JRE MMA Show #144 with Jared Cannonier

Narrator 0:00 (drumming music) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.

Jared Cannonier 0:04 The Joe Rogan Experience.

Narrator 0:06 Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (rock music)

Joe Rogan 0:12 We're up. Here we go. Jared Cannonier, ladies and gentlemen. Hey, what, what a fucking crazy couple of weeks of fights it's been, man. It's so much to talk about.

Jared Cannonier 0:22 Absolutely, yeah.

Joe Rogan 0:22 You know, this l- last main event, oh my god. I'm, I'm still, I'm still, like, in shock that Justin Gaethje head kick knockout.

Jared Cannonier 0:31 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 0:31 ... of Dustin Poirier, I'm like, "Oh my god."

Jared Cannonier 0:33 I mean, we all knew that that fight was gonna be-

Joe Rogan 0:35 Some-

Jared Cannonier 0:36 ... tremendous.

Joe Rogan 0:36 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 0:37 Something, something big was gonna happen in that fight, so when it did and how it happened, it was beautiful. Beautiful execution of that, uh, of that technique by, uh, Justin Gaethje-

Joe Rogan 0:47 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 0:47 ... to get that head kick off, it was beautiful. It landed beautifully, and he followed up nicely.

Joe Rogan 0:53 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 0:53 Well, there was no follow-up. He was on his way. I think the ref stopped it-

Joe Rogan 0:56 I think he did land one hammer fist.

Jared Cannonier 0:57 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 0:58 But yeah, it was perfect. It was a direct mirror image of Leon Edwards' kick-

Jared Cannonier 1:02 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:02 ... on the opposite side, in the same place.

Jared Cannonier 1:04 In the same arena, yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:05 Crazy.

Jared Cannonier 1:06 Yeah, that's crazy.

Joe Rogan 1:07 Crazy. (laughs)

Jared Cannonier 1:08 Something's going on there, right?

Joe Rogan 1:09 Oh, man. There's... I tell you one thing, and you can tell me if this is, uh, if you feel it as a fighter, but there's something about the energy in an arena when you go to a place that really appreciates that you're there, 'cause like we're in Vegas a lot. You guys fight in Vegas all the time. People are-

Jared Cannonier 1:25 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:25 They get a little used to the fact that the UFC's there.

Jared Cannonier 1:29 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:29 But when you bring it somewhere like Salt Lake City, they get fucking hyped up.

Jared Cannonier 1:34 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 1:35 Those people were there for the first fight of the night. The place was packed. And there's this wild feeling in the air, like everybody's excited. Does it, as a fighter, does that affect you?

Jared Cannonier 1:47 Well, absolutely. You know, when you hear the crowd reacting to the fight in c- c-

Joe Rogan 1:51 Pull that, pull the mic right in front of you, so...

Jared Cannonier 1:52 Yeah, when you hear the crowd reacting to the fight in itself-

Joe Rogan 1:56 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 1:56 ... you know, you get energy from it, you know. Uh, I get invigorated by it, or I get checked by it, you know what I mean? If the guy's doing something good and the crowd's loving it, I'm gonna, uh, make, I'm gonna put a stop to that. So-

Joe Rogan 2:08 (laughs)

Jared Cannonier 2:08 ... I like to take control of it in, in a sense. But yes, it is, uh, it's a...

Joe Rogan 2:14 It's a factor.

Jared Cannonier 2:15 Yeah, it is a, is a huge factor, for some. You know, for some, it isn't. Some people can just stay focused and stay on the rails and handle their business, you know, but, uh, I like it, you know. But I like, I like fighting in the, uh-

Joe Rogan 2:26 Do you like the apex as well?

Jared Cannonier 2:27 I like the apex as well 'cause I find that fighting in the apex is a lip- is a bit more personal, you know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 2:33 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 2:33 Y- I can hear my opponent breathing. I can hear his exertions.

Joe Rogan 2:37 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 2:37 I can hear his corner. I can hear my corner a little bit better.

Joe Rogan 2:40 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 2:40 You know, you can hear m- uh, you can e- you know, there's still a crowd there, and you can hear them, so you still get the feel of the crowd as we- of a crowd, you know, al- although it's not that big. It's not as big, but you know, but you can hear everything. You can hear the commentators too, you know, so... (laughs)

Joe Rogan 2:55 I feel like when I'm at the apex, I feel like lucky, like, "Oh, I'm lucky to be one of the people to be here." Like when Francis fought Stipe at the Apex-

Jared Cannonier 3:03 Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 3:04 ... during the height of COVID, I was like, "We are so lucky-"

Jared Cannonier 3:07 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 3:07 "... we get to be here live for this." There's only like 30 people in this place.

Jared Cannonier 3:11 Yep. That's that thing, man. It makes it feel personal-

Joe Rogan 3:15 Yeah, very.

Jared Cannonier 3:16 ... you know what I'm saying? I guess it's personal for the, uh, those in attendance in, uh, i- in attendance as well.

Joe Rogan 3:20 Yeah, well, yeah, those in attendance and even people watching at home, I think you get a sense of that-

Jared Cannonier 3:25 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 3:25 ... from that. Like it's, it's like you're watching a, uh, s- like a fight in a gym.

Jared Cannonier 3:29 Yeah. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 3:30 You know? It really is.

Jared Cannonier 3:32 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 3:32 It's like a high-tech gym. I mean, that's kinda what they did.

Jared Cannonier 3:35 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 3:35 It's kinda what the UFC did. They just made their own gym, and they made their own arena.

Jared Cannonier 3:39 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 3:40 A l- a little intimate arena.

Jared Cannonier 3:41 (clears throat) Yeah.

Joe Rogan 3:42 And it's great for Tuesday night fights too.

Jared Cannonier 3:44 Yeah. And it's nice.

Joe Rogan 3:45 The contender series.

Jared Cannonier 3:46 You can just go there, handle business, and then go back to whatever else you was doing.

Joe Rogan 3:50 Yeah. And the, uh, PI, like putting something like that, such a, a high-tech, like state-of-the-art gym where guys can do their camps there.

Jared Cannonier 4:00 Yes, the PI has been a goldmine for a lot of guys, especially those guys in Vegas. I've used it a few times, but I don't really get up there too o- too often, you know? So um, (sniffs) but I can imagine if I did live there, I'd be in the PI all the time, maybe once, twice a day.

Joe Rogan 4:18 They do, they really help guys, uh, scientifically cut weight correctly too and give-

Jared Cannonier 4:23 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 4:23 ... them an assessment of whether or not they can do it and be healthy when they're doing it.

Jared Cannonier 4:27 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 4:28 That weight-cutting game is a crazy game, and you are, y- y- you got a wild career, man, 'cause you started off (laughs) at heavyweight. You got down to 205 and now down to 85. Has anybody else done that and been as successful as you? I don't think so.

Jared Cannonier 4:42 I don't think anybody's-

Joe Rogan 4:44 Yeah, I-

Jared Cannonier 4:44 I think, I don't think anybody's gone down, you know.

Joe Rogan 4:48 Right.

Jared Cannonier 4:48 Conor McGregor's gone up. He hasn't been as successful, but he's just successful-

Joe Rogan 4:52 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 4:52 ... in anything he does, you know, so.

Joe Rogan 4:53 Right, but I'm saying like has anybody ever started out as a heavyweight and gotten down to become an elite middleweight?

Jared Cannonier 5:00 No, I don't think-

Joe Rogan 5:01 I think he's the only guy.

Jared Cannonier 5:02 ... anybody's done that before, yeah.

Joe Rogan 5:03 It's, what-

Jared Cannonier 5:04 Well, you know, well, Vitor's gone up. He's fought up at heavyweight.

Joe Rogan 5:09 Oh yeah, he did.

Jared Cannonier 5:10 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 5:10 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 5:10 He's fought up at light heavyweight.

Joe Rogan 5:12 But middleweight would've been his correct weight class-

Jared Cannonier 5:15 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 5:15 ... I think, if he started today, like what he wound up in, I think that's the correct weight class-

Jared Cannonier 5:20 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 5:20 ... with weight cutting.

Jared Cannonier 5:21 Well, I would say the same thing about me too, you know.

Joe Rogan 5:23 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 5:23 I'm not no natural heavyweight.

Joe Rogan 5:25 Right.

Jared Cannonier 5:25 So...

Joe Rogan 5:25 Right.

Jared Cannonier 5:26 And I, and I knew that while I was fighting heavyweight. I was just an undisciplined heavyweight-

Joe Rogan 5:30 (laughs)

Jared Cannonier 5:30 ... if you will, you know, so um...

Joe Rogan 5:32 Well, you probably walk around at heavyweight all the time.

Jared Cannonier 5:35 Well, absolutely, yeah.

Joe Rogan 5:36 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 5:36 I think all, I think a lot of us middleweights walk d- walk around at light heavyweight or above the light hea-

Joe Rogan 5:43 Or even, yeah.

Jared Cannonier 5:43 ... ab- oh yeah, above the light heavyweight limits.

Joe Rogan 5:45 Yeah, above 206.

Jared Cannonier 5:46 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 5:46 Like what is the heaviest you get when you're walking around? Be honest.

