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The Joe Rogan ExperienceThe Joe Rogan Experience

JRE MMA Show #117 with Marlon "Chito" Vera

Joe sits down with Marlon "Chito" Vera, an Ecuadorian mixed martial artist currently competing in the bantamweight division of the UFC.

Marlon "Chito" VeraguestJoe RoganhostYoung Jamieguest
Jun 27, 20242h 55mWatch on YouTube ↗

EVERY SPOKEN WORD

  1. 0:00 – 2:38

    Tattoo pain stories: back pieces, inner thigh agony, and awkward moments

    1. MV

      (drum roll) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out. The Joe Rogan Experience.

    2. JR

      Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (rock music plays) He saw ... Yeah. There's, uh, a few guys in LA that are like legit LA legends, legends of tattooing. He's one of the biggest.

    3. MV

      Yeah. We did one set and that was painful.

    4. JR

      (laughs)

    5. MV

      That, that kicked my ass. (laughs)

    6. JR

      Is the back more painful than the arms?

    7. MV

      Oh, yeah.

    8. JR

      Really?

    9. MV

      The arms are easy.

    10. JR

      Yeah. The arms are pretty easy.

    11. MV

      I basically ... Uh, you feel it, but you're not crying. On my back-

    12. JR

      You were crying?

    13. MV

      ... there, there was ... Not crying, but about to.

    14. JR

      (laughs)

    15. MV

      There were points that my arm were shaking-

    16. JR

      Really?

    17. MV

      ... with- without me moving it.

    18. JR

      Wow. See, that's, it's weird what parts hurt, 'cause, um, uh, the elbow hurts a lot, like the inside of the elbow.

    19. MV

      Yeah.

    20. JR

      That shit hurts a lot. I was like, "I thought that was numb." Because like you think about how many times you hit things with your elbows, it doesn't hurt at all.

    21. MV

      I crack heads with elbows, but the-

    22. JR

      (laughs)

    23. MV

      ... the, the little ink it will make you pay. It's crazy.

    24. JR

      It's weird. Yeah.

    25. MV

      I have my full leg, a dragon.

    26. JR

      Yeah?

    27. MV

      Like top to bottom, my leg. That's also awful.

    28. JR

      Really? Leg is awful?

    29. MV

      And like some parts, like some parts in the thigh where the sun don't goes-

    30. JR

      Hmm.

  2. 2:38 – 4:41

    How Chito built his tattoo collection (Ecuador vs SoCal) and chasing legendary artists

    1. JR

      Uh. So w- who did your leg?

    2. MV

      Uh, this guy called Mark Nava.

    3. JR

      Yeah.

    4. MV

      He's a, he's really good in Japanese style, he's ... And he's r- like a mile from my house-

    5. JR

      Oh, wow.

    6. MV

      ... in Costa Mesa.

    7. JR

      Oh, well, Costa Mesa, that whole ... Los Angeles is amaz- that whole Southern California area is amazing for tattoos.

    8. MV

      Yeah. We are ... And I've been lucky in most of my tattoos. You know, some people got some tattoos that they're like they just get it because they want tattoos-

    9. JR

      Right.

    10. MV

      ... and then they're shit.

    11. JR

      Yeah.

    12. MV

      I'm lucky. Every, even what, everything I got in Ecuador it's, it's just clean and, uh, it's all what I want.

    13. JR

      How much of it did you get in Ecuador?

    14. MV

      I get, m- basically all this arm. Mark Nava did just the snake and the spider in the back. Then the rest is all in Ecuador. All these arms is in Ecuador besides the hand.

    15. JR

      Hmm.

    16. MV

      This is Shawn Topper, another good guy in, in, around in Costa Mesa area. Then my back, Mister Cartoon.

    17. JR

      Having a back piece like your back piece, um, we just filmed it, we just took a video of it before the podcast, but Mister Cartoon-

    18. MV

      That's a bad motherfucker.

    19. JR

      ... that guy's a legend.

    20. MV

      Of all-

    21. JR

      Legend.

    22. MV

      Of all my tattoos, that's, that's number-

    23. JR

      Yeah.

    24. MV

      That's number one. It has to be.

    25. JR

      How hard was it to get in with him?

    26. MV

      Well, every time he, he, he's, he's like kind of like he works with, with Ruka, with the brand.

