JRE MMA Show #137 with Jorge Masvidal

The Joe Rogan Experience.

Strain by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day!

Great.

Thank you, sir.

Good.

King of Miami, what's up?

What's up, my brother?

Good to see you, man.

Always a fucking pleasure.

Always a pleasure to see you, too, man.

Bro, I've been a fan of yours since back in the day.

When I saw you fight Bodog.

Bodog.

Snap.

Yeah, so you fought Eve Edwards on Bodog.

Yes, I did.

I'm like, damn, this dude's fucking dangerous.

Yes, I did, man.

Yeah, you're still in the game, man.

It's beautiful to see, you know?

Crafty veterans.

Yeah, man.

I attribute it a lot to God with the gifts that I was born and also the training that I do.

I never get too far away from the training.

And another thing is that I've kept it natural for the most part.

I've seen a lot of guys come in four or five years.

They do a little bit of the enhancements and cheating and then tear this, break that.

So these guys ain't around no more.

I just feel like I couldn't afford it when I was coming up into that stuff.

So I just never did it, you know?

So I've always kept my body more or less healthy.

I've had injuries that are horrible, obviously, in combat sports.

But I've always just been able to heal through them.

And one thing I've always believed in for the sport, for anybody listening, wanting to get into the sport and have longevity,

is, like, as long as you know that every day you can learn something new from whoever it may be,

you'll always be going forward.

You know, the moment you think you know it all, that's it, bro.

You're fucked up, you know?

So I've always had that mentality since I was young, and I still have it to this day.

You know, a white belt could teach me something or, like, a setup or something.

Not necessarily maybe the greatest technique but just a different way to do a technique,

and I might be able to pull it off.

So I've always stuck firm to that commitment, you know?

Yeah, for sure.

That's very important to have that beginner's mentality.

You know, what is the worst injury you've ever had?

Like, pain-wise, eye poke for all night.

I shot, like, a high crotch, and the guy's elbow was, like, resting on his hip, and he just, like, locked out.

And it went right into my thumb.

His thumb went right into my eye.

And I was throwing up immediately.

Like, 10 seconds after, I started throwing up, and I couldn't.

I was doing, like, the Harlem Shake.

I couldn't control my body.

I was just shaking and throwing up.

It was so much pain.

After that, I had to wear eye patch for about, like, five weeks because I had double vision.

So I would, like, look at you and see, like, two, three of you, and that would last for, like, five weeks.

So I was supposed to have surgery on it, and they scheduled me for surgery.

I came back in, and the doctor's like, Hey, man, maybe you don't need surgery.

You did amazing healing.

Like, swelling's gone down a little bit.

You kind of don't need the surgery.

So I was like, Oh, let me not get the surgery, and I wore the eye patch for five weeks.

That was the most painful injury of my life.

The other ones have just been, like, long-lasting injuries.

Like, my hand is all fucking wrecked, you know?

Back's pretty messed up, but I get through it, you know?

Cold, plunge, sauna, a lot of stretching, things like that.

I could work through it, but the eye and the hand have been the worst, probably.

Did you break the hand?

No, but I've torn, like, numerous ligaments and tendons on the hand, you know?

That's why my fingers look like they're throwing up gang signs, all crooked and stuff, you know?

But, yeah, that's been, like, one of the more lagging ones.

In the knees and stuff, you know how the sport is.

Pulling on your joints, meniscus there, here, ACL there.

But those, I've been able to rehab and work through them.

They suck, like, when I'm running on a cold day, but it's nothing that I can't work through.

The hand is, like, sometimes I've got to just give it a pause, like, a week.

I can't throw my right hand.

I've just got to use my left and stuff like that.

I remember when you got a meniscus injury, and I was worried about that, but you just rehabbed it?

Just rehab, man.

I don't really like surgery, you know?

And I've talked to a lot of other athletes that did do, like, the meniscus repair, and then it tore again.

And then they were out for, like, six months.

I was like, no, that's not going to be me.

So I've always focused on, like, rehab.

Get whoever's the best rehab person around at that time that I could find for that particular injury and just get to work.

And if after some time I'm not seeing any gains, then maybe I'll try some other stuff.

And there's so many advances in the medical field, not like the STEM.

So that's helped me out tremendously with my knees, giving me a full range of motion to be able to, like, squat all the way down.

I was having trouble, like, breaking parallel once I'd have a little bit of weight on my back.

I'd just feel crazy tension on my knees.