Jared Cannonier 5:49 As a middleweight now?

Joe Rogan 5:50 Yes.

Jared Cannonier 5:51 ... the heaviest I've gotten, um, was 125. No-

Joe Rogan 5:55 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 5:55 ... 225. Sorry.

Joe Rogan 5:56 225?

Jared Cannonier 5:57 Yeah. So I'm about 220 right now, but I haven't been back to training as consistently as I would like to be, to, to be-

Joe Rogan 6:03 It's so crazy that you say that so casually 'cause you look great, you look super fit-

Jared Cannonier 6:08 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 6:08 ... and the idea of you being able to lose that much weight-

Jared Cannonier 6:11 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 6:11 ... is so bonkers.

Jared Cannonier 6:13 Yeah. Well, you know, water weighs a lot. You know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 6:15 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 6:15 So I, I burn a lot of water. Um...

Joe Rogan 6:17 Well, there's also yo- you... uh, th- there's like an, uh, a, a d- I guess they break it down when you do it with someone like, you know, that's a r- a real expert in dehydration. They break it down, like, how much muscle mass you have.

Jared Cannonier 6:29 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 6:30 And the more muscle mass you have, you can actually... muscle's mostly water, you can suck more. That's why guys like Yoel Romero-

Jared Cannonier 6:36 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 6:36 ... were able to make, you know, 185 when he's a big guy.

Jared Cannonier 6:39 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 6:40 He's fucking big.

Jared Cannonier 6:41 Yeah. Just a thick thing, you know?

Joe Rogan 6:44 Phew.

Jared Cannonier 6:44 So from top to bottom, too-

Joe Rogan 6:45 The idea that-

Jared Cannonier 6:46 ... not just top heavy.

Joe Rogan 6:46 ... that guy's 185 for even more than 13 seconds-

Jared Cannonier 6:49 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 6:49 ... accou-

Jared Cannonier 6:49 Well, not anymore, right? He's what?

Joe Rogan 6:51 Not anymore.

Jared Cannonier 6:51 205 now?

Joe Rogan 6:52 Yeah, now he's doing 205.

Jared Cannonier 6:53 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 6:53 But, you know, he was a top contender at 185 for a long time.

Jared Cannonier 6:56 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 6:57 With that weight cutting.

Jared Cannonier 6:57 But that was some hard weight cuts for him though, right?

Joe Rogan 6:59 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 6:59 'Cause he was so big, I would say. But I w- you know, I wasn't never there for any of them, so what do I know?

Joe Rogan 7:05 When you do yours, how far out do you s- do you just start to change your diet? And like when, how, how much time do they... like if the UFC calls you up and says, "We want you to fight for a world title in two weeks."

Jared Cannonier 7:18 In two weeks?

Joe Rogan 7:19 You can't get down there?

Jared Cannonier 7:20 In two weeks?

Joe Rogan 7:21 I mean, I mean, well-

Jared Cannonier 7:21 I haven't done it before, but I'm sure I could. Hell yeah, I could. Right? Yeah, I think I could.

Joe Rogan 7:27 But you wouldn't want to. Ideally, what would you want to? Like how much time do you need to get all the way down to healthy?

Jared Cannonier 7:31 I would, I would comfortably four weeks at the very-

Joe Rogan 7:34 Four weeks.

Jared Cannonier 7:34 ... at the least. You know what I mean? But six weeks to be the, you know, is the general consensus for fight camps. Eight weeks for those who wanna put a little extra on it.

Joe Rogan 7:44 Right. But like, how much of the camp is centered around being careful with your weight?

Jared Cannonier 7:49 Um-

Joe Rogan 7:49 How much do you think about it?

Jared Cannonier 7:50 I would say the whole camp.

Joe Rogan 7:51 The whole camp.

Jared Cannonier 7:51 You know what I mean? 'Cause, uh, when I'm not in camp and I don't have a fight coming up, I don't really pay attention to, you know what I'm saying? How-

Joe Rogan 7:59 Diet.

Jared Cannonier 7:59 ... my portion sizes.

Joe Rogan 8:00 Yes.

Jared Cannonier 8:00 And that's the big thing, is the portion sizes and the, the quality of the meats that I'm putting in my body as well, you know? So, um, I changed from eating less re- red meat for sure. You know, I eat more salmon, more fish. Um, and portion sizes, again, for me is important.

Joe Rogan 8:21 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 8:21 The work output, as long as I'm going to the gym and, uh, making my appointments that I've made for myself and I'm going to the gym twice a day, I burn, I burn it off. And I sweat it, I sweat off a lot too, you know? So I can... as long as I got at least four weeks, I can make it happen.

Joe Rogan 8:38 And-

Jared Cannonier 8:39 You know, e- where I'm at now, but when I'm training, you know what I mean? I'm around 210, 215, and all I have to do is change my diet. I'll drop about 10, 12 pounds in about two or three weeks.

Joe Rogan 8:55 Hm.

Jared Cannonier 8:55 And then cut the weight-

Joe Rogan 8:57 Okay.

Jared Cannonier 8:57 ... during fight week.

Joe Rogan 8:58 Well, that's not that much then. So then y- you're really just cutting about 10 fight week?

Jared Cannonier 9:02 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 9:02 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 9:03 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 9:03 So that's, that's a healthy way to do it.

Jared Cannonier 9:05 Yeah. No, I'm not showing up fight week at 220.

Joe Rogan 9:08 Mm-hmm. (laughs)

Jared Cannonier 9:08 Yeah. No, absolutely not. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 9:10 Well, there's some guys-

Jared Cannonier 9:11 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 9:11 ... that have done some wild cuts, some really wild ones where you're just like, did you just not prepare for this at all? Did you just try to wing it? Did you put it off? Like-

Jared Cannonier 9:19 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 9:19 ... what, how did you allow yourself to come in so big and try to cut so much?

Jared Cannonier 9:24 Who knows?

Joe Rogan 9:24 Just miscalculations.

Jared Cannonier 9:26 You know? Or maybe just to get caught with opportu- get called with an opportunity that they can't refuse-

Joe Rogan 9:30 Right.

Jared Cannonier 9:30 ... no matter what-

Joe Rogan 9:31 And they actually didn't-

Jared Cannonier 9:32 ... state that they're in.

Joe Rogan 9:33 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 9:33 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 9:33 They couldn't have made it.

Jared Cannonier 9:34 Yeah. They don't want to be the ones that say no sometimes, so, uh, I guess-

Joe Rogan 9:37 Do you ever envision, uh, a time where the sport would have no weight cutting, where they would just match people up by weight?

Jared Cannonier 9:46 When there's no weight cutting? Uh...

Joe Rogan 9:47 No weight cutting.

Jared Cannonier 9:48 I think-

Joe Rogan 9:48 What if there was more weight classes-

Jared Cannonier 9:51 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 9:51 ... but no weight cutting?

Jared Cannonier 9:52 I think that'd be fine. I would love that actually, to make it more of a natural-

Joe Rogan 9:57 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 9:57 ... competition, you know what I mean? As opposed to people trying to get the edge o-

Joe Rogan 10:00 Right.

Jared Cannonier 10:01 ... trying to get the edge on, on their opponent's back.

Joe Rogan 10:02 But it seems like a crazy edge to agree to.

Jared Cannonier 10:05 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 10:06 Like if we were... like I, I firmly believe that i- if weight cutting did exist and then people started doing it now, they would try to ban it.

Jared Cannonier 10:14 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 10:14 They would try to say, "Don't do that. That's dangerous. You're, 24 hours before you're gonna have a fucking cage fight."

Jared Cannonier 10:19 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 10:19 "You're gonna dehydrate yourself-"

Jared Cannonier 10:21 Dehydrate yourself. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 10:21 "... to death's door." To death's door. I've seen some dudes that were on death's door.

Jared Cannonier 10:25 Really?

Joe Rogan 10:26 Oh yeah.

Jared Cannonier 10:26 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 10:27 Travis Luter, when he fought Anderson Silva was the worst I ever saw a man when he was, uh, cutting weight.

Jared Cannonier 10:33 Hm.

Joe Rogan 10:33 Travis couldn't walk. He was shuffling to the scale.

Jared Cannonier 10:36 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 10:36 And he missed weight. He missed weight in the world title fight, and he had a real shot against Anderson 'cause his jujitsu was phenomenal.

Jared Cannonier 10:43 Okay.

Joe Rogan 10:44 His jujitsu was phenomenal.

Jared Cannonier 10:45 He was, yeah.

Joe Rogan 10:46 He, he took Anderson down, he got caught in a triangle and got beat up.

Jared Cannonier 10:49 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 10:50 But he-

Jared Cannonier 10:51 But that-

Joe Rogan 10:52 ... was the closest I saw it did, like, I looked at that guy, I'm like, "Oh my God." Like if I found that guy in the desert, I'd get him right to the hospital.

Jared Cannonier 10:58 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 10:58 I'd be like, "Holy shit bro, you okay? Like have some water. We're gonna get you in s-"

Jared Cannonier 11:01 For real.

Joe Rogan 11:01 "We're gonna get you some water, man."