    27. JR

      Oh, okay.

    28. MV

      So he comes visit Pat all the time. So every time he comes around, I'm like, "Come on, dude."

    29. JR

      (laughs)

    30. MV

      "Come on, dude. Get me in." And he's like he's pretty chill, you know.

  3. 4:41 – 6:36

    Mister Cartoon’s studio, getting ‘too high,’ and coping strategies for tattoo sessions

    1. JR

      Did you do it at his studio?

    2. MV

      Yeah, in Santa Monica.

    3. JR

      Does he have, does he have pictures on his walls of all the people that he's tattooed?

    4. MV

      Dude, when I was there, I was tripping. There's like Eminem in one side.

    5. JR

      (laughs)

    6. MV

      Then s- all the art they have, they have like a barber shop that he owns next, like literally next door and, uh, the, the seats are like from the '80s, like original.

    7. JR

      Oh, wow.

    8. MV

      Paint by him. I was like, "Wow, this guy's tattooing me."

    9. JR

      Wow.

    10. MV

      So when I get to the shop, he's like, "Do you wanna smoke?" I'm like, "Fuck yeah."

    11. JR

      (laughs)

    12. MV

      He give me a joint of the ... I don't know what he's smoking. And I was like, "Bro, this is strong." "It's pure gasoline, brother." (laughs)

    13. JR

      (laughs) Pure gasoline.

    14. MV

      When, when he started tattooing me, I was just like, I was way too high.

    15. JR

      Ah.

    16. MV

      I was way too high.

    17. JR

      It's sensitive when you're high, right? Do you feel it more?

    18. MV

      Oh, I was ... That's why I was freaking out.

    19. JR

      Yeah. When I'm, uh, uh, drinking though, drinking you barely feel shit.

    20. MV

      I never drink during tattoo.

    21. JR

      Really?

    22. MV

      Never.

    23. JR

      I have.

    24. MV

      I might start doing that now.

    25. JR

      Yeah, it's a good move-

    26. MV

      Because-

    27. JR

      ... because it dulls the pain quite a bit.

    28. MV

      ... I definitely smoke all the time I get a tattoo and that's now.

    29. JR

      I think that would hurt.

    30. MV

      Oh, it hurts.

  4. 6:36 – 8:49

    Early tattoos, career identity, and respect for UFC matchmakers under pressure

    1. MV

      I know. Sean Shelby, when he, when he saw my first tattoo, "You fucking idiot." And like-

    2. JR

      Sean Shelby said that?

    3. MV

      Yeah. He's like, "You won't be able to get a job." I'm like, "I don't need a job. You give me job."

    4. JR

      "You won't be able to get a job."

    5. MV

      I was like, "You give me job." He was mo- he was motivating me to don't be an idiot. I was like-

    6. JR

      Oh, that's so silly.

    7. MV

      ... "Hey, I'm gonna be in the UFC for a long time, so."

    8. JR

      That's such a silly thing to say. Sean Shelby, you silly goose.

    9. MV

      We w- we were laughing about it after the Frankie fight. He told me like, "Hey, you're good." I'm like-

    10. JR

      (laughs)

    11. MV

      ... "I told you! I'm an idiot, but I told you." (laughs)

    12. JR

      That's so silly.

    13. MV

      He was laughing about it.

    14. JR

      (yawns) He's a funny guy. But, you know, that, that job makes people-

    15. MV

      It's not easy.

    16. JR

      No. It makes you tense.

    17. MV

      You lose your fucking head.

    18. JR

      Yeah.

    19. MV

      Think about it, how many fights fell off and you gotta figure it out yourself.

    20. JR

      And there's 500 fighters on the roster that are emailing him every day, trying to get a fight, and then you have to deal with crazy managers. Some managers are crazy.

    21. MV

      Yeah.

    22. JR

      And some managers are great, but some managers are out of their fucking mind.

    23. MV

      I, uh, that's why I respect him. I don't hate him.

    24. JR

      Yeah.

    25. MV

      Because people say, "Fuck that guy, he don't wanna help." And I'm like, "Bro, there's like 10 idiots just like you-"

    26. JR

      Yeah.

    27. MV

      "... saying the same thing about him."

    28. JR

      Mick Maynard is cool as fuck, though. He never loses his shit.

    29. MV

      He's newer too.

