The Joe Rogan ExperienceJRE MMA Show #117 with Marlon "Chito" Vera
CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 2:38
Tattoo pain stories: back, legs, inner thigh, and the “awkward” sessions
Joe and Chito open with a humorous but detailed comparison of tattoo pain across body parts, with Chito describing the back and inner thigh as especially brutal. They also talk about how being high or drinking affects pain sensitivity during long sessions.
- •Back tattoos vs. arm tattoos: why the back is far worse
- •Elbow/inner elbow sensitivity surprises even tough fighters
- •Inner-thigh tattoo logistics and ‘awkward + painful’ combo
- •Weed can amplify pain perception; alcohol can dull it
- •Neck/throat tattoos: swallowing and positioning make it miserable
- 2:38 – 7:09
Getting tattooed by legends: Mister Cartoon, studio culture, and booking hustle
Chito breaks down who did which pieces and why Southern California is a tattoo hotspot. He recounts how he got in with Mister Cartoon, visiting the Santa Monica studio, and seeing the celebrity history and artwork that surrounds Cartoon’s shop.
- •Chito’s tattoos: work done in Ecuador vs. Costa Mesa/LA artists
- •Mister Cartoon’s reputation and why Chito ranks the back piece #1
- •How Chito got booked: persistence with Cartoon’s assistant
- •Inside the studio: art, celebrity photos, adjacent barbershop aesthetic
- •Getting “too high” before a session and realizing it mid-tattoo
- 7:09 – 11:49
UFC matchmaking pressure and the brutality of weight cuts
The conversation pivots to UFC operations—matchmakers, replacements, and the stress of keeping cards intact. This leads into a broader discussion on how destructive weight cutting is, especially when fighters are asked to serve as alternates or take short-notice bouts.
- •Sean Shelby/Mick Maynard job stress and constant roster demands
- •Alternates doing full camps + weight cuts ‘just in case’
- •Cody Garbrandt at 125 and the cumulative effects of KOs
- •Weight cutting compared to taking repeated shots to the jaw
- •Short-notice fight offers: why ‘staying ready’ is essential
- 11:49 – 14:12
“No season” training philosophy: immigrant mentality, skill-building out of camp
Chito explains his approach to training year-round—treating fighting as a permanent lifestyle rather than seasonal preparation. He outlines how out-of-camp time is for adding new tools, while camp is about sharpening and peaking.
- •‘Fighting isn’t a sport’—it demands constant readiness
- •Out-of-camp: technical growth (wrestling/jiu-jitsu fixes, new weapons)
- •In-camp: execute the plan, sharpen speed/explosiveness
- •Cardio routine: weekday gym + weekend long-distance runs
- •Motivational influences: Kobe ‘Mamba/immigrant mentality,’ Joey Diaz
- 14:12 – 17:15
Conditioning deep dive: sprint intervals vs. long runs and mental sharpening
Chito details why he loves very long runs and how they build mental durability beyond intervals. Joe connects it to old-school conditioning philosophies (BJ Penn/Marinovich), and they discuss balancing explosiveness with endurance across a full year.
- •Long runs as visualization/goal-setting time for Chito
- •Intervals teach you ‘it will end’; long runs remove that escape hatch
- •Parillo’s blend: sprints + intervals + long distance
- •Camp timing: stop long runs ~4 weeks out to prioritize explosiveness
- •Building the base takes months; maintaining it is non-negotiable
- 17:15 – 22:36
Growing up in Ecuador: street fights at 4, cowboy farm life, and early martial arts
Chito recounts an unconventional childhood: organized ‘for fun’ street fights as a very young kid, followed by a rural upbringing on a farm. He shares how early fascination with fighting (and Chuck Norris) mixed with a brief karate stint that ended immediately after one incident at school.
