Ulysses Diaz: Breaking Norms From Prison to Knockout Power | Adversity & Discipline

The Determined Society with Shawn French | Adversity & Mindset

Ulysses Diaz shares his transformative journey from a troubled youth in Miami, through prison and street life, to becoming a disciplined fig

Key takeaways

• Discipline and consistency are key to transformation, even after years of setbacks.
• Adversity can be a catalyst for personal growth when paired with faith and self-reflection.

Main topics

• Overcoming prison and street life
• The role of family, mentorship, and faith in personal development

Notable quotes

"I went to prison as a young man. Of course, in prison, it's something normal to do is fight as well."

"I had some friends there and it was the biggest rush of life. Biggest high I could get. Better than any drug I've ever done in my life."

Conclusion

Ulysses Diaz's journey exemplifies how adversity, discipline, and a strong

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) I went to prison as a young man. Of course, in prison, it's something normal to do is fight as well. I found myself back in the streets doing things I wasn't supposed to be doing. I got on my knees. I cried. I believe in God. I, you know, I asked God to please just like remove me from this life. You may have to let someone go. That's right. You may have to have some moments of solitude. I fought. I won by first round knockout. I had some friends there and it was the biggest rush of life. Biggest high I could get. Better than any drug I've ever done in my life. Speaker 2 (0:26) So you can heal, so you can get yourself right in your own mind. And Speaker 1 (0:32) to the father I am today, and to the husband I am today, and to the son I am today, because all these things are lessons that I teach my son. My son, he's 13 years old. When he was 10, they found a tumor in his febrile bone. He had osteosarcoma. I spent a year in the hospital with my son fighting cancer. He beat it. Thank God. He's kicking ass. Been training every day. But I got that fire back. I got that fire back. I stepped to these guys at Bare Knuckle Boxing and told them, you're retired. You're retired with us. I know I did. But I want to come back. Paul and Malinagy retired and they came back with you guys. I want to do the same thing. I still have a lot to show the world. What's the mission in the next few years for Speaker 2 (1:09) you? Speaker 1 (1:10) I feel bad for the guy who's going to stand in front of me, man. Because I'm telling you, I have this crazy fire inside of me. And I feel amazing. Speaker 2 (1:26) Every now and again, I sit down with an individual that outlies the true definition of discipline and determination. That also makes you question the timeline that things are going to need to be done. The man sitting in the chair next to me didn't take his pro fight until he was 35 years old, started training, a month later was in the ring. He has a record, one of the quickest knockouts in combat history at three seconds. From the time the bell rang to the time Benedetto hit the mat was three seconds long. He's gone from living in Miami, living in the streets, boxing since he was six years old, spent some time in prison, spent some time touring the world with his childhood friend Pitbull on his private jet. Now he's in the ring fighting the best way he knows how, with his fists and his heart. I have with me... yuli monster diaz what's up baby what's up brother thank you so Speaker 1 (2:19) much for the opportunity it's great uh great to meet you in Speaker 2 (2:21) person man it's so great to look you in the eye you know i always find that when i sit with fighters i always have this early anxiety of like what's this gonna be like but every time i meet a fighter you guys are the softest and most gentle Speaker 1 (2:37) Souls that Speaker 2 (2:38) I've ever Speaker 1 (2:38) met but also there's that switch right right right you can flip it a little bit of course And I think honestly I think I've always said we all have that switch in this you know I mean it's not just fighters For example you're not a professional fighter, but if somebody messes with your kids your family you're gonna hit that switch You're gonna turn into an animal as well But yeah, I save all that for the ring. They call me the monster. I'm only the monster inside the ring outside I like to be as nice and as humble as I can to anybody and everybody I meet Speaker 2 (3:06) The moment I walked in, you walked in, I saw you. I could tell how humble and just the level of humility you do have. So I appreciate that about you. Thank Speaker 1 (3:14) you. Speaker 2 (3:14) But I don't want to start with the knockouts, the things in the ring. I want to start back when you were six years old. You were in the ring boxing with your family before you even barely knew how to read. Walk me through that, man. Speaker 1 (3:27) Okay, so at six, this is how it all kind of started. Six, seven years old, you know. I grew up in Miami, single mom. We had no family down here. I had no father, no cousins, no male role models whatsoever. I had these family members come over from Cuba when I was about, like I said, six, seven, eight-ish years old, right around that time. He was an amateur boxer. Boxing in Cuba is like P.E. in the United States. You kind of always, everybody takes it. Some people take it to the next level. Some people take it as an elective and keep on moving in life. My cousin that came at the time he he was an amateur boxer, you know, he had his family came over his family He had done some amateur boxing, but he was still skilled in it So he came over had his little male Cousin me and he started teaching me things and that's when