World Champion MMA Fighter Diagnosed with MS Did This Instead of Quitting | Alberto Crane

0:00Most men live lives of quiet desperation, you know, never really taken that jump, taken that risk. I followed my dreams. I was 23 and I started my school. I had a big credit card bill. I had a credit card limit of$20 ,000. I lived on that, you know, but I went all in. You know, like I realized most people never do that in their lives. Going for it, showing up, doing it. The resilience of everything, of going through it. I keep showing up no matter what. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. I don't act like I'm a victim. I figure out the solution.

0:29Ryan Hanley:What does a man do when the world tells him he's finished? When he loses his first 13 world-class competitions in a row? When a doctor's diagnosis hands him a death sentence for his physical life and sentences him to a wheelchair? If you're a reasonable man, you adapt. You accept the fate. You fade away. But we're not interested in reasonable men on this show. And today's guest is a testament to that. We have Alberto Crane. He isn't just a sixth degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, UFC veteran, and a world champion. Berto Cain is one of the first Americans to ever conquer the world of Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

1:11Ryan Hanley:He's a pioneer who packed his bags for Brazil when everyone else was just playing it safe at home. No one even knew about BJJ back then. This is a man who was told no teen times and decided to become a world champion anyways. A man who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and instead of accepting a life of decay, rebuilt his body and built a fitness empire, TAC Fit, from the ashes of his diagnosis. Get ready, my friends, because you are about to learn what it truly means to go all in. I give you Alberto Crane.

1:52Ryan Hanley:alberto man i appreciate you uh taking the time to to to share your story what you have going on um my question my first question and and i like to ask this just because i think it's fun for anyone who who you know is any of the martial arts that's on the show is like most people have never been punched in the face like what is it like just explain the idea of of like this martial skill of being able to take a punch like what what is that about fighters because i've had i've had people tell me the best fighters and obviously i'm interested are not the ones who throw the best punches but they're the ones that take punches the best one is that true and two how the hell do you take a punch from some of the absolute animals who do, you know, what you used to do for a living?

2:42Have you seen the Rocky Balboa movies where he tells his son, he's like, son, how hard you can get hit, how hard you can hit, but how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, right? That's how winning is done. And so, you know, how does it feel to get hit? You know, I think it's not everybody can handle that, right? Nobody can handle that. You got to have thick skin. You got to be tough. and you're going to have instant reaction to that. Like, right? You're either going to fight or flight, right? You're not going to want it anymore. And so you definitely have to be wired a certain way, I think, if you're going to, you know, continue doing, if you're going to fight professionally and things like that, right?

3:22You're going to know right away. You're going to know right away if you're going to keep going forward, you're going to keep moving forward and keep going or not, right?

3:31Ryan Hanley:Why then do some people, I mean, obviously there's a lot of tremendous female fighters too. I don't mean just guys. But why do you think it is that some people get hit and get back up and others stay down? And I don't mean that sounds trite. I don't mean it to be. I mean, like at a deeper level, when you're working with someone, you know, there's just and I saw this in football. So I played football. I haven't done any martial arts. So, you know, I do some boxing. I watch YouTube videos and I like the workouts, but I'm not a boxer in any regard. but in football and I played high school football um you know you could tell almost right away when you're sizing someone up when they got hit and knocked down like how they got back up taught you so much about who your teammate was going to be or who your opponent was like what do you think it is inside guys is is it motivation is it uh uh just a screw is loose you know or maybe it's a combination of all these different things that you can take that punch and know like, I'm going to come back for more.

4:32Ryan Hanley:Like, okay, I got hit. I took this, you know, it's not going to keep me down. I'm not going to stay down. I'm going to get back up off the canvas or whatever. And I'm going to go back in, you know, that skill is so incredibly important, obviously in the martial arts and in fighting, but it transcends so much of our life. And I'm just very interested from, from your very, you know, specific and unique perspective, why you think some people do and some people don't. In a simple way, right? It's like heart, right? In other sports too, does that person have heart? You know, a lot of Mexican, Hispanic fighters, right?

5:05They can take a hit and they can keep moving forward and that's what they're known for, right? Whereas other ones, other ethnicities aren't known for that so much, right? Have you ever heard the term gameness?

5:18Ryan Hanley:gameness like are they game gameness no it's south carolina like i think the mascot is like game game cocks game cocks yeah right right right and so not that i am into uh uh cockfighting or or pitbulls or anything like that but there's something to be uh learned from that because they breed they breed with you know game other game dogs right to create champions right and so I think it's part of it's in our DNA. If a dad or mom is a competitive athlete and they have heart, they're going to have kids that have heart as well. I think it's not just one thing. It's like all these things combined. Of course, the environment shapes you, right?