- •Brothers paying other kids to fight him as a child
- •Farm upbringing: horses, early mornings, physical work as ‘fun’
- •Pop culture influence: Walker, Texas Ranger/Chuck Norris
- •Karate school begins—then ends after Chito kicks a classmate hard
- •Identity shift: Ecuador roots vs. raising kids in California
- 22:36 – 28:30
First real training at 16: jiu-jitsu obsession and leaving the ‘crazy life’ behind
Chito describes finding a jiu-jitsu gym at 16 and committing instantly—paying for a month on day one and never stopping. He explains how training replaced partying and trouble, even as his family initially feared he’d become more dangerous.
- •Neighbor invites him to jiu-jitsu; immediate commitment
- •Family resistance: concern he’ll hurt people and waste his future
- •Chito’s behavioral pivot: dropping parties/surfing/skateboarding to train
- •Early mentors and lineage: Fernando Soluço and Brazilian connections
- •Single-minded goal stated from the start: ‘I want to be a UFC fighter’
- 28:30 – 32:19
First MMA fight in a mechanic shop: the ‘rooster cage’ event that changed his life
Chito’s first MMA bout is a chaotic, unlicensed event with improvised equipment, no proper warmup, and a dangerous cage. He survives a scary start, wins by armbar, and describes the victory as the strongest natural high that cemented his obsession with fighting.
- •Underage fight arranged last-minute; mom signs thinking it’s BJJ
- •Sketchy venue: mechanic shop, puzzle mats, sharp metal cage
- •No mouthpiece until minutes before; no weigh-ins or locker room
- •Altitude exhaustion in Quito; decision to wrestle/submit only
- •Armbar win triggers total lifestyle commitment to becoming elite
- 32:19 – 35:27
Early MMA in Ecuador and the call to Albuquerque: the LATAM TUF pipeline
Chito explains how limited MMA infrastructure was in Ecuador and how he had to piece together striking, wrestling, and MMA transitions. After going 6–1, he’s selected for The Ultimate Fighter Latin America program and sent to train at Jackson’s.
- •Ecuador had legit BJJ talent, but MMA was ‘blind’ and underdeveloped
- •Old-school MMA classes: shin guards + hard sparring, minimal structure
- •UFC contact comes early in career (6–1) to join LATAM program
- •Chito self-promoted: offered to fight cheap/free to build exposure
- •Transition moment: leaving Ecuador for real pro development
- 35:27 – 51:09
Bad coach, mind games, and the 50% cut: learning to protect yourself
Chito shares a cautionary story about an early MMA coach who tried to control his career and take credit for outcomes. The situation escalates to an outrageous demand for 50% of Chito’s purse, teaching him early how dangerous bad management/coaching relationships can be.
- •Coach rivalry/credit-seeking: ‘if you lose it’s Jackson’s fault’
- •Manipulation tactics and ‘dream’ predictions to maintain control
- •The shock: coach asks for 50% after citing a Ronda Rousey claim
- •Chito pays once, realizes he’s left with nothing, then breaks away
- •Lesson: standards (10–12%) exist; bad experiences build defenses
- 51:09 – 56:32
Jackson’s baptism by fire: getting destroyed for 10 weeks and refusing to quit
Chito describes arriving at Jackson’s as effectively a beginner and getting overwhelmed in every discipline—striking, wrestling, and grappling. Despite discouragement (including a coach suggesting he quit), he kept showing up on time, learning through constant losses.
- •First real pro sparring: ‘dropped left and right’
- •Ten weeks of losing every round; emotional lows and doubt
- •A coach tells him to ‘find something else’; Chito responds bluntly
- •Key trait: consistency—always on time, always returning
- •Gradual improvement: learning who to spar, where to build reps
- 56:32 – 1:06:17
Nutrition, lifestyle discipline, and why weight cutting is ‘sanctioned cheating’
They dig into Chito’s daily diet, how he stays close to fight weight, and the logistics of rehydration. Joe argues for more weight classes and banning extreme cuts, while Chito describes precise post-weigh-in routines and why sloppy refeed choices hurt performance.