    30. JR

      Is that what it is? But he's been around a long time. You say newer, but many years.

  5. 8:49 – 11:49

    Alternates, brutal weight cuts, and why fighters ‘should walk away’ after too many KOs

    1. JR

      Well, you know what's crazy, is when they have guys, uh, do like a full weight camp, a full camp, and a weight cut as an alternate, just in case.

    2. MV

      Yeah.

    3. JR

      I find th- I find that crazy.

    4. MV

      They do that with the main events.

    5. JR

      I know. That's wild.

    6. MV

      When, when I fought in New York, Luke did that for Usman and Colby.

    7. JR

      Really?

    8. MV

      Yeah. But he missed weight.

    9. JR

      Oh, that's right. He did. Yeah, that's right. He did miss weight. Yeah, it's, uh, but it's hard on the body, man. Like, the, the weight cut is so bad on the body already.

    10. MV

      Weight cuts are like taking punch to the jaw.

    11. JR

      Yeah.

    12. MV

      You have so many of those.

    13. JR

      Right.

    14. MV

      If you don't do it right-

    15. JR

      Yeah.

    16. MV

      ... you're fucked.

    17. JR

      Even if you do it right. Like, look, Colby Covington planned for seven months for this fight. I mean, you know, it's hard. Y- you can't take it away from Kai Kara-France 'cause he landed a perfect punch and-

    18. MV

      Oh, Cody Garbrandt.

    19. JR

      Yeah. What did I say?

    20. MV

      Colby Covington.

    21. JR

      Oh, I'm sorry. Cody Garbrandt. It's early. I haven't had any coffee yet. Let me have some coffee with ... in my fucking brain now.

    22. MV

      You want some coffee?

    23. JR

      Did I say Colby Covington? Goddamn. It's weird when you have like a thought in your head-

    24. MV

      I'm probably too sharp because I took mushrooms early.

    25. JR

      ... and the wrong noise... You took what? Mushrooms early? Oh.

    26. MV

      That's why I'm probably sharp.

    27. JR

      You're, you're, maybe I'm like, feeding off of you.

    28. MV

      (laughs)

    29. JR

      I'm confused by your energy, your spiritual energy.

    30. MV

      Yeah. I'm spiritual. I'm pre- I'm like trying early mornings, I'm pretty...

  6. 11:49 – 14:12

    No off-season mindset: immigrant mentality, constant training, and building tools outside camp

    1. MV

      There's a, you have to stay ahead. You have to work the whole time. Some, most people only pushes when they have a contract, when they h- they, when they hear like, "Hey, you might be fighting this date." This is n- not even a sport.

    2. JR

      Yeah.

    3. MV

      I don't even call it... I don't think this is a sport, this is fighting.

    4. JR

      It's fighting. Yeah.

    5. MV

      It's fighting. So you better be trained the whole time and just ready to go.

    6. JR

      And when you're not in camp, you have to be improving.

    7. MV

      100%.

    8. JR

      Yeah. You have to be working on things. And then there's some people that don't do that, and, you know, the camps are hard. And some people, when they get out of camp, they just wanna get fat and relax and...

    9. MV

      Not in, not in me.

    10. JR

      You can't? No. Good for you, man.

    11. MV

      Like, Kobe Bryant said, the mamba mentality?

    12. JR

      Yeah.

    13. MV

      I call it the immigrant mentality. Which-

    14. JR

      Yeah, immigrant mentality. (laughs)

    15. MV

      ... all fucking day-

    16. JR

      Yeah.

    17. MV

      ... seven days a week. There's no-

    18. JR

      Yeah, I love that you quote Joey Diaz like that. (laughs)

    19. MV

      (laughs) . I love that guy.

    20. JR

      Everybody loves Joey Diaz.

    21. MV

      I love when he tell the Monday video.

    22. JR

      Yeah.

    23. MV

      He fucking get me hard. I'm like-

    24. JR

      He just did a new one on Julián Peña. Did you see that one?

    25. MV

      No, I didn't see that one.

    26. JR

      Oh, pull it up, pull it up. It's on his Instagram. It's fucking beautiful. He was talking about how amazing Julián Peña meeting him at the news-

    27. MV

      He's a motherfucker with his coffee and shit.

