JRE MMA Show #136 with Jamahal Hill

1. 0:00 – 15:00

   (drum beat plays) Joe Rogan podcast.…

   1. NANarrator0:00

      (drum beat plays) Joe Rogan podcast. Check it out. The Joe Rogan Experience.

   2. Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night. All day. (rock music plays)

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:12

      We're up. What's up, champ?

   4. JHJamahal Hill0:14

      What's going on, brother?

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:15

      Pleasure to do this. Pleasure to have you in here, man.

   6. JHJamahal Hill0:17

      Yeah, thank you for having me, man. I appreciate it.

   7. JRJoe Rogan0:19

      That was a phenomenal performance in Brazil against Glover Teixeira in his hometown. Last minute, like, I mean, how much time did you have to prep for that?

   8. JHJamahal Hill0:30

      Uh, I had about six weeks.

   9. JRJoe Rogan0:31

      Oh, you did have six weeks.

   10. JHJamahal Hill0:32

       Yeah, six weeks.

   11. JRJoe Rogan0:33

       But it was-

   12. JHJamahal Hill0:33

       Well-

   13. JRJoe Rogan0:34

       ... bla- but you knew that it was a three ... it was supposed to be three rounds, and then they changed it to the title for five rounds, right?

   14. JHJamahal Hill0:41

       No.

   15. JRJoe Rogan0:41

       No. So, they-

   16. JHJamahal Hill0:42

       It was-

   17. JRJoe Rogan0:42

       ... they-

   18. JHJamahal Hill0:42

       It was the title right away.

   19. JRJoe Rogan0:43

       Oh, that was right after Ankalaev and Jan Blachowicz.

   20. JHJamahal Hill0:46

       Right, right.

   21. JRJoe Rogan0:46

       So, right from there-

   22. JHJamahal Hill0:46

       Like, they legitimately called me while they were still ...

   23. JRJoe Rogan0:49

       Wow.

   24. JHJamahal Hill0:50

       Yeah, while they were still in the cage.

   25. JRJoe Rogan0:52

       If you wanted a full camp for a five-round fight, though, what would you, what would you prefer? Like, how much time do you really need?

   26. JHJamahal Hill0:58

       Uh, I'd prefer maybe, uh, like, eight weeks. Eight to about eight to 10 weeks.

   27. JRJoe Rogan1:03

       So, slightly abbreviated, but t- your per- f- performance was phenomenal, man. I mean, it was ... it was amazing.

   28. JHJamahal Hill1:09

       Thank you.

   29. JRJoe Rogan1:09

       To see you pick apart Glover like that, and to do so well on the ground too, I mean, tha- that was a big victory.

   30. JHJamahal Hill1:17

       Yeah, I mean, uh, a lot of people thought that I couldn't do it. I kind of ... no, I couldn't ... well, that was just a general assumption, was that I couldn't, I couldn't grapple on the ground and things like that when that's definitely-
2. 15:00 – 30:00

   Yeah, man. I, I…

   1. JRJoe Rogan15:00

      you were at your best. I really do.

   2. JHJamahal Hill15:02

      Yeah, man. I, I rise to the occasion. I really lock in. Like, you know, I understand, I understand the situation, I understand the moment, so that's why I work so hard to get to it. And then I trust the work that I put in.

   3. JRJoe Rogan15:12

      Hmm.

   4. JHJamahal Hill15:13

      You know? So, at that point, it's just, all right, do what you do every day.

   5. JRJoe Rogan15:16

      Everything, your pacing, you, you just was so smart about when to hit the gas, you know, when t- when to, like, just like give him looks and, and catch your breath, and it was just phenomenal, man.

   6. JHJamahal Hill15:27

      Nothing surprised me. Like, um, nothing surprised me in that fight, 'cause everything, like ... You know, he's been ... That's the thing about being around for a long time, right? There's so much film on you, you know what I mean? People-

   7. JRJoe Rogan15:37

      Yeah.

   8. JHJamahal Hill15:37

      ... people watch your habits. Then, you know, after you've been fighting for so long, people can see when you stop evolving.

   9. JRJoe Rogan15:43

      Mm-hmm.

   10. JHJamahal Hill15:43

       Right? So, they can see, like, "All right, this is what he does." You know? And then that's where it comes in, like, "All right, this is what we know he's gonna do. This is what we're gonna do, uh, in place of this." You know? Then we get Anthony Smith in, and he's like, "Hey, oh, there's some things that he does that surprise me. In our fight, I, I didn't ... I realized he did this, and these are some things I would've done differently that, you know, might have worked better." Yeah, so-

   11. JRJoe Rogan16:04

       Like what kind of things did he do that surprised Anthony?

