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The Joe Rogan ExperienceThe Joe Rogan Experience

JRE MMA Show #120 with Jim Miller

Joe is joined by mixed martial artist Jim Miller: a competitor in the UFC lightweight division and the host of his own program, "The Jim Miller Podcast."

Joe RoganhostJim Millerguest
Jun 27, 20242h 23mWatch on YouTube ↗

EVERY SPOKEN WORD

  1. 0:0015:00

    (drumming music) Joe Rogan podcast,…

    1. JR

      (drumming music) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.

    2. JM

      The Joe Rogan Experience. Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (rock music)

    3. JR

      Yeah, we're up. You got a cookbook? What's going on?

    4. JM

      Yeah, coming out with a, with a fucking cookbook.

    5. JR

      Are you a good cook, legitimately?

    6. JM

      I try. (laughs) I, I, I think so.

    7. JR

      Like, I, I see you cook on Instagram. Looks like you're into it.

    8. JM

      Yeah. I am. Uh, yeah, uh, food has always been, uh, a pretty big part of my life. Uh, I grew up in a, a family of cooks. I, I actually consider myself probably the worst cook in my family. Um-

    9. JR

      Don't say that before you sell your book.

    10. JM

      I know, I know. But like, I, I-

    11. JR

      (laughs)

    12. JM

      ... I'm still pretty good. Like, both... My brother Dan and my, my other brother Michael are both... They're phenomenal. Uh-

    13. JR

      Your brother Dan has the nastiest guillotine finish I've ever seen-

    14. JM

      Mm-hmm.

    15. JR

      ... in all my years of watching MMA.

    16. JM

      Yeah.

    17. JR

      That one in the IFL where he had that dude pinned up against the cage. It looks like his head is gone.

    18. JM

      Yeah. Yeah.

    19. JR

      It looks like it's disappeared. Like his head is, it's, it's... Like, the way it bends over-

    20. JM

      Uh-huh.

    21. JR

      ... it's like... Folks, it's like an elbow.

    22. JM

      (laughs)

    23. JR

      Like, it's just-

    24. JM

      It doesn't make any sense.

    25. JR

      Doesn't make any sense.

    26. JM

      No, I didn't-

    27. JR

      And sideways.

    28. JM

      I didn't see that. I was on the... We were on the opposite side, uh, of the ring. I didn't see that until the next day. I was, like, scrolling through some pictures on, uh, on one of the forums, and I was like, "Holy shit."

    29. JR

      Here, watch this. Here. Let's see. Look. Let's see if they can-

    30. JM

      Oh.

  2. 15:0030:00

    No striking training? …

    1. JM

      it, it, it taught me a lot about kinda surrounding myself with people that support me, 'cause I didn't quite have that in the coaching staff. Um, and, uh, yeah, I wrestled for a year. Was pissed off 'cause I didn't like, you know, the program and, and, uh, came back. Was, was working a little bit, and my brother and I and Dan were, were messing around at work, working with our father and, and finally decided to start training jujitsu. And, um, we walked into the f- the first gym that we trained at in May of 2005. Um, came in, we had been like fucking around, so we ended up like submitting some guys in the first day. And, and, uh, we told the coach like, "Hey," like, "we wanna fight." And he's like, "All right, give me like two or three years." And, uh, six months later we were, (laughs) we were st- stepping into the, into a ring for our first professional fight, 'cause there was no amateur at the time. Uh-

    2. JR

      No striking training?

    3. JM

      Uh, f- literally three months of striking training at a, at a cardio kickboxing class. (laughs)

    4. JR

      So at that place that you were telling me about, Planet Jujitsu?

    5. JM

      Yeah, yeah. So, uh, yeah. It was a, it was, it was a trip, you know? Rolled, rolled the dice a little bit. Um, you know, at the... Yeah, then it was just like fight after fight. I mean, in, in a year I had six fights basically, so...

    6. JR

      Wow.

    7. JM

      Yeah.

    8. JR

      Well, that's the way to do it, right?

    9. JM

      Y- that's... I, I, I believe so. Uh, I think that's one of the biggest issues with like local MMA right now is that they're making these fighters sign agreements, so you're kinda locked in and then, and then it's-

    10. JR

      How so?

    11. JM

      Well, they're making, they're making fighters like, like local promotions, local shows are making fighters fight exclusively for them.

    12. JR

      Oh, that's terrible.

    13. JM

      And then they're only putting on, you know, three cards a year.

    14. JR

      That's fucking terrible. They're doing that?

    15. JM

      Yeah, yeah.

    16. JR

      Oh, don't do that, guys.