Since the STEM cell, I got, like, a full range of motion back on my knees, you know?

That's beautiful.

And the hand as well.

Where did you go to get the STEM cells?

The UFC sent me up for my hand.

I went to California, and it was freaking amazing.

It was right after the Nate Diaz fight.

Both my hands were jacked, and on one of the blows that I hit Nate with, I hit him in the top of the head.

And you can see it on the video.

My hand folds.

I just kind of had, like, shitty technique for that one punch.

And I couldn't even wipe my ass.

I swear to you, bro, the pain that I had, it was just, I couldn't bend it in like that.

I did the STEM cells.

Three weeks later, I was like, holy smokes, this is insane.

And in my knees and hands, I did it down in Colombia.

I bio-accelerated.

That was freaking a great time, too.

That's the way to go.

When you go to those other countries, whether it's Panama or Colombia, or they do it in Tijuana now, too.

It's like they can do shit that you can't do in America.

They just load you up.

You get the full spectrum over there.

Yeah, and it just fucking heals everything.

It's incredible.

It's crazy.

It's great for stuff you don't even know is wrong.

It's great for just overall longevity and body healing.

I've heard they, I haven't done them because you know how you saw it is with us, but I've heard about the IV STEM cells as well that are freaking great for you as well.

Yeah, no, it's incredible.

It sucks that the IV thing is an issue.

But, you know, it's, I mean, you don't cut a ton of weight.

You used to fight at 55 and at 70.

Yeah, 55, I was a ton of weight, a ton of water weight because my body fat.

I lived a different life.

Very strict diet for like I had to, once I turned like 25, 26, I had to have like proper notice, like nine weeks notice to get myself in shape to come in and fight week.

I had like 174 to drop down to 156 and right around like 172, 173, I was 5% body fat already.

So it was just straight water and it was fucking torturous.

And then you saw it when I decided to move up, you saw it came in the game and outlawed the IVs for us.

Right.

So I was like, there's no way I can make 155.

And that's when I made my move to 70.

But it's been phenomenal for you at 70.

I think you're better at 70 because you're just stronger, healthier.

I didn't have the pop at 155 after I turned 26, 27, which usually a man loses his strength and power at the end of his career.

And it was like a month before the fight, I'd be hurting people in sparring.

As I got nearer to the fight, I just, I didn't have that electricity, that pop, pop, you know?

Right.

So I really started to like, man, fuck, you know, it's something I'm going to have to do.

And it was in the back of my mind.

But I would always work out with 70 pounders and like 45 pounders.

At American Top Team, we had a lot of standouts at 155.

So I would work out with them as well.

But I was like, we might have to cross pop.

So I didn't make it like my main staple to work out with those guys.

So I knew that there was a strength level difference at me at 170.

But I knew I could hurt those guys when I'd touch them, you know, every time.

So I knew if I could work on my strength gains and get a little size, I'd be all right at 70.

Oh, well, look at the Darren Till knockout.

Yes, sir.

That was fucking phenomenal.

Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

Yeah, I mean, I wonder how many fighters are cutting their career short by dehydrating the shit out of themselves.

It's rough.

You know, when you're young, you get away with it, always.

Your body, you could get run over by a truck and you wake up the next day.

But there comes a point where you kind of just lose that, you know.

And I don't care how young you are, your chin, once you cut over like 12, 13, 14 pounds of water, your chin and legs take a massive hit, I feel.

Yeah, that's why I'm amazed that Pajero, who walks around like 40 pounds heavier than 185, I mean, he's fucking huge.

Yeah.

But usually the big boys also could have more water to release, you know, the 205ers, the 85ers, the heavyweights.

But yeah, that guy's massive.

I've seen pictures of him offseason.

I'm like, holy smokes, he looks like a fucking small heavyweight at times.

When he gets into the octagon at 185, you can't believe he ever weighed 185.

Yeah.

He's so fucking big.

It's a giant advantage, but I wonder how long he could do that.

He's like 34 now, you know.

I wonder how long his body's going to allow him to dehydrate the shit out of himself like that.

Yeah, it catches up, I think, man.

Yeah, well, he's already talked about going to 205.

Nice.

So you got a big fight coming up.

You're mid-camp.

Yes, sir.

Yeah.

Thanks for coming down, man.

Hell yeah, bro.

So Gilbert, that's a good fight.

It's a great fight, man.

I think wrestling, he's not that good, so I know I could negate him on the wrestling takedowns and just keep a stand-up.