    28. JR

      Yeah. (laughs)

    29. MV

      He's like, "You motherfuckers." It's fucking Monday. If you're coming happy about your weekend, fuck off. I mean-

    30. JR

      Yeah. Yeah, he gets fired up.

  7. 14:12 – 17:15

    Cardio philosophy: sprints vs long runs, mental sharpening, and championship-round stamina

    1. JR

      Did you ever see, uh, when BJ Penn was training with Marv Marinovitch?

    2. MV

      Yeah. I, I ha- he told me a lot about it.

    3. JR

      Yeah?

    4. MV

      And Parillo told me too. He was... What I, what, what I heard about it, it was like, it was all about-

    5. JR

      Cardio.

    6. MV

      ... three, four seconds, three, four seconds.

    7. JR

      Yeah, yeah.

    8. MV

      All ex-

    9. JR

      Yeah.

    10. MV

      But that's why he have a great first round.

    11. JR

      Yeah.

    12. MV

      And then he's no longer-

    13. JR

      Well, no, not necessarily. You know, that was when he beat Sean Sherk. That was when he beat, um... Who else would he fight?

    14. MV

      Diego Sánchez with the head kick.

    15. JR

      Diego Sánchez, that's right. Like those, those fights were when he was supremely conditioned. But the, the point was their idea was you already know how to fight.

    16. MV

      Yes.

    17. JR

      This is... The camp is not for fighting. The camp is for physical preparation. So to get yourself in peak condition-

    18. MV

      Like, I can-

    19. JR

      ... that was what they thought.

    20. MV

      I can talk because I'm in that camp. I'm with Parillo. So they were focusing a lot on explosiveness.

    21. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    22. MV

      Explosions. But then what about the long distance? Like that's what Parillo says, "It's not about sprint, it's not about intervals, it's not about long distance. It's about the three of them." And that's one thing I, I add from him because he like me to sprint. He like his sprints. Me personally, my favorite thing is go over 15 miles, just run almost three hours, like just go.

    23. JR

      Why do you like doing that?

    24. MV

      Because my mind gets so sharp. I'm thinking. I'm, I'm, I'm visualizing. I'm, I'm thinking on... I'm seeing the future. I'm like... I basically, I'm thinking on what I want, how I wanna get it done. But then also you gotta be able to keep yourself active for that long, because when you do intervals, like last night I did a sprint, like fast, like 12 mi- like 12 miles per hour, two minutes. I did like six, six rounds like that. It's hard as fuck. Your heart is gonna get out of your chest, but you know it's two minutes. You know it's gonna end. So it's almost like you teach yourself to stop here. When, when I do my long distance, there's no, "It's almost done."

    25. JR

      Right.

    26. MV

      Because when I go, when I, when I go six, seven miles to the left, I know I gotta come back.

    27. JR

      Right. Right, right.

    28. MV

      So I like, I like everything. All of this work because one, it help me being explosive, help me being fast, but the other one in the, in, in the championship rounds is gonna show.

    29. JR

      Mmm.

    30. MV

      And you don't get this overnight. I don't start running and get to 13 miles in a week. It took me months to get there. Now I do 13, 15 whenever I want. But also I don't stop using it.

  8. 17:15 – 22:36

    From ‘nothing’ in Ecuador to street fights, cowboy farm life, and the first martial arts attempts

    1. JR

      When you started in Ecuador, what kind of facilities were available?

    2. MV

      Nothing.

    3. JR

      Nothing?

    4. MV

      I was training on living rooms-

    5. JR

      No.

    6. MV

      ... with mats. Like, let's say you, you move this table-

    7. JR

      Yeah.

    8. MV

      ... we put mats, and we go jab, cross, hook, back, and forth.

    9. JR

      Really?

    10. MV

      There was nothing.

    11. JR

      What made, what motivated you to get into it?

    12. MV

      This is the crazy thing. This go backs when I'm a, I'm a four-year-old kid in Ecuador in this town called Chone. I was fighting on the street, the homeless kids that they clean shoes for money or they sell, they, they sell, like, Chiclets or cigarette. My brother used to call these kids, give him couple bucks to fight me. For fun.

    13. JR

      (laughs)

    14. MV

      Like the, like the fucking circus. And I love it. Like there's not a time...

    15. JR

      This is when you were four?

    16. MV

      I was a kid, five, four, yes. They used to make me fight just for fun.