Jared Cannonier 11:02 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 11:03 Jesus Christ. Like that's what he looked like.

Jared Cannonier 11:05 Wow, just out of it, huh?

Joe Rogan 11:07 Just sucked in, just... when you're, you're almost killing yourself. You're taking all the water out of your body-

Jared Cannonier 11:12 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 11:12 ... and then you're putting it back in, uh, 24 hours before-

Jared Cannonier 11:16 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 11:16 ... the most extreme physical combat sport that's currently available.

Jared Cannonier 11:21 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 11:21 Which is MMA.

Jared Cannonier 11:23 Out of your vital organs-

Joe Rogan 11:24 Out of the ene-

Jared Cannonier 11:24 ... your liver, your brain.

Joe Rogan 11:24 ... in America.

Jared Cannonier 11:25 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 11:25 Like, you know, there's some left way shit, they, they would like disagree that there's more extreme.

Jared Cannonier 11:29 Yeah. But that's why I wouldn't do no extreme weight cut myself, you know what I'm saying?

Joe Rogan 11:32 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 11:32 That's wha- that's why I said, that's why we- uh, middleweight is where I'm stopping. I cou- I could probably do welterweight with a, a strict diet over a period of time.

Joe Rogan 11:41 Wow.

Jared Cannonier 11:41 And-

Joe Rogan 11:41 You would be a giant.... big time.

Jared Cannonier 11:44 Yeah. But, uh-

Joe Rogan 11:46 Wow.

Jared Cannonier 11:46 But that would be uncomfortable for me. That would be uncomfortable to live. I wouldn't be able to live the way I want to.

Joe Rogan 11:51 Sure.

Jared Cannonier 11:51 I wouldn't be able to eat the way I would like. You know what I mean? And, uh-

Joe Rogan 11:54 I remember I ran into Rumble, rest in peace. I, I ran into Anthony "Rumble" Johnson in a hotel lobby and I go, "How big are you?"

Jared Cannonier 12:02 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 12:02 And this was when he was fighting at welterweight. And he goes, "I'm 230 right now."

Jared Cannonier 12:05 Oh, my goodness.

Joe Rogan 12:05 I'm like, "No way."

Jared Cannonier 12:07 Is that right?

Joe Rogan 12:08 No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. He was in town for the fights.

Jared Cannonier 12:13 Okay.

Joe Rogan 12:13 Just to watch. But you, you couldn't believe how big he was.

Jared Cannonier 12:16 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 12:16 And then he would make it down to 170.

Jared Cannonier 12:18 Wow. If, even if that was fine, I would, that would explain some of his m- uh, uh, missed weight cuts-

Joe Rogan 12:23 (laughs)

Jared Cannonier 12:24 ... showing up to fight weak at 230.

Joe Rogan 12:27 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 12:27 But then, I don't think the UFC now would le- allow something like that to happen, a fight like that to go on.

Joe Rogan 12:31 Probably not.

Jared Cannonier 12:32 No.

Joe Rogan 12:32 Well, there's l- so much more, um, you know, there's some more eyes on the fighters' behavior on what they're allowed to do and not allowed to.

Jared Cannonier 12:39 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 12:40 Which I think there's a lot of it, like, I was having a conversation with Jeff Novitzky about it. Like that they are trying to introduce things like peptides and allow fighters to use things that help them heal from injuries.

Jared Cannonier 12:54 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 12:54 And give them ex- exemptions for things like that, 'cause it's only beneficial to the fighter.

Jared Cannonier 12:58 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 12:58 And th- their ability to heal from injuries. The real- a lot of people, at least anecdotally, there are- I mean, there are some studies on BPC 157. I don't know what the full date is, but I know that the doctors that I work with and the people that I know believe in it a lot. And it used to be legal-

Jared Cannonier 13:15 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 13:15 ... for UFC fighters, then they, they banned it. Just-

Jared Cannonier 13:18 They did?

Joe Rogan 13:18 ... recently. Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 13:19 Oh, I didn't know that.

Joe Rogan 13:20 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 13:21 Hm.

Joe Rogan 13:21 It's a bummer.

Jared Cannonier 13:22 See, this is why I don't use, uh, supplements myself. I only use the s- uh, the stuff they give us from, like, Thorne Supplements. I think UFC has-

Joe Rogan 13:29 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 13:29 ... a partnership with them.

Joe Rogan 13:31 Right. And they're all third party tested.

Jared Cannonier 13:32 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 13:33 No bullshit in them. Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 13:35 Yeah. So, (clears throat) there are some other things like LMNTs, hydration packages I'll, I'll use every now and then.

Joe Rogan 13:41 Those are great.

Jared Cannonier 13:42 But I rarely do I take supplements. On top of that, I'm kinda even just take 'em consistently to get the benefit from 'em.

Joe Rogan 13:47 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 13:47 So, um, there's really no point in it for me.

Joe Rogan 13:51 So, do you, uh, have someone who, uh, cooks for you? Do you have like a meal service to use?

Jared Cannonier 13:56 My wife.

Joe Rogan 13:57 Your wife. (laughs)

Jared Cannonier 13:57 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 13:58 There you go.

Jared Cannonier 13:58 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 13:59 That's perfect. 'Cause I see some guys, they're like, they take it so seriously. They have like stacked up Tupperware containers-

Jared Cannonier 14:05 Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 14:05 ... that they get from a company and it-

Jared Cannonier 14:06 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 14:06 ... measures out their, all the carbs and the protein and it writes it down, 50 grams of carbs.

Jared Cannonier 14:11 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 14:12 It's like-

Jared Cannonier 14:12 We got guys like that in the gym too, you know.

Joe Rogan 14:14 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 14:14 I think (sighs) it's just more, I think it, that's more of a convenience thing, you know. You don't have to stand over the stove for 30 minutes to an hour and a half cooking and preparing food and stuff like that, but-

Joe Rogan 14:23 Whenever I think about people that do stuff like this, I think about Fedor. Because Fedor used to fight, he had a big belly.

Jared Cannonier 14:30 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 14:31 He didn't (laughs) -

Jared Cannonier 14:31 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 14:31 ... he, he didn't give a fuck about portion control.

Jared Cannonier 14:34 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 14:35 I mean, F-

Jared Cannonier 14:36 He was very unassuming, the way he-

Joe Rogan 14:38 Yes.

Jared Cannonier 14:38 ... looked physically. But his demeanor-

Joe Rogan 14:41 He was such a beast.

Jared Cannonier 14:42 ... said something else. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 14:42 I was listening to s- I've gotta c- I can't remember who was talking about it on a podcast. I'll try to remember it. Might've been Cejudo. I forget who was talking about it, but they were talking about... Oh, no. It was Rampage. It was Rampage Jackson. And he was talking about how Fedor was his favorite fighter and he was recalling this moment where Kevin Randleman suplexed him.

Jared Cannonier 15:02 Oh, yeah.

Joe Rogan 15:02 And threw him on his neck.

Jared Cannonier 15:04 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 15:04 And Fedor's expression never changed.

Jared Cannonier 15:07 Didn't change. Yeah. I saw that clip too. I thought that was-

Joe Rogan 15:09 Isn't that wild?

Jared Cannonier 15:09 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 15:09 It's so true.

Jared Cannonier 15:10 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 15:10 'Cause he's, he's, he just, no matter what, in the heat of battle-

Jared Cannonier 15:14 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 15:14 ... just stone faced. Never, no emotion. No nothing. Stone faced.

Jared Cannonier 15:19 Yeah. That just says he saw some, some hard shit as a child probably.

Joe Rogan 15:22 Yeah, right? Something. I mean, it definitely wasn't easy.

Jared Cannonier 15:27 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 15:27 Whatever he went through was not easy. But that dude is a, that is a hard man.

Jared Cannonier 15:31 How did that fight end?

Joe Rogan 15:32 Look at that. He kimura'd him. Like right after that. But look at the compression there.

Jared Cannonier 15:36 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 15:36 I mean, look at how he's landing there. That's crazy.

Jared Cannonier 15:40 Fedor kimura'd him?

Joe Rogan 15:41 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 15:41 Okay.

Joe Rogan 15:42 Like right afterwards.

Jared Cannonier 15:43 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 15:43 Yeah. You wa- you wanna see it?

Jared Cannonier 15:45 In this round?

Joe Rogan 15:45 It's pretty dope.

Jared Cannonier 15:45 Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 15:46 It's pretty dope.

Narrator 15:48 Uh-

Joe Rogan 15:48 See, see if you can find the finish. Yeah. He, he, uh, when he was going down, he tied up an arm.

Jared Cannonier 15:54 Okay.

Joe Rogan 15:56 It, see... Have you found it?

Narrator 15:58 It's only showing the f- that slam.

Joe Rogan 16:00 Oh. So, j- uh, well, just go, uh, Fedor taps...

Jared Cannonier 16:05 Randleman?

Joe Rogan 16:06 Yeah. Randleman.

Jared Cannonier 16:07 I'm sure I've seen it at one point or another.

Narrator 16:09 ... he goes. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 16:09 It was incredible. Okay, here it is.

Narrator 16:12 Here it is.

