International Fugitive to UFC Top 10

Ian Heinisch1:20

For sure. Yeah.

Ian Heinisch1:28

Yeah.

Ian Heinisch1:45

Yeah."

Ian Heinisch2:01

Correct. Correct. My first year of wrestling I lost every single tournament.

Ian Heinisch2:05

And then the second year uh it was summer. Everyone kind of like takes a break in summer and I went my I told my dad I'm all in and he put me in like summer camp after like I spent my whole summer in wrestling camps. Came back the next year in one state.

Ian Heinisch2:31

Yeah. And it's good for a kid to get mad I think when they lose. You know it shows they have that competitive spirit. You have to have that like

That thing inside you that pisses you off. Like losing pisses you off

And you're like I I'll do whatever to not lose again. And uh that's that's a good thing. You can't really teach that type of competitiveness.

Ian Heinisch2:55

No, they got divorced. Um, at that time they were married and uh they got divorced like towards the end of my high school. Yeah, we so I mean I had a pretty good I had a great childhood I would say. It's not like it's not like most kids where you grow up in the ghetto [snorts] especially with like the life that I lived. But I just had this like crazy energy, bro. Like it was just nuts. And uh you know doctors diagnosed it with ADD, ADHD, gave me a fat script aderal and uh you know I just started going down smoking weed, drinking and at a very young age like my parents partied a lot.

They had a lot of parties and so you know I dabbled and and just coming from that generational like long line of addiction like it seems like everybody on my dad's side struggles with addiction

In one way, shape or form. It's a different for everyone, but you know, I was just uh I was just going hard, bro. Like like anything you could give me like like especially at that young of age like sniffing Coke, popping X, doing Xanax, you know.

Ian Heinisch3:58

Uh probably like 15 or 16.

Ian Heinisch4:15

Yeah. It's crazy to think like, especially I look at a 15-year-old, I was like,

Ian Heinisch4:22

Oh, dude. I had the worst comedowns off that stuff. Like, I couldn't I couldn't do it without alcohol or Xanax

Ian Heinisch5:15

I know. What a nasty drug.

Ian Heinisch5:18

It seriously is, dude. Like, that was that was the first time I experienced that, too. I was in Colombia uh trafficking and uh the guy I'm with, he's we we're like sniffing lines and and like we have as much as we want cuz it's a buck a buck a gram down there. We got kilos. And uh and I'm doing like line after line and he's like [snorts and snoring] like falls asleep and I'm looking at him like bro how are you sleeping right now? And like I had argue I could have went to the pharmacy and stuff but dude I was like that is like those Colombians are different bro.

They can just do a little and go to sleep. It's just normal.

Ian Heinisch6:02

Yeah. So I'm I'm crushing it in wrestling, man. Just, you know, when I came into high school, it was I should have been a state champ my my freshman year. I beat the three-timer at regionals. Just embarrassed him. And his brother was a four-timer. And then I went to state, faced him again in the finals. And it was kind of like an intimidation thing he had on me. His brother was going to Air Force. He was a four-timer. He was a three-timer. and I choked at state but took second.

And then uh my sophomore year took second at Iron Man. No one's ever done that in Colorado. I think one other guy has now. And uh you know I think it was my junior year started to just get heavier and heavier into it. And uh I fell asleep on driving on the way home getting ready for a wrestling tournament the next day like two bottles of Southern Comfort in probably some Coke. fell asleep at the wheel was seeing double. Drove off the road, missed a tree in a sign by inches and that was like one of the first times like God like saved my life.

Woke up in my Mustang. It was a little bit of snow out. Wheels were spinning. My foot was still on the gas. Got out of the car and just ran home.

Ian Heinisch7:07

Yeah.

Ian Heinisch7:09

I did. My wrestling coach rolled up. I had mud all over my jeans. Didn't know if I was going to make weight. I guess my parents were trying to wake me up like all morning, like an hour. They called my wrestling coach. He drove down. I guess he walked in was like, "E." And I was like, "Yes, sir." Popped right up. And the bad part was I went out there and won the tournament.

Ian Heinisch7:29

Yeah. I pinned my way through state. This was a different tour. It was a big tournament. Wasn't state, but uh

I uh I won that tournament that I was hammered. And so, like then it gave me this cocky attitude. Oh, I can party and still beat these guys. But yeah, I pinned my way through stateh sophomore year, pinned my way through state junior year, and then got expelled. my senior year.

Ian Heinisch7:50

Uh so after the car accident, I was just getting progressively worse and worse and uh my parents actually sent me off to a place called Turnabout Ranch. It was like a rehab. They had transporters snatch me up in the middle of night time.

Ian Heinisch8:12

Yeah.

Ian Heinisch8:15

Yeah. I mean, they just I respected them, they respected me. It was actually I didn't see anything wrong. Like, I'm still actually friends with some of those guys cuz they put you in a circle of rocks. They take your shoes off. You got to write like an autobiography for however it's got to be like 18 or if you're 16, it's got to be 16 page autobiography. If you try to run, they say, "Go for it. Try to run cactus, snakes, and we'll just chase you down with horses and hog tie you." And uh you sleep on a board with no pillow.

And then like after a week in the the the circle of rocks, you and you're like cooking rice. I mean, it's a detox type thing. And it's like,

Ian Heinisch8:56

No, you come in the cabin at night and they just give you this like board that folds open with bolts and you just sleep on that board with a sleeping bag, no pillow.

Okay.

Ian Heinisch9:06

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You got you got some clothes,

Ian Heinisch9:09

No shoes.

Ian Heinisch9:13

Yeah. And you just sit there all day for like

Ian Heinisch9:18

I mean you No, no chair. You're just in the dirt just like walking around. You're you're trying to write your autobiography. Yeah. Do

Ian Heinisch9:25

You got a little like tent with shade? No. You you just have a notepad like that.

Ian Heinisch9:30

So you're just trying to get this thing done and then you graduate and then you get to sleep on a bunk bed and then

Wait a minute. After how many days is this? I think it's 5 days to a week.

Ian Heinisch9:45

No, I was chilling. It was It was interesting. I was just like I was just like in a fog, bro, because of how much I've been partying. And so, it was just like

Ian Heinisch9:57

Not yet.

Ian Heinisch10:01

No, I mean from the alcohol a little bit. I was drinking every day, so sweating and, you know, shaking a little bit.

Ian Heinisch10:13

I mean, dude, the rocks are like this big. They're just like if you leave this circle of rocks

Ian Heinisch10:19

Will like basically just like tie you up and drag you back. Yeah. It's just a marker, but like

Ian Heinisch10:26

No. Like, dude, you're 100 miles from the next town and you're surrounded by mountains. You're in the middle of a valley.

So, like if you try to go running, there's cactuses everywhere.

You got no shoes on. You got no shoes on, bro. And they're and they're on horseback and they're going to get you

Ian Heinisch10:41

Yeah, they're nuts. Like they're like cowboys, you know,

Ian Heinisch10:45

Yeah. Yeah. Especially the first guy. Um and then and then you move to the next house up and then they give you a horse, they give you a job, you got to take care of the horse, you got to work on cars. I mean, it it was it was a good experience, right?

Ian Heinisch10:59

3 months.

And what were the other kids like there? uh all different walks of life like like uh you know there was heroin, there was like uh meth. There was kids that were just addicted to their computer like that were just like super weirdo like nerds that like tweaked out if you took their iPad or their computer. I guess they really have iPads back then. But uh it was all walks of life, man. It was like people with depression, anger issues, like it was

Scraps. Was it like a prison? No, it was just like uh No, it I mean there was some couple scraps for sure. Like uh but there was it wasn't like a prison. It was just some young kids like it it cost us some money. My mom's was a personal assistant and her boss actually paid for it cuz Oh, really?

Yeah. Yeah. Cuz they knew I was bad. So I came back from there and you know it helped for a little while. Like it really gave me a a new perspective but it didn't like there was no change in here. like I wasn't like they were pushing us to go to church and stuff, but I wasn't ready to change in here. So, so I I I jumped back in with my old buddies and just started partying again. The final straw at school was uh

Um it was just like I smelt like weed. I got into big trouble cuz I they searched my my dad's truck who's a roofer and I you know my dad owned a roofing company just two guys him and his partner and uh they found a knife in there like a big like Boeing kn but I'm like dude he's a roofing truck and they we fought it to the end and they hit me with like a big charge on that.

Ian Heinisch12:30

Yeah.

Ian Heinisch12:34

Yeah. and and they they kind of had a vendetta on me so it was like they weren't going to drop it.

Ian Heinisch12:39

But it was stupid. Like

Ian Heinisch12:42

No, no, no, not cuz of that. But then it was like, you know, my my wrestling coach was the athletic director and just my senior year I walked in class smelt like weed. Like I just had smoked. And finally they brought me in. They're like, "Ian, you smell like weed." They're like, "You're a habitual offender."

Ian Heinisch13:07

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I would have failed anyway, so I was smoking weed, so I couldn't really deny it. But

Ian Heinisch13:28

Yeah. uh my wrestling my coach Tim Alman

Ian Heinisch13:33

He couldn't reel it in and and it was real it was honestly that the the part that hurt the most when I got he brought me in his office. He goes Ian I've pulled so many strings for you bro. He goes you just don't help me. He's like I got you're you're expelled.

Ian Heinisch15:35

Yeah.

Ian Heinisch15:48

I know. I know. That's why I have a heart for, you know, I feel like God puts you through these these trials and these life situations and and uh now like if I see a kid in that situation, I have like a compassion for him and and I like to go out of my way to, you know, and and the thing is I've noticed with kids like that, I never tell them what to do because if you tell me what to do, I would do the opposite.

I would just say, "This is where this path leads and this is where this path leads." And I promise you, I've tried both and and you're on this path. So, just let you know. And and maybe sometimes it gets through their head. But yeah, so I got expelled. I just partied all year. Um, you know, it was just cuz we had like a pool, so we were having chicks over and just like it was just it was kind of nuts. And then I started dating this younger girl, 16, Val Victorian, like super good girl, parents, loaded.

And uh I was like, I want to go to senior nationals. It's like the Super Bowl of your wrestling crew. You got to be a state champ to even qualify to go to senior nationals.

And every I told my dad, he laughed in my face. I told

Because I hadn't been training.

Ian Heinisch16:52

All these guys are training like consistently at school and I'm partying lolly gagging around. So everybody I told even like my old coaches, they laughed at me. And this chick, she goes, "I believe in you. I'll pay for everything."

And she's like, "We'll go out there and do it." So we she flew us out to Virginia Beach. We hopped in the hotel. Kind of a ghetto hotel. I was like kind of crazy for I was 18, she's 16 and uh we we get in this hotel room and uh right away they pound on the door b and uh this dude opens. I'm like, "What are you doing, bro?" He goes, "Oh man, I just got that coke next door if you need some." And I'm like, "Bro, no." Like I slam the door.

Ian Heinisch17:33

Just dude, I'm telling you, it was it was ghetto.

Ian Heinisch17:36

Yeah. Like and she was young. I'm trying to think. It was like either I was 17, she was 16, or or she was 17 and I was 18. So like we were young. We were uh and we just went on our own. And it just shows it was kind of a ghetto hotel. We're Virginia Beach. It was spring break. Uh

So I'm getting ready to weigh in for the tournament the next day. And I'm I'm sitting in there. She falls asleep all early and I'm like, "Let me have a couple beers." I'm drinking beers. I hear next door. And of course my mind starts going. So I was like, I'm just going to go over there, get one gram, blah blah blah. So I go over there, I'm just sniffing this gram. I'm like, man, you dumbass. You got to rest till tomorrow. You got to make weight.

So I like finish. I'm just chugging beers to try to go pass out. Pass out. Wake up the next morning. So mad at myself, bro. It's just like it just shows like I was like I cannot get away from this. And uh I just remember doing sprints. I had no warm-up partner. I was like, I'm just gonna like I made weight somehow and I was like I'm just going to mentally go through this. I won my first three matches and I went against the guy who who won the whole thing.

Lost by one point and I had to wrestle eight matches back and I got fourth and everybody in front of me was already signed to D1. So I had a line full of recruiters.

I got offered a full ride scholarship to Boston University. I mean, dude, when I was it was crazy. I'd be like trying to copy off these nerd chicks and they would open the classroom door and come in. I had a handwritten letter from Yale and Cornell to come wrestle for them.

Ian Heinisch19:05

Yeah. And like, so I was getting all these letters. All the nerd girls were jealous and mad at me cuz I was just pissing it away.

Ian Heinisch19:12

Of course, they looked into it and they're like, "Oh, you got expelled, bro. You're not going to D1. You're going to Jo, you know." And so I then I went out and uh I went out to Northern Idaho um on a recruiting trip day one with my two best buddies, bro. And uh one person would drink, when you're done drinking, you go to sleep. When you're done uh sleeping, you drive. And we just rotated like that. And we showed up, bro. And first day picked up four charges

Ian Heinisch19:40

We were drunk walking down the street. Uh he wrote me a a bike cop rolled up to me.