    17. JR

      Wow.

    18. MV

      And they would laugh about it. And then if I lose, they get mad.

    19. JR

      (laughs) What?

    20. MV

      But I used to ask for it. I'm like, "Bro, I wanna fight today." It was like, that was like instead of go play soccer, that was for me.

    21. JR

      And it was fight MMA?

    22. MV

      No, it was a, it was a street fight.

    23. JR

      Right, just...

    24. MV

      Just scrap.

    25. JR

      But, but no rules, no gloves?

    26. MV

      Of course, don't bite, don't-

    27. JR

      Don't bite.

    28. MV

      ... don't do crazy shit, but...

    29. JR

      Did you guys discuss this beforehand?

    30. MV

      No, we just fight. Punches. Well, I guess we were gentlemen, punches and kicks.

  9. 22:36 – 41:41

    First real training at 16: obsession, family doubts, and the path to the first MMA fight

    1. JR

      So when did you first start formally training?

    2. MV

      I ... When I was 16 years old, my, my neighbor told me, like, "Yo, there's this Jiu-Jitsu gym, it's really good. I know you like fighting. I know you fighting all the time. You should come. That will probably calm you down."

    3. JR

      "That'll calm you down."

    4. MV

      I went with him one day. I pay for the full month, like, right away. No, no, not try class, not nothing. Since that day until today, yo, I haven't stopped training.

    5. JR

      Wow.

    6. MV

      But my family, I, I get it why they never support me at the beginning. They were like, "Nah." They thought I was a boy in college. I was just, I was just different, you know. My, my sister and my brother, they graduate from high school, straight to college. Both have their degree, normal people, smart people. I wasn't the case. I was getting in trouble all the time, you know, cops, school. Everywhere I go, there was an issue.

    7. JR

      (laughs)

    8. MV

      My group of friends were fucking maniacs. No- ... That didn't help either. So when I started fighting, and I said, "Okay, no more crazy life, no more bullshit, I wanna fight," they were like, "Oh, no. No, we don't want ... If you get better at this, you're gonna hurt people. You're, you're a dumbass. We don't want this for you." And I was like, "No, if I start doing this, it's because I really want it." They didn't believe it, but it's because all the bad things I already did come until this point. By the moment I started training, everything around my life stopped. Like, no more party, no more outside life, no more skateboarding, no more surfing. I left everything and I focused on Jiu-Jitsu to become a fighter. And since that day I touch that gym, never stopped coming.

    9. JR

      And this was, this place in Ecuador, who was running it?

    10. MV

      It is, uh ... My first Jiu-Jitsu coach is, uh, Fernando Soluso. These guys came from Fabio Wargiel in Brazil.

    11. JR

      Oh, wow.

    12. MV

      So he came from ... This guy is legit.

    13. JR

      Yeah.

    14. MV

      He came from the times, like, when Marcelo Garcia, Galbau, all those guys were competing, he came from the same, like, the same age. So he came from a good group. Demian, he's really close to Demian, like, very close.

    15. JR

      Oh, wow.

    16. MV

      So he came to Ecuador to decide to open a school and-He put Jiu-Jitsu on the map because, because he came from Brazil. If he would have never came-

    17. JR

      Why did he decide to go to Ecuador?

    18. MV

      I have no idea. He just came one day and never left.

    19. JR

      Wow.

    20. MV

      And until this day, he's still teaching. And he was fighting too. He was fighting to show people that, "Look, I'm not that good in the striking, but with my Jiu-Jitsu, I can win fights." And for me, I was like, "It's in road. I wanna come and do this." But before he get to know who I am, I come to the gym and say, "Hey, man, my name is Chito. I wanna be a UFC fighter." He's like, "Fuck off, kid." He's like, "What do you train? Are you a boxer? Are you a kickboxer?" I'm like, "No, I'm nothing, but I wanna be a UFC fighter." So I came saying that to everybody, "I wanna be a, a UFC fighter," and people just laugh about it, like, "Dude, you're nothing. You never trained your life." "It doesn't matter, I wanna be a UFC fighter." And my first ... the first day I show up to school, that was it. And then the m- the year later, I graduated from high school, I was coming twice a day, every day. It's almost like being in a world like, "Fuck off, kid, we don't want you here. You're, like, annoying."