I really fell in love with the sport, you know I had already through kindergarten first grade second grade. I had already gotten in tons of trouble for fighting in school just for being real mischievous, but I loved fighting. And I always tell people I was never a bully. I never picked on people, but I loved defending my friends. I never had any brothers or sisters or anything. So I have a sister. She's 10 years younger than me, so I didn't grow up with her. So my friends were my family to me. So defending them, I felt like it was my job always growing up. So I loved fighting. Now, he taught me some skills. He taught me how to throw a jab. He taught me how to defend myself. He actually gave me my first bloody lip because I remember he was teaching me how to defend myself, and I kept trying to keep my hands out. He's like, I'm Speaker 2 (5:03) going Speaker 1 (5:03) to teach you why you don't do that. Boom. I'm like, okay. Learned that quick. And fell in love with the sport. Again, with a single mom working her ass off because she's trying to keep a roof over my head and clothes on my back. Had a lot of free time to get myself in trouble and do things I wasn't supposed to be doing. And it was hard to kind of... stick to a sport. I played baseball at the time, but I was really on and off with things because I never had anybody to take me anywhere. And, you know, again, my friends were my family. Whatever they did, I wanted to do. I got into a little bit of boxing in my teens. Wasn't consistent with it, stayed for a little bit. Couldn't get the rides there, all that. Then later in my 19, 20, 21, I already had kids. Found myself had my own car could get myself to places started doing some amateur boxing did a few amateur boxing fights but Anybody knows that amateur boxing you're coming out of pocket to pay for yourself to get into these tournaments and to get yourself there and to get yourself the gear that you need and to pay for your coaches in your school and all these things and Again, I had a family to feed so that didn't last too long, but I always loved the sport Always my whole life one thing I always did was workout either I did weights I trained a little bit of boxing. I did jiu-jitsu. I did something, always kept myself in shape. That's something that I just always loved. And so that always stayed consistent. And then, you know, as a teenager, I got myself in trouble with juvenile detention center, so I fought a lot being there. I went to prison as a young man. I was there from 23, 24, 25. Of course, in prison, it's something normal to do is fight as well. And so I always loved fighting. Then you know as time goes by I was when I got out of prison I was a pit bull trying to moving around too, but Pit bull wasn't back then what he is now So I was going on tour to maybe twice a month making a couple bucks getting by I needed more money to survive with these kids with his family with his wife Just life in general and especially in Miami. Miami's expensive. Oh sure is man So found myself back in the streets doing things I wasn't supposed to be doing Pitbull, again, he's my brother still to this day. I had the common decency and the common sense to tell him, hey, look, man, I'm doing this. He tried to get me out of it. He's like, look, man, we got a future here. There's things that happen. But one thing I tell everybody, just as for myself and for him in that example, I couldn't see his dream. I believe in you, and I believe that. For example, I believe this podcast is going to be bigger than what it is now. Speaker 2 (7:36) But Speaker 1 (7:36) I can't see it like you see it because you're here every day putting in the work. I'm coming in and out. So I had to do what I had to do. We kind of parted ways in business. But, of course, he's always my brother. Always out of distance. Never wanted to get him involved in anything I was doing. So did my thing. And then finally, at the age of 35, I was in Denver, Colorado. I was part of the Green Rush, you know, living over there. Growing weed and just tired of my own shit man tired of the target that lifestyle you can't trust anybody and you know shit is never as it seems and again just uh as Easy as possible. I just tired of my own shit. I hated that lifestyle already I was really tired of it and trying to figure out I remember my thought that day when I everything started switching one of my thoughts was like say man 35 10 years from now 45 which I'm now I'm 45 years old. I'm like we try to sell a pound of weed to make a hundred bucks Like what am I doing? You know, I mean and Got on my knees. I cried. I believe in God. I asked God to please just remove me from this life to give me something. I had no clue whatsoever I was going to get into combat sports. I was training jujitsu in Colorado, doing weights. Anyways, that night, packed up my car. I had a 99 Tahoe. I packed it with everything that fit in it. I called the transport. They said they'll be there in two days. I bought my flight, flew to Miami. Speaker 1 (9:04) Still trying to figure it out. I still had one foot in, one foot out, because the only way I knew how to make money was the streets. So I'm like, all right, let me just do this until I figure something out. But while I'm doing that, I'm in the boxing gym, Fifth Street Gym down here in Miami Beach. Shout out to Dino Spencer. He saved my life, made me accountable, and just got me into the fight world. And also Josh Dempsey was my first coach. But I get into the gym and I'm just training just to train. Like I said, I've always trained. I've always done weights or something. So I exercise is just part of my life. So many of these guys know my background because I know him for years from