Ian Heinisch19:47

Let me see your ID. He goes, "Oh, you're drinking underage." I ripped the ticket up, threw it in his face, walked away. Then he wrote me a littering ticket. Then I ran. Then he wrote me evading arrest. Then I spit on the cop car. He wrote me uh disturbing the peace. So I picked up four charges. My buddy had just met a girl. She co-signed to get me out. Don't worry, he's going to college here. Blah blah blah. Bailed me out the next morning. And yeah, I ended up going to the college for a little while, but it was another opportunity.

I pay for my books, my apartment, my school, and uh gave me a little money in a bank account. And I just blew through it all. I wrestled. I partied, but I didn't go to school.

Ian Heinisch20:26

Uh, I just left. That was when my parents got divorced. So, my parents got divorced. It was 2008, 2009. Um, they had like three rentals in Denver. They sold them all to put this big new addition on their house, took out a loan for it, and then the housing market crisis hit, and they decided to divorce, and they tried to sell their house, and they couldn't even sell it as much as the loan was worth, so they lost everything. Damn.

Ian Heinisch20:53

[ __ ]

Yeah. So my parents went back to like back to zero.

Ian Heinisch21:01

Yes. Well, I was in northern Idaho and I was just like hearing all this stuff go down. My this [ __ ] neighbor we didn't like shot our dogs. Yeah, dude. He our dogs ran on us cuz our dogs they were like one was a Alaskan malamute. So like he was like part wolf, you know? So he would kill deer. So, he's chasing deer on a property and this dude just shot it. And so, like I was flipping out about that and it was just like it was just

Ian Heinisch21:39

I know. That's how it was.

So, what happened? Well, luckily my dad was out and I was going to go kill him and then uh

Ian Heinisch21:52

Yeah. And uh you know, by the time I got back, people talk sense and like, dude, you're not it's not worth going jail for life over a dog, you know, and

And uh so we all kind of really It was just it was just a dark time. My sister was, you know, in shambles. She was still like a sophomore or something in high school. Yeah.

Ian Heinisch22:10

Yeah. She was four years younger than me. And uh

Ian Heinisch22:15

Uh no, she's straight edge. I mean, she's got a super highpaying job. Married uh [snorts] an oil engineer um or petroleum engineer. And she basically went the opposite way.

Ian Heinisch22:31

No, just struggling with the divorce. Oh, I got you. It was just it was just tough time in the family. Dogs get killed, divorce, you know, lose the house, lose everything. [snorts] They're renting. Everybody's struggling with money. Yeah. Yeah. So, I came back and I was just like, man, school ain't for me. What a joke. Like, I don't even know why I tried that. And then, you know, I had the cops showing up to the house. Like, we still had the house till it was foreclosed on.

Cops are showing up running up trees and stuff. I had all these petty warrants and I'm just like, dude, I had like minor in possession, all this stupid stuff. But I was like, "No way am I doing probation and I'm not going back to jail cuz I I did 10 days because I had like throughout my high school career I had like a DUI. I had all these things and they put me on probation and I wouldn't comply." So finally I just went to the judge and I just won national term.

I brought my trophy. I said, "How much time can I do just to get this to go away?" And she said, "10 days." So I did 10 days.

Ian Heinisch23:25

Like two years.

Ian Heinisch23:28

Yeah. So I knew I wasn't going to comply. So, um, a girl that I was that I dated in high school, she said, "Hey, I moved out to Vancouver, Canada. You if I'll fly you out, it come be my prom date." And I was like, "Well, I ain't got nothing going on, so let's check it out." So, I flew to Seattle. She picked me up, drove me across the border, and I just fell in love with Canada. Vancouver was beautiful, bro. We're in Kalano.

Ian Heinisch23:52

It really is.

Ian Heinisch23:58

It's nuts. So, I

Gorgeous. So, I said, uh, I basically said, I'm going to stay here. This is what I want to do. So, I started getting some odd roofing jobs. I made this funny, uh, resume with like wrestling accomplishments, like fluffed it up, and I put it on a Craigslist. And this dude text me say, "Hey, meet us downtown in this high-rise, like dress nice." So, I show up and uh, have you ever seen the movie The Boiling Room?

Ian Heinisch24:22

The Boiler Room. Yeah.

Ian Heinisch24:26

Yeah. So this it was like it was like the what's what's the main actor?

Ian Heinisch24:31

Ben it was like the Ben Affleck scene.

Ian Heinisch24:39

Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. So dude, it was nuts, bro. He's like, we're going to sell like hell and like all this stuff. You're all hired. I'm going to make you filthy rich. And I was just like, dude, this is awesome.

Ian Heinisch24:50

So So we're selling fixed rate contracts for natural gas doortodoor. So, we're basically locking people in at a premium, but we're saying in five years, you know, you're going to save money. Yeah. It's it's peace of mind.

Ian Heinisch25:05

Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. But you show them like long-term charts and you're like, "Gas never goes down long term."

Ian Heinisch25:14

So, it was nuts, bro.

Ian Heinisch25:17

It was some of the most invaluable skills that I had.

Ian Heinisch25:29

Okay.

Yeah. Yeah. It was all cash

Ian Heinisch25:36

Didn't care.

Okay. But but there is a time and you were just like 6 months or something. I think the first time So, dude, the best sales training I've ever had. Like I'm literally like I fly up to like top 10 in this company out of like 80 people within the first two months. It's like I'm loving it.

Ian Heinisch25:54

I'm making 2 to four grand a week.

Ian Heinisch25:56

So, like 19 years old, I was I was doing good, but I'm but but I can drink legally, so I'm spending it like crazy. Didn't work out with the original girl that I went there with. I met these Guatemalans who actually I found out they were like oligarchy. Like I didn't realize what they were, but I just thought they were some cool cats. Like super jacked. Like they love fitness. I actually got one of the guys to work for the the gas company [snorts] and the other guy was going to college in Vancouver.

You know, it didn't work out with the girls. So, I moved in with these guys and I knew the one brother was up to something. Like he was always like meeting these guys, talking in Spanish. Like it just seemed like like obviously they were connected to the cartel. And uh so I just start partying with these guys. I'm starting to make good money. Um I knock on this chick's door. Four girls open the door and they're like, "Oh, he's cute." and they like pull me in.

And uh

Ian Heinisch26:52

Yeah, dude. We had crazy stuff happen to us on those. We would go to like I mean it was really cool. Like we would go to some of the nicest houses like 10 million minimum house and you they would my boss would be like ask them what's one lesson they could tell you to like becoming successful. Like it was just

Ian Heinisch27:10

Yeah. It was just cool, man. Like it was like you were just learning how to talk to people, you know? like you would get a no and you'd celebrate it because you know if you get six nos your average was you were going to get a sale. So like

Ian Heinisch27:26

All right so the girl is crying in the corner. She just broke up with her boyfriend. I sign up all the people in there. I'm drinking Bloody Marys with them.

I'm dancing with this girl. I'm like ah cheer up. It's all good. And uh then her friend's like hey you have to drive her home because she's too drunk to drive. And I was like, we we're supposed to have this afterwork meeting every day. And I was like, I don't know if I can. And like, you have to. I was like, all right, fine. So, I go to my boss and I give him the seven give her the seven contracts. And I was like, I got to go.

I was like, just check me in. She's like, get back here. And then I I drive this chick home to her house. We're drinking wine cuz she sells wine for a living. And uh

Ian Heinisch28:05

Uh she's 37.

Ian Heinisch28:14

And uh so I hear pounding on her door and it was weird cuz she lived in this like duplex thing. So her front door was a sliding glass door. So she goes over there. It's her ex-husband. He's screaming, cursing her out. Then he sees me and just starts flipping out. I walk up to the door. I'm like, "You want me to come out there, bro?" And he's like, "Yeah, let's go." And so I just slide the door open. Boom. I just pop him in his mouth.

He falls down. I jump full mount on him. And I'm just choking and like giving him slaps. I'm like, "You going to go home, bro? you going to go home? Her two kids are sleep. Their two kids are sleeping inside. And I'm like, dude, just go home, bro. I don't want no problems with you. And dude, he grabs me in the nuts and twist, dude. And I just snapped. I just lifted him up, held him over the twotory balcony

And he's like this. And she and the girl goes, "No." So I just turn and I hip toss him across. He rolls and I grab him by his collar and his leg pan and walk him to the staircase and just roll him down like a big flight of stairs. And so he gets up like all messed up and gets in his truck and drives away. I move in with this chick 10 days later.

Ian Heinisch29:18

It's Canada, bro.

Ian Heinisch29:20

Yeah, it's a different I mean it it wouldn't matter for like my mindset back then. I was like

I was a savage back then, bro.

Ian Heinisch29:34

All wrestling. Yeah, this is pure wrestling strength. um a few classes of boxing, but nothing serious.

And then so everything's going good. I'm playing stepdad. Uh I'm renting out the room next to her. That's what she told the kids. Um

You know, it was an interesting situation. She's actually really cool. We're still friends to this day.

Ian Heinisch29:54

Um but uh it was probably 6 months. I bought a car. I'm making good money. I'm starting to actually like

Like she's kind of keeping me more on track. like I'm not going out partying now and like doing stupid stuff, missing half a week of work cuz I'm all hung over.

And uh and then I hear that pounding on the door at like 7 a.m. And so I'm like, "Oh, he's back for round two. Let's go." I jump out of bed in my underwear, just throw the curtains open. And it's three immigration police. So he had found out that I was working illegally. Um I actually, like you said, after I think after 6 months, you had to go home. So, I flew home to see my family and I'm just loaded, bro. Like, like for me, I was loaded.

Like, I was making like 10 12 grand a month. You know what I'm saying? And Canadian money was like 30% higher than USD back then. So, I was just like

Throwing money around saying what up to my friends. I was shooting steroids like crazy. I was like 240 just yolked out.

Like it was just like

Ian Heinisch30:54

No, dude. Just I was just all in. And uh I came back and I flew to Seattle and I tried to take a Greyhound bus to Vancouver. They stopped me because I had my DUI and they held me at the border. So I'm chilling at the border. Then I tried to walk across the border cuz I saw it was just like a open valley and they rolled up on me with the dogs and they're like they're like if you try to cross again it's 100 days mandatory.

And I called the girls that I originally went out there with and her mom came and picked me up and I was like, I'll get in the trunk, whatever. And uh she drove me across and uh they just happened to be like, oh yeah, you're just here for the week. And they didn't scan my passport and they drove me across.

Ian Heinisch31:43

Well, I wanted that job, bro.

I was crushing it. So And my girl was there like

Yeah. I was just sitting on this little like hotel on the border looking at Canada. I was like, [clears throat] I got to get across. I'm like I had no idea.

Ian Heinisch32:02

She she she was an amazing woman. Uh rest in peace, man. She died of cancer. But uh um yeah, she was just down. She was like, "Nah." She's like, "Don't get in the trunk. Just sit in the passenger seat." She's like, "If they don't let you, they don't let you." And I was like,

Ian Heinisch32:17

I didn't tell her that. Oh jeez. I need a ride. I'm just sitting here. U I was like, I think it'll look better if a Canadian picks me up. And the girl her her daughter was mad at me still obviously. So I get locked up. It's a It's a Friday or no, it was a Thursday. Friday was a holiday. It was when Brock Lesnar fought Kane Velasquez. I'll never forget cuz it was I had plans to go watch that fight. And I'm just tweaking out, bro, cuz I'm on Xanax like crazy.

I'm like withdrawing steroids, alcohol. Like I'm freaking out in the little holding cell, you know? That's the worst. Like when you're just literally in a holding cell. Don't talk to anyone.

Ian Heinisch32:55

Oh dude, you have like a full panic attack. You never had a panic attack. Start taking Xanax and then stop. Like it's all those drugs, bro, are terrible. Like they literally give you the symptoms of the thing they're supposed to stop it from. Like it's just such a scam to be honest.

So um I I get him to take me to the hospital. I finally flipped out enough, pounded on the door. They took me to the hospital. I got my script to Xanax. I'll chill out.

Ian Heinisch33:25

Yeah, they took me to the hospital. They have to. They have to. I knew the law.

Ian Heinisch33:30

Yeah. If you freak out and like scream long enough and like kick the door and like tell them like you're like you're having a panic attack or you're coming off drugs, they have to take you to the hospital. Okay.

And the hospital saw I had a prescription to Xanax. They said, "Dude, I'm like like I'm coming off it, you know, like." So they gave me a script. You can actually go into a seizure.

Ian Heinisch33:54

They just give you the dose. They give it to her with food.

Ian Heinisch34:02

I think they just like dropped it with my food in like a baggie cuz they cuz like it was literally a holding cell for 4 days, bro. Hey,

So like any man would tweak out a little like and it's cold, you don't have a blanket, you just have the the mat.

Ian Heinisch34:17

It's It's to make you feel uncomfortable and unlucky. Usually you only spend 24 hours in there and you go to you go to court, but I but I it was a holiday. So the girl shows up on Monday. She posts $5,000 bail. There's no bondsman. She was down to put 10 G's down. Bails me out.