Joe Rogan 16:12 So Randleman slams him. Oh, how did he flip him over already?

Narrator 16:15 Ah, he's skipping ahead. Sorry.

Jared Cannonier 16:17 He's switching transition, yeah.

Joe Rogan 16:18 Yeah. I wanna see the transition. So he takes him down. Boom.

Narrator 16:26 Good sound.

Joe Rogan 16:26 Right?

Narrator 16:26 Goodbye, Randleman.

Jared Cannonier 16:27 Oh, this is the start of the fight. Yeah, yeah.

Narrator 16:29 Sorry. I don't know what that cold looking ass. Dumb, dumb. (laughs) Yeah.

Joe Rogan 16:31 So this is bef- yeah, this is the start of the fight. This is before he body slammed him.

Narrator 16:34 Now we, uh, now we see the pride round.

Joe Rogan 16:35 So he took him down first.

Jared Cannonier 16:36 I'd like to see a pride round. That'd be nice.

Narrator 16:37 Here it is. It's good.

Joe Rogan 16:38 Do you, do you like the idea of that? The 10-minute round?

Jared Cannonier 16:41 Oh, yeah.

Narrator 16:42 Randleman to the-

Joe Rogan 16:42 I think so too.

Narrator 16:43 There is a fight.

Joe Rogan 16:45 I imagine, like, the option to d- There it is. Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 16:48 There it is.

Joe Rogan 16:48 Boom.

Narrator 16:49 Slam. Knees. Knees. He's using knees and a head nod.

Jared Cannonier 16:53 Ugh.

Joe Rogan 16:54 That was knees to the head on the ground too.

Jared Cannonier 16:56 Oh, yeah.

Narrator 16:56 Second position, unbelievable.

Joe Rogan 16:56 Pride was a different, different beast.

Narrator 16:59 We have the king of the slam sitting right beside us.

Jared Cannonier 17:01 Nice.

Joe Rogan 17:01 Oh, that was a beautiful rollover.

Jared Cannonier 17:03 Get it together. Wow.

Narrator 17:05 Took it, but wow. Talk about amazing. Abundant angles.

Jared Cannonier 17:07 And then he started throwing his own knees.

Narrator 17:09 I am amazed.

Joe Rogan 17:09 And then he got the kimura off of this, I guess.

Narrator 17:11 I don't wanna beat on the black guy here.

Jared Cannonier 17:13 (laughs) Is that Rampage?

Joe Rogan 17:15 Dude, those are hard shots from the top here.

Narrator 17:17 Yeah, you gotta go. You gotta let him go. But talk about strong. Abundant angles.

Joe Rogan 17:20 These are fucking hard shots.

Narrator 17:22 Get that slam and now- Shoulda gone for another one. ... in dominant position. Hold on his legs. Get the figure four. Get 'em, get 'em. He's got opportunity here to bring in some knees if he establishes himself better. North star... Oh, here we go. Yes. Good form. And he's got him.

Joe Rogan 17:36 Damn.

Jared Cannonier 17:37 Yep. (bell rings)

Narrator 17:39 And Amillion Angles.

Joe Rogan 17:40 Like, that dude does not care about portions.

Jared Cannonier 17:43 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 17:44 He just eats whatever the fuck he wants and smashes people.

Jared Cannonier 17:47 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 17:48 I wish that I, I got to see that guy live. I have a regret.

Jared Cannonier 17:51 You never seen Fedor fight live?

Joe Rogan 17:52 No.

Jared Cannonier 17:53 No?

Joe Rogan 17:54 (inhales) Now and all the guys from Pride, (sighs) he was the one I would have liked to see live. I got to see Crow Cop fight live a bunch of times.

Jared Cannonier 18:03 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 18:03 Um, but seeing that guy in his prime in Japan must have been wild.

Jared Cannonier 18:09 Mm.

Joe Rogan 18:10 That must have been wild.

Jared Cannonier 18:12 So you've been in this game for a number of generations.

Joe Rogan 18:15 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 18:16 Like-

Joe Rogan 18:16 Yeah, well-

Jared Cannonier 18:16 ... if you were to, if you were to map the, uh, MMA, uh, as a sport, how many generations would you say we're in right now?

Joe Rogan 18:24 (inhales)

Jared Cannonier 18:25 Like about four?

Joe Rogan 18:25 I guess it's the 30th year of the UFC.

Jared Cannonier 18:27 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 18:27 And a r- um, an elite fighter, what's the average amount of years they can compete? Is it probably 10-

Jared Cannonier 18:37 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 18:37 ... average?

Jared Cannonier 18:38 Eight to 12, something like that.

Joe Rogan 18:39 Some guys can extend it, you know. Randy Couture extended it. You know, some guys can... But I actually started late. But some guys extend that time period where you could fight as an elite fighter, but, uh, there's only a certain amount of time. So that's kind of a generation, right?

Jared Cannonier 18:53 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 18:54 So that's like 10 years.

Jared Cannonier 18:54 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 18:54 So I'd say we're at least three generations in. But it's more like four or five, 'cause the generations, they, they change in terms of like, um, there's, there's like-

Jared Cannonier 19:06 Skillset.

Joe Rogan 19:06 ... the skillset.

Jared Cannonier 19:06 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 19:06 The skillsets improve. You know, I was just having a conversation with a friend of mine about how, uh, people today, like everything they do today, they get a chance to see all the people who've done it before, and then it helps you get better, just like... There's more-

Jared Cannonier 19:22 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 19:22 ... if you wanna watch MMA fights, in the 1993-

Jared Cannonier 19:26 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 19:26 ... when the UFC1 was around, you couldn't see anything, like where-

Jared Cannonier 19:29 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 19:29 ... what are you gonna find?

Jared Cannonier 19:30 I watched my first MMA fight on a VHS tape.

Joe Rogan 19:32 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 19:33 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 19:33 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 19:33 So.

Joe Rogan 19:35 I, I, I watched-

Jared Cannonier 19:35 Some, some people-

Joe Rogan 19:36 ... my first one too.

Jared Cannonier 19:36 ... watching now don't know what a VHS is probably.

Joe Rogan 19:38 (laughs) Yeah. And those people that fought in those things had nothing to look at first.

Jared Cannonier 19:46 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 19:46 They just went out there and did it, and they just were hoping karate worked. (laughs)

Jared Cannonier 19:50 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 19:51 You know? (laughs)

Jared Cannonier 19:52 Wow.

Joe Rogan 19:54 You know, they were hoping that Judo-

Jared Cannonier 19:55 Wow.

Joe Rogan 19:55 ... was enough. They were hoping that, uh, freestyle wrestling was enough.

Jared Cannonier 19:58 Talk about going in blind, huh?

Joe Rogan 20:00 I mean, those are the wildest of wild people.

Jared Cannonier 20:02 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 20:02 The, I mean, respect to the, the pioneers. Like-

Jared Cannonier 20:05 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 20:05 ... the Royce Gracies and the Ken Shamrocks and, uh, Dan Severns and-

Jared Cannonier 20:10 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 20:10 Don "The Predator" Frye. It's like those guys. Those are the pioneers, man.

Jared Cannonier 20:14 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 20:14 Mark Coleman. There was nobody before them.

Jared Cannonier 20:17 No. No.

Joe Rogan 20:18 Nobody before them.

Jared Cannonier 20:18 Mm-mm.

Joe Rogan 20:19 And-

Jared Cannonier 20:19 So they didn't know what to expect. They just-

Joe Rogan 20:22 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 20:22 ... knew that they had it.

Joe Rogan 20:24 They knew that they could get paid money to fight.

Jared Cannonier 20:26 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 20:26 And so they were like, "Okay, for as long as this lasts, let's do this." And-

Jared Cannonier 20:31 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 20:31 ... it, for a while, it looked like it was gonna get kicked off cable, and then it did. It got banned from cable, and you could only get it on DirecTV.

Jared Cannonier 20:37 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 20:40 Yeah, that's when I used to get it. I got DirecTV specifically because-

Jared Cannonier 20:45 On Spike, right?

Joe Rogan 20:45 ... it was the only way. No, it was before Spike.

Jared Cannonier 20:47 Before Spike?

Joe Rogan 20:49 Spike TV was when all, that's when it really took off, but that was like 2005, right?

Jared Cannonier 20:55 Uh-huh.

Joe Rogan 20:55 Yeah, but they, there was a long period of struggle with the UFC.

Jared Cannonier 21:01 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 21:02 Both when SEG had it. There was so much suppression. It was so hard for them to, to get into venues and s-

Jared Cannonier 21:09 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 21:09 ... get sanctioned, to have them in certain states. It was a, it's a grind. When you first started watching MMA, uh, how old were you?

Jared Cannonier 21:20 How old was I? When I first started watching?

Joe Rogan 21:22 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 21:23 Uh-

Joe Rogan 21:25 So when you saw your first-

Jared Cannonier 21:25 ... I was in Alaska when I first started watching. Um, when I wa- seen my first fight, I was in Dallas. I was transitioning from college into the military. So I was about 21, 20, 21. I was 21, yeah. So I, it was just a fight. My mother, she had, she was, uh, adopting children, and she had this, um, Ecuadorian, a Shaolin Ecuador, um, um, a Shaolin monk from Ecuadoria, right, an-

Joe Rogan 21:56 Wow.