when they opened the gym. And they, you know, the accountability part comes when I'd come to the gym for three, four days, and I'd miss a day, and they'd be calling me. Hey, what are you doing? You know, they knew what I was doing, but they didn't want me doing it. So, hey, what are you doing? Why aren't you here? Come over here, man. Hey, stop bullshitting. So that kind of gave me a sense of, like, man, I owe these guys something. The accountability comes in. So I'm like, oh, man, I can't miss out. These guys are worried about me. So I started spending a lot more time in this boxing gym. Speaker 1 (10:04) I figured, man, I really like this. You know, this was like about November and December of 2016. I remember the time I was sitting there watching Speaker 2 (10:12) TV and my son is standing right behind me, looking over me and laughing hysterically. And I'm thinking, what are you laughing at, son? He goes, dad, you're balding. You have this massive bald spot on the top of your head. Immediately, I was mortified. I'm like, take a picture of this thing. And he did. And come to find out. He wasn't just joking with me. He wasn't just playing around or whatever kids do. He was telling me the truth. So immediately I took action and got a hold of Lock Lab. And I'm going to tell you what, I've been using this product for four months and my hair is growing back. It is fuller and I need haircuts more frequently. So being on camera and taking constant pictures all the time for the Determined Society podcast, I have to. Not be bald. I mean, it's just one of those things. I'm not ready for that yet. Lock Lab has given me the opportunity to regrow my hair so it's fuller and I could not be more happy with the results so far. And I know they're just going to get better. I just take one pill a day. So it's super simple to fit into any routine. Lock Lab was formulated by past president, the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery and one of the American Hair Loss Associations, 2026. best surgeons in the world to give men the most hair back medically possible. You can get Lock Lab 100 % online and delivered direct to your door. Simply click through the questionnaire and once approved, you'll receive your treatment in days. If you've been thinking about doing something about your hair loss, now's the time. Go to locklab.co and take the first step with a free consultation. Speaker 1 (11:55) The end of December right before New Year's I remember telling my coach like a man. I want to take a fight. He's gonna fight Yeah, all right. So there too later comes like there's a fight for you January 27th in Dominican Republic You know, I I wasn't really ready for it, but I'm like I'll take it let's do it, you know, I was And then when I did take it, at the moment, I was like, all right, I'm going to do this for Instagram. Take my picture, say I did it. My kids will get to see I did it. But I got ready. I was getting ready. You know, I made the weight. I went, I fought. I won by first round knockout. I had some friends there. And it was the biggest rush of life. Biggest high I could get. Better than any drug I've ever done in my life. Just an amazing feeling. Everybody proud of me. My mom was extremely proud of me because she wasn't worried about me being out two, three, four in the morning and making sure I made it home. Not waiting for that phone call to be like, hey, something happened to your son. So she saw, you know, I was putting in the work. I was disciplined. I was going to sleep early. I was eating right. And I just followed that trend. I just kept going. I did four fights in the first four months. My fifth fight was back here in Miami. I had an amazing crowd. Sold 60 grand worth of tickets. Speaker 2 (13:10) And then it just became... High for me. It just became that became my drug to training the putting in the work Speaker 1 (13:17) the fighting and Man, you know, it's giving me a beautiful life. It's giving me a beautiful home My kids are great and healthy. I got a beautiful wife You know, it's giving me giving me opportunities like these I've flown around the world to go train troops with with AFI. It's Armed Forces entertainment And things that I would have never done if I would have stayed on that same, you know, same path I was on. I switched the path. I'm here now. It's 10 years in. Fastest knockout in combat sports history. And man, it's amazing what life can do, you know? It's crazy. Thank Speaker 2 (13:52) you for all that context because through that whole thing, I can see how you have been built. You know, so I do want to go back a little bit, right? That first time you threw a punch and it landed. How did you feel at that moment? And how did you know at that point it was going to make you different? Speaker 1 (14:12) So that started, like I said, like in kindergarten. I remember after school, I was just a real... Headache of a kid, you know, it's a hurricane. So I remember kind of I remember hitting a kid and dropping I'm not not gonna modern out then just dropping them and just thinking to myself like whoa, you know and then I'd take a school bus and then on my school bus I was the last one to get dropped off because I lived right by this bus driver So she would drop me off last so I'd be in there with I was in elementary school and there were middle schoolers, 6th, 7th and 8th grades. And I'd go and I'd slap them in the back of the head and I'd run and they'd chase me and they'd beat me up. But I didn't mind that it was a weird thing, you know. I was just this menace of a kid. And I figured, you know, I was never like, I was never scared, you know. I was never, I never had this feeling of like, of like nerves because somebody wanted