00:00One of the most controversial topics that we've seen,
00:03the use of ayahuasca in professional sports.
00:06Now, before we get into that, I want to play a clip of Dana White,
00:09because Dana White, he was asked about it,
00:11and he had this funny thing to say.
00:12Can we play the clip back there, Daniel?
00:13You'll clue it.
00:14Do you know that Deontay Wilder went and did ayahuasca?
00:18I did know that.
00:19I know a bunch of guys who've done ayahuasca,
00:21and they have not been the same since.
00:23Changes something about you.
00:25Or lovey-dovey.
00:26Or, uh, yeah.
00:27Will you ever do it?
00:29Never in a million fucking years.
00:31So you can see Dana White hysterically said
00:34he would never in a million years do it.
00:36I mean, he's such a micro-manager that I can't...
00:38Nunca diga nunca peloncin.
00:39I can't imagine him, like, letting go at all.
00:41But he makes a funny point.
00:43He says that there's a lot of fighters doing ayahuasca,
00:45and they're never the same.
00:45Now, I've done ayahuasca many times.
00:48It's been part of my spiritual practice,
00:49although I'm kind of done with that.
00:50I feel that once you've done it and you've got what you need...
00:53Get completion out of it.
00:54...you integrate.
00:55But he makes an interesting point.
00:56He says that fighters are never the same.
00:58Now, there's a lot of other athletes that have tried ayahuasca.
01:01And for people that don't know what ayahuasca is,
01:02I should probably explain.
01:03It is a brew that originates from the Amazon.
01:06So it's very popular in Peru, Colombia, Brazil,
01:08where they take the root of one plant, the ayahuasca plant,
01:11and they mix it with the leaves of the chacruna plant,
01:14and it creates a DMT, kind of like mushrooms.
01:17Yep.
01:18And you do it in a ceremonial setting with a shaman,
01:20and you go deep,
01:22and if you believe in it in the spiritual realm,
01:24you're going to the spirit realm.
01:25I've done it many times.
01:26It's been very rewarding, very healing,
01:27but it's something very serious
01:29because you're also bringing back up past traumas.
01:32Yep.
01:33You're also...
01:33You know, you're getting in touch
01:35with a very sensitive side of your soul,
01:36if you believe you have a soul,
01:37or your mind, or your heart.
01:38So I can see how people are different afterwards.
01:40So I think that it's very beneficial to a lot of athletes.
01:43Aaron Rodgers is a popular proponent of it.
01:45You can watch, actually, his documentary on Netflix
01:47and see him.
01:48Many players, many.
01:48Deontay Wilder.
01:49Yeah.
01:49We have Jordan Payer as well.
01:52NFL players are in search of more meaning.
01:56I think professional athletes sometimes find themselves
01:58with existential crises because the sport is so physical.
02:02Focus so much on your body, right?
02:05Not so much in your spirit and your mind
02:06that some of these players go,
02:08Dana, for me, it's very clear.
02:09It's not surprising that all these guys
02:11go have a profound spiritual experience,
02:14and they come out the other side
02:15not feeling like they need to beat people up, bro.
02:18That's the thing.
02:19So with fighting, how does it work with fighting?
02:21Because I can see, you know, other sports,
02:23it's not as important that you basically hit another person.
02:27You don't have that rage.
02:28So, you know, with fighting,
02:30there was one of the first UFC fighters,
02:32God, his name is slipping right now,
02:35Kingsbury, actually.
02:36Kyle Kingsbury.
02:37He was the first one to do ayahuasca.
02:38He had one more fight after that,
02:40and then he retired.
02:40He said that he just couldn't find himself.
02:43He also said that he ate mushrooms before a fight.
02:45He couldn't find himself wanting to actually fight.
02:47It's a very visceral sport, combat sport.
02:49I agree. I agree.
02:50Now, I'm the kind of person that I think
02:52that when you go into a professional fight,
02:54you don't have to have rage,
02:55you don't have to have, you know...
02:57You're a professional.
02:58That's what you do.
02:58Well, it's also, you can...
02:59When I used to do kickboxing training,
03:02not actually professionally,
03:03you know, and I would sport,
03:04I didn't need to be mad.
03:07If I got mad, it actually took me off my game.
03:09So, for me, it was the sweet science.
03:11But I do...
03:12Well, a lot of these athletes in MMA,
03:15in mixed martial arts,
03:17they come from a place of anger and rage
03:19that they are working through these fights.
03:21They really have to objectify their opposition
03:25in order to be detached enough
03:28to beat up someone to the point that they need to be.
03:30Because they fight till they're dead in their minds
03:33until they tap them out and you're done.
03:35Like, they have to stop you.
03:36They have to restrain you.
03:37You have to go into that place.
03:39And ayahuasca might rewire the brain
03:42to prevent you from going into those places.
03:44That's exactly what it is.
03:45And I think it's not only rewiring the brain,
03:47it's actually connecting you more with your heart
03:49to get a little spiritual.
03:50People are going to be like,
03:50what are you watching, a sports show?
03:51Or like some self-help show.
03:53Abrazos, no.
03:54It does do that.
03:55So, I can understand...
03:56You know, sometimes when you're in a combat sport,
03:59it's not so much about being mad at the other person,
04:01but it's also not giving a care
04:03about that person's health or injuries.
04:05Because you have to punch them.
04:07You have to kick them.
04:08Same thing in football.
04:09When you lay down a hit,
04:10yeah, there's a lot of rules
04:11that we're trying to make it safer.
04:12But you've got to give it all.
04:13You've got...
04:13You can't really...
04:14You can't have in the back of your head,
04:16I've got to put that.
04:16And sometimes there's that praying element
04:19to the sport, right?
04:21Yes.
04:21Especially combat sports
04:22or like physical sports,
04:23like football.
04:24Ota, min el otro fútbol.
04:25Where you go...
04:26I've seen some tackles
04:28in el fútbol,
04:29my friend.
04:31These are vicious, vicious behaviors.
04:32Yeah, you could change somebody's life.
04:34Now, let me ask you something,
04:35just on the psychedelic thing,
04:36because it is very popular now,
04:37not just in sports,
04:38but outside of sports and society,
04:40you know,
04:40with the legalization of cannabis.
04:42And now people are talking about
04:43whether they're going to legalize
04:44psilocybin.
04:44There's so many new psychedelic drugs
04:47that have been entered in the discourse
04:48and they have been widely accepted.
04:50And I think that it is good
04:52that we allow athletes
04:54to explore their mental health
04:56in many directions.
04:57These guys are under so much pressure.
04:59Like we said before,
05:00some of these players
05:01actually have mental damage
05:03from the physical impact
05:07that they experience on the games.
05:09So I feel like it's correct
05:10that if the science and the society
05:13are getting open
05:13and more accepting
05:15of alternative therapies
05:16and alternative procedures
05:18that you can go through
05:19and experiences that you can have
05:20in order to connect better
05:22with yourself.