6:02Your team, you have tough teammates. They raise up the level in the room, on the field, right? I think, yeah, it's a combination. It's not just one thing. We're complex beings, right? It's not one thing that makes us. It's like all these things combined. But I think some of those things definitely touch on that.

6:20Ryan Hanley:That was one of my, did you watch Last Dance with Jordan and the Bulls? Yes, I did. Yes, I did. One of the biggest takeaways, and I'm not the only one, but one of the biggest takeaways for me was when they were, and I can't remember which episode it was, but they were talking about the relationship that the players had to Jordan. Right? And obviously you had some players who appreciated who he was, but there were a lot of these guys who had rings on their fingers because of Michael Jordan, who were now, I don't want to say talking trash, but certainly did not enjoy or appreciate the way that he was.

6:54Ryan Hanley:And I just found it incredibly telling that like, you know, Jordan comes on at the end and guys, if you haven't seen this, it's been out for a while. So spoiler alert, it's on you for not watching it. But you should watch it anyways, even if I give this away. Like he says, you know, they may not have liked the way I practiced. They might not have liked the way I pushed them, but they liked when the ring was slit on their finger and it was there's so many levels to that for me where it's like you had this guy who was who's obviously I mean he had a great he had a good family gave him some of that but obviously it was also born in at a level that made him the competitor that he was and despite even being around that and seeing that and seeing the success that he had there were still guys that could complain or bitch about how hard they're being pushed.

7:41Ryan Hanley:And it's like, you're going to be the greatest team in the history of the NBA. Six championships, and you can still complain about how hard that guy was pushed. It was a very telling thing to human psychology for me that just even these very talented people still didn't want to push themselves to their max limit. Right. It's a choice. Like, what do you want? And I think a lot of that I saw in and watching The Last Dance and other things, interviews that I've seen with Michael Jordan, who I loved. He was my childhood hero, by the way. I got to go play, watch him in Madison Square Garden when I was in high school.

8:17So I'll never forget that my dad got his tickets to Nick's game, right? So man, just, I think he checks people, right? Like, I don't know who it was. It wasn't Paxton. It was somebody else towards the end, you know, and basically he earned his wings or earned his respect, you know, and all these guys were trying to earn his respect and And he's constantly pushing these guys. It's that getting punched in the face thing in a way. Like, are you going to fight or are you going to flight? Are you going to be a little bitch? Are you going to move forward and try to win this damn game? Because it's a fight, right?

8:51It's a fight. And so what are you made of? Who are you? Show me. You know who I am. You want to be a part of this? Then do it. If you don't, get off the train, right? Go somewhere else. This is what we're doing. And I think that's the level that he, the bar he set, right? You saw it from the early days when he came to the Bulls. It wasn't like that. It wasn't like that. Guys were partying. Guys were doing, you know, different things, right, that were not aligned with what he wanted. And he knew where he wanted to go, and he set that bar, and he had expectations for his teammates and everybody.

9:25And they kind of built the team, right, around MJ, right? And the history speaks for itself.

9:33Ryan Hanley:do you think he went about that the right way in motivating them? You know, is there, and I've gotten this question from high achievers, let's say in like the sales industry. A lot of my work, the core industry that I came out of in my career has been the insurance industry, a lot on the sales and growth side and stuff. And I deal with a lot of people in sales and business development. And, you know, you'll hear, you know, if they work in pods or they work in teams, you know you'll hear like whoever's at the top you know they struggle with how to communicate how to pull up how to inspire and motivate their other team members and you know I guess my question is if you are that high achiever you're the guy in the gym who just comes in and you just you're just the light switch goes on and you're as hard as you can go until the light switch goes off, right?

10:28Ryan Hanley:That's just the type of, and you're looking around and you feel like you're dragging people. How do you motivate those guys to come with you? And when do you know, like, this one is just not, he's not one of us, right? She's not one of us. Like, we got to cut that person out of the herd. How do you make that distinction and become that leader if you are that guy or that gal? I mean, you, you, you, your example one, I think that if you were talking about Michael Jordan, it's funny because I'm reading a book right now, the mindful athlete, right? Philip Jackson's a guru kind of, but the mindfulness and stuff.

11:07I think, I think, right, it's, it's, it's, you can't make everybody happy and you're not there to make everybody happy. If you're on the, if you're on a winning championship team, if you're on the NBA, if that's what you want to do, you're either with it or you're not, right? And you're going to set – and everybody's different. Is it right or is it wrong? It just is, right? It just is. And, like, you know, it worked. It worked. And, you know, you don't know everybody's background and they have traumas. Like, you know, Michael Jordan got cut from his – as a sophomore in high school. And his brother, you know, favoritism, parents, this and that, who knows.