And I'm just like sad, bro. I'm like, man, for sure I'm going to get deported now. I was like [snorts] I was like popping words where I was like let's go to the bar. I'm like shots of tequila and then I get back to her house and I'm looking for my ecstasy and and she's like she talked to the chick that I was originally with. This is what she told me. I don't I don't really know the truth about this but she talked to the chick that I was originally there with and she said that I was like going behind her back.

So she told me this crazy story that she was like hooking up with her husband's her ex-husband's friend while I was locked up. So I like punched a hole in her wall. I was just belligerent, right? I just like smashed the house up a little, passed out in bed, and uh I guess I scared the kids the next day. They were going to school and they're like, "This guy's crazy." So she came back hot, jumped on me full mount, was just teeing off on me. And like like I'm so hung over.

Like if you've ever done Xanax and drinking and tequila, like you can't even open your eyes. And so I just wanted whatever was happening to stop. So I like wake up on top of her holding her down. And she's like, "You're crazy." Grabs a phone, calls 911. So, I grabbed like a $2,000 bottle of wine. I just take off towards the beach cuz she sold wine for a living. So, I grabbed like one of her most expensive bottles and just took off. And uh cops cut me off.

I rolled over the hood, broke the bottle. Apparently, I attacked them. If it was America, they probably would have shot me or tased me.

Ian Heinisch35:52

And bro, they tied me up in the patty wagon and just gave me like the like like a generational ass whooping. Like

Ian Heinisch36:02

Well, they tied me up and then they Yeah. Soccer kicked me. Soccer kicked me in the head. You Americans. Like they were pissed because like I was just like a belligerent American, you know? They don't like Americans.

Ian Heinisch36:23

No, I I probably deserved it to be honest. And

They [snorts] sit me down with a detective. Bro, I'm still out of my mind, bro. What happened? And I just gave him the craziest story. I was like, I didn't [snorts] want to snitch on my my my boss cuz he's paying me under the table. So, like, how do you make money? How did you meet this girl? And it's just kind of funny because I wasn't really trained in MMA, but obviously it was on my mind. I said I was a cage fighter fighting underground. This is what I told him for money.

Ian Heinisch36:49

And I No. And I told him that I made money uh or I told that's how I made money. And I told her I met this girl online.

Ian Heinisch36:57

Cuz I didn't want to like snitch. So, I told him this crazy story. And they're like, "Well, what about this guy who snitched you out?" And I was like I was like that rat like piece of trash. I was like I'll sneak across the border again and I'll kill him and put him in the ocean where nobody will find him. I was like I and they put this all verbatim in the newspaper front page of the Vancouver Sun.

Ian Heinisch37:17

Then they take me to court and the lawyer's like, "Do not talk."

Ian Heinisch37:48

So, why would you say anything?

Ian Heinisch37:48

My boy, who I'll tell you about soon, literally acted [ __ ] Like, not like not trying to offend me, but like he acted like he was because he was taking so much ecstasy

And they thought he was something was wrong with him and he stayed silent. He just made grunts and noises and he literally got off because of it.

Ian Heinisch38:10

You don't talk.

Yeah. Nothing.

You don't say anything because even if you say, "Oh, I'm innocent." Well, they'll be right. They're they're trained psychology to get you to say something to to hold against you.

Ian Heinisch38:28

Nothing else.

And and you got to be respectful these times, bro. Like the people are so stupid. Oh, why did I get attacked? Like you're hostile right away. You're making them nervous. Like

Ian Heinisch38:40

You know what I'm saying? Like, hey. Yes, sir. Absolutely. No, sir. Dude, we've literally been drinking so hard and pulled over. had a freaking 30 pack and a bottle of um uh Captain Morgan right here. And my boy looks at the guy, "Have you guys been drinking?" And he looks at him straight in the eye, goes, "No, sir. Absolutely not."

All right, boys. Well, you guys have a good one. It's the people who go, "Have you had a drink tonight?" "Well, just well, just one." Like, he looked straight in the eyes. I know he's lying, but like with he said it with confidence and we got away.

Ian Heinisch39:55

So, dude, going back to the story, we we're we're sitting amongst the judge. The lawyer says, "Don't speak."

Ian Heinisch40:01

I just hop right up. Your honor, I would like to speak. I see my lawyer go like this and I go, "I [snorts] want to say I'm not a violent person, but when I drink and do Xanax, sometimes I get like that and I'm sorry. I will not do that again. I love your country and I want to stay here." And she I'll never forget she's like, "Mr. Highness, you are a threat to Canadian society. You will not be allowed out. We will hold you here until you are deported back to your country." And boom, they come up, throw the handcuffs on me, she slaps the thing.

And I'll never forget, bro, I always tell this story. Uh, the Canadian girl was in the stands and she goes, "Ian, I am so sorry." In her Canadian accent, like it just like I don't know why that stuck with me so hard. And then they put me in jail.

I think it was like four to six months, bro.

Ian Heinisch40:54

Yeah.

Ian Heinisch40:56

In their jail.

Ian Heinisch41:01

Yeah, it's similar to American prison. Very tribalistic. A lot of like Hell's Angels and gangs and stuff. Uh

I mean, it wasn't too bad. Like, but I was young and um I was popping my Xanax and I was just sad and like I I needed to like quit being sorry for myself, you know? Like I was just like I I really felt like this is my calling cuz like if I got my license back then I could have ran a car and ran a team of salespeople and they were making like 30 grand a month and like for me that was like the most money in the world you can make.

Like I was a millionaire I thought.

And uh so I was just sad, right? Like cuz we did me and the girl we we did like each other. Obviously it wouldn't never worked out. She was so much older but we had a good time. But so anyways I I I'm just going down. I'm just in a stoop and I'm making toast. Go back in my cell. I'm sleeping a lot. Dudes roll up in my cell, like four of them. Yo, what's up, bro? You didn't ask to use our toaster. And I'm like, what?

What are you talking about? Wham! Gives me a slap. Like a hard one.

Ian Heinisch42:02

Yeah. So now

Ian Heinisch42:04

Like biker tatted up, you know.

Ian Heinisch42:07

Yeah, white gang.

Ian Heinisch42:09

That's all there was there.

Ian Heinisch42:12

Only whites.

What were the different groups? Uh, I don't know. They have a couple like different I I couldn't even tell you at this time, but there was a couple different ones like Hell's Angels and then there was I I don't even know.

All right, go ahead. So, he slaps me hard, bro. So, now I'm like snapped out and then and I look at his boys and they both got knives and he goes, "Listen, bro. This is our pod. We run things here." And he goes, "You don't just use what you want to use." And I'm and I'm cellmates with this like old school gang member. Like he was just like a like a OG, you know, like 55 tatted up. Like they all just looked like bikers. So I'm like, "All right, all right, bro." I was like, "I'll see you around.

Don't worry." Like I'm like pissed, bro. I'm just plotting. I'm like, they just punked me hard. And so like now I'm like I like threw my Xanax away. I'm just like, "All right." Like like let's see what's going on.

And uh this dude comes up to me and he goes, "Yo, this dude's calling you a big [ __ ] bro." Oh, he says, "You you Yanks, you know, that's like an offensive thing for them. You American yank, you [ __ ] all this stuff." So, I'm like, "What cell is he in?" And they're like, "That one right over there." So, I just roll up, bro. And this poor guy, bro, he probably didn't even say it. Like, he he must have been on the opposite gang or something.

And I just slapped the glasses off his face, choked him, smacked his head on the wall, and he finally JUST WAS LIKE, "AH." LIKE, SCREAM, BRO. And I walked out and slammed the door. when you shut the door, they lock automatically.

And he comes out just pounding on the glass. And I just walk up to my son. I'm just like, "All right, I'm getting ready to go to the hole."

And the same guys who slapped me walked up to the guard. We don't know who did it.

We don't know. And after that, bro, they never bothered me again.

Ian Heinisch43:55

And I just started working out with them, just being cool with them.

Ian Heinisch43:59

Yeah, I mean they definitely had the upper hand with numbers, but they they maybe they saw like they could use me or like they wanted to test me. I don't I don't really know. But like once I did that, bro, like that was they just left they just left me alone after that.

Ian Heinisch44:23

No.

Ian Heinisch44:25

No, it was

Ian Heinisch44:28

So, I I don't I can't remember. It was like between like 4 6 3 6 months. Like it was kind of a blur, but um I was just waiting to get deported.

You know, this isn't like the feds. This

Ian Heinisch44:44

Yeah. Yeah. And Oh, we're backed up.

Ian Heinisch44:51

Yeah. Yeah. I wanted out of there, bro. It's suck. And finally, they came. They uh put me on a plane. You know, I was I was escorted two two cops locked up.

Ian Heinisch45:07

Dude, I was in the orange jumpsuit walking through the the airport.

Ian Heinisch45:15

No.

So, you they let me change out of my orange jumpsuit into civilian clothes.

Ian Heinisch45:21

Once we got through security

Ian Heinisch45:24

In the airport. So they took me to the bathroom and they I put on civilian clothes.

Ian Heinisch45:34

Yeah. They just put like a shirt over my hands. And they

Ian Heinisch45:40

I I don't really remember.

Ian Heinisch45:43

Yeah. When we landed in the US, I think it was like right before customs.

Ian Heinisch45:51

No. I was just like I I had like petty warrants, so I thought they were going to wait for me on the other side.

Ian Heinisch46:00

Yeah. Welcome [clears throat] home.

Ian Heinisch46:06

No, they headed out.

Ian Heinisch46:11

Dude, I mean, this is this is 2011. So, I I don't fully remember that part. It was it was cuz even I had a lawyer cuz I'm trying to get back to Canada cuz bare knuckle Ice Wars is I have no paperwork from that. The Vancouver son thing luckily well I used to go on dates with girls and they would look it up and it's like the front page says 19-year-old beats up 37year-old girlfriend fugitive. He's a fugitive cage fighter. Like that was the front page of the And like so I would be dating girls when I first got out and they'd Google my name and that would pop up.

Oh my god. And it was it was kind my boy was like, "Bro, just own it." Cuz I'd be like, "No, well, this is really what happened." And finally with this one chick, I said, "I'm a bad man and you shouldn't hang out with me." And she's like, "What are you doing later?" I'm like, "Dude, these girls are crazy." But anyways, I told the UFC like, "Let's erase this. Like, help me like like erase it." But if you I think if you dig dig and I have screenshots somewhere to find that article, but um

Ian Heinisch47:12

I have no paperwork anymore from that. And I like the lawyer was asking me like, "How did they deport you?" And I was like, "I just remember walking through the airport in an orange jumpsuit and they and then they sat next to me on the plane with a like a shirt over my cuffs." So they might have right when we walked out, I think they might have taken them off. So

Ian Heinisch47:34

So I get back to the US. So when I'm over living with those Guatemalans, we had this guy who could move some weight and he asked us about these XC pills and they were dirt cheap and so good. Like it was like it was like two bucks a pill.

Ian Heinisch47:47

So we mailed him a couple packages and he was just like blowing me up, bro. He's like, "Bro, we got to get

Ian Heinisch47:53

Denver?"

Ian Heinisch47:58

Yes. So now I'm back in the US in Denver 2011. It's a recession and I'm like my parents are divorced. My dad's living wild and my mom's kind of struggling. I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't want to get a regular job. So, I call my my Guatemalan boys and I say, "Yo, bro, send me a couple packages. Let's see what I can do, too."

Ian Heinisch48:17

So, they send me a couple packages. We start to hit the rave scene, you know? I'd give like three of my boys 100 pills. I'd walk around. I'd be the guy, the signaler. I'd be like, "Hey, bro. You want some X?" And they'd be like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." I'll be that guy in the red shirt. Go over there. Hey, bro. You want some X? And like every now and then, a secret cop would throw me against the wall and search me. And I would just act all trash like what XY and so I would never carry but I would be the signaler at the end of the night.

We'd fill a table with all the cash. That was obviously getting risky. We'd make good money. We'd make a better margin because you could sell it for like 15 20 a pill and we're getting them for two bucks. But then I started getting wholesale distributors. They'd buy hundreds of pills, thousands of pills. And uh so I'm sending him Western unions twice a week, thousands of dollars. He's sending me about 10,000 pills. And um [snorts]

Ian Heinisch49:15

So they're FedExing me on I'm Western Union. They start to freeze my Western unions, and then my the Guatemalan says, "Hey, bro. Um, he goes, "Dude, you get this thing called Bitcoin. It's like a stock. It goes up and down, blah blah blah." I look at it. It was 17 cents. And I was like, "Nah, bro. I don't understand it." I was like,

He's like, I was like, "There's my Bitcoin." Imagine if I just bought a hundred bucks and got locked up till now. I'd be 100 millionaire.

But, uh, so anyways, he sends a guy down. The guy brings 100,000 pills. He starts giving me 10,000 a week and I deliver him the cash to downtown Denver. We meet at all these different places.

Ian Heinisch49:53

Okay.

Canadian.

Ian Heinisch49:56

Just a runner.