    17. JM

      Yeah.

    18. JR

      Don't sign that. Don't sign that. Whoever you, whoever's listening, amateur fighters-

    19. JM

      Mm-hmm.

    20. JR

      ... guys coming up, don't sign that. That will fuck you.

    21. JM

      Yeah.

    22. JR

      Those guys, that's unethical.

    23. JM

      It is.

    24. JR

      They sh- they should not do that.

    25. JM

      Yeah.

    26. JR

      Because if y- you know, like, look, if you have a good promotion and you pay well and you put on a good show, people will fight for you.

    27. JM

      Yeah.

    28. JR

      But if you wanna say that a guy has to be exclusive on a small card-

    29. JM

      Mm-hmm.

    30. JR

      ... and then he gets a call from one FC-

  3. 30:0045:00

    Yeah. …

    1. JM

      I hate the idea of like telling somebody like, "Hey, you know-"

    2. JR

      Yeah.

    3. JM

      "... you should... You need to hang him up." Uh...

    4. JR

      What would you do though if you're a coach and a fighter, and you, you realize that they're, they're having problems. You see telltale signs and slurring words and things along those lines?

    5. JM

      I think in, I think in that position as the, as the coach, um, it's your responsibility, you know, to have that, have that conversation with somebody. And, and they might not take it well.

    6. JR

      Yeah.

    7. JM

      Um, but... Like coaches have a very important job and, and that is to, that is to protect their athlete, you know.

    8. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    9. JM

      You're not only trying to make somebody better but you're trying to protect them. Um, and like... Unfortunately, in the, in this sport and the way that it is, is like sometimes the coach has fucking 30 athletes, you know. And a l- (laughs) and a lot of times they're, "Hey, they're all here on sparring day." So it's like, uh...... it's hard to pick out, like, who's having... All right, who's having a bad day? Like who's, who's not on today that, hmm, maybe we should just pull m- you know, w- we'll go, go hit the bag today. Go, we'll do a, we'll do a conditioning workout, something like that. But no, it's a hard sparring day so, we're... That's what, that's what we're geared up for. That's what everybody's-

    10. JR

      Right.

    11. JM

      ... you know, (laughs) they, they got a stiffy on hard sparring day 'cause it's, it's the fun day. Um...

    12. JR

      And you gotta make the differentiation between a bad day and your skills are eroding.

    13. JM

      Yeah, yeah. And like, uh, like that's w- that's one of the things that I can definitely attribute to my ability to be s- still sticking around here at 40, you know, just about 40 fights. And uh...

    14. JR

      How old are you now?

    15. JM

      38.

    16. JR

      Wow.

    17. JM

      Um, is that like, I, I opened my own place and (sighs) dude, like being able to train with a, with a good group of guys that I trust and not have a fucking target on my back, is, is awesome. Um, you know...

    18. JR

      And when did you open up your own place?

    19. JM

      Uh, end of 2014.

    20. JR

      Tell everybody what that is.

    21. JM

      Uh, well actually, I ended up selling it.

    22. JR

      Did you really?

    23. JM

      Uh, but yeah, yeah. So I opened up, uh, Miller Brothers MMA in 2014 then, um, in-

    24. JR

      Is it still called Miller Brothers MMA?

    25. JM

      No, no, no. (laughs)

    26. JR

      That would be weird.

    27. JM

      Yeah, it would be weird, wouldn't it?

    28. JR

      (laughs)

    29. JM

      Uh, yeah, I sold it to one of the guys who, uh, who worked for me. And, and uh, you know, one of my training partners, uh...

    30. JR

      How come you sold it?

  4. 45:001:00:00

    Mm-hmm. …

    1. JR

      in, and is doing all the discipline things that you need to be at a... They're gonna edge you.

    2. JM

      Mm-hmm.

    3. JR

      Or they might knock you out. They might catch you. They might catch you because y- even though you're a bad motherfucker, there's a lot of bad motherfuckers.

    4. JM

      There are. Yeah.

    5. JR

      There's a lot.

    6. JM

      And, and everybody's got an off switch, and every-

    7. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    8. JM

      Like, everybody can make a mistake. Everybody can get submitted.

    9. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    10. JM

      Like, uh...

    11. JR

      Oh, yeah.

    12. JM

      Fucking plenty of jujitsu black belts, you throw strikes into the mix, have been-

    13. JR

      Oh, yeah.

    14. JM

      ... have been choked out, so...

    15. JR

      When, uh, Rodolfo Viera got submitted.

    16. JM

      Mm-hmm.

    17. JR

      Remember, uh, Hernandez caught him in a guillotine, and we're like, "No-"

    18. JM

      Yeah.