    21. JR

      (laughs)

    22. MV

      I never stopped coming. Until this day, I never stopped.

    23. JR

      That's amazing. Well, you had a vision.

    24. MV

      I, I just saw the UFC, I saw Pray FC, I saw Strikeforce, and I was like, "Wait a minute, I don't need to go to college."

    25. JR

      (laughs)

    26. MV

      That's it.

    27. JR

      Did you ... Well, do you remember the first event that you saw?

    28. MV

      Yes, it was GSP. I watched a lot of old, old ones, but live, it was GSP-Koscheck, if I'm not wrong. The first one.

    29. JR

      GSP-Josh Koscheck.

    30. MV

      Yeah.

  10. 41:41 – 51:09

    Making the UFC: LATAM TUF call, leaving home, and early coaching manipulation

    1. JR

      So how did you get to Jackson's? Did you-

    2. MV

      The... I was driving, I get a call from a number that says USA, and I was like, "Weird, I'm from Ecuador."

    3. JR

      (laughs)

    4. MV

      So I pick up, it's like, "Hey, Marlon. You've been selected to be in the UFC." And then I fucking almost crash. When they say UFC, my dick got hard. I was like, "What the fuck?"

    5. JR

      So this was Ultimate Fighter...

    6. MV

      L- number one, LATAM.

    7. JR

      Yeah.

    8. MV

      So-

    9. JR

      The first Latin American-

    10. MV

      Yes.

    11. JR

      ... Ultimate Fighter.

    12. MV

      So it's gonna be... You're selected to go to the Ultimate Fighter, so you will have to go to Jackson's and train, and if you're good, they put you on. If you're bad, they train you until you're good and there's two options, you either make it or we just send you back. And I was getting some pictures with my friend to send to Mexico to defend my belt. I had a belt in Mexico I have to defend in December against this ex-Bellator guy. So that was a big fight, because if you win that fight against an American, you're pretty much in the UFC. It the way things work, right? Because I used to make my own fights, I used to contact every single promoter in South America, tell them I will fight for free just because I wanna let myself known to people and be in the UFC one day. So I make their, I make their job easy, because back then, you were making $500. Anyway, so don't pay me nothing, send me a flyer. With this flyer, I ask sponsors to pay for my ticket, my hotel.... and I w- go and fight, and then I'll have people get to know who I am. So I will send ... I will ... I take those pictures, send to the promoter in Mexico, and my ph- literally, the moment I send the email, my phone rings and I was like, "Hello?" "Hey, Marlon. We called regards from the UFC. You've been selected." I hit the curb. Boom!

    13. JR

      (laughs)

    14. MV

      My tire explode. I was like, "UFC? Are you the fucking UFC?" And they're like, "Yeah, you've been select-" I was like, "Hey, if this is a, a joke, I'm gonna kill you."

    15. JR

      (laughs)

    16. MV

      Because I was... I... Somehow my sister and my brother, they're fucking dicks-

    17. JR

      Ah!

    18. MV

      ... in a good way, and I was like, "They're probably fucking with me."

    19. JR

      Right.

    20. MV

      Because this is a, this is a good story. This happened-

    21. JR

      Were they speaking to you in Spanish?

    22. MV

      Yes. So I was like, "Fuck, if this is my sister and my brother, I'm gonna burn them alive." But my, my dad told me, "Hey, this is the last year you have to try this. After this, you find a real job, you work for me, or you leave the house."

    23. JR

      And you were 21 at the time?

    24. MV

      I was 20.

    25. JR

      20?

    26. MV

      And this is Novem- this is, this is November ... Like, the last couple days of November, he told me, "You got until December. December 2nd-

    27. JR

      Oh.

    28. MV

      ... is my birthday. December 1st, like, the bank is closed for you. You either work or you're fucked." And I know my dad is a hardcore old school guy. I know there's no change for that. So this was my last chance, this fight in, in, in December. I d- I don't know, sometime in December. That was my last chance to make it to the UFC. So when these people call me, this is the last week of, of November. So I was like, "Fuck, this could be my sister and my brother just fucking with me." And I hit the curb, the tire explode, I park, and I was like, "Okay. Are you real the UFC?" "Yeah, you've been selected. You, you will have to fly to Albuquerque, train, and they will ... Check your email. You have a ... You, you will have info to, to fill out, to ... for your tickets and blah, blah, blah." "Cool." This ... My, my dad was ready to, like, to stop supporting me, and I was already married. I have one daughter, so my dad was helping me to ... so I can train all day. He was, like, helping me with, with my rent, helping me with some food, but just, like, basic essentials, like, I will have to figure it out the rest. And he told me, "December 1st came, kid. You're done. You find a job and fuck that fighting dream."