11:45But that was traumatic for him, right? That was very traumatic for him. And then he came back from that. And same thing, you get punched in the face. What do you do? It's not what happens to you. It's how you deal with it, right? Like my daughter competes competitively. And she had, they stopped, CIF is the California, the high school governing body for wrestling. And she transferred high schools and they blocked her from competing this year, her junior year. you know and yeah because because bs bs somebody had some pictures uh well the coach in the background saying that she was uh what do you call it influenced or um um what do you call it when not influenced but uh influenced and or uh when they're there the team recruits you if she was recruited so she was recruited or influenced to go to the high school but it was It was all BS.

12:40It was just we went to support a kid or a couple kids that used to train with us. And it's their gym, right? Anyway, it's not what happens to you. It's what you do, how you deal with it. It's not what happens to you. It's how you deal with what happens to you, the adversities, right? The punch in the face, the losing, right? The getting cut from your team, right? And life. It's not what happens to you. And so, man, yeah, it sucks. She's there right now. I'm going to go later on and I'm going to watch some of her teammates and stuff compete. It's a couple hours away. But like life isn't fair, sometimes life is not fair, but it's not what happens to you, it's how you deal with it.

13:19And so it's a good lesson for at a young age to know that's going to happen, right? Because in life, it's going to happen sooner or later.

13:26Ryan Hanley:This is very much your story. And this is where I'd love to pivot into for those that don't know your career, your background, and the challenges that you have faced. Like, you know, you don't have to do the whole thing, but if you could give us the story to level set, you know, this exact point of, of dealing with a, with a major challenge in your life and continuing through it, you know, can you kind of just break that down for the audience for us? For sure. You know, when I was younger, I moved down to Brazil. I took that jump, that leap of faith and, and moved to Brazil in the early days of, you know, of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu being in the country, UFC starting out and it didn't make sense.

14:03And I think I kind of keep going back to that Joe Rogan thing. Like most men live lives of quiet desperation, you know, never really taken that jump, that risk, right? I was, you know, I was my early 20s, 20 years old, 19, 18, whatever. And I did that. I followed my dreams, you know. And I came back when I was 23 and I started my school. And I wasn't, right, I had a big credit card bill because I had a credit card limit of $20 ,000 and I lived on that, you know. I went all in, right? The name of my book is All In. And I took that risk and that jump. And I realized most people never do that in their lives.

14:43When I came back, I was looking around. I realized that at that age. And so I think it's in my book, right? It's basically like going for it, right? Going for it, showing up, doing it, and then the resilience of everything, of going through it, right? I saw a meme actually before we talked, you know? Somebody's starting a business, right? and he looks all pretty and all kept up. And then the guy, what's the guy who made the winning goal for the hockey, USA hockey? Jack Hughes. Jack Hughes. And then they have a picture of Jack Hughes with the broken teeth, you know, trying to make your business profitable, you know?

15:20And so, you know, listen, like that's life, right? That's business. And so my story is about that, the ups and downs. And I keep showing up no matter what. But I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis from my last fight medical in 2012. So that was, I don't know, 13 years ago. And I've had to deal with a lot of different things. But again, I keep showing up and I do my best. And I find, I don't act like I'm a victim. I figure out the solution. And I believe that I can win no matter what. And I think martial arts teaches that. And I think it gave me the beautiful background of having that background to keep that mindset.

16:01of always trying to find a solution and always trying to stay in that winning mindset.

16:07Ryan Hanley:Most people who are engaged in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and find out that they have multiple sclerosis, I'm guessing I feel like many would give up, certainly go into victimhood, probably. And some of this you probably dealt with, right, and worked through, or I'd love to hear that, But like, it's your body. It's your physical. And I'll give you just a little bit on this. So athlete my whole life. After college, play a little baseball. And then once that's over, I kind of go into like dad husband mode, right? Put on some weight, not working out as much. In my brain, I still think I'm an athlete, but I'm not.

16:50Ryan Hanley:I'm not at all. and I'm in 2017 I'm emceeing a conference because I do a lot of public speaking and stuff and I'm about to go out and announce the closing keynote and I sack of potatoes pass out right to the floor my body my mind dehydration you know all the things I had was not physically or mentally prepared for two days of being on, right? Which at 35 or whatever I was, 34, whatever, however old I was, like that, that's unacceptable to not be able to MC a conference for two days. And I start working my way back and I've gotten in very good physical shape. And then about a month and a half ago, I wake up and my heart rate is pinned at 160.