Jared Cannonier 21:56 ... Ecuadorian who was, who lived in a Shaolin temple and trained and lived that life. You know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 22:02 Mm.

Jared Cannonier 22:02 And, uh, he would go outside and meditate and practice his art, practice kung fu and stuff like that. And, um, he found it on TV. I didn't even know it existed or anything like that, and he, he was watching it one day when I came in, and I sat down to watch that. I think I was watching... I can't remember the fight. I believe it was Shogun and somebody. But anyway, uh, I saw the fight, and it didn't really pique my interest at the time. But I was interested in it because, uh, 'cause I, I, I respected the competitive aspect of it. I definitely love martial arts and I was just seeing these people fight and stuff, but, um, I didn't see myself training at the time. At that time, a- again, I was transitioning from, from college to the army. So when I get in, when I get into the army, they have a Modern Army Combatives program, which is like basic white belt jujitsu, you know, minus a lot of the stuff that we do in pra- in actual jujitsu. But, uh, once I got my first hands-on experience with the martial arts, I was like, "Ooh, this is something I need to do with my vessel, with my body. This is something I'm meant to do."

Joe Rogan 23:09 Hmm.

Jared Cannonier 23:09 You know what I mean? And even as a kid, you know, watching all the kung fu movies, the Ninja Turtles is big. I love the Ninja Turtles. Um, but all the martial arts stuff, I, I still, uh, you know, it interests me and stuff. On top of that, my daddy, uh, whenever I would go and visit him, he has a gym in his garage, a boxing bag, and me and my brothers would throw the gloves on and, and play around, not really taking it seriously as a martial artist, you know. But once I did it in the, in the, uh, in the army, I knew this is something that I need to do with my vessel, something I have to throw myself at. I have to engrain my, engrain into myself.

Joe Rogan 23:45 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 23:46 So, uh, (clears throat) um, that was in basic training. And then luckily, in AIT, we had, uh, my Ai- my AIT phase, which was our training phase for our job in the military, um, my AIT phase...... my, one of my drill sergeants was, like, a level three combatives, uh ... Had, like, a level three proficiency in combatives. I think it goes, like, one to four or five or something like that. (sniffs) And, uh, there was a battalion, uh, combatives tournament that I could participate in. You know what I mean? So we were training for, like, a month, month and a half, maybe two months of training, uh, basic white belt jujitsu for the, the Modern Army Combatives thing, and I loved it, man. I was having fun, I was learning, I was exercising, I was applying my mental capacities to something that I wanted to apply it to, not something that I was ordered to comp- apply it to, or something I was trained to apply it to. (sniffs)

Joe Rogan 24:44 Right.

Jared Cannonier 24:45 It was something that I wanted for myself. And, uh, it was one of the best times I had in the military, you know? One of the best aspects about the military that I liked. And, uh, I got all the way to, uh, second place in the tournament, you know? Um, I think I had, like, four matches. So I got all the way to second place, and, uh, the guy who took first place was, like, some football athlete, just some buck strong motherfucker, you know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 25:14 (laughs)

Jared Cannonier 25:14 Who, um, who was just faster than me, you know what I'm saying? My technique wasn't able to, uh, get, get it done. So I took second place by, by points in that one, so it was all good.

Joe Rogan 25:24 So that's, that's the birthplace-

Jared Cannonier 25:27 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 25:27 ... of your martial arts journey.

Jared Cannonier 25:28 Of my martial arts journey, yeah.

Joe Rogan 25:29 And so in the Army Combatives program, how much striking did they have?

Jared Cannonier 25:33 Well, when you get up to a level three or four, I think that's when they start incorporating, uh, striking. And that's what I wanted to do throughout my-

Joe Rogan 25:40 So were they ess-

Jared Cannonier 25:40 ... military career.

Joe Rogan 25:41 ... were they essentially teaching, like, MMA? Are they, like ... Uh, how they're inc- they're incorporating grappling and striking.

Jared Cannonier 25:46 (clicks tongue) They weren't n- There wasn't MMA. I think they did, uh, at one ... When you get to the very tip-top of whatever you're d- uh, you're training, then they have, like, a MMA ... They combine it in MMA.

Joe Rogan 25:58 Oh, okay.

Jared Cannonier 25:58 But usually it's separate.

Joe Rogan 26:00 Okay, so it's grappling-

Jared Cannonier 26:01 Grappling or striking.

Joe Rogan 26:01 ... or striking.

Jared Cannonier 26:02 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 26:02 And then is it, is it striking like Muay Thai style striking?

Jared Cannonier 26:06 It's ... It seems a little bit like amateur Muay Thai,, You know they have the head gear and the shin guards-

Joe Rogan 26:10 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 26:10 ... and there's no elbows and stuff like that.

Joe Rogan 26:12 Okay.

Jared Cannonier 26:12 So they, they modify it for the, uh ... So I guess soldiers don't end up getting hurt and taken outta duty and stuff like that.

Joe Rogan 26:19 (smacks lips) Yeah, but why would you remove elbows?

Jared Cannonier 26:24 Well-

Joe Rogan 26:24 They're too goddamn effective to remove. Like, you want-

Jared Cannonier 26:26 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 26:26 ... people to be proficient in elbows. You want someone in a hand-on-hand fight who breaks his hands to be able to throw elbows.

Jared Cannonier 26:32 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 26:32 And a, a person with really good elbows can do that. But a person who doesn't have good elbows is doomed.

Jared Cannonier 26:37 Mm-hmm. It's funny you say that, 'cause I broke my hand in a fight and I had to finish it with an elbow.

Joe Rogan 26:41 There you go.

Jared Cannonier 26:42 With elbows.

Joe Rogan 26:42 Yeah. I t- I can't imagine why any effective system would wanna remove elbows. You could-

Jared Cannonier 26:49 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 26:49 ... give guys elbow pads.

Jared Cannonier 26:50 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 26:51 You, you should have them at least practicing elbows. I mean, pra- obviously take care of your training partners. Don't try to smash their face in.

Jared Cannonier 26:57 Yeah. Well, I think, again, you gotta think of it like the amateurs. They don't want guys-

Joe Rogan 27:00 Right.

Jared Cannonier 27:00 ... getting cut or-

Joe Rogan 27:01 Right, in the fights.

Jared Cannonier 27:02 You know?

Joe Rogan 27:02 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 27:03 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 27:03 Yeah. But-

Jared Cannonier 27:03 So-

Joe Rogan 27:04 ... but that's-

Jared Cannonier 27:04 And it's the military. They want their soldiers to be soldiers, not, you know, world-class fighters, so ...

Joe Rogan 27:10 Yeah, but if you're gonna-

Jared Cannonier 27:13 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 27:13 ... teach them how to fight, teach them all the way, though. Like, don't teach them Taekwondo. You know what I'm saying?

Jared Cannonier 27:16 That's what you want for your military, right?

Joe Rogan 27:17 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 27:18 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 27:18 That's what I want. Don't teach them Taekwondo. Teach them Muay Thai.

Jared Cannonier 27:20 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 27:21 Teach them MMA. It's not that there's anything wrong with Taekwondo, but if you're gonna t- train someone f- to fight, like, why would you remove elbows?

Jared Cannonier 27:27 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 27:27 Like, put that back in there.

Jared Cannonier 27:29 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 27:29 You need to be able to stop someone that's coming towards you, just ta.

Jared Cannonier 27:33 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 27:33 And some dudes, when you watch, like, m- uh, like, elbow masters, you know, dudes like John Wayne Parr, dudes who know how to slice people up.

Jared Cannonier 27:39 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 27:40 You know, Saenchai. Guys who just know how to step in and smash people with elbows.

Jared Cannonier 27:45 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 27:45 It's, there's a beauty to elbows.

Jared Cannonier 27:47 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 27:47 Oh.

Jared Cannonier 27:48 I'm, I'm actually, uh, increasing my repertoire with the elbows and stuff. I'm working with, uh, working with a few, working with a few of the guys. Ben throws some nasty elbows in, in sparring. He doesn't wear elbow pads, but he has such good control and awareness of his distance that you, you know, sometimes ... And I'm, and I'm not too spastic, so I'm not, like, running into elbows-

Joe Rogan 28:08 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 28:08 ... either. So there's a little bit of control on both sides. So, you know, he can just barely, like, boom. I'm like, "Oh my God."

Joe Rogan 28:14 (laughs)

Jared Cannonier 28:14 Like, I can only imagine the amount of damage he could have done if he really, if we were going at it, so ...

Joe Rogan 28:20 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 28:21 (sniffs) But I've been working with him. I, I, I ... He, he brings it out of me a lot, you know? Working with Ryan Diaz, uh, who comes in and helps me out, shows me a lot of the stuff. You know he knows a l- he knows a lot of Thais and stuff, so he's, he, he's a Muay Thai specialist himself, so ...

Joe Rogan 28:37 Did you ever see the, um, the, the fight between, uh, Nate Marquardt and Tyron Woodley in Strikeforce?