    29. JR

      S-

    30. MV

      I call him. "The fucking UFC called me." His parent was like, "Fuck, I'm fucked now."

  11. 51:09 – 1:11:01

    Jackson’s reality check: 10 weeks of getting wrecked, learning through reps, and UFC matchmaking chaos

    1. JR

      So when you first started training at Jackson's, what was that experience like? Like, w- how much growing did you have to do... well, how much did you have to abandon of, like, the way you fought before?

    2. MV

      I was a white belt.

    3. JR

      Really?

    4. MV

      Rolling with black belts. I was lost. The first day of esp- That wa-... That trip to Jackson's was my first ever sparring, like real sparring, like with a real fighter in front of me.

    5. JR

      A real professional.

    6. MV

      Real. I, I, I was getting dropped left and right.

    7. JR

      Really?

    8. MV

      I was getting kicked in my leg, I'm flying. I was getting punched in the stomach and cr- crawling to the ground. I was like... My friends will text me like, "Hey, how's... Are you having fun? This fucking Cabo is there." I was like, "Forget about Cabo, dude. I'm getting my ass kicked by fucking... a guy that have zero amateur fight." I was getting tapped. I was getting taken down. I was getting fucking murdered in the stand up. I wasn't... I don't win a round, like, in the first 10 weeks.

    9. JR

      Wow.

    10. MV

      And it was awful.

    11. JR

      10 weeks of just getting your ass kicked.

    12. MV

      Ass kicked in every single practice. Even... True story. This, uh, Mike Valle, he was a striking coach there. He pulled me aside one class and he's like... He gave me this fucking dumb story like, "When I was a kid, my dream was to be a baseball player, blah, blah, blah. And one day the coach told me I should find something else."

    13. JR

      Oh my God.

    14. MV

      "Because I wasn't good enough and I decided to ins- go to fighting instead of do baseball, because I was so bad there. So we recommend you to find something else."

    15. JR

      Oh, shit.

    16. MV

      I look at him in the eye, dead calm, and I say, "Fuck you," and I walk away.

    17. JR

      Whoa.

    18. MV

      But the only thing that I prized myself is like, I was getting my ass kicked everywhere, everywhere, in every single class. Jiu-jitsu class, tapped like a fucking clapper. Striking class, getting my ass kicked. Wrestling class, good luck. I was, I was blind everywhere, but I never stopped coming to class on time and ready to go. That never changed. Every morning, every Tuesday morning, cold mornings of sparring. 9:30, I was there warming up, ready to go. Get my ass kicked, go to the room, cry sometimes because I wa- I was realizing I suck at this. But keep coming, keep coming, keep coming.

    19. JR

      So two and a half months in, you started to see a change?

    20. MV

      A little bit. (laughs)

    21. JR

      (laughs)

    22. MV

      A little bit. At least I get familiar with the guys that shouldn't, shouldn't spar.

    23. JR

      Yeah.

    24. MV

      I was like, "You come here."

    25. JR

      Uh...

    26. MV

      "You're not that good. I can, I, I can run from you." But it was r-... Like, I trained with these guys, like, for a month and then I went straight to The Ultimate Fighter.

    27. JR

      Wow.

    28. MV

      So the other guys that were there, like Jair, they were Mexicans. They had their, like, a year already.

    29. JR

      Wow.

    30. MV

      I was new there. I was new mid. I was there. I didn't have time to get better. You don't get better in a couple of months.

  12. 56:25 – 1:06:17

    Nutrition, rehydration, and why weight cutting is ‘sanctioned cheating’

    1. MV

      I remember that. And I asked him in person. I was like, I was like, "Yeah, I- I eat a lot of vegetables, but I eat a lot of things." I eat meat every day.

    2. JR

      Do you?

    3. MV

      Oh, full on rebuy left and right.

    4. JR

      Is that most of your diet?