    19. JR

      "... fucking way."

    20. JM

      Yeah, yeah.

    21. JR

      Like, that tells you right there, that guy is a gorilla.

    22. JM

      Yeah.

    23. JR

      I mean, he is fucking jacked, and a, an elite Brazilian jujitsu black belt, and for him to get submitted?

    24. JM

      Yeah.

    25. JR

      Anybody can get submitted.

    26. JM

      Yeah.

    27. JR

      Jacare got submitted.

    28. JM

      Mm-hmm.

    29. JR

      Remember? I mean, the, people get submitted.

    30. JM

      Got his arm broke (laughs) .

  5. 1:00:001:14:17

    (laughs) …

    1. JM

      about two years.

    2. JR

      (laughs)

    3. JM

      Uh, like, so I had a six-month period, like, eight weeks off. Well, a little more than eight weeks off, but, uh, you know, a couple months off and then basically two years. Um-

    4. JR

      That's crazy.

    5. JM

      Yeah.

    6. JR

      That's a lot.

    7. JM

      It is a lot. And I, I c- (laughs) what, what, what made me completely stop, I kinda had figured it, like, figured out how to, you know, the diet and all that stuff, right? Um, and, with the medi- meds, and the, and, and the supplements, um... And I ended up getting the stomach bug was going around. So the last time that I took doxycycline was, uh, New Year's Eve 2018. Uh, I rung in the new year puking my brains out, and I was like, "T- like, I can't, I can't do this anymore." Like, it was like, it was a, you know, a bad one. And it's like, "That's it, that's... I haven't, I haven't taken Doxy since."

    8. JR

      Did you have to take probiotics while you were taking that-

    9. JM

      Yeah, yeah.

    10. JR

      ... to, to help your gut health?

    11. JM

      Yeah, it was-

    12. JR

      What stuff did you take?

    13. JM

      Um, I took a few over the years. Um, a couple of, yeah, a couple different brands. I, I was tryna, you know-

    14. JR

      What about, like, fermented foods-

    15. JM

      Yeah.

    16. JR

      ... like kimchi and stuff like that?

    17. JM

      Yeah, like, w- right after that, like, when I was sick, uh, with that, with that stomach bug, like, yeah, it was like, uh, kefir and yogurt. And like, that's all I ate for like a couple weeks was-

    18. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    19. JM

      ... was, uh, anything fermented. Sauerkraut, you know, unpasteurized sauerkraut, like-

    20. JR

      Wow.

    21. JM

      ... kimchi and shit (laughs) . It was like, that was a, that was a ball of gas. But... (laughs)

    22. JR

      (laughs)

    23. JM

      But yeah, I felt like it kinda kickstarted me into, like, tr- a little bit repairing maybe some of the damage.

    24. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    25. JM

      I don't know if I totally did. But, uh, yeah, it was, uh...... it was a, it was a long fucking road, you know. And, uh, it's, it's a, it's such a shitty thing 'cause it's like, since people don't always test positive for it, it's hard to get diagnosed with it. Um, and you have to, like ... (sighs) I mean, some doctors don't, they don't like, uh ... it's not that they don't understand, it's that they don't necessarily appreciate what, what everybody's going through. And there's like t- kind of two schools of thought with it. There's a lot that say, "Hey, you know, it doesn't matter how long you've had it, three weeks of doxycycline is gonna kill it." And then there's the other side that's like, "No, like, it, it can be fucking stubborn." Um, you know, and, uh, it's, uh ... for, for me it was easy because I was the one fighting it. Like, I'll fucking, I'll deal with anything, you know. Uh, it, the scary part is, like, my kids. Like, like fuck, man. Like, I, it, it... I don't, I don't want them to have to, you know, deal with the bullshit. Like, I'm, I'm used to being in pain, you know? Like, I'm used to being uncomfortable because it's like I, I appreciate it. (laughs) eh- being a, being a lifelong athlete, it's like, "Oh yeah, my, my knees are sore, my back is sore." It's like, "It's supposed to be like that 'cause it means I went hard yesterday." (laughs)

    26. JR

      Right, right.

    27. JM

      You know? Like, uh, I- I've, I've had the, the opportunity to meet a lot of people that, uh, have been super, uh, like, super tough and, and, uh, you know, elegantly fought this thing. Um, it's, uh, it's a, it's a shitty, shitty little thing, you know? The- the ticks are assholes, and-

    28. JR

      They're fucking everywhere, too.

    29. JM

      Oh, yeah.

    30. JR

      It's so common on the East Coast.

Episode duration: 2:23:42

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