Jared Cannonier 28:46 Oh, I did. That was the last fight in Strikeforce, right?

Joe Rogan 28:48 Oh my goodness.

Jared Cannonier 28:48 I did see that one.

Joe Rogan 28:49 Oh my goodness.

Jared Cannonier 28:50 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 28:50 I don't know if that was the last fight in Strikeforce.

Jared Cannonier 28:52 I think that was the last event, yeah.

Joe Rogan 28:54 The very last event? Really?

Jared Cannonier 28:55 Yeah, and I think that was-

Joe Rogan 28:56 D-

Jared Cannonier 28:56 ... the last fight, 'cause that was the main event.

Joe Rogan 28:57 That fight was insane. That stoppage was insane.

Jared Cannonier 29:01 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 29:01 I mean, this is like video game stoppage.

Jared Cannonier 29:03 And then he started-

Joe Rogan 29:04 Right here, the over-the-top-

Jared Cannonier 29:05 Ugh.

Joe Rogan 29:05 ... elbows.

Jared Cannonier 29:06 Yeah. Then he hit him with this elb- uh, uppercut.

Joe Rogan 29:08 Look at this, uppercut.

Jared Cannonier 29:09 Ugh. Ugh.

Joe Rogan 29:09 Boom. Oh my goodness. I mean, that was a video game stoppage.

Jared Cannonier 29:14 Yup.

Joe Rogan 29:15 Like, the people forget, like they missed out on this Nate Marquardt era when he was at his prime.

Jared Cannonier 29:20 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 29:21 And that fight is, like, a great example of it.

Jared Cannonier 29:24 What year was that?

Joe Rogan 29:24 Boom. Ah, good God, I'm not sure.

Jared Cannonier 29:27 'Cause I remember watching that.

Joe Rogan 29:28 Boom.

Jared Cannonier 29:28 I was a big fan of, uh, MMA at that point in time.

Joe Rogan 29:31 Boom. I mean, insane combination. Boy, I wanna say ... What year was that, Jamie?

Jared Cannonier 29:37 That would have been like 20 ... Early 2010s? Like, maybe '11 or-

Joe Rogan 29:42 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 29:42 ... '12, something like that?

Joe Rogan 29:43 I'm thinking that makes sense. (sniffs) I ki- you know, I'm kinda bummed out that, like, Bellator and the PFL are gonna-

Jared Cannonier 29:52 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 29:52 ... become one thing now.

Jared Cannonier 29:53 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 29:54 I like having a bunch of-

Jared Cannonier 29:55 Is that actually happening, or is it-

Joe Rogan 29:55 ... different organizations. Apparently. That's what-

Jared Cannonier 29:57 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 29:57 ... I keep hearing. 2012.

Jared Cannonier 29:59 2012, yeah.

Joe Rogan 30:00 Rockhold versus Kennedy. That was a great fight too.Ooh. Damn-

Jared Cannonier 30:04 So it was the-

Joe Rogan 30:04 ... a lot of great fights in Strikeforce. My God. Strikeforce was one of the few organizations where you could absolutely say that it stood, like, neck and neck with some of the best UFC fights at the time.

Jared Cannonier 30:16 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 30:17 You know? Like when Nate Diaz, or when Nick Diaz was running shit over there-

Jared Cannonier 30:20 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 30:20 ... when he had that fight with Cyborg. Like, when Nick Diaz had that, uh, that-

Jared Cannonier 30:26 That fight with, uh-

Joe Rogan 30:26 ... crazy fight with Paul Daley.

Jared Cannonier 30:28 Yeah, with Daley.

Joe Rogan 30:28 Insane fight with Paul Daley.

Jared Cannonier 30:30 Yep. And with Robbie Lawler.

Joe Rogan 30:30 And then with Frank Shamrock and Robbie Lawler.

Jared Cannonier 30:33 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 30:34 Yeah, Robbie Lawler fighting Melvin Manhoef over there.

Jared Cannonier 30:37 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 30:37 Remember that one?

Jared Cannonier 30:37 I remember that one. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 30:38 See, though, like, you could say that, like, the l- and when-

Jared Cannonier 30:41 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 30:41 ... when Luke Rockhold was the champ over there, and then became the champ in the UFC, you could say the, like, the level of fighter at, in Strikeforce at the very peak-

Jared Cannonier 30:49 Was at the level.

Joe Rogan 30:50 ... it was at the same level of the UFC.

Jared Cannonier 30:52 ... ... of the UFC fight, yeah.

Joe Rogan 30:52 Like Josh Thompson was over there.

Jared Cannonier 30:53 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 30:53 It was at the very same level. It was just elite.

Jared Cannonier 30:56 I mean, we just got through watching that, uh-

Joe Rogan 30:58 I guess so.

Jared Cannonier 30:58 ... uh, Willy fight.

Narrator 30:59 Last event they had, so.

Joe Rogan 31:00 Geir Mousasi, I mean, elite.

Jared Cannonier 31:02 Oh, okay.

Joe Rogan 31:02 Geir Mousasi's a bad motherfucker. Jacare Souza, Tim Kennedy-

Jared Cannonier 31:07 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 31:07 ... Ryan Couture, who's a, who's a bad motherfucker too, who's Randy's son. Josh Barnett, Daniel Cormier.

Jared Cannonier 31:14 Cormier, yep.

Joe Rogan 31:14 Jeez.

Jared Cannonier 31:15 But Willy went on to become, what, the weter- wet weight champion after that? After that knockout?

Narrator 31:23 Yep.

Joe Rogan 31:24 Yes. Yeah. No, Welter- yeah, after that knockout.

Jared Cannonier 31:28 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 31:28 When he, he entered into UFC after that knockout.

Jared Cannonier 31:30 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 31:30 Yeah, for sure.

Jared Cannonier 31:31 Take a knockout.

Joe Rogan 31:31 It was quite a bit. Uh, he, that Jay Herron knockout. Oh my God.

Jared Cannonier 31:35 Yeah. That was a nasty one.

Joe Rogan 31:36 Ooh. Yeah. There's a, it's, it's interesting if you go back and watch the first UFC, and if someone did, like, an analysis, like some, some egghead did an analysis of, like, what percentage better are elite athletes today, I would be very curious.

Jared Cannonier 31:56 Yeah. I think we'd all be curious. I think that would put into numbers, right?

Joe Rogan 32:01 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 32:01 ... quantifying, you know, what we're actually doing with ourselves.

Joe Rogan 32:04 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 32:05 I think we can probably put some direction on how to, uh, direct that trajectory, maybe even accelerate it, yeah.

Joe Rogan 32:12 I wonder if you can acce- I mean, it's so accelerated right now. Uh, I think-

Jared Cannonier 32:16 I mean, nobody's really focusing on it, you know? Is anybody, how many, how many of us are focused on it, focusing-

Joe Rogan 32:21 Right.

Jared Cannonier 32:22 ... um, combining all this stuff and progressing it to the level? And then it, it's, it's only gonna get so far because you can only test it out a- against the current level of competition out there.

Joe Rogan 32:34 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 32:34 So, there are factors, limiting factors. But if we all focused on a certain thing as opposed to if it was like a collective consciousness focusing on it, like a think tank or some shit like that, I think we could speed it up, you know?

Joe Rogan 32:50 Really?

Jared Cannonier 32:51 I think so.

Joe Rogan 32:52 Like, how so? How, what do you think they could use to speed it up?

Jared Cannonier 32:56 Well, there would definitely have to be, it would, it would definitely be, uh, over a length of time. There would be a lot of training involved, right? 'Cause, um, but I would say with people focusing on it, like you got different expert- experts at different fields.

Joe Rogan 33:12 Right.

Jared Cannonier 33:12 Testing shit, trials, trial and error, and type stuff like that. You know how science works, right?

Joe Rogan 33:18 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 33:18 You get a bunch of ideas together. You try, you test them out, you see, you would document the results.

Joe Rogan 33:24 Yeah. I see what you're saying.

Jared Cannonier 33:25 And-

Joe Rogan 33:25 But I also think that a, a big part, and this is what, uh, a lot of people disagree with about martial arts, that it's an art. I think it is an art. I think people disagree 'cause they don't like arts where people get hurt.

Jared Cannonier 33:37 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 33:37 But it, I think it's an art. And I think, uh, everyone, it's, it's something about whatever it is that draws them to, to that art, whether it's wrestling or it's Muay Thai, whatever it is that draws them to that.

Jared Cannonier 33:49 Right.

Joe Rogan 33:50 And to me, like, you're never gonna be able to fix that with numbers. You're never gonna quantify. Like, well, what drives someone-

Jared Cannonier 33:59 Hmm.

Joe Rogan 33:59 ... to become elite world-class striker and then learn how to wrestle?

Jared Cannonier 34:03 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 34:04 You know, it's, it's a different animal. It's a different, it's a different thing. Like, and you gotta let people figure out what their thing is.

Jared Cannonier 34:11 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 34:11 Some people, it's a jujitsu thing. They just wanna take people down and strangle them. And some people, it's like, no, they wanna keep you on the feet and beat the fuck out of you.