    5. MV

      Like out of camp? Like out of camp, I can eat whatever I want because I keep in a certain amount of diet. I don't eat no sugar. I rarely do a cheat meal, but I eat meat every day. I do vegetable juices, avocados, like a lot of fats-

    6. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    7. MV

      ... a lot of protein and some veggie juices.

    8. JR

      Do you have a nutritionist or do you just... Yeah?

    9. MV

      Perfecting athletes, they- they- we've been together for like 11 fights, so they know me. They know I'm not fucking around. Like they know I'm in Texas and in the last four days, I've been eating meat, eggs, veggie juices, couple smoothies.

    10. JR

      Always healthy.

    11. MV

      There's no point to go the other way.

    12. JR

      Right, no point. It's just mouth pleasure.

    13. MV

      And ex- exactly.

    14. JR

      Yeah.

    15. MV

      The moment you swallow it, you're fucked.

    16. JR

      Yeah, yeah. It feels good when it's in your mouth, just spit it out. Diego Sanchez-

    17. MV

      I do that.

    18. JR

      ... used to do that. He used to eat meat. I mean, he had this idea that meat was bad for you, but you know, he used to chew the meat and then spit it out.

    19. MV

      Diego Sanchez.

    20. JR

      He's so crazy.

    21. MV

      I do at least two rebuys a day.

    22. JR

      Really?

    23. MV

      Oh yeah. But I eat a bunch of avocados, a bunch of fruit, a bunch of veggie juices. And then when I get a call to fight, I'm not overweight. I'm basically in shape. I just add a bunch of veggies because my meals go smaller-

    24. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    25. MV

      ... and smaller and smaller towards the wei- the end of camp.

    26. JR

      What is your weight walking around normally?

    27. MV

      Like 54, 53.

    28. JR

      Okay, so you're cutting somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 pounds?

    29. MV

      Yeah.

    30. JR

      Yeah. And what do you weigh like the week of the fight?

  13. 1:06:17 – 1:14:04

    Recovery stack: sleep discipline, hyperbaric oxygen, sauna protocols, and surfing as balance

    1. JR

      Now, when you are in camp or just in general, what do you do for recovery? Are you getting regular massages? Are you...

    2. MV

      Yeah, I definitely do the massages. I go to, to the, like, the PT. They use the... You know, if something hurts, they do wave shocks or steams. I do a lot of hyperbaric chamber-

    3. JR

      Do you-

    4. MV

      ... for the head a lot.

    5. JR

      How often do you do that?

    6. MV

      (laughs) Weekly.

    7. JR

      Weekly. How many times?

    8. MV

      I... Once a week.

    9. JR

      Once a week?

    10. MV

      Mm-hmm.

    11. JR

      For how long?

    12. MV

      For, like, 90 minutes.

    13. JR

      And how many atmospheres? Two?

    14. MV

      Say that again.

    15. JR

      Atmospheres. Like, you know, like, their... they can get it up to, like... The one that I go to get you to 2.2 if you need it.

    16. MV

      Huh.

    17. JR

      I, I do it at two, two atmospheres. It's, like, it's i- important, like, how many, um... how... The... Like, they have home units that are-

    18. MV

      Yeah, the one that I go is the metal ones, the huge ones.

    19. JR

      ... not that strong. Yeah, those are the ones you want.

    20. MV

      I say 90 minute in that thing.

    21. JR

      Yeah.

    22. MV

      I don't know what they do, how they control it. I just get myself in there.

    23. JR

      Yeah, the... I do 90 minutes as well. The... They're... They have some that only do, like, one and a half atmospheres. The idea is, like-... here's the amount of oxygen in a normal atmosphere, and they jack it up to two, to double the amount of oxygen in the, in an atmosphere. And it like, the, it's pressurized inside of there.

    24. MV

      Yeah, yeah.

    25. JR

      And I think the idea-

    26. MV

      Is it being underwater?

    27. JR

      Yeah. Like, like being underwater with scuba tanks.

    28. MV

      Yeah.

    29. JR

      You know what's interesting? This lady, uh, who's, uh, my doctor told me that one of the people that, uh, she used to do this with, um, they, they used to do scuba. They were scuba divers. And these guys would get drunk, and then the, to recover from scu- from being drunk, they-

    30. MV

      Scuba diving.

Episode duration: 2:55:27

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