   12. JHJamahal Hill16:06

       Um, his grip. I think he said his grip, the way, uh, the way ... How strong he w- ... How hard it was to break his, like, um, to break his grip.

   13. JRJoe Rogan16:14

       Wrist control?

   14. JHJamahal Hill16:15

       Yeah. So instead of, so instead of trying to fight his grip, fight like the, uh, fight like the underhooks and fight like the positioning.

   15. JRJoe Rogan16:22

       Hmm.

   16. JHJamahal Hill16:22

       Right? So, like, uh, a couple times he got his hands clasped behind my up under my butt. If you notice, I didn't, I didn't fight his grip. I wasn't fighting his grip. I started fighting at his elbows, I started fighting at his shoulders.

   17. JRJoe Rogan16:34

       Mm-hmm.

   18. JHJamahal Hill16:34

       You know what I mean? Just other other, other things away from where his strengths were. And then that, um, that trip, that trip that he got me down with in the fifth, um, Smith had told me about that. So whenever he did it, so whenever he actually did it, he showed me, but I was like, "Oh, it was slick." So I went o- ... So I actually feel it, and it was like, "Oh, yeah, it was slick," but it's like, "All right, I know what to do." Bang, I laying here. Stay in position. That's why I don't ... That's w- ... I don't panic, none of that.

   19. JRJoe Rogan17:00

       Hmm.

   20. JHJamahal Hill17:00

       Just chill and go through the, go through what I've been doing. Everything, everything we worked on was, was that.

   21. JRJoe Rogan17:08

       No, your take-down defense was amazing, too, 'cause there were some times, especially in the first round, he got in d- pretty deep on you, and you just shucked it all off.

   22. JHJamahal Hill17:15

       Yeah. I think that's why he, uh, kinda, kinda ... Well, he wasn't able to really fight and try to turn it into a scramble, 'cause I wasn't gonna allow him. I wasn't gonna allow him to turn it into a scramble for a take-down. So whenever he did shoot in, just met him with har- with hard frames. Whenever I was hitting those hip, those hip bumps, those hip bumps were hard, you know? So, immediately hip bump, put a frame for him to fight through, you know?

   23. JRJoe Rogan17:39

       Hmm.

   24. JHJamahal Hill17:39

       If you're gonna get this take-down, (laughs) it's gonna w- ... It's gonna cost you-

   25. JRJoe Rogan17:41

       Hmm.

   26. JHJamahal Hill17:41

       ... a lot to get it.

   27. JRJoe Rogan17:42

       Right.

   28. JHJamahal Hill17:43

       You know? So, that was pretty much the game plan, make him go do that and make him work, and then whenever we, um, while, while we got range, touch him up.

   29. JRJoe Rogan17:53

       And you did that. Yeah. (laughs) When you woke up in the morning the next day, was it like, "What the fuck? Did that really happen?"

   30. JHJamahal Hill18:01

       You think I went to sleep, Joe?
3. 30:00 – 45:00

   Did you ... So…

   1. JHJamahal Hill30:00

      (laughs) it's effective in all, more, more forms of fighting. So it's just like that. Like you said earlier.

   2. JRJoe Rogan30:06

      Did you ... So you started like hardcore training, you were 18? Around there?

   3. JHJamahal Hill30:10

      Mm-hmm.

   4. JRJoe Rogan30:11

      So that was like when you really just started learning everything. So you-

   5. JHJamahal Hill30:14

      Right.

   6. JRJoe Rogan30:15

      Learning everything together. Wrestling-

   7. JHJamahal Hill30:16

      Right.

   8. JRJoe Rogan30:16

      ... jujitsu, kickboxing, all of it together.

   9. JHJamahal Hill30:19

      Right.

   10. JRJoe Rogan30:20

       Yeah.

   11. JHJamahal Hill30:20

       I started out with jujitsu and, and, uh, and Muay Thai basically.

   12. JRJoe Rogan30:25

       And then a- how long into were you like, "I think I could be a world champion?"

   13. JHJamahal Hill30:31

       Uh, see, that's the, that's the thing about me being arrogant. When I got into it originally, I thought I could be a world champion, you know? But it's just, like, you never really know what you... It's like you, think about like when you were a kid and you can believe that you could do anything. That's the type of belief that I have. You know what I mean? Is, a- and it's just never changed, you know? Like, um, I'm realistic, you know what I mean, about things. Like, all right, if I can't, uh, or how, how much I want something and things like that.

   14. JRJoe Rogan30:56

       Mm-hmm.