17:39Ryan Hanley:I can't breathe and I can barely get out of bed. and I'm having a sustained panic attack as well as which brought on a consistent a flutter and a fib. And for a month, I'm basically like incapacitated. Like I can't, I can walk around the house, but even going up and down stairs. And it was the first time I ever had to think about like, what if I can't be physical? Like, what if I can't, you know, lift weights four days a week and go to hot yoga and go skiing and do my boxing that I do? And like, what is my life going to be? And one, did you have that moment? What was that like? And how did you work through that considering how important your physicality is to what you do?

18:25Definitely, right? Like that was one of the first things, right? Is I went to the doctor, they treated me like my life was over. They found these lesions in my brain and gave me a stack of drug catalogs and basically told me like I might end up in a wheelchair. And you start to do research and you're like, well, okay. and I had an interviewer this week, you know, because we're gearing up for the book launch at the end of March, asked me, are you scared? And was I scared then? Am I scared now? Like, yes, I was scared, you know? And what did I do? Like, going back to the punch in the face, like, do you fight or do you flight?

18:59Do you freeze, you know? And what I did is I, can I, as I asked the doctor, can I still do jujitsu? And he said, yes, there's no brain damage. I was like, okay, I was okay with not being able to fight professionally anymore. And so I actually signed up for a jiu-jitsu tournament. And I did one, then I did two, and then I did a world tour. Because maybe in six months, I'm not going to be able to walk anymore. I'm not going to be able to do what I love to do, what I've been doing my whole life. And I had that in my mind. And I literally did a world tour. I went to the Amazon. I went to the Middle East, all over Europe, Asia.

19:36I was like, well, if I'm going to do this, I might as well go out on my shield. Right. And then after that, I had a spiritual moment. And my one of my last stops actually won a Nogi World Championship and the process in that same month. I went to Spain as one of my last stops. And I didn't realize it at the time, but I wasn't feeling good. I felt nauseous. You know, I couldn't really eat and I had food poisoning. And so I went out the first match and then I survived somehow and I ended up throwing up after that match. and I lost the match, but because I didn't throw up on the mat, I wasn't disqualified, so I qualified for the open weight because it was like a master division, like a veteran kind of division, and I qualified for the open weight division, and he's like, the open weight division, I was like, well, I'm feeling too good, like, you know, I was like, he's like, well, just maybe you'll feel better later on, and I was like, okay, maybe, and so I was like, am I going to stay here, feel sorry for myself, or am I going to say, feel sorry for myself at the hotel, or here, you know, So I was like, might as well stay here and see if I feel better.

20:42And I couldn't drink. I couldn't eat. You've had the flu. You know, probably food poisoning as well. You know how that feels. Like, you feel weak. You feel terrible. And I started thinking to myself, I believe in my technique. And it started to make me feel good. So I kept saying it again and again and again. I believe in my technique. I believe in my technique. And it started to give me, like, energy. and I did that for probably about an hour and a half. I went out, I won my first match, won my second match, won my third match. I did multiple matches later on in the day. After that day, I was mind blown.

21:21I still couldn't drink or eat all day, right? The next morning, I felt a little bit better. I started to be able to put some liquids in my body and I flew back, back to the States and I just couldn't believe what I did, the power of the mind. and it was that moment, that moment of doing this world tour that I found my solution, like just the power of the mind, believing that I can, believing that I can and the next step was actually I ended up at the TAGFIT certification that kind of gave me one of the solutions like movement practice, applied neuroscience, longevity, mobility, you know, practice that gave me one of the solutions to be proactive in healing myself and,

22:06Ryan Hanley:why that phrase? Was that something you had said in the past? No. It just came to you? Just came to me at the time. I was just thinking, and I said that I believe in my technique in my head. I didn't say it out loud. I was just in my head. I believe in my technique. Just, you know, you're down. You got nothing. You don't feel good. You can't drink. You're weak. You got nothing. And I was like, I believe in my technique, and it started to give me energy inside, right? It gave me power. It gave me energy. And so I kept saying, I kept feeling that, that it was like a mantra, right? Over and over and over and over for, I don't know, an hour and a half, two hours.

22:42I don't know how long it was at the time. But after the tournament, I was like, I know I can win. I know I can win because of the power. It showed me the power of the mind.

22:59I mean, you got to believe that's nothing less than divine, right?

23:02Ryan Hanley:I mean, that's, that's just, being tapped in and i i um i know that man i think ideas like manifestation like mantras get you know you kind it's very polarizing people are either like that stuff's complete foo-foo ethereal nonsense or absolutely locked in and i'll tell you as i've done this show and um you I've done, we're north of 400 episodes on the show. We've interviewed some amazing people like yourself just over the years. And one of the biggest changes in my own mindset from the beginning of this show to today has been this idea. I'm going to throw a broad stroke on it as kind of manifesting, but that can go in a bunch of different places.