Ian Heinisch49:58

You know, now I'm selling weight, bro. And this chick that's been hanging out with my boy for a while, but it's kind of this weird relationship they have. She's asked me like twice, "Hey, can I you know where to get some?" I'm like, "No." Like, we don't tell her we're selling. You know, obviously we don't involve, but they're not stupid, right? We got drugs, money, we're meeting people all the time. And finally, she bothers me. She goes, "He'll buy a,000 pills, which we call a boat."

Yeah. for7,000. I think it was like it was like a high price. And she goes, "And I'll drive." And that was the point where I was like, "All right, if you'll drive," cuz like I I sat right behind her and we got pulled over. I was pushing it right under her seat. And uh so we show up to this Walmart and this sketchy looking dude gets in and I'm looking at him and he pulls out the money and I'm just like, "Dude, this he doesn't even have enough money." I'm like, "This is so bad." I'm like, "Pull the car out.

Start go through the drive-thru of McDonald's." And I'm like looking around and she pulls out and this freaking SUV smashes in the front. We get smashed in the back. Cops like jump out like the movies. Jump on the hood, pistol to us, throw me on the ground, pistol to my temple just holding me there.

Drug task force.

Ian Heinisch51:06

And I'm looking at the broken Walmart sign and I'm just like, dude, I am screwed, bro. And I was 19 getting ready to turn 20 and I was like, there is no way I'm going to jail. So my boy acts totally like like he has autism or something. Like they were just like they came in. They're like, "Hey, does your brother like is he okay?" And I was like, "Nah, dude. He's he's gone." And cuz he just was like drooling and just making grunts and noises and uh I post bail the next day.

Get out. Um

Ian Heinisch51:41

Yeah.

Oh, so

Ian Heinisch51:51

She was an informant. But I was just thinking if she got pulled over and we got

Ian Heinisch51:57

That's what we think.

Ian Heinisch51:59

Yeah. From California.

Ian Heinisch52:02

It was stupid, bro. We were so like we we were getting high on our own supplies so much that we just weren't businessminded. And uh so post bail and I was like, "Dude, I'm not going to go to jail, man. I'm on like pre-trial uh probation where I got to call every single day. Surprised they didn't give me an ankle monitor, but I had to, you know, do UAS. I had to like all this stuff." And uh I went to the post office, tried to get a passport.

They issued me a passport. I was like, "Oh, yeah. Let's go." They went to my uh my apartment.

Ian Heinisch52:34

My passport just expired.

Ian Heinisch52:36

Yeah.

Ian Heinisch52:38

Yeah. Okay. So, I renewed my passport. Yeah. And I went to

I They went to my apartment and like like the movies, bro. Like cut pillows open, cut the mattress, threw everything around, stole 30,000 cash, found another thousand pills, stole weed, stole steroids. I mean, everything, bro. The only thing they noted that they found was um the other thousand pills.

Ian Heinisch53:00

Oh, bro. They raided me. It was like the movie. Like, bro, if you walked in this place, every picture thrown off, the like everything the every mattress cut, every pillow cut open. Like,

Ian Heinisch53:10

No.

Ian Heinisch53:17

Um,

Ian Heinisch53:21

Well, you get a warrant, they can just come in, dude.

Ian Heinisch53:31

I don't know, man. All right.

They You have You have a valid point. It was just a little one-bedroom apartment, but they

Ian Heinisch53:41

Oh, yeah. Yeah. And they were trying to get to the distributor.

Ian Heinisch53:45

Apparently, they've been working on this case. Okay.

Like, anyways, they they tear everything up and I go back to the I'm like, "Oh my gosh, this is so bad." And I found a slipper with like 2,000 bucks in it that I owed someone. It was the only thing they didn't find. And so, I took that money. I said, "This is my ticket out, bro. I d I bought a a ticket to on a Greyhound to Indiana. Drove out there, said goodbye to my family. Bought a a train ticket from Chicago to New York.

Say goodbye to my family. I bought a plane ticket from JFK to Amsterdam with like a couple thousand bucks in my pocket cuz I told my family relatives I was going backpacking Europe. So, they threw me some cash.

Ian Heinisch54:20

I don't know. I just

Ian Heinisch54:28

Yeah, backpack. and a 10

Ian Heinisch54:31

And a few bucks.

Ian Heinisch54:33

Yeah.

Ian Heinisch54:34

Um I think there was something else I wanted to say about that story because I wanted my boy to come with me, but he just didn't have the money. I think his parents sent him to rehab in California. If he didn't, if I didn't get caught, they came to the house. They put this hot chick in front of the door. They were looking for me. He answered, they drugg him out, drug him to the park and were questioning him, questioning my dad. So they eventually came looking for me and him and he got arrested.

And then his parents bailed him out and sent him to uh and if I didn't get in trouble for 3 years, they dropped all charges on him. So anyways too, when I left and I just found out recently, all those guys I was distributing took over the business when I left. Nobody got in trouble and they grew this thing to like a freaking like highlevel empire where they all got hit with RICO charges. My one buddy did eight years in the feds,

I think. Uh, I don't want to speak on it cuz there's still an ongoing case, but like dude, this thing grew into like a ecstasy empire.

Ian Heinisch55:31

Yeah. I just kind of found out all the details of it. But I

Ian Heinisch55:36

No, Canada.

Ian Heinisch55:38

Yeah. So, anyways, I land in Amsterdam and I'm just like, all right, I'm Euro tripping now. Like,

Ian Heinisch55:48

Okay.

For felony warrants.

Okay. And uh [groaning] man, where do I start? I get arrested the first night. Jesus Christ. For what?

I don't remember, man. I think I fell asleep on the street or something. I woke up in jail. Well, I was like, "What can you do that you can't do in America?" I kind of like switched from like on the run mode to like, "Hey, I'm in Europe now. Like, let's enjoy." like and I was watching like Euro Trip and like I just wanted [snorts] to get like I drank absin and then I was drinking vodka and I was at the coffee shop. Uh it was just a craziness, bro.

Like eventually I was like ran out of money. I'm like walking down the street and these crackheads would run up to me like, "You owe us money from last night?" Like like I hated Amsterdam, bro. I wanted to get out of there.

Um and I called my cousin and he said,

"I got a buddy who lives in Belgium. you can go stay with him until you get a job. So, I took a little bus, like a $30 bus, 30- year old bus, and went over to Belgium. And uh I took out my funny little resume, started going around town, and finally I went to this Irish pub and I was like, he's like, "You have experience working in the kitchen and my uncle in the pizza place." And I was like, "Yeah, sure, sure." He's like, "All right." He goes, "Well, where's your work visa?" I was like, "Oh, it's in the mail, bro.

I already got accepted, but you know how the mail is here." And he's like, "All right, cool. Just give it to me when you got it." So, I start working at an Irish pub. 6 months goes by, he goes, "Hey, where's that work visa?" I was like, "Ah, bro. You know how the mail is here, but I He's like, "All right, well, if if immigration comes in, you got to hide in this closet." And I was like, "All right, cool." And uh so I'm making a decent paycheck.

And uh then I met this crazy English guy. He comes in from Tenneref. He met this uh Belgium girl and he he moved back to uh Belgium with her. And bro, we he's like a [snorts] crazy guy. He's he actually we reunited and he was on below deck like on multiple episodes and he's just like has no family. He just runs around. But um we both got fired from the job. The Irish guy left us there alone and these like group of uh hen party. It was a bachelorette party and we just partied with them all night.

Like didn't charge them.

Just drank behind the bar like and he prints out the fugitive [snorts] cage fighter thing the next day. looked at the cameras, came in, and he's like, "You're both fired." He's like, "You're lucky I don't call the cops on you." We walked him to the register. We said, "Pay us, and you'll never see us again. Pay us what you owe us." He didn't want to do what we held. And there were like, "Dude, you're going to pay us." So, he pulls out the cash, gives it to us.

And the English guy's like, "Don't worry, I'll get us a job, mate. We'll go to England." And I'm like, "All right, let's go." So, we hopped on a ferry from Belgium to England. We get there. His idea of a job is us living in this shell of an apartment with no carpet, no electricity, no running water. And we basically camped in this apartment and painted it in the day. And I'm like, "Dude, I can't do this, bro." Like, we're in like some like weird small town in England up north.

And uh so we went to this place called Sheffield, this college town.

And uh we get jobs working as a PR. They didn't want to pay us. We said, "Give us one night. We'll show you what we can do." We brought like so many chicks in. We brought so many dudes in like

And uh so finally they gave us a paying job. him like one week, one month in, he the dude, the guy I'm with, Kyle, tries to rob the safe or I forget. He did something crazy and I was like, I don't even know this guy. I just met him. They're like, "All right, you can keep your job." I moved into student living and I'm doing all these jobs like these and like selling these like coupon books, like all this like crazy stuff, bro. Like I'm just like using my sales techniques, you know?

And uh you know, I was like, "You know what? I called up the Guatemalan and he started sending he I was like, "Send me a package. Let me see what I can do. So he he ships me a package of pills like 500 to now to England.

Yeah. And it was just a terrible market, bro. It was not They are used to like terrible drugs, cheap prices. It was just trash, bro. So like eventually and I was stepping on people's toes. I just sold them to like the guys who ran it cheap and I was like, "Get me out of here." So finally I made my way to the Canary Islands, Tenneref, and I was like, "This is paradise. This is where I'm supposed to be." I'm walking on the beach. I walked to the club area and I was like, "Are you guys hired?" They're like, "Yeah, you're hired tonight if you want." And I was like, "Cool." So, we're doing the PR stuff.

Well, their idea of us working was we got one euro per person we brought in, but they give us eight drinks when we work, four drinks when we got off.

So, basically, we're getting paid in drinks. Like,

It was a terrible job for me. 3 months of this, bro, I am full-blown alcoholic. Sleep until like 2:00 every day. Wake up with the shakes. Have to drink right when I wake up. doing any drug I can get my hand on. Like, it was bad. And finally, I couldn't even afford €30 in a cockroachinfested uh this town home with eight other dudes. And I was finally I was like homeless. It was like rock bottom. So, I'm sleeping on park benches. I slept on the beach a few nights.

I was couch surfing. Um and uh this guy from Miami, he's like, "Hey, Gringo, like, "Hey, man, we don't want to see you living like that. You could stay with us." So, they took me in like family. And they still are like family to this day. And then uh one day after I got sober, I started working out. I started going to MMA gym. Like I was like, man, I'm like it felt like I had finally had a family, you know. And the dad sat me down.

He was like, "Hey, Gringo, you want to make some real money?" And I was like, "Yeah." And he was like, "Let's go to Colombia."

Ian Heinisch1:01:11

Yeah.

Ian Heinisch1:01:14

Yeah.

Ian Heinisch1:01:16

No, a little. But

Ian Heinisch1:01:29

Yeah.

Ian Heinisch1:01:32

Start taking trips to Colombia? Vanilla Aruba.

Yeah. Swallowing kilos of coke and bringing them back.

Ian Heinisch1:01:43

2.2.

Ian Heinisch1:01:57

Yeah. You try.

Ian Heinisch1:02:04

Oh yeah.

Ian Heinisch1:02:06

Yeah.

Ian Heinisch1:02:14

Yeah. It takes like it took like 6 to 8 hours

Ian Heinisch1:02:18

Yeah.

Ian Heinisch1:02:25

Well, he just sat me down and was like, "Let's go make some real money." You know, they were like hustlers, too. They weren't like uh you know, they were just trying to get by, you know, and uh he had the connection, so he's like, "Let's go try it." Me and his son went down the first time. Went to Cali. That was the sketchiest time. They packaged it for us and just handed. We're basically mules for them the first time and we got paid 5,000 euros and then finally it was like, "Yo, let's do this ourselves.

We'll package it ourselves. We'll make more money. I'll keep some. I'll sell some."

Ian Heinisch1:03:13

Oh, yeah. People would sacrifice people. I saw it.

Ian Heinisch1:03:18

I never even thought about it. Oh, really?

I didn't know they did that until I got locked up.

Ian Heinisch1:03:29

This was not like a cartel operation.

Ian Heinisch1:03:34

This was this was just some like I mean dude, if you go down to Columbia, Venezuela, it's just part of the culture, bro.

You light up a joint in the car and my boys girls like flipping out drop me off. But we got 4 kilos in the back drive around. That's just business.

Ian Heinisch1:03:50

So like their culture is very different. Like if you sell Coke, you're just a businessman.

Ian Heinisch1:04:00

Bro. The first time you as I'm saying the first time was the cra we went to Cali. If you

Ian Heinisch1:04:06

Dude, this is like the ghettoest of the ghetto dirt roads. Uh we we went to this casino. We went to this mall called Chippy Chapa and we're in this casino. We're like showing this dude um like our phone or the address we're going to. He goes, "You guys are staying there?" We're like, "Yeah." God. He was like, "Bro, like we went to the park and we're smoking a joint and all of a sudden I turned around and we got military pointing ARs at us and we're like like that.

They made me take my shoes off, searched us, and then let us go." [snorts] Like we're in like the cut. Like we're hearing gunshots at night. I mean, it's just But like, dude, I don't know. I just felt at home with those guys like like they brought the kilo down from the jungle and uh bro I they were like, "Don't do a line, Gringo. Don't do a line. It's just a little. You just need a little. I'm like, "You guys don't know me." And I sniffed the line and I double egged my boy right onto a glass table and put him through it in their house.