Jared Cannonier 34:17 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 34:17 And you gotta let them figure that out. And it's like some of the best fighters are not necessarily the most balanced, where they're great at everything, but they're so good at one thing that they can impose that.

Jared Cannonier 34:31 Hmm.

Joe Rogan 34:32 Whether it's grappling or whether it's striking. It's in- it's a really interesting argument. Like, what's the best approach? Is it to be a, an elite specialist and then also an elite athlete that can pick up the other stuff quick? Or is it better to be, like, fully well-rounded, like-

Jared Cannonier 34:48 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 34:48 ... like Mighty Mouse, who's like the most well-rounded guy ever. He could, everything he do world-class.

Jared Cannonier 34:53 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 34:53 Ground game, world-class. Stand up, world-class. Everything, no holes. That's like the guy.

Jared Cannonier 34:59 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 34:59 If I had to look at like technique for like all-time technique, Mighty Mouse is the guy.

Jared Cannonier 35:03 Yeah. I agree, for sure.

Joe Rogan 35:05 He could do everything.

Jared Cannonier 35:05 He was definitely the, the best all-around fighter.

Joe Rogan 35:07 He could do everything.

Jared Cannonier 35:08 Ever, yeah.

Joe Rogan 35:08 And he was a ghost. He was in front of you, and then he was to the side of you, and then he was kicking you, and then he was shoving you-

Jared Cannonier 35:15 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 35:15 ... then he was fucking dropping punches down on you, and then he had your back. It's like, "Whoa."

Jared Cannonier 35:19 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 35:20 He was, he was a speed demon, man-

Jared Cannonier 35:22 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 35:22 ... with perfect technique and a, a library of information. And that relationship that he had with Matt Hume, like, Matt Hume is a very, very intelligent guy.

Jared Cannonier 35:32 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 35:32 And very interesting guy when, when he talks about martial arts. He knows a lot about martial arts.

Jared Cannonier 35:36 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 35:36 And he was another one of those guys that was like early on, he was fighting in MMA. He fought, um, Pat Miletich-

Jared Cannonier 35:42 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 35:43 ... uh, in an MMA fight that I watched. One of those weird, uh, organizations that was emerging that we forgot the name of, like-

Jared Cannonier 35:49 Okay. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 35:50 ... World Combat something or another, you know? But, uh, like that relationship between like a great coach and a, and a fighter, like a, like a DJ and a Matt Hume-

Jared Cannonier 36:01 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 36:01 ... or, you know, a Georges St-Pierre and Firas Zahabi.

Jared Cannonier 36:04 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 36:04 Like this kind of relationship that happens with certain athletes, that shit is so important.

Jared Cannonier 36:10 It really is. I mean, you gotta have a coach that's gonna be able to communicate with you.... and then you be able to communicate back with your coach.

Joe Rogan 36:17 So, you go from army combatives, and what is the next gym that you join? Like, how, when do you start, like, taking MMA as a, as a path?

Jared Cannonier 36:26 Well, after I get out of the army... Well, I was trying to do it in the army, but that wasn't a priority. So, after I get out of the army, um, I relocate to Alaska. I ge- use my skills that I acquired in the army to get a job with the FAA, and I get hired on in Alaska. So, I relocate up there, me and my wife, and, uh... So, we relocate up there, and as soon as I get up there, I'm- I mean, there's a lot of time in between my exit from the army. I exited, what, 2008, December? And I'm, and I'm in Alaska July 2009. So, in between that time, you know, I just, I, I found a... I had the bug, so I found a judo gym. You know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 37:07 Hmm.

Jared Cannonier 37:07 I'm broke, I'm broke as a joke right now. You know what I mean? I, I, I'm o- I'm on unemployment 'cause I just got out of the military, and my wife is pregnant. You know, we're, we found out two days before we had to clear post that we were pregnant, so, uh, it was pretty harrowing time for us. You know what I mean? But, uh, I still wanted to train, so I found myself a judo gym. (laughs) And, uh, I trained judo for about a month and a half, two months, and tried to pick up as much as I could. Um, in between that, that time, I was, uh, applying for the job with the FAA. Eventually, going through all that hiring process of, you know, interviews, and, um, a bunch of other things. Um, we relocate up to Alaska, and as soon as we get settled up there, me and my wife and my, uh, newly born, uh, daughter, I look- I'm looking for a gym. You know what I mean? And I find a Gracie Barra Alaska that's up there, and I get into it, you know. I started doing jujitsu. I'm like 300 pounds, you know what I mean? Training and stuff. In between this time, in between my army time in Alaska, I put on a bunch of weight, put on a bunch of baby weight.

Joe Rogan 38:10 (laughs)

Jared Cannonier 38:11 So, um, I'm training jujitsu. You know what I mean? 300 pounds up there. Uh, throwing myself into this martial art. You know, I didn't even know about MMA. I wasn't concerning myself about being a UFC fighter or anything at that time, but, uh, one of these days, I just look up and see these guys that are, are striking. You know what I mean? So, that goes on for about a month or two, and I'm interested in it, and I wanted to get in shape first. So, uh, I didn't just throw myself into everything the gym had. I was just wanted to do focus on jujitsu, so I just did jujitsu for a couple of months, and then opportunity came up, and I just did, uh, a couple of the MMA classes, and it was fun. I was hooked. One thing led to another. I figured out they- I found out they had a MMA promotion in Alaska, the AFC. Um, so, uh, I trained for about a year from like the end of 2009, early 2010, to about early spring. It was about March 2011.

Joe Rogan 39:11 So, w- where were you getting your striking in? You were getting your striking in-

Jared Cannonier 39:14 At the, at Gracie Barra Alaska.

Joe Rogan 39:15 So, the guys that were striking there, you just joined in with them?

Jared Cannonier 39:18 Yeah, I just joined in with them.

Joe Rogan 39:19 Was anybody, like, uh, a fighter?

Jared Cannonier 39:21 Well, they, it was an MMA team.

Joe Rogan 39:22 Oh, so it was an MMA team.

Jared Cannonier 39:23 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 39:24 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 39:24 Yeah. So, they had an actual MMA team, and there was an MMA promotion. There was a few-

Joe Rogan 39:28 Wow.

Jared Cannonier 39:28 ... other gyms in the town as well. So, um, uh, I just threw myself in. I couldn't do it at first 'cause of work and stuff like that, and just being home with, with my daughter. But, um, uh, eventually I trickle, I trickled my way into it and got hooked, and it caused, I mean, it, it caused some friction at first, but, uh, me and my wife made the adjustments we needed to, which was either be close to work. Me, me personally, I either have to be close to where I work at or close to the gym, 'cause that's where I'll be spending most of my time at. So, um...

Joe Rogan 40:03 How crazy is it when you think of that moment then, when you first started doing this. When he had to convince your wife-

Jared Cannonier 40:10 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 40:11 ... and now, you're one of the top middleweights on planet Earth.

Jared Cannonier 40:16 It is crazy to think about.

Joe Rogan 40:17 Crazy.

Jared Cannonier 40:18 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 40:18 Crazy. What a journey that is.

Jared Cannonier 40:20 A- and it's hard to think about it as it being crazy, 'cause you know, I'm in the driver's seat, so-

Joe Rogan 40:25 Right.

Jared Cannonier 40:25 ... it just seems like the j- the road that I've been on. You know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 40:28 Right.

Jared Cannonier 40:29 So, to- so a lot of people ev- a lot of people are astounded by it, you know. So, to go from a, I guess, a regular guy, to, like you said, the top middleweight in the world.

Joe Rogan 40:38 (laughs)

Jared Cannonier 40:38 But I don't really find, f- see any, I don't really see a scene in the transition. To me, it just been, like, this is what I want to do. This is what I need to do with... This is something personal for me.

Joe Rogan 40:48 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 40:48 You know what I mean? So, like, people go to church, it's personal for them. You know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 40:52 Right.

Jared Cannonier 40:52 This is personal for me. This is personal development. Not only just doing martial art, and what you see on the outside, learning how to do a move, and you know, be stronger than the next man, but the internal aspects of it is what really drew me to it, of being a martial artist, you know. So, um...

Joe Rogan 41:10 Well, it ma-

Jared Cannonier 41:10 (clears throat)

Joe Rogan 41:10 ... it makes sense when you watch you fight, because you're constantly improving. You don't... You always are on the path, which, uh-

Jared Cannonier 41:17 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 41:17 ... I think is very admirable and very difficult to, to maintain for a lot of fighters, to maintain their enthusiasm for the path.

Jared Cannonier 41:25 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 41:25 You know, they'll have some setbacks, and then maybe they lose a little bit of enthusiasm from the setbacks-

Jared Cannonier 41:30 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 41:30 ... and it's hard for them to like regear up. But you always stay on the path.

Jared Cannonier 41:34 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 41:34 And like, all of your fights, like the Marvin Vettori fight was super impressive, man. That was a super impressive performance.

Jared Cannonier 41:40 Thank you.

Joe Rogan 41:41 And it's just like, you're getting better. It's like we, we knew that you were elite as a middleweight, but you e- even through the fights that you've lost, you come back and you're better.