And stand-up, he makes a lot of mistakes constantly, I feel.

Just looking at it from a striker's point of view, I feel he's tailor-made for me to give him a fucking left hook to the jaw and end his night.

Yeah, well, it's an exciting fight, and Gilbert's a fucking dangerous man.

And it's the co-main event in Miami.

It's going to be wild.

20 years I ain't been to Miami.

Woo!

That's going to be wild.

Just the moment when you get into that fucking octagon, the pop that you get.

It's going to be insane.

Yes, sir.

In Miami.

Woo!

In Miami.

Woo!

And forever, the road has been my home, so I've always felt comfortable, like, okay, we're going to fight Abu Dhabi, fight Island.

Cool.

We're going to fight California, Texas.

Cool.

I've always felt great.

So definitely it's going to be like a little bit more added pressure, a little different being in my actual home.

But you're going to wake up in your own bed.

I'm going to wake up in my own bed.

That is true.

I'm going to take a drive from my house to the arena in my car.

It's all going to be like if I'm going to sparring, but a little bit more added chips to it.

For sure.

For sure.

Yeah, it's an exciting time for the welterweight division, too, with you having that beef with Leon.

And Leon now having retained the title, and they're talking about Colby, but I feel like with a good showing against Gilbert, you skip the line.

Yeah, for sure.

Yeah, it becomes.

And Leon wants it, you know, more than anything.

He wants it more than anything, just for the history that we have, and also we're going to sell the most pay-per-views if me and him are in that cage.

It'll sell a lot.

Yeah.

It'll sell a lot.

It'll be a big fight.

It's going to be a gigantic fight.

What did you think about the rematch, the rubber fight with Leon and Camaro?

A little lackluster, you know.

And Usman, maybe like there was times where I didn't see him stepping on the gas like he usually does, you know.

And it might have been because he just took this fight too early.

I always think that when a fighter gets knocked out, you really, you know, and I got this from the old-timers in boxing, you need to really let your brain and your confidence heal and come back, you know.

Because then you get back in and you get touched and you're like, whoa, I might get knocked out.

And you pull the brakes and you start like, you know, maybe second-guessing yourself.

So I think maybe he took it a little bit too early, you know.

I do think that he's in a way a better fighter than Leon in a lot of aspects, but Leon just has his number it seems right now.

Well, Leon was also super confident coming into that fight.

You know, I feel like once a guy becomes the champion, they gain confidence and they gain ability.

Because they just have this understanding of what they're capable of doing.

And the fact that it was in England, I mean, it was...

And he had the title.

Yeah.

And he knocked him out.

Yeah, all the above.

A lot of factors.

Yeah.

You just don't know how a guy's going to come back after his first KO loss.

And it was a bad one.

It was a brutal one.

Usman was down for a bit.

How long after the Camaro fight did you take off?

Close to like eight to nine months, maybe even longer, you know.

All my coaches wanted me.

Plus, it was like the first KO of my career, you know.

So, more so than like...

Not my body was already healed, my brain, but they wanted to make sure that my mind was right, you know.

Yeah.

How long did it take you to get over it?

I still haven't got over it, brother.

I want to fucking rip Usman's fucking brains out, you know.

Nothing personal.

I just want to get back in there and do it to him, you know.

I've never been knocked out and I've fought in a lot.

You know, we were talking about earlier, Yves Edwards.

I've fought great strikers, you know, and they never even came close to knocking me out.

And it's not that this Usman, but he's not...

I don't put him in the league of one of these great strikers.

He's a great fighter because he could do a lot of things well.

But after fighting him the first time and getting his best shots and I cut 20 pounds of water and I took the fight in six day notice.

And I went to Abu Dhabi.

I was like, bro, this guy will never hurt me.

Like, he hits like a bitch.

And then all of a sudden, he's the dude that knocks me out.

And I had five rounds with him.

So for in that, I think it was nine months since the first fight that he gained that type of power was just nuts to me.

And I was like, unreal, unnatural, you know, because I felt his fucking best punches in the first fight for five rounds and never hurt me.

Never like shook me up good, you know.

And then boom, surprise hit in the second fight.

So do you think it was a matter of you not respecting his power and on top of that, him just getting better?

I always respect anybody who has two hands and two feet.

So it's not like I'm trying to do like touch me in the chin and I'll give a shot to take a shot.

Definitely caught me by surprise when he started to load up.

I kind of saw like the back of his head.

So I thought for sure he's going to shoot.