That was the first thing. But bro, I like it was so strong after that was like hands were curling up.

Ian Heinisch1:05:18

No, bro. You could not go to sleep.

Ian Heinisch1:05:21

No, dude. It was It was too strong. You like They were not lying. You did not want to do a lime.

Ian Heinisch1:05:29

Yeah. You just need like a little bit and it would just eat through your nose cuz it was so acidic cuz it's the pure stuff. Like it just

Ian Heinisch1:05:39

They give you the kilo. They're blendering it up. They're packaging it. And I'm just like I go to this party, bro. I'm the only white boy there. And it's just like they're just looking at me like this crazy gringo. Like it was just like I was just the crazy gringo. Like I don't know. Like

Ian Heinisch1:05:57

Yeah. Okay. Dancing. Everyone's dancing.

Ian Heinisch1:06:00

Unbeliev Bro. We'd be like there'd be like a pile of trash with like a crackhead eating in it. And then there would be like the most beautiful girl in high heels in this dirt road. There's chickens everywhere. And then there'll be like a 16-year-old beautiful girl and she's fully pregnant. Like it was just

It was like a culture shock. And you go to the gym and every girls it was like it was like eight girls and two dudes and all the girls are just like supermodels.

You know what I'm saying? It was just it was just nuts, bro. Like I went to the we went to the club dancing and the girls would not let me sit down for one song. Every girl was coming up to me. And like so I was just dancing, dancing, pouring sweat. And um but we went up to the mountains the first time and I asked this little kid cuz and the kids are just surrounding me. We're in this beautiful river, bro. And they're just surrounding me.

They're looking at me like

Ian Heinisch1:06:57

Yeah.

And then I asked one of the kid, I was like, "Where's the Garija?" And he goes, "Ai, over there."

Ian Heinisch1:07:03

Like they're the gorilla like like the coke people like. And I'm just like, bro, I put on my sombrero. I'm like, I do not want to get kidnapped. Like, we drove by and there was like there was like a pool full of coke leaves and this dude was like cracked out like this, like stomping in it. Like he like his job was to stomp the coke leaf. Like it it was I didn't see the full production line, but I was close.

Ian Heinisch1:07:26

And I didn't really want to be there to be honest cuz it was

Ian Heinisch1:07:29

I don't know, man. They drove me up there. I had no idea. I didn't speak any Spanish back then. Like we'd be driving down the street and I look out and there's a pistol pointed at my head and it's a cop on the back of the thing. Pull over. And they pull us all out and they're like, "What are you doing with this American?" And they're like, "He's just a friend. We're just showing them around to our friends." And they're like, "Uh, okay." And then they're like, "Let me go." Cuz they just never seen an American there.

Ian Heinisch1:07:54

Like it's so much more tourist touristy now. But like this is Cali. Like look up Cali. Cali is in the cut. It's in the mountains.

Okay. It's not like Barnia Santa Marta or Medigene where most people go. Like this is like this is like in the cut. We were there with my boys, dad's girlfriend's family.

Ian Heinisch1:08:15

So, um anyways, man, they gave us the stuff. We swallowed it.

Ian Heinisch1:08:23

Because it's a pressed kilo. They break it up in powder and then they're compressing it. No, I didn't even watch them do it.

Ian Heinisch1:08:30

When we would do it. When we would do it, we would put it in a g a glove, tighten it, tie it with floss, and then cut it, and then put it in another glove. Do it four layers.

Ian Heinisch1:08:41

So, it was it it just depended on how much you could swallow. In the beginning, bro, I only could swallow like half a kilo, but like the like the longer you did it, the better you got. And I'll be like on the phone with him and he's like he's like, "I'll throw you another 500 euros, swallow two more." And uh so anyways, you feel like crap. You have plastic all in your body. And um

Ian Heinisch1:09:08

Oh, you feel terrible cuz it's like so the final there's a special shiny paper they put on it. They say this will pass the X-ray and then we wrap it in like like uh what's that really thin plastic that you put like over like food?

Ian Heinisch1:09:24

Saran wrap type stuff. And then to make it smooth and take some yogurt.

Ian Heinisch1:09:31

Walk around. Walk around.

Your intestines is like hundreds of feet.

Ian Heinisch1:09:41

No, we like if the flight would leave at like noon. You're you're you're up at 4:00 a.m.

Ian Heinisch1:09:51

No. No. You're trying you're literally swallowing your last one. Grab the body of whis a bottle of whiskey. I'm taking like four pulls from the bottle because now I'm not even paranoid. I'm just drunk. Okay. Like let's go. All right. And it and it took away like the nasty plastic feeling.

Ian Heinisch1:10:07

So I go to the airport and I switch to I'm a drunk American. I'm a rich drunk American. Pass through. No problem. Have a good one. And and then you know we make the money and then we come back. I think it was like the fourth trip. We're in Bogota and this uh this black guy in street clothes comes up to me and everyone in the comments always wrote why you say black guy because he's not Colombian. And so for me it's like like

Ian Heinisch1:10:34

I don't know bro like what why does a black guy I'm like cuz if some Colombian like dude came up to me but there's a lot of black Colombians especially in like the coast and stuff. He comes up to me damisu passport and I'm like uh no compren sir like I play stupid. This is where at the airport

Bogota airport, the capital. Like we had just flown from Barnia to Bogota. And he whips out secret police. Shows me his badge, takes my passport. Sit down. Ah, you like Colombia, huh? Fourth time here this year, huh? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I have a girlfriend. Sits me next to this beautiful looking girl and this sketchy dude. And I look over to the girl and I say, "What are we doing here?" And she goes, "Uh, the echay." She tells me in Spanish, "The X-ray." And I'm like, "Ah." sitting here with like about a kilo of coke in my stomach and I just remember bro I was like dude I just have to not look sketch right now cuz I'm freaking out cuz it's like and [clears throat] I didn't even know the sentence.

I've watched Banged Up Abroad recently like a year ago 9 to 12 years for a kilo that's not like I would I would be cooked bro. So we walk into this room probably the size of this, a little bit bigger, big machine, walk through, sign fingerprint. I look at him, they go, "Ti Wendia, Senor Hines, the paper worked." And bro, I got hit with a adrenaline dump that like I could only compare to like winning a fight. Like it was just And I'm just walking like, "Whoa, that's crazy." And I like walk on the plane and I see the Colombian guy cuz like we act like we don't know each other and he's looking at me like this.

I'm like we're good bro. We're good, [clears throat]

You know? Then I started to get cocky cuz I'm like what are they going to do? X-ray me?

Ian Heinisch1:12:18

It is. It does work, bro. And like it's no secret. People get mad. Oh, you snitch. Blah blah. Like bro, watch Banged Up Abroad. This paper's all over the place. They actually used this paper back 20 years ago. People used to smuggle bomb material in the Middle East. Yeah.

Because those are the first people to put the X-rays in the airport. Yeah. So after like 12 trips now, we're not waiting 3 months going for a month. Waiting 3 months. Now I'm going like month month. Like it's just like getting crazy. And I go we go to Aruba. We can't get the work. We extend our trip with

Ian Heinisch1:12:52

We can't find Coke, bro. It was dry.

Ian Heinisch1:12:57

No. No. We had connections. Oh, okay. Yeah.

Ian Heinisch1:13:04

Yeah. Like, "We're out."

Ian Heinisch1:13:10

Well, we It was

Ian Heinisch1:13:13

Yeah. Yeah. It was Stu. I mean, honestly, it was like uh we just expected them to always have it.

Ian Heinisch1:13:19

I don't even think we called ahead.

Ian Heinisch1:13:21

Yeah. It was just like we just show up.

All right. What do you do from Aruba? So, so we extend the trip, then we finally get the stuff, then we um

Ian Heinisch1:13:32

Yeah, we we extended our trip, then we got it, we loaded up. This time we flew from Aruba to Karakas, Venezuela, then direct to Tenneref. We've never done that. Usually, we go to Madrid, Barcelona.

Ian Heinisch1:13:46

Um, it just looked sketchy cuz we're coming straight from Karakas to Tenneref.

Ian Heinisch1:13:52

Yeah, but I'm a tourist. I'm the only white guy. I don't know. It just they they pulled me in the office. They questioned me.

Ian Heinisch1:14:14

Well, they just were like, "What do you do?" And I'm like, "Dude, I have girlfriends all over. I love Tenneref. I travel down here." And they're like,

And I was like, "I have a girlfriend here. Call my girl. She comes in. It checks out. They let me go. Now, the the guy I was with didn't go. He should have jumped in a taxi cuz I had been called in the office before and it was fine. They just questioned me a little bit.

And uh he waited for us down by the car. Once we met up, boom, drug task force jumped on us. They took us to the hospital and uh they didn't have an X-ray at that airport. So they took us to the hospital

And they x-rayed us and uh and yeah they could see it and uh got lost. Wait a minute. They they when they come in and say like we know you have drugs in your body

Ian Heinisch1:15:00

The girl said to Dr. intestino chaos heroina coina and I was like no and she's like shows me the it's seuro. She says for sure and I was like nah. And she's like and then I was like I ate some Chinese food. And they were like shut up. Boom. Handcuffed.

And where do they put you? in a holding cell with a little like puke bucket.

Ian Heinisch1:15:26

And they gave us u what is it called where it makes you go to the bathroom. [clears throat]

Ian Heinisch1:15:33

Laxative, bro. It was like pissing out my ass for 3 days.

Ian Heinisch1:15:39

They make you take and they won't give you food. I'm like, "Just give me food." And they're like, "No, that can break it." Or something. I'm like, "Dude, I didn't want to be like, we've done this so many times. Like, just give me food." It was so bad.

And the Colombia messed up. He told him the exact amount we had. I was going to pinch it off. And And

Ian Heinisch1:16:01

No, you you just go sit on the bedet. It's like a It's like hitting the jackpot on D. Comes out.

Ian Heinisch1:16:11

Yeah. We put bleach and spray it down. Clean it.

Ian Heinisch1:16:15

It's got five layers on it.

Ian Heinisch1:16:27

No, they knew we had it. So now it was just the pro. It took 3 days, bro. Like I was dying. Like I like I needed food. They didn't give us food. And everything was just going through us. Like they needed something hard to push it out. And like the their mindset was, "Oh, you shouldn't do food." And finally I was like, "I'm dying." And I was like, "Nurse, please." And she gave me an IV. And it was just really sad. I wanted to get it over with cuz they locked my girl up

And my girl had her kid her son and I get right when I get to the jail when I finished it I hear her she's like meo my son my son and I'm like who do I need to talk to to get her out she has nothing to do with this she had no idea so I went and made a statement and I was just like she has nothing to do with it you got to get her out immediately I was like if I have to bail her out like whatever I have to do

Ian Heinisch1:17:19

Uh 3 to six.

Ian Heinisch1:17:22

No, that's what you get. That's in Spain. It's uh 6 to 10 for over a kilo. 3 to six for under.

Ian Heinisch1:17:33

So you could have you could have I was in the wrong business, bro. You could add a ton of Coke and it was 6 to 10.

Ian Heinisch1:17:42

Yeah. I think a couple hundred grams went missing, which is pretty common, I heard.

Ian Heinisch1:17:51

Yeah.

Ian Heinisch1:17:55

They let her go. They let her go and then I get thrown in prison and I sit there or I wait one year with no court, no no lawyer. They ask me if I want to talk to the US embassy. I said, "No, I'm good. I don't want don't want to notify them." But, which I found out they don't even talk like like there it was just some Spanish girls hanging out with dudes out there. Like it was a joke. Our embassy is a joke.

Like, "Oh, we're America, the most powerful country in the world. I thought they were going to do something." Finally, they found out. They sent me a letter. We know you're locked up. We want to come talk to you. And I'm like, "All right, whatever." But I didn't know if it was going to be so connected.

Ian Heinisch1:18:31

Like, and you'll find out later in the story, even when I got sent back to America, when I went to court for the ecstasy, the judge didn't lock me back up because I he thought I was he thought I was chilling for 5 years. He didn't know I was locked up. All right.

There's no communication. Okay. Is what I'm trying to say.

Ian Heinisch1:18:56

Uh, no. So, it's kind of a weird thing like if if they have a weird they can hold you four years and then on that last day they have to take you to court and then you're just out. So, like they can do tricky stuff in the courts in

Ian Heinisch1:19:13

Yep.

Ian Heinisch1:19:14

Yeah. They can do some crazy stuff. So they throw me in, bro. It's like It's pretty wild. Like,

Ian Heinisch1:19:21

It's just like Africans, um, a couple English, some Russians. It's just like a melting pot.

Ian Heinisch1:19:35

It's like a old school jail with pods with no roof on it.

No roof. like it's outdoor and then you have like one like you you could pull it up like you can put some B-roll on this of it. Just look up Tenneref Dose.

Ian Heinisch1:19:51

Um it's hard to explain but it's it's just like a old school jail like

Ian Heinisch1:20:02

Uh it can if it's sideways rain. No, like your cell is covered but the yard

Oh, the yard. like that. But like, dude, I mean, it was

The rough parts. I'll tell you the rough parts and I'll tell you the good parts.