   15. JHJamahal Hill30:56

       But as far as, like, believing what I can do, I believe I can do anything, you know? So it's like, um, whenever I stepped in, it was like, yeah, world champion. Be... Because (clears throat) whenever I came in, although I watched Anderson Sil- Silva and I was in awe of him, I wanted to know, can I whoop his ass?

   16. JRJoe Rogan31:13

       Hmm.

   17. JHJamahal Hill31:13

       So that's what my journey, when my MMA journey started, that's what that was. That was me chasing Anderson Silva to see if I can... I started fighting at 185.

   18. JRJoe Rogan31:20

       Really?

   19. JHJamahal Hill31:20

       When I was 18, I was fighting 185.

   20. JRJoe Rogan31:23

       'Cause you're not, like, you're, you're not real heavy for 205.

   21. JHJamahal Hill31:27

       Mm...

   22. JRJoe Rogan31:27

       What do you walk around at when you're training?

   23. JHJamahal Hill31:30

       (laughs) When I'm walk- when I walk around tr- when training? Uh, maybe like 230, two- between 230, 235.

   24. JRJoe Rogan31:35

       That's not... Like, some of those guys get big.

   25. JHJamahal Hill31:37

       Yeah, I mean, I can't, yeah, I can't get up to around like 240, 245. That's around what I was whenever they called me for the Glover fight. When I saw the fight.

   26. JRJoe Rogan31:44

       You don't think you could make 185 again?

   27. JHJamahal Hill31:47

       I probably could.

   28. JRJoe Rogan31:49

       Champ, champ.

   29. JHJamahal Hill31:49

       For the right, for the right fight.

   30. JRJoe Rogan31:51

       Champ... That would be a good fight. All right.
4. 45:00 – 1:00:00

   Yeah, well some guys,…

   1. JHJamahal Hill45:00

      There was no movement whatsoever.

   2. JRJoe Rogan45:03

      Yeah, well some guys, when they get to the ground, they don't wanna go 100% because they don't wanna burn themselves out. But Paul Craig, like, he could close it off. He's so confident in his ability to close it off, he just cinches everything down.

   3. JHJamahal Hill45:15

      Yeah, right away.

   4. JRJoe Rogan45:16

      Yeah.

   5. JHJamahal Hill45:17

      Yeah. I w- And that kinda, that kinda took me by surprise. I thought he was gonna be more like of a technical, like, "Oh, this, the next step, this step, this step, whoa, this and that," try to set up. But he was strong and then he was still doing those things. So, it was good.

   6. JRJoe Rogan45:30

      Did you leave that fight thinking, "Fuck, I gotta learn how to do that off my back"?

   7. JHJamahal Hill45:34

      N- No.

   8. JRJoe Rogan45:35

      Not at all?

   9. JHJamahal Hill45:35

      No. Because I, I feel, I, I didn't feel like, "Oh, I, oh, my ground game was shit," or anything like that. I just felt like I fucked up by going, doing things on his terms. I let him-

   10. JRJoe Rogan45:46

       Hm.

   11. JHJamahal Hill45:46

       ... dictate-

   12. JRJoe Rogan45:47

       Yeah.

   13. JHJamahal Hill45:47

       ... the fight. I could've, could I have beat Paul Craig on the ground even then, even that night? Yes, I could have, if we had done thing, fought the fight on my terms. You know, "I'm fighting him now. I make him sprawl desperately. Now I bang, I make it hard on him. Bang, land some shots on him."

   14. JRJoe Rogan46:03

       Right.

   15. JHJamahal Hill46:03

       You know? Um, and control from there. You know, not letting him lock onto my arm and then go down to the ground with him. 'Cause when we hit the ground, it didn't, it wa- there was like... For him to pull me to the ground, for you to pull somebody to the ground, you don't know how this person's gonna land, right?

   16. JRJoe Rogan46:18

       Right.

   17. JHJamahal Hill46:18

       And he doesn't know how he's gonna land. And there creates, there's c- certain space that's created with that. Because I willingly went down with him, that was not the case. I fell down into position just like he did and he was able to lock even tighter on my arm.

   18. JRJoe Rogan46:32

       Hm, yeah.

   19. JHJamahal Hill46:33

       You know, just like little thi- like little things like that, like little small things that I don't think anybody else really thinks about, you know, that are huge. And I noticed them and I adjust them. That's why it was like, seemed like it's like leaps and bounds, but really it's just a small adjustment. A small realization, a small adjustment. Don't do this. Bang.

   20. JRJoe Rogan46:51

       Yeah. Did, when, when that happened in that, that fight, like, we were worried about your arm.

   21. JHJamahal Hill46:57

       Mm-hmm.

   22. JRJoe Rogan46:58

       Like, your arm got fucked up. How bad was it?