to fight me. And, you know, and it was just, I don't know, I just felt like. Again, I was just different. And then when it came to my friends, I always felt like I was the protector of my friends. And then growing up, my name is Ulysses. I didn't like my name. Everybody used to butcher my name. Remember, I grew up in Miami. Everybody's Hispanic. They say my name in all types of different languages. But then as I grew up, I grew into my name. Ulysses is a Greek warrior. I'm the only guy who made it out of the Trojan War. And I kind of developed this character within myself that that's me. I'm this warrior. I grew into it. That's badass, dude. Thank you. You mentioned your mom a couple of times. Speaker 2 (15:38) Yes. You know, and I and I've read somewhere that, you know, you said that your mom always wanted what's best for you and always struggled to provide. How did you see that as a kid? And how do you see it now that you're a father? Speaker 1 (15:52) So just like I tell my kids, they don't see what I'm telling them now. But once they grow older, they're going to they're going to look back and be like, damn it, that was right. That's exactly how I Speaker 2 (16:01) see Speaker 1 (16:01) everything with my mom. You know, I gave my mom, she struggled with me. I had bad grades. I got in a ton of trouble. I got suspended from school. I got expelled from school eventually. She didn't know what to do with me. And in 1999, she met this lady that got her into Christianity. My mom's now an ordained minister. She preaches the word to everybody. She goes to prisons and everywhere, you know? That's something that she really instilled in me over time. And like I said, even when I was doing bad, I knew that I was doing bad. I knew God was watching over me. But it was this kind of right in the fence thing where, you know, I'd ask for forgiveness, but I was still doing bad. And, you know, now looking back, I just see how much she worked to get me into certain positions and just to do everything for me, man. My mom, you know. She bent over backwards. That's my best friend still to this day. Now she lives with me in my badass house. That's so cool, man. I mean, what Speaker 2 (16:59) a gift to your mom. Thank you. She gets to Speaker 1 (17:01) be Speaker 2 (17:01) around her grandkids. She gets to be around you and live a lifestyle that she wasn't able to provide for you. That's right. That's a way to honor your mom. And you've mentioned you called yourself a street kid. So what I really want in this question is to... Tell me what your day-to-day actually looked like. I mean, I know some of the things that you said you were doing, but day-to-day, Speaker 1 (17:25) what does a street kid do? So, you know, you sleep in because I'm going to sleep at 3, 4 in the morning, 5 in the morning, maybe sometimes not going to sleep. Then when you get up, you know, you call to see who's up. I had a small group of guys, and, you know, it was different things. Speaker 1 (17:48) We find out who had what and who we could tell you know what we could take from who and it was always when I say that it was never a guy who worked nine to five a this guy works nine to five here, you know, no, no it was this guy sells drugs We're gonna go take that from him. This guy just made some money off selling drugs We're going to go take that from them. And, you know, what's funny is a lot of the information would come from ex-girlfriends, mad girlfriends, things like that. We'd be at strip clubs. These strippers know all types of things because the guys tell them that they pillow talk and say all types of things. So we, you know, we'd carry on our day like that either. We're checking somebody out all day to see what they're doing, what their habits are, to go see what we're going to do. That was part of it. Then again, like I said, you're, you know. That's that's something that you're kind of planning for but throughout the day you still got to make a little bit of money so you're you're grabbing a pound of weed or you know announce of this or a Gram of that or something and moving in here because somebody needs a couple bucks and you're moving around like that and then What's funny is you you're making this money then you're going out at night. You're spending it No, you're spending twice what you made Speaker 1 (18:57) At a strip club, and not even a strip club, because the strippers are your friends. You're buying drinks, and you're doing this, and you're buying drugs, and you're just living backwards. It's just a cycle that continues over and over again. It's Speaker 2 (19:08) a vicious Speaker 1 (19:08) cycle. And while I was in the cycle, I always knew I was doing wrong, and I always knew I could do better. I never thought I was better than anybody else, but I knew I could do better than what I'm doing for myself. And, man, I was just peeling out in the sand. You know what I mean? Just constantly. and not doing anything with myself and Finally, like I said, I just got to that day where I'm like, you know, that's it I put my foot down on myself. I cried I got on my knees and I said God please just pull me out of this and you know I promise I won't do this and I promise I won't do that and I've you know 99 % of my promises I've held on to and But he again I'd want I'm not religious. I am very spiritual, you know, I do pray to God I do it at church very so often, but I know he pulled me out of that, man. He pulled me out of the fire. And so I praise him and I thank him as much as possible. Man, that's awesome. And to have a true relationship with God, it doesn't have to be in a building. Speaker 2 (20:08) Right. You know, and I think that's what, I mean, it's nice to have that fellowship and