The rough parts were

It's in the summer it was like 110°. I mean, we're literally off the coast of Morocco. We're in Africa.

The water would be boiling hot where it would burn your skin off. So, you'd have to put it in a bucket, let it cool down, and you'd have to shower like that. In the winters, it would be cold and you would have freezing cold water, and you would just have to like go through that. Bugs were everywhere. Like in the summers you'd be so hot, just sweating, shirt off, and there would be ants just crawling all over you. Um, the food was really bad. Like it was

Ian Heinisch1:20:50

Uh, I got three and a half years.

Ian Heinisch1:20:56

Yeah.

Ian Heinisch1:20:59

Yeah. Yeah. So it's So um, you know, like the there was a lot of fighting. Um, but it was I don't know. It wasn't like gang land like we have.

Ian Heinisch1:21:16

No, there's knives and it has more potential because there's like broomsticks. I mean, there's like a lot of things you can make weapons out of. They let you go to woodwork. They let you lift weights. There's a gym there. They let us do kickboxing classes. They had a wrestling program there. Those are the positive things. They let me start an MMA program.

Ian Heinisch1:21:41

Okay. Okay. So, like the more things that I was worried about there would there was Okay, so they threw us in the pod for 2 months and then they said, "Okay, it's time for us to get tuberculosis tested and then what they do is they put a little shot in you and it lumps up and it goes away. But if it doesn't go away, it blows up if you have tuberculosis." And we're seeing all these Africans, their arms are blowing up. So, we're in the cells with people with tuberculosis for months.

And then they start taking them out. And then there's a guy who has no eyebrows, no hair. He has HIV. He's getting ready to die. And he's a junkie. And he basically is threatening people. He's going to stab him with one of his needles if they don't like if they piss him off or you know. So, I had to keep one eye on him.

Ian Heinisch1:22:24

You know, that's the last thing you would want.

Ian Heinisch1:22:30

I mean, yeah. I had to lump some people in the beginning, but um eventually, bro, I just kept my head down cuz I I wanted if you if you if you fight all the time and you get in trouble, you don't get the privileges. If you keep your head down, then you get to train weights, then you get to go to the kickboxing class, then you get to rest.

Ian Heinisch1:22:50

Like there would be a guy in the kitchen and uh he I would he would give me like a little piece of chicken like like the littlest piece and I'd be like, "Dude, give me a different one." And he'd be like, "No." And then I'd wait for him to get off and I would sock him up.

Ian Heinisch1:23:09

Yeah.

Ian Heinisch1:23:14

They would they would try to skimp the so they could keep it for themselves and they would sell it like black market or they would or they would just get to eat good. So you beat the brakes off him and then the next time you threw he's like, "Oh, hey, however much chicken you want."

Yeah. We was started slapping people. It was like crazy. You would think if you would slap someone like

They come back and get you with but they like I I met this crazy Chicago guy who was there who would he would start riots there and stuff like he was nuts. He was feared there. So right when I got there I linked up with him and he

Ian Heinisch1:23:45

Very violent crimes. I don't want to put it I don't want to really say but very violent stuff. How much time was he doing?

He did eight years in there.

Ian Heinisch1:23:53

And he and he did uh 14 years in Chicago.

Ian Heinisch1:23:57

So he was like a lifer. So he had it down, bro. He's collecting drug debts. Right when I got in there, he walked in there, beat some dude up, took his TV. Um like he was like, "Come with me." And so like I I had him right away. And he like he was like a legend there. So we moved into the same cell. He ripped the sink up. He had freaking protein things that were full of wine. And he had like a full winery under his sink.

Yeah, bro.

Ian Heinisch1:24:25

Yeah. Cuz he would say he would go up to them and stuff. He'd be like, "You're going to do this or I promise you this jail is going to be on CNN."

Ian Heinisch1:24:35

And so like I mean,

Yeah. So, it was it was wild though, bro. Like, we got in a fight with this guy. This dude was literally I was just talking the other day. This dude was 67 420 lbs. Now, he was not all muscle, but this was the biggest man I've ever seen in my life from Venezuela. But there was a path where we were just collecting drug debts, playing poker for tuna, and like flipping out, beating people up and like and then finally I was like, "Bro, like I I got to take a different path." I I saw there was a wrestling program and I walked up to the guy and it usually takes 3 months a petition to get in there.

I showed him my ears, Cauliflower. He goes, "You're in first day." And bro, I just fell back in love with wrestling. I told Blair, I was like, "Come on, bro. Let's let's wrestle." And so he wrestled in high school, so he joined and we just started crushing it. They brought in a professional team. And me and me and him beat this professional team. It's team wrestling in this like ghee in a sand pit, gladiator pit, best out of three takedowns. And what you do, it's like a team wrestling sport.

Like you start with the littlest guys and then he loses. It's best out of three takedowns. He's eliminated. the next guy comes in and whoever has the last guy standing on the team wins.

Ian Heinisch1:25:47

And uh fell in love with wrestling again, man.

Ian Heinisch1:25:56

It's like a sagal style wrestling.

Ian Heinisch1:26:00

I have a picture of it. It's just takedowns. It's uh

Ian Heinisch1:26:08

Lifting weights, running.

So you're just training full time, right? It was just like finally, bro, like and like I started going to church. It was like God started like calling me out of this lifestyle. It was like started to like see clearly and it was like all right, I see this life and I see this life. It was the same thing I was telling you before what I tell kids that are going down that bad path and I'm like, dude, I'm sick of that path. I don't like these people.

I don't fit in with these people. I want to go a different path now.

And uh that's when I started uh training mind, body, and spirit every single day. And that was my goal. And and I love the Lucha Canary and and I told him the president of the Federation of Lucha Canary wrote the ward in a letter. We want to sign this American when he gets out, so keep him here. Piss them off like none other. The next week this girl comes in, throws a bag in my face. Pack your stuff. You're going. And I'm like, "What?" And she's like, "Yeah, you're gone." And she was just mad, bro.

Cuz I made it in the newspaper. And if you don't know, Spaniards are like super racist. They do not want an American coming in like being good at their sport. It's their sport. Lucha Canary. It's Canary Islands. And I was coming in and and me and and Blair, we were dominating.

And they didn't like that at all.

Ian Heinisch1:27:25

So she put me call on air, bro. We get in uh I pack my stuff. You get one bag. They take your shoelaces off. We roll up to the airport. They don't have like an airplane that's specifically for

Ian Heinisch1:27:38

Uh he went already a couple weeks before.

Ian Heinisch1:27:41

They put you in this airplane. You roll up, bro. These guys all have ski masks on. It's like the most gangster. It's like they're like it's like their FBI or their like Navy Seal style like run their fingers through your mouth. Like the hardest course search. You're shackled like this. You walk on the plane, bro. Everyone has to keep their head down on the plane. You look up. They whack you in the back of the head and they're standing up through the whole

Ian Heinisch1:28:16

Oh, um El Salvador.

El Salvador. Yeah, [clears throat] something.

Ian Heinisch1:28:20

It's something like that. Yeah. So,

We get there and

Ian Heinisch1:28:25

They take me to I don't even know the place, but I'm

Where in Spain? Well, they're taking me to Leon. It's called Leon. It's in the north of Spain, but it took a month to get there. This holding cell, we chilled here for a while. Thrown in with Russians, thrown in with terrorists, you know. This plane was full of like rapist, drug cartel, serial murders, terrorists. Like, it was just like it was like the it was like the high maximum security. And uh so finally we get to Leyon, Spain. They have a boxing program. There was like this OG boxer.

So, um I got in a fight the first week. Uh you know, I some dude I forget what he did, bro. He took something of mine. So, I blasted him. Put isolation for two weeks. And uh man, I'm freaking out, bro. Like, I'm just counting every crack in my room. I'm boxing with my bed. I'm trying to do yoga. I'm trying to do And finally, bro, I just broke down. I was like, "God, if you're real, like I need you right now." And they had a Bible in Spanish, and it was just in Spanish.

And I didn't speak good Spanish. I was taking classes, but I opened it, bro, and I read it like it was my first language, bro. And the Holy Spirit just came on me, and it was like a piece, bro. And I had a huge encounter with God at that moment, but still, it wasn't enough to get me to fully be on track. I started boxing full-time. You know, they would have like sparring matches and and uh and finally, bro, I did my year and a half.

I signed this paper that I wouldn't come back to Spain or Europe, which I didn't know at the time, for 5 years. So they cut my sentence by a fourth.

Ian Heinisch1:30:01

And uh they put me on an airplane and they shipped me to New York.

Ian Heinisch1:30:06

Yeah.

Ian Heinisch1:30:11

So they take me in handcuffs to the airplane, put me in a holding cell at the airport, which I didn't even know they had. Took the handcuffs off, let me go on the plane, handed my passport to the flight attendant. I'm free for the first time in 2 and 1/2 years. Bro, I'm freaking out like talking to people, talking to girls, acting all crazy. And uh finally, we land on the plane and uh the the lady gives me my passport and in my head I'm playing out all these scenarios.

I'm like, should I run? No. 9/11. I'm like, I'll get cooked trying to run through JFK. Finally, I'm just like, let's just see what happens. Scan my passport. Mr. Heinisch, how long you been out the country? I'm like, a while. What's a while? 5 years. She said, yeah, come with me. Boom. They locked me up in their thing. Felony uh drug trafficking charges popped up and then uh they held me. It took them a while to figure out. Then they put me in Jamaica Queen's jail house for the weekend.

That was disgusting.

Ian Heinisch1:31:07

Pimps, crackheads, heroin addicts puking. And I'm just sitting there. I got luckily I had this leather jacket, bro. It's ice cold. It was like the biggest freeze in New York, bro. Middle of the winter, February.

And I'm just like, dude, I'm yelling at the guard. What? What's up, bro? like, "Am I going to go?" And he's like, "You're a different situation. Shut up." Then finally, I see the judge. She says, "You're going to Riker's Island."

Ian Heinisch1:31:30

The the lawyer sits down. She goes, "Hey, you need to go to protect custody." She goes, "You know, this is not

Ian Heinisch1:31:37

And I was like, I just did two and a half years." I was like, "Throw me with the wolves. I'll lead the pack." That was my mindset. I had no idea what I had no idea what Rikers was.

I was like, "I'm not going to Punk City."

Yeah. And uh so they start driving me to Riker and it's like dude this is really an island bro it's like a long

It was like big walls p r p r p r p r p r p r p r p r p r p r prison and then you get there and it's just a zoo alarms going off people screaming dangerous

Like you would just hear someone get dragged down the hallway you'd stand you'd have to put your nose against the wall while they get dragged past you. And I'm looking at the guard I'm like dude what is this? And he's like you must be one bad white boy. I'm like why is that? And he's like, "We don't see many of you around here." And I'm just like, "Damn." And and uh I went to maximum security cuz I was a fugitive on the run.

Ian Heinisch1:32:24

And they throw me in there, dude. I get rushed right away. I get snicker bar under my pillow. All this stuff. I'm like, "Bro, get out of here. I don't want nothing. I don't want none of this. I don't want to be a part of this. I'm just passing through." And uh yeah, it was probably the toughest three weeks of my life. Um got into an altercation one of the gangs. I don't want to say which one, but luckily I spoke Spanish. Thank god I spoke Spanish because I was

Ian Heinisch1:32:51

Uh I was cool with the Hispanic.

Ian Heinisch1:32:54

Yeah. So luckily

Ian Heinisch1:32:56

I was like, "Bro, I I can get you guys kilos.

Ian Heinisch1:33:06

So they were doing this thing where they would say, "Hi, you got to go to court." I would go to court, you know, pull down your pants, squat and cough, get in the van, drive to the courthouse, sit in a holding cell, nasty peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Eight hours, no court, no lawyer, back to the jail. Three days in a row of this, bro. Finally, I was like, "No, I'm not going." They came in with the taser, like, "You're going to go." So, I went I came back and I was just pissed off, bro.

And one of the gangs was like, "Yo, uh, we want to use your phone." I said, "Nobody's using my phone today. Leave me alone." And he goes, "What?" He goes, "All right, meet me in the back." And he saw me shadow box him before. And he was like, "Uh, you think you fight?" And I was, and he's like, "We fight for real on the street." And I'm like, "Yeah, whatever, bro. It's all good. It's all good." And, uh, he invited me in the back and pulls a shank on me, bro.

And like gets all up in my face, bro. And I And I learned some tricks, especially from my boy. Yeah.

And I'm like, "Dude, I don't want no problems, man." Totally like acted like a [ __ ] He dropped his guard, bro. And I just blasted him. Boom. and he just falls down and uh all his boys come running up and I see him coming and I'm like, "Dude, I'm I'm screwed, bro." I rip my shirt off. I wrap it around my hand to grab knives

And uh I thought he was going to just fight me, bro. I'm like, "Dude, why is everyone having a nasty shank in here?" And

Ian Heinisch1:34:27

And these three Latin dudes stand in front and they break it up, bro.