So I start to like drop my hands and I noticed like midway, oh, it's a right hand.

I tried to check hook him, but it's too late already that the right hand already penetrated the force field and took my ass out, you know.

Yeah, it's a, it's a moment that happens to many fighters and it defines who they are, how they bounce back from.

Yeah.

You know.

Oh, and I'm coming.

I'm coming strong, man.

I feel, um, my mind after that fight, maybe, uh, I'm not going to lie.

I went into like a dark place for a while.

Cause like I said, I'd never been knocked out.

It was just fucking nuts to me.

Like, bro, this guy's the one that fucking literally knocked me out.

Like I was out cold.

It wasn't like a, like you stopped it early or nothing.

I know in my heart of hearts, this guy fucking knocked me out.

And for me to, to think Usman's the one that knocked me out, I never would have betted that this guy would knock me out.

So it, uh, it affected me, bro.

Bad.

You know what I'm saying?

Do you ever go to a sports psychologist?

Um, I just listened to Jordan Peterson a lot, bro.

You too, man.

That's my dude right there for many, many years.

I've never got to meet him.

I haven't got a chance, but I'm actually, um, by coincidence, he's in Florida, April 9th.

And I'm like doing everything in my power to make sure that I'm there.

Like right after my fight, I'm going to go.

He's going to have a conference down in.

I'll connect you guys.

Oh, hell yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I'll connect you guys.

For sure.

He's going to be in Florida.

So I was like, bro, I got to go.

I just want to sit in the crowd and listen to this dude.

I've been listening to him for years on like YouTube and stuff.

And I listened to a lot of motivational speakers and stuff.

A sports psychologist.

I've never really like seen one personally, but I'm sure it would help, you know?

Yeah.

It certainly can help.

But Jordan is essentially giving you sports psychology.

He's giving you like life lessons.

And not just sports.

I think, um, for me, I have like a lot of bad habits that I had from like growing up, you know?

And the way that I did that I took into the pro world and, uh, I was still succeeding.

You know, I was, um, let's say I stayed up all night for whatever reason was I was either chasing money or chasing chicks.

And then I went to sleep at 4 a.m. and I woke up at 9 a.m. and I went to the gym at 10 and I beat everybody's ass in that room.

And I'm like, I don't have to change nothing.

You know, and I went on to beat numerous good guys, challenged for world titles outside of the UFC.

And, uh, I was doing really good.

So part of me was like, this is just me.

I'm just this person, you know?

But that wasn't the best version of me, you know?

And like little by little, I've had to like tear layers off me and like, hey, this is no good.

And every time I've done that and I found out something maybe was holding me back, I've been able to get to like the next level.

So it's, uh, it's good to hear somebody like Jordan that, that addresses and like, bro, you're a pussy, bro.

If you can't let this go, he tells you how it is.

It's like, this is why and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

So I like it like that, like straight raw, like just tell me the truth, you know?

So I feel that for me personally, not just in the sports, but in like my life in general, like finding those things that hold me back.

And many things, you know, from on the, on the personal side that I could bring into the professional.

And then it's like, it makes all the sense in the world, you know?

Like let's say I stop eating Domino's pizza now for like a month or whatever junk food I was like binging on.

And then I see like results and stuff.

It's like, man, I just got to change my whole lifestyle.

Not just before the fight, but year round, you know?

And those are, those are the things where I like struggle and I've been working on a lot, you know?

That's the problem I think with really talented guys is that you can kind of get away without being disciplined.

Yeah.

And you don't realize that if you were disciplined, you'd be one of the greats.

Yeah. And it's like, I have the discipline to make it to the gym under three hours of sleep or 10 hours of sleep.

I'm going to, I'm going to make it to the practice.

The coach is always going to check my name.

I'm always just going to show up to practice.

But was it the fucking absolute best version of me showing up to that practice?

Many times not, especially when I was younger, man.

And just because in that room, whatever particular room I was in, I was always like a standout or one of the better guys.

I was like, man, I don't got to change nothing, bro.

And then, you know.

I remember there was a video that the UFC put out.

I think the UFC put it out.

It was a you, younger you.

We're just playing video games all night and just like.

Definitely.

And everybody was like laughing about this.

Just.

Yeah.

That's what he does.

Yeah.

And you know, since young, since I want to say like 17 years old, I started sleeping like five hours a day just because I couldn't get more than that.

I'd lay in bed.

I could go to sleep at 10 a.m.

And I just wake up like five, six a.m.

