18:22Nobody sleep, nobody get hurt.

01:18:26Nobody sleep, nobody get hurt.

01:18:30Nobody sleep, nobody get hurt.

01:18:35The night comes crashing in

01:18:38And the madness rush begins

01:18:42On the road to anywhere

01:18:46On the road to anywhere

01:18:53Everybody sleep, nobody get hurt.

01:19:12Want to put it in

01:19:13We're Jacob

01:19:14On the road to nowhereальные

01:19:25He's so cool, all you gotta do is follow the rules

01:19:30Follow 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

01:19:51The night comes crashing in

01:19:56The madness flash begins

01:20:00On the road to anywhere

01:20:03On the road to anywhere

01:20:10Nobody sleep

01:20:22The night comes crashing in

01:20:24The night comes crashing in

01:20:25The night comes crashing in

01:20:28The night comes crashing in

01:20:32The night comes crashing in

01:20:36The night comes crashing in

01:20:39The night comes crashing in

01:20:40The night comes crashing in

01:20:41The night comes crashing in

01:20:42The night comes crashing in

01:20:47The night comes crashing in

01:20:48The night comes crashing in

01:20:52Now the place is rockin' in full swing

01:20:55Everyone says hi, yes, yeah I mean

01:20:57I walk in and see everybody

01:20:58Eat biscuits like this at a big party

01:21:00Even goody goodies have a little bit of cheap

01:21:03We all got demons in the fridge

01:21:05Anything goes up and he's so cool

01:21:07All 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's just unreal

01:21:41It's just something to be a part of

01:21:42It's definitely something you'll remember forever

01:21:45It was just surreal to end the surf

01:21:47As 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

01:21:59I guess anything's impossible

01:22:08Everything's impossible

01:22:18Everything's impossible

01:22:38Every time there's something else there

01:22:40And the purple sky comes out

01:22:43Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

01:22:49See, now we've lost big night's end

01:22:51Still the sad eyes can't be found

01:22:54Oh, oh, oh, oh

01:22:57Oh, oh, oh, oh

01:22:59And I try to find the feeling

01:23:02The fear that God's been fighting all night long

01:23:08So good it got me wrong

01:23:10I tried to hide the emptiness inside

01:23:13The essence of this pill's got me living that damn life

01:23:16I'm trapped in my own ways in a cave with my key

01:23:19What can I say? It's the animal in me

01:23:21Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh

01:23:24With every step I'll take I'll see the truth

01:23:30And it's all in you

01:23:32Whoa-oh-oh-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

01:23:49Whoa-oh-oh-oh

01:23:52Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh

01:23:54In my head I'm dumping pounds

01:23:57Something's gotta give right now

01:24:00Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh

01:24:04And I try to find the feeling

01:24:08The feeling's got me fighting all night long

01:24:14So good it got me 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 got me wrong

01:24:27Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

01:24:30With every step I'll take I'll see the truth

01:24:35And it's all in you

01:24:40With every triumph comes a new breakthrough

01:24:46Much better than you knew

01:25:13Oh, with every step I'll take and see the truth

01:25:19And it's all in you

01:25:22Oh, with every triumph comes a new breakthrough

01:25:30Much better than you knew

01:25:33Oh, I feel my body standing strong again

01:25:41And I feel no pain

01:25:44Oh, with all this sunshine where there was only rain

01:25:52And I feel no pain

01:25:57Don't ever look back

01:26:00Don't ever look back

01:26:25Don't ever look back

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