And uh they just like stop it. Finally, the guards come over. Everyone gets locked down and uh one of the guys comes over. He goes, "Hey man, we like you, but you ain't one of us, bro. Go to protect custody. These guys got a SOS on you." And I'm like, "What's that?" And they're like, "Stab on site." And he goes, "You got to go to protect custody." I call the guard over. The guard goes, "F you, white boy."

The guards come in. What up? What up? What up?

Ian Heinisch1:34:56

Yeah.

Ian Heinisch1:34:58

They're part of the gangs, bro. Like, it's it's crazy.

Ian Heinisch1:35:02

The craziest, bro. I'd see an opposite gang come in and get stomped out and the dude's read the guard's reading the newspaper and like it's just like he's bleeding there and he gets soccer kicked in the face when he's out and I'm just like dude like it's a bad place bro like if you ever seen the Khif broer documentary that place needs to get shut down. Have you seen that?

Ian Heinisch1:35:44

Yeah.

Ian Heinisch1:35:47

No, there was none.

Ian Heinisch1:35:49

Um so

Ian Heinisch1:35:54

And and so I'm like, I'm I'm It's going down tomorrow. Like I just knew it was going down. So I stayed up all night praying. I was taking suboxin with one of the boys in there. And you had your

Ian Heinisch1:36:04

Yeah.

Ian Heinisch1:36:12

It got It gets you high.

Ian Heinisch1:36:16

Bro. I mean I I mean I'm I'm I'm thinking I'm going to get stabbed in the morning. So I'm just like trying to numb

I'm just numbing out, bro. I'm literally tearing up my cell trying to figure out how these guys make knives.

Ian Heinisch1:36:27

Like trying to make something

And I'm like I'm like going to stuff. I'm like tripping out, bro. I'm like almost like hallucini. I'm staying up all night like pushed all the I ripped all the sheets off and I was like I'm going to make armor and I was like I'm going to funnel them through here. And like I was just like getting ready to go down cuz I've seen it happen, bro. I've seen them open up guys certain cells and just let them go in there. So like I knew this was going to go down in the morning.

And bro, I was just up praying to God. Like I was like, "God, save me from the situation." Like I was hoping for a guard change so I could ask the new guard. So I was like watching that the whole night. Like I didn't sleep. And it was like 5:00 a.m. Doors open at like 6:30 and my doors open and I jump up. Bro, my cell I probably looked like a crazy dude. Bro,

Ian Heinisch1:37:10

No, you don't have cellmates in maximum security.

Okay. and I jumped up, but I had I had my boy fingers, they call him fingers, he was missing a couple fingers and I had his his cell over there. So, we were like talking and throwing notes and he was throwing me some suboxin.

Yeah. And uh so these two big football player dudes come in and I probably look like a my whole cell was turned upside down. Like I was like ready and uh they're like look at me weird and they're likeish. And I'm like yeah who are you guys? And they're like us Marshall. And I was like thank you God. And they walked me out of there, bro. Walked me past all those guys. And those guys like wherever you go we going to get you. They thought I was just moving to protect custody.

And I was like in my head I was like

Ian Heinisch1:37:56

What? No, I didn't say nothing. They asked if I wanted to go get my passport or if I had any items at the the thing, but I knew there was like uh you know what [snorts] are those people called? The they're prisoners, but they help work. And I was just like,

Ian Heinisch1:38:09

Yeah. I was like, "No." I was like, "I don't have nothing. Let's go. I just want to out of there, bro." Like, dude, I never want to look at that place again.

Ian Heinisch1:38:18

And then we go in US Marshall and then and then it's probably the hardest 11 days of my life after that.

We get thrown in the back of a van.

You're shackled like this.

Ian Heinisch1:38:30

They drive us to Pennsylvania to Vermont back to New York. 48 hours we're back in New York. And they're only required to drop you off to sleep every 72 hours. So 3 days. And they're only required to let you go pee every 6 hours and they have to go to a jail and the heater was broken. So in the nights we're shivering, bro, cuz all they had was like a t-shirt. They didn't give me my jacket cuz I didn't want to go pick it up.

And bro, I'm just like shivering at night, bro. Like I I couldn't sleep. It was just It was just literally just huddled up with these dudes. And we would be like, "Bro, the heater's not working. You could see your breath. It's February in the East Coast.

Shut up or we're not going to feed you." And they just fed us fast food, Burger King, McDonald's. Like that was it. And I was like, "Dude, I have to pee so bad, bro." And they bounced a Gatorade bottle off my head and they said, "Figure it out." And I had to like hit my knees and like piss all over myself while I'm shackled up. And uh I was just the unlucky one. Every 72 hours they drop us off. 1 hour after they drop us off, highness, you're on the next one.

So I did this for 11 days, bro. I'm like hallucinating cuz I've been up so long eating fast food. Finally, bro, make it to Jefferson County, bro. Finally.

Ian Heinisch1:39:46

Uh in Colorado.

Ian Heinisch1:39:50

And they went like this.

Ian Heinisch1:39:53

Cuz every time they're dropping

Ian Heinisch1:39:56

They they uh what they're doing is they when they cross borders and drop people off, they get paid more.

Ian Heinisch1:40:03

So it was not a straight line. It took 11 days. And uh it was it was treated like an animal. Like I felt like like an animal. It was it was nuts. And

Ian Heinisch1:40:13

Jefferson County 2014. Stay there for like 2 days. My mom post bail. I was free for the first time. Bro,

Ian Heinisch1:40:23

They didn't know I was on the run. Well, I shouldn't say not on the They didn't know what happened. But yeah, they let you They let me out.

Ian Heinisch1:40:39

So, to to them it looked like I just went and just got a job somewhere and just stayed low key. You know what I'm saying? They didn't know I fled the country and then got locked up. Like the there's just not a lot of communication, which I thought there would be. I thought they would have it all locked in.

Ian Heinisch1:40:57

So, I get out. I'm like, "Okay, there's a few things I know. I need to find a church. I need to stop drinking. I cannot drink. Drinking is like the root of all evil.

Ian Heinisch1:41:06

Well, I was drinking prison hooch and stuff, but I just knew that every time I got kicked out of Canada, I just got deported from a country and a continent.

And I'm I'm 25 years old. So, I was like, the thing that always got me in trouble was drinking,

Ian Heinisch1:41:21

And drugs, obviously, but drinking always led to the drugs. So,

I go I show up to this MMA gym. It's just crazy how everything worked out. I called a buddy. He's like, "Yeah, my buddy's training MMA. I used to wrestle with him and I didn't have a license at the time. He's like, "He drives by your dad's apartment. Can pick you up and drop you off?" Cool. Thanks. So, I start roofing with my dad. I start MMA. I go 4 and0 as an amateur. Three submissions, one knockout. Then my coach says, "You're turning pro." And literally my boy helped pay for all my uh tickets and got my license back.

The day the guy quit that I was going with, the day I got my license.

Ian Heinisch1:41:57

So, it was like it was like a God thing, bro. And then uh I went 8 and0 as a professional and uh I finally made it to the fight. They said, "You win this, you win the LFA belt, you're going to the UFC. If you lose, you're in the back of the line." Well, about a year and a half before that, I tore my LCL before a fight. Went to the doctor. They prescribed me 40 percoet.

Ian Heinisch1:42:16

Instantly hooked. I probably broke three times drinking. And I went to church one time with this girl and they were just talking about money and and I was like, I don't need church. And I became a full slave to Oxie, bro. Like I was sniffing it. I was smoking it. I was going to Mexico after fights, buying massive amounts and bringing it back. It was this vicious cycle. I would quit 3 weeks before a fight, get deathly ill for a week from the withdrawals. I'd feel better, make weight, fight, win, and then I would celebrate with more pills.

Ian Heinisch1:42:47

So, um, it was like I went into this fight that I was supposed to win and dude, it's just like when you're not living right outside the octagon, it shows, right? M and I couldn't stop taking pills this time. So, I was taking it up to the fight and uh

And I was having weird skin issues. I was having weird like just weird stuff was happening. I was constipated. I had blood in my stool. Like it was just it was just like a really dark place, bro. Lost that fight. Got submitted. First loss. Took it so hard. Luckily, a year before that, I met Nate Markort and he started inviting me to the great Nate the Great. Yeah. and he started inviting me to Bible study, started to go to church a little bit, and uh it started to like work in me, but I still like I would feel so good after that, but then I would like I was a slave, bro.

Like I would call the dealer and then be like, "No." And then I'll be like, "Oh, I already talked to him. I got to go." It was like it was like a like

It was like I was like controlled. Like I had to get it, you know?

It was nuts. And so I lost this fight. I went on this camping trip with my buddy, bro. I just wanted to feel pain. and I chopped wood to my hands. We hiked this summit. When we summited the peak, it hit like 60 mph winds and I kept walking to this cabin. My boy almost got like hypothermia. I just wanted to feel pain. Finally, we got back and he's like, "Dude, let's just open this Bible study." And I was like, "I don't want to, bro." And finally, we opened it, man.

And it was just like, it basically said, "You're not saved. You're It challenged our salvation." At first, I felt offended. And then it hit me, man. Like, I'm living a hypocrite, bro. I say I'm saved, but I have no power. There's no evidence of God in my life cuz I'm a slave to these drugs. And at that moment, bro, I surrendered. And like it was like it was like the voices in my head said, "Kill yourself cuz you're born to be a drug addict and this is all you're ever going to be and you're already dying a slow death.

So just kill yourself. Just take a bunch of drugs." And at that moment, I said, "God, you take my life." And it was like at peace that came over me that I felt in that prison cell that one night. And the next week was a baptism call. I went to church and the water looked clear to me. And I walked in, I came back out, I thought I was going to do this big cheer. I looked back, the water looked black. And I felt God was like, "That's your addiction dead and your sin." And bro, I have never felt so like free and peaceful and like not controlled by anything.

And uh at that moment, I was broke living in my buddy's basement, not in the UFC, had nothing going for me. One year after that, just one year, I went on a four W win streak, three knockouts, one submission, broke into the UFC, broke into the top 10, met my wife, married my wife, bought a house, and I was a taxpaying citizen for the first time in my life.

Ian Heinisch1:45:32

I submitted a guy in LFA after that. Then they gave me the title shot. I knocked the guy out. Then they let me go on Contender Series. I knocked the guy out. And then I got my UFC debut. So actually and I won that. It was a war decision. So um four four fight it was actually a fiveight win streak after that but this was like in one year I had fought five times.

Ian Heinisch1:45:59

Yeah.

Ian Heinisch1:46:02

Well not in the top 10 yet or let's see [clears throat] it was about a year after that. Year and a half after that. So I claim the I climbed the rankings quick right after right after I won the Alfa Bell. I was like, "Let me get in the UFC." You said if I won the L. Oh, now we have this new show, Contender Series. All right, cool. I went on there, elbowed the guy, knocked him out. All right, let me get my fight. I want to fight in the UFC.

I wanted to make real good. I wanted to make UFC money.

And then everyone turned me down for the Colorado fight. And I just kept bugging the UFC like, "Yo, I want to fight. I want to fight."

Ian Heinisch1:46:35

They didn't want to fight in elevation.

Ian Heinisch1:46:37

And then this guy dropped out in Argentina. I got the call on Thursday. I left on Friday. I was in Argentina on Saturday, fought the next Saturday. Um, really tough guy, Cesar Ferrer. Broke his arm, beat him, close decision. And and then I went to fight Tom Breeze in London. He pulled out of the fight on the day of. Then they uh I got a short notice fight to fight Antonio Carlos Jr. was ranked like number 11 in the world, world champ, jiu-jitsu guy. Uh crazy fight with him.

We got bumped to the co-main event Rochester. fought him on 3 weeks notice and now I'm top 10 and then uh

Ian Heinisch1:47:14

Yeah,

Ian Heinisch1:47:21

I was like the anti- wrest or the anti-ju wrestling. That was like I beat all the Brazilians with that cuz I would just survive until like they I was I was a master scrambler. So I would just scramble scramble. Something about wrestlers too that

Ian Heinisch1:47:37

Well, in the beginning, you can choke them easy cuz wrestling like this, but on a wrestler who's black belt jiu-jitsu,

Yes,

Is nasty.

That's what I mean. Yes.

Ian Heinisch1:48:56

Yeah. You have to put guys to sleep in the UFC or And you have to time it right. Like Borier would jump a guillotine in the beginning of a round.

It's okay if there's 30 seconds left and you jump a guillotine. You know what I'm saying? But like you have to strategically like I broke I I threw up an arm bar on Cesar Ferrer who's another black belt world champ Brazilian

And I've bellyied down and I went ah and it went pop and I let go. bell rang and he still jumped on me and I was like, "Dude, I just snapped your arm and he came out and fought two more rounds." And that's what and I should have I should have twisted that thing and rip cartilage. But like these guys, you have to break bones where they can't like till it falls down limp or you have to put someone to sleep.