I'm wired.

So I started pushing those boundaries.

Like, well, then I go to sleep at three in the morning.

I wake up at like nine.

Just fine.

I woke up at 10.

Fine.

And I did that for a large part.

And I felt good, you know.

But with age, I can't do that no more.

I get like my five cycles of an hour and a half, at least minimum.

You know, if not, I feel it nowadays, you know.

And this started happening to me when I was like 34, 35.

Like it took a while for it to hit me.

Now, sleep is top three priority for me.

It never used to be.

It used to be like I'll take a nap if I'm not tired or something like that.

Nowadays, it's like, man, I need my good sleep if I'm going to get a good workout in, you know.

Yeah, it's good that you're aware of that.

Some people never learn that lesson.

Sleep is everything.

It is everything.

Your body recovers during sleep.

And also, your mind recovers.

I mean, just to know that you're well rested when you're getting up and getting through the day.

You just know you got a full battery.

I didn't.

I never even believed in that.

I was like, man, that's just motherfuckers being pussies.

What do you mean you need eight hours of sleep?

What you need is sleep when you die.

It used to be like a common thing.

Everybody around me would always say, sleeping is for the birds or for dead people.

And I really like kind of just embodied that.

Like, man, I don't need to sleep to go training.

Now it's the complete opposite.

I'm trying to clock in as many hours on a consistent basis leading up.

But this is not just now for this fight camp.

I've been trying to implement that for like the last two years of my life, you know.

Well, I think that's something that, you know, it's a part of what makes fighters great is they have that incredible confidence.

And they don't give a fuck.

And they think they're different.

Yeah.

It's all the great.

Yeah.

A little bit of that.

I mean, look, that's John Jones in a nutshell, right?

I mean, one of the funniest fucking lines ever was when John was talking to DC at the press conference.

He was like, I beat you when I was doing coke.

Yeah.

Yeah.

A whole night.

A weekend of cocaine or something like that.

That guy's just like, you talk about uber talent.

That guy's on another level.

Next level shit.

Next level.

I mean, fuck.

And he happens to be fucking mean.

There's a lot of talented guys.

Sometimes they're not like the meanest guy.

This guy's mean as it fucking gets, you know?

Yeah.

That's everything.

Yeah.

That's everything.

And it's just all the above.

Genetics, discipline, intelligence, game planning.

I mean, nobody game plans like John.

Yeah.

I've heard he's a student of the game.

Yeah.

Studios watching film every day, all day long.

Like that is so much discipline.

You know, like he's wired that into his system.

That's who he is.

There's a lot of fighters that just don't watch any tape, period, you know?

Do you watch a lot of tape on guys?

I'll watch at different stages, and then my coaches will keep breaking down stuff and

they'll show it to me.

I don't watch tape like every day, but I do go on like segments.

Like tonight, I saw somebody for like two hours, and I'll just keep that in my brain,

and I'll try to bring that to sparring.

Like these are the game plans, right, that I read in my head.

Like I think so-and-so is a sucker for this, this, and that.

And then I bring that into sparring.

I try to emulate him.

And the guys, obviously, that I bring into sparring are not the guy I'm going to fight,

but they're supposed to be, you know, very similar style, something like that.

So I know if it starts working on them, then I'm like one step away from bringing into

mass production and bringing it to the world.

So that's kind of how I do it.

I just also don't want to look at somebody all day long because I want to focus on me

and my strength as well, you know?

I want to be aware of their strengths and what they're good at and what positions I

don't want to be involved with them.

But I'm worried about me, you know?

Yeah.

No, I understand.

Are you 36 now?

38.

38.

Whoa, you look good.

Let's go.

You look good.

How much longer do you think you got in the game?

You know, that's a question that I've got the answer to it, you know?

I'm at American Top Team.

I feel best gym in the fucking world.

We have numerous established killers right now, and we have another world of guys coming

up of young, hungry talent that nobody knows of that are just fucking killers.

And I've always felt like when I come into the gym and I can't hang with the pack, when

I can't, you know, do a round with, you know, so-and-so, and then after that go with so-and-so

and so-and-so, and I'm getting the worse end of it consistently, I'll call it quits because

I don't want to be a stepping stone for nobody.

I've been in the sport for 20 years.

So when I get into American Top Team, I mean, I'm working out with the best of the best,

you know?

I truly feel in my heart that the best middleweight right now, his name is Johnny Eblen.

He's at Predator.

Oh, yeah.