- •Chito’s baseline diet: meat, fats, veggie juices; minimal sugar
- •Walking weight and typical cut size; why final 10–11 lbs are brutal
- •Rehydration strategy: timed fluids, ‘natural Gatorade’ (honey/salt/lime)
- •Critique of fighters who refeed with pizza/burgers immediately
- •ONE FC hydration testing: still ways to game it; men ‘find a way’
- 1:06:17 – 1:14:04
Recovery stack: sleep rules, sauna, hyperbaric oxygen, and surfing for sanity
Chito lays out his recovery practices—PT, massage, ice baths, sauna, and weekly hyperbaric sessions—along with strict sleep hygiene inspired by Matthew Walker. The conversation expands into surfing, nature, and the mental reset he gets from the ocean and the night sky.
- •Weekly hyperbaric chamber sessions (90 minutes) and why it helps
- •Sauna after cardio to maintain elevated heart rate (Rhonda Patrick influence)
- •Sleep discipline: no TV in bedroom, cool room, phone away before bed
- •365-day training approach: adjust intensity, don’t stop entirely
- •Surfing roots in Ecuador; wave pools (Waco) and surfing with legends
- 1:14:04 – 1:24:18
Psychedelics, microdosing, and ‘Stoned Ape’ theory: intention and mental clarity
Chito and Joe discuss mushrooms, microdosing, and how psychedelics affect mindset, creativity, and focus. Joe explains Terence McKenna’s Stoned Ape Theory, while Chito shares his DMT experience and emphasizes setting intentions over ‘party drug’ use.
- •Microdosing as performance/clarity tool vs. full trips as deep work
- •Joe outlines the Stoned Ape Theory and mushroom-driven cognition claims
- •Chito’s DMT trip: intention-setting, visions of his grandfather, calm afterward
- •Respectful use: preparation, context, and learning vs. casual recreation
- •Psychedelics as a counterweight to stress, damage, and mental noise
- 1:24:18 – 1:32:26
Social media, mental hygiene, and fight mindset: calm aggression over anger
They shift to the psychological side of competition and fame—avoiding comments, not feeding trolls, and staying centered. Chito explains he never gets emotionally baited pre-fight, views trash talk as persona, and believes being angry before competing is a strategic mistake.
- •Quitting comment-reading to reduce ‘noise’ and protect perception
- •Thick skin from early fighting; teens online would be worse for everyone
- •Chito’s rule: don’t get mad before a fight—anger means you’re losing mentally
- •Trash talk as business/persona (O’Malley, Conor, Colby examples)
- •Respect after the fight, not before—competition requires clean focus
- 1:32:26 – 1:56:03
Rules, judging, and cheating: fouls, eye-gouges, and point deductions
Joe and Chito argue that officiating needs stronger consequences for fouls—eye pokes, fence grabs, groin shots—because they can decide fights and permanently injure athletes. They react strongly to a severe eye-gouging incident and discuss structural judging problems in MMA scoring.
- •Judging confusion: damage vs. control; why some decisions look insane
- •Anti-standup stance: ‘if you want to get up, get up’
- •Fence grabs and fouls change fight outcomes; propose automatic point loss
- •Graphic eye-gouge example: ‘worse than steroids’ due to permanent harm
- •Ref/judge accountability as a fighter safety and sport-integrity issue
- 1:56:03 – 2:55:27
PEDs, TRT era, and greatness across eras: what makes champions and ‘GOAT’ debates
They close on performance enhancement, the TRT era, and how rules allowed ‘legal’ advantages that still felt like cheating. The conversation widens into what truly makes a champion—mind, genetics, discipline—and why ‘GOAT’ should be considered by era, not as a single permanent crown.
- •TRT exemptions and how prior steroid use could create ‘medical’ loopholes
- •Chito’s stance: he’d rather lose than win by cheating
- •Champion requirements: genetics + discipline + technique + mental toughness
- •Heavyweight greatness: Cain’s prime, Ngannou’s genetics/work background
- •GOAT as era-based: Aldo, Fedor, GSP, Mighty Mouse—context matters