Ian Heinisch1:49:52

Very hard to submit, bro. And it's just they have such good positioning. So like my my scrambles, you see I'm jumping Gramby rolls, standing Gramby rolls just on him over and over and and he was beating me. He he I mean I was just defending subs the whole first round. He took me down and then there was a moment when he started to gas a little bit and I was scrambling. So I reversed him and just ground and pounded him so and then pieced him up the third round and and uh took the fight over.

It was it was a fun fight cuz it was like the momentum changed halfway through the fight.

Ian Heinisch1:50:24

So then um I fight Derek Brunson. I lost a close decision. I start to have these health issues, man, cuz I think it was obviously swollen kilos and the and the painkillers and I'm getting these like feliculitis things on me and then they turn in the staff. I go to the doctor and it was giving me antibiotics and I did like five rounds of like hardcore antibiotics in a year and it was just all of a sudden my cardio was trash. I had blood in my stool.

I went to the doctor. um got a colonoscopy. They said it was ulcerated colitis. This is when I met my wife and married her. It was like our third date. I was like, "Hey," she worked at a functional medicine clinic. She now owns her own practice, Hive Health. She's like, "Let's get your labs done." Cuz I kind of told her what was going on. I was anemic and iron cuz I was losing so much blood. I Hashimoto thyroid, ulcerated colitis. Like they basically were like, "You have to change everything in your life." Yeah.

And I went through all these steps and I lost my next fight.

Ian Heinisch1:51:22

Um, Ammo or No, not Amov. Uh, Omari Akmed, a Russian.

And I left that gym. I went to Thailand. I wanted to train out there. Like it was a fresh start for me, trying to just like figure out what's going on. Um, COVID hit. Came back to Colorado. Started training with my new coach, Coach Jake. Went out, knocked out um, Mirart, Gerald Meshart. And then I fought Kelvin Gastelum after that and lost a super close decision to wrestling. Took his back at the end. Couldn't finish a choke. And uh and then I moved down to Florida and this was like crazy time.

I was just jumping from Vegas to Florida. And then I came down to Florida, man. And it just I didn't feel the same. I had this weird like cardio issue and uh I got dropped to the headkick after I fought Almov. No issues there. Even Amav split me. I think he's he's going to be fighting for the belt soon. Split me with like eight stitches, you know, no excuses. It was just the worst I've ever felt. Like I felt like I I didn't belong in the octagon.

Like my muscles would not work. And he split me with a a jump knee and uh it was my first TKO loss. It wasn't like I got knocked out, but I was just covering up.

And uh I went back to sparring, got sat down with a headkick, bro. And these symptoms lasted for a year and a half. I mean, terrible. Like confusion, slurred speech, light sensitivity, headache. I felt like I was a different person. Like, it was like, it was like I was looking down at myself. It was such a weird feeling. It was a dark time, bro. And I kept trying. It was this voice of my being a [ __ ] Go to the gym. I would go to the gym.

I would try to drill and not get hit in the head. I get hit in the head. Someone would fall into me. Something stupid. Booked a fight with Sam Alvie. So sick of explaining myself over and over to people. and I booked the fight with Sam Alvie and I was like, "Finally, bro, this is the," no offense to Sam Alvie, but this is the easiest fight I've ever had in the UFC. I was like, "I'm gonna highlight reel, knock this dude out." And I had to pull out of that fight, bro.

And uh that's when I was like I There was a point when I was driving to the gym in Florida and I thought I was in Colorado. Pulled over, had a full panic attack, called my wife, and that was when I was like, "Dude, I don't care about fighting anymore. I just want to feel normal."

And uh I called the UFC and said, "Cut me." And they're like, "What? and you're still like top 15. Like why? Like you have another fight on your contract. And I'm like, dude, I'm I'm messed up bad. I was like, cut me. I want to get on peptides and I don't want to deal with USADA and I don't want to get popped for something stupid and get my name tarnished.

Ian Heinisch1:53:53

And they freaked out. They were cool about it, but that's when I found Crypto. [snorts] Only thing I could do, like if we'd have a 15-minute conversation, I have to lay down and take deep breaths for 15 minutes cuz my brain would be so fatigued.

Damn. And so I just started going on the computer and I found this coin that was sponsoring fighters. And I went on this Twitter space and told him my situation. And I was trying to get this stem cell procedure which was like 30 grand in in Tijuana, Mexico.

And I was like, I could afford it, but I'd be strapped and I not I don't have any money coming in. I can't fight. And they sent me Ethereum. And I was like, no way. I called Ed Clay and I was like, bro, do you take Ethereum? He's like, yeah. Boom. Boom. Sent the crypto. I was like, crypto is the future, bro. I was like, I just move money like that. Went down there, did a very experimental, 50 million stem cells in my brain stem. And uh I kept I kept trying to fight.

I was praying to God there would be hope. It was a really hard thing, man. I had to It was like, God, why, man? Like, you said we're going to go to the UFC. I was going to win the belt, proclaim your name to the world, and I'm literally there's nine people in front of me to get to that goal, and now you're redirecting me. And uh but I had to realize that fighting wasn't my identity, you know, and um it was it was tough, bro.

It was bitter. It was I was bitter for a little while. But

Ian Heinisch1:55:19

Yeah. And luckily for him, he got to reach his goals. You know, guys I was beating in the gym, I'm seeing him win fights. So I couldn't even watch it anymore. Like like I just stepped away from the whole thing. and and luckily I found crypto bro and just went all in on that and that's high risk high reward. Met some really like highlevel guys that were mentors B-rootes my partner we started the crypto kings and uh made more money than I ever made in my life.

Um paid off my house, you know, um had some crazy come up, some crazy losses, and uh to this day, you know, it's a blessing though because now I'm still connected to the about every two months I try to jump in the gym and try to wrestle cuz last year I found the missing piece of my stomach issues was detoxing my gut.

Ian Heinisch1:56:08

Because I found out I had overgrowth of candida and I have a I see a lot of guys that suffer with this. I I I went down the rabbit hole cuz I I did this hand scan at this holistic place and said, "Your stomach is full of mold and like I was like, "What?" So, I did this detox, bro. And I was like I just went hard. I was like, "No sugar, just meat and leafy greens. I was doing like oil of oregano, ozone, glutathione, NAD." Like I'm talking like I was throwing the book at it.

Candex. It was like I was getting like hot flashes. I felt like crap. I would feel good. I would feel like crap. And then I did a parasite detox. Then I did a heavy metal. I did the holistic way. Then I went to Thailand. I did a fiveday gut detox. I did colonics. Saw more parasites. Then I did the like medical detox for parasites. And uh

And bro, like now I have to if I eat too much sugar or don't get enough sleep, I have to like maintain that candida. If you have like white on the back of your tongue, it's an overgrowth of yeast. M

The symptoms are feeling drunk kills your cardio, kills your fertility, it just makes you feel foggy.

Ian Heinisch1:57:13

And those were the missing pieces of the symptoms. So I went way down this rabbit hole, man. And praise God, I became president of Bare Knuckle Ice Wars, a new fight promotion. We just were on ESPN last week, 15 million views. They posted on their Instagram,

Ian Heinisch1:57:36

Yeah. It's three one minute rounds

Ian Heinisch1:57:39

Hockey fights. No pucks, no sticks, just fights. The best part of hockey.

Ian Heinisch1:57:45

In a ice box. A 900 foot ice box. So

I uh you know, after fighting, man, like I just it sucks, bro. Like I couldn't I can't even wrestle this day live, bro. Wrestling is my first love. Like

I try every two months.

Ian Heinisch1:57:58

It does, bro. But like if I if I wrestle or if I light spar, I get like a headache for 3 days. I get this like that this weird feeling.

Ian Heinisch1:58:11

The stem cells helped a lot. Like a ton. Like

Ian Heinisch1:58:16

Yeah. So it sucks, bro. Like I I I feel like I feel like if I get give it more time, but like I I just trust me, bro. If I if I felt back, I would go fight again.

Ian Heinisch1:58:41

Yeah. Yeah. And that's that's incredible that I'm still connected to combat sports in a way cuz now I get to see it from the business side. I have a lot more respect for Dana White and Hunter and all those guys cuz

It's tough, bro. That's why they laugh and they're like, "Go ahead, try to start it. Try to try to start try to copy us. Go ahead." cuz it's so hard, bro.

Especially a new sport like ice horse. So, we've been grinding through this road, like paving the trail. And we

Ian Heinisch1:59:08

Oh, man. Dealing with people,

Ian Heinisch1:59:13

Everything, bro. Dealing with fighters, dealing with vendors, dealing with arenas, dealing with all the people that you need to make a fight happen. And then remembering everything to get done and having the right team in place to make sure it gets done. That's that's probably the hardest thing like until you have those processes and procedures and those relationships. It's a tough it's a tough go and there's so many hidden surprises that you don't think of. But anyways, we got on ESPN O. We didn't know they were going to post us, man.

They posted us and now we're working on some really big deals behind the scenes.

Ian Heinisch1:59:47

Uh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We got some former ones like uh Riley Cotay. Um

Ian Heinisch1:59:53

Yeah. Matt Barnaby. Um he's a commentator. He called out Avery. Uh Sean Avery.

Ian Heinisch1:59:59

That's what I'm saying. He offered 50 G's of his own money and Shawn Avery silence.

Ian Heinisch2:00:06

Yeah.

Ian Heinisch2:00:11

Yeah.

Ian Heinisch2:00:18

Yeah. So, you know hockey.

Ian Heinisch2:00:50

It does. It does. We get We get a lot of uh Native Americans. They're tough, bro. They're so tough. This is going to be like, you know, how boxing had like the Irish and then the the Mexicans and then the blacks because they're they're kind of like the

The minority.

Ian Heinisch2:01:06

I think Native Americans is they're going to take over eyes.

Ian Heinisch2:01:10

I I just They're tough, bro.

Ian Heinisch2:01:12

Like, if you get if you can if you can get them to focus Yes. if you can get them to focus and stay clean, there's some Native Americans that can fight. So, it it's cool to see, bro, cuz it's like it's like UFC1. You're seeing different styles and uh different ethnic groups and different people, the Americans, and it's it's it's been a fun journey, man. It's been very challenging, very fun. So, I've just been uh very successful entrepreneur, man. I've been serving God faithfully. You know, I run a Bible study and and uh you know, I feel free, bro.

I'm at peace. Yeah. And that's and that's the important thing cuz I realized fighting wasn't my identity. That was part of my story and I'm grateful that it happened. And you know if I wish God would be like, "Hey, you're completely healed. Let's go back."

Ian Heinisch2:01:56

And but um unfortunately that hasn't been my story right now. But man, I feel blessed. And um I just feel like man, you can overcome, man. I remember before I was rock bottom in a foreign prison cell. I got I was 25 26 years old. Everyone's like, "You're too far gone. You're too old. You've done too many drugs. It's never going to happen." And I use those ADD tend tendencies. And what I tell people is they're like a superpower cuz I can rep more than you.

I promise if I get addicted to something,

I will do it more than you.

Ian Heinisch2:02:25

Because you have that like addictive personality. But those chains have been broken um with the drugs and and um man, I'm just I'm just grateful. The life I have right now is is a blessing. The wife I have, the the the house, everything, man. um compared to what I had, you know, a decade ago.

Ian Heinisch2:02:48

Yeah.

Ian Heinisch2:03:17

Yeah. Um Ian Heinisch MMA on Instagram on X if you're looking for more crypto stuff. Um you know, we got some fun things doing, man. We started a health and wellness entrepreneur fitness networking community in South Florida. We're running these UFC Navy Seal style workouts. We already have 45 members and uh man, it's so cool to brush shoulders with guys who are pulling 100 million a year and and and and even the smaller entrepreneurs that are just hungry up and coming. I love that mindset. For me, that's my new arena, being an entrepreneur.

But um yeah, if you want to follow, definitely follow BK Icewars um on Instagram, bkiswars um.com if you want to check out our website. And uh yeah, stay tuned for that. September 5th is our next fight.

So, uh, it's in Edmonton, Canada.

Ian Heinisch2:04:12

Uh, not yet. I think we're probably gonna stick with Canada this year. And we're gonna we're going to do a big We have We have Verinas hitting us up. The Florida one we did at this the Florida Panthers. Uh, you know, that was huge, bro. That put us on the map.

Yeah. But

Ian Heinisch2:04:35

Yeah. Yeah. BKFC's crushing it. We work alongside them. We're not we're not with them anymore, but we're alongside them. We we when we first started we were like

Affiliated with them, but now we we've we've made our own brand, but we we help each other. We work alongside Yeah. We collab. Exactly. So, I have a website you guys can check out other podcasts, but man, this has been a great podcast. Probably the most in-depth I've gone. I mean, what how long did we go?

Ian Heinisch2:05:01

Yeah. Yeah. Usually I I give people, you know, the quick hour, but yeah, it was good, man. You asked really good questions. So, thanks for having me on. And

And man, if you're out there struggling, bro, seek the Lord, seek your purpose, and uh don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it. And uh

It's it's a grind, bro. you know the grind, but but there is light on the other side.

Ian Heinisch2:05:34

Oh, cool.

Ian Heinisch2:05:50

Yeah, right.

Ian Heinisch2:05:53

There we go.

Ian Heinisch2:05:59

Let's go.