   23. JHJamahal Hill47:01

       Oh, it was, it was dislocated. It was a clean dislocation. No torn tendons, no broken bone, nothing.

   24. JRJoe Rogan47:05

       Oh, that's great.

   25. JHJamahal Hill47:06

       Yeah, it was basically best case, best case scenario.

   26. JRJoe Rogan47:08

       Best case scenario, for sure. Because-

   27. JHJamahal Hill47:10

       Best case scenario.

   28. JRJoe Rogan47:11

       ... you, you m- go, I mean, did you ever watch, um, um, uh, when, uh, Frank Mir, uh, broke, uh-

   29. JHJamahal Hill47:18

       Tim Sylvia?

   30. JRJoe Rogan47:18

       ... Tim Sylvia's arm?
5. 1:00:00 – 1:06:44

   Did you have to…

   1. JHJamahal Hill1:00:00

      how, how, how much it actually takes for a shoulder to, like, fully, fully heal. He, um-

   2. JRJoe Rogan1:00:05

      Did you have to get shou- uh, shoulder surgery?

   3. JHJamahal Hill1:00:06

      No, I didn't have to get surgery. I didn't have to get surgery or anything done on it, but it took a while for it to, for it to heal.

   4. JRJoe Rogan1:00:13

      Just rehabilitation?

   5. JHJamahal Hill1:00:14

      Right.

   6. JRJoe Rogan1:00:14

      Did you do stem cells?

   7. JHJamahal Hill1:00:15

      No, I just did physical therapy.

   8. JRJoe Rogan1:00:17

      If you ever get in that situation again, get ahold of me.

   9. JHJamahal Hill1:00:20

      A'ight.

   10. JRJoe Rogan1:00:21

       S- we'll connect you to some stem cell places.

   11. JHJamahal Hill1:00:23

       Yeah, for sure.

   12. JRJoe Rogan1:00:23

       You know, a lot, a lot of guys are going ... Um, uh, Kamaru just went down to Colombia. A lot of guys are going to do that, uh, bioxcellerator place down in Colombia and getting stem cells. It, it'll really help your recovery. Like, especially for injuries. It cuts the time down-

   13. JHJamahal Hill1:00:37

       Yeah.

   14. JRJoe Rogan1:00:38

       ... drastically.

   15. JHJamahal Hill1:00:38

       I was just talking to some- I think somebody just came up to me and o- and offered me, they said they got a place down, somewhere down south. Um, they do like stem cells. Yeah.

   16. JRJoe Rogan1:00:46

       We have a place to work with in Austin. We have a place, place we work with in Austin that helps a lot of-

   17. JHJamahal Hill1:00:50

       Okay.

   18. JRJoe Rogan1:00:50

       ... a lot of guys come into Austin and get stem cells here. And that's, that's gr- a great option too, if you wanna stay in the States too. But they can do stuff in other countries that they can't do in the United States. In Colombia and then, um, just a great place, uh, the CPI in Tijuana. Uh, there's a great place in Panama that Dr. Neil Riordan runs and the w- the, the laws there are different. The laws of the United States, for whatever reason, you can make-... all sorts of reasons for why they, they can't do it, none of them are good.

   19. JHJamahal Hill1:01:18

       (laughs)

   20. JRJoe Rogan1:01:18

       But they, they, they have a lockdown on what you're allowed to do here in the United States, even though it's highly effective, and even though you're dealing with injured people that really should have every option-

   21. JHJamahal Hill1:01:28

       Every option, right.

   22. JRJoe Rogan1:01:28

       ... available to them, especially when some of these options have proved- proven to be effective.

   23. JHJamahal Hill1:01:33

       Yeah, 100%. Uh, um, I'm, I'm just now learning, like, all the things that are proper things and things like that to take care of my body. That's another, uh, that's a, uh, one unfortunate things about coming in late and learning things late, you know?

   24. JRJoe Rogan1:01:45

       Yeah.

   25. JHJamahal Hill1:01:46

       And so, um, yeah, that's definitely one of the things I'm probably, uh, I'll end up, end up into, you know, 'cause it's just part of the job. You just- you're gonna get banged up. You're gonna have, you're gonna have things happen to you. And, uh-

   26. JRJoe Rogan1:01:57

       Yeah, you're in the destroying bodies business.

   27. JHJamahal Hill1:01:59

       Right, right, right.

   28. JRJoe Rogan1:02:01

       You know? (laughs)

   29. JHJamahal Hill1:02:01

       But, yeah, the, uh, on the main thing, though, like, Yuri, Yuri ideally will be the fight that I would want.

   30. JRJoe Rogan1:02:08

       Yeah.

Episode duration: 2:55:58