Jared Cannonier 41:50 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 41:50 Every time you're better. It's like you keep seeing that the path and the hard work is paying off with every fight.

Jared Cannonier 41:56 Yeah. And you know, c- that's interesting 'cause coach says it, uh, coach said it a very interesting way that once you get to that top level, the improvements are incremental at best. You know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 42:07 Hmm.

Jared Cannonier 42:07 So, it's hard to see 'em.

Joe Rogan 42:08 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 42:09 And, uh, that's one of the things he's impressed by with me as well. He says 'cause I'm, I'm making...... semi-dramatic, and I don't wanna say drastic improvements, but I'm making some big improvements that are-

Joe Rogan 42:18 You're making some big leaps.

Jared Cannonier 42:19 ... that are noticeable, you know?

Joe Rogan 42:20 The movement in the Vettori fight was noticeable.

Jared Cannonier 42:22 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 42:22 That was, that was very impressive, that your movement was like, uh, it was, uh, there was much more activity going on. It was ju- it was v- really technical.

Jared Cannonier 42:30 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 42:31 Setting him up really, really well.

Jared Cannonier 42:33 And it's only gonna get better. I promise you that.

Joe Rogan 42:34 I believe you.

Jared Cannonier 42:35 It's al- for me, it's already gotten better, 'cause I've been- I've moved on from that.

Joe Rogan 42:39 Right.

Jared Cannonier 42:40 You know what I'm saying? So.

Joe Rogan 42:40 But in- with a big fight like that, and a big win, is there also, like, this feeling, like almost like you've leveled up, like you've gone through- like you, you, you got affirmation? You knew it, you thought you were gonna beat him. Vettori's one of the best in the division for sure.

Jared Cannonier 42:54 Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 42:54 He's a beast. That's a, that's another dude. Like, how the fuck does that guy make 185 pounds?

Jared Cannonier 42:59 (laughs) Yeah. He's a beast, right?

Joe Rogan 43:00 He's a beast.

Jared Cannonier 43:00 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 43:00 He's a house.

Jared Cannonier 43:01 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 43:02 I always stand next to him, like, "How the fuck do you do that?"

Jared Cannonier 43:04 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 43:04 He's so big. And Peixoto-

Jared Cannonier 43:06 His head's gotta be, like, 40 pounds, right?

Joe Rogan 43:07 Peixoto, who just fought at 205 this weekend-

Jared Cannonier 43:10 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 43:10 ... and beat Jan Blachowicz, when you're standing next to him, you're like, "What are you really weighing?"

Jared Cannonier 43:15 Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 43:16 Bro, you're 230 pounds. (laughs)

Jared Cannonier 43:19 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 43:19 He's huge. He's gigantic. He, he looks like he's 225 pounds when he's standing there. And I think he is something like that, right? They, they tested them the day of the fight to see how much weight he put back on.

Jared Cannonier 43:29 And it was, like, 22 pounds or something like that, right? Yeah.

Joe Rogan 43:30 Something bananas like that, yeah.

Jared Cannonier 43:32 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 43:32 What did he weigh, Jamie?

Narrator 43:33 I'm not sure.

Joe Rogan 43:34 I think they'll, they'll show it. They showed the before and after.

Jared Cannonier 43:36 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 43:38 That fucking dude's good. He's good.

Jared Cannonier 43:40 Yes.

Joe Rogan 43:40 And now that he can defend on the ground too?

Jared Cannonier 43:42 (sighs) Yeah.

Joe Rogan 43:43 Look at that, 228. Bananas. Homeboy gained 23 pounds and had full endurance, man. He looked fantastic in that fight.

Jared Cannonier 43:54 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 43:54 That was a good fight.

Jared Cannonier 43:55 When you think about it, though, th- is that really... That's, is that... I mean, that's like, what, two gallons of water? Plus some food? A gallon of water is like eight pounds, right?

Joe Rogan 44:05 Is it? Yeah, I guess. How much does a gallon of water weigh? I never even thought of that.

Jared Cannonier 44:08 A gallon of water is, like, over eight pounds, I think.

Narrator 44:12 8.34.

Joe Rogan 44:12 8.34, okay.

Jared Cannonier 44:14 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 44:14 So yeah, you're right, a little bit over two-

Jared Cannonier 44:16 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 44:16 ... two gallons.

Jared Cannonier 44:17 Maybe close to three, three gallons of water. We're definitely drinking that much. We're definitely getting that after cutting weight.

Joe Rogan 44:22 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 44:23 You know. So, uh, with him being that big, that's not really that big, drastic of an increase, when you think about the fact that we're... He might not be as dehydrated as he was at, at, uh, middleweight. But I'm sure he's dropping his weight some to be, especially to get back up to 220, so...

Joe Rogan 44:41 I feel like they should let that-

Jared Cannonier 44:42 I think when you dehydrate yourself, you really, can really put down some water.

Joe Rogan 44:47 Yeah. No, I, I, I agree, for sure. And, and I think when you're a real big guy like he is-

Jared Cannonier 44:52 Mm-hmm. You can-

Joe Rogan 44:52 ... like, the benefits, the benefits of-

Jared Cannonier 44:54 You could hardly-

Joe Rogan 44:54 ... that weight cut are, without a doubt.

Jared Cannonier 44:57 Yeah. I was like 215 when I, when I fought, uh, Vettori.

Joe Rogan 45:02 Were you really?

Jared Cannonier 45:03 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 45:04 Is that-

Jared Cannonier 45:04 That's the most that I've put on.

Joe Rogan 45:05 Yeah?

Jared Cannonier 45:06 Yeah. That's the most.

Joe Rogan 45:07 Did you do it on purpose, or is it just, it just happened?

Jared Cannonier 45:09 No, it just happened. I didn't do anything in- intentionally. I just ... The only thing I did intentionally was prepare, uh, a, like a big jug of tea.

Joe Rogan 45:18 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 45:18 With some electrolytes and stuff in it that I carried around with me. Uh, that was the first time I've done that. And I-

Joe Rogan 45:24 Do you, when you do something like that, do you sip it slowly when you first start taking it in? 'Cause you're dehydrated for, like, how long?

Jared Cannonier 45:30 I don't sip slow. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 45:32 (laughs) I get it.

Jared Cannonier 45:33 Hell no. No, 'cause I cut the night of. That's the most dehydrated I am. I cut the night of late that night, so I can just try to go to sleep and then wake up and go to the early weigh-ins.

Joe Rogan 45:43 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 45:43 And that's how I do it. And I wake up and, if I need to cut extra, there's still time to cut, 'cause I wake up early.

Joe Rogan 45:49 Hmm.

Jared Cannonier 45:50 I can't sleep the night of a weight cut, so.

Joe Rogan 45:52 That makes sense. Yeah, I've heard different people, th- th- do it different ways. But I think people are realizing now it's better to just get up early.

Jared Cannonier 46:00 To get up early and do it?

Joe Rogan 46:01 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 46:01 I think it would be better, you know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 46:03 Yeah, you wanna sleep.

Jared Cannonier 46:03 You just wake up-

Joe Rogan 46:04 Yeah, you wanna sleep hydrated.

Jared Cannonier 46:05 You definitely wanna sleep hydrated. And I'm-

Joe Rogan 46:06 'Cause otherwise you're missing a night of sleep, for real.

Jared Cannonier 46:08 No, you're absolutely right, yeah.

Joe Rogan 46:10 Yeah. It's like-

Jared Cannonier 46:10 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 46:10 ... you're gonna always dehydrate yourself. But you're, you're gonna miss a night of sleep 'cause you wanna de- be dehydrated earlier. Don't do that.

Jared Cannonier 46:16 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 46:16 You need that fucking sleep. It's just, I really wish that there was a way around it.

Jared Cannonier 46:21 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 46:21 'Cause I just don't think it makes any sense. And I know it's tradition, and I know it's the fight before the fight, like Jon Anik always likes to describe it as.

Jared Cannonier 46:27 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 46:27 But I just think it's, it's unnecessary and dangerous.

Jared Cannonier 46:30 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 46:30 And I think it's dangerously unnecessary. Like, there's no reason to have people almost kill themselves a day before a fight.

Jared Cannonier 46:37 Yeah. Well-

Joe Rogan 46:39 I think it affects guys' chins, and Josh Barnett was saying that.

Jared Cannonier 46:42 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 46:42 Uh, Josh Barnett and I were having a, a text conversation about this, and he said it absolutely affects your chin.

Jared Cannonier 46:47 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 46:47 When you get dehydrated, your brain doesn't hydrate-

Jared Cannonier 46:49 Your brain, yeah.

Joe Rogan 46:50 ... as much.

Jared Cannonier 46:51 You're not just dehydrating yourself.

Joe Rogan 46:52 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 46:52 You're dehydrating your brain-

Joe Rogan 46:54 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 46:54 ... your liver, your kidneys, your heart.

Joe Rogan 46:54 And you can't take a shot as well.

Jared Cannonier 46:56 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 46:57 Yeah. So, it's, uh, it's one of those things, man. It's like, I just, I feel like it's a legacy thing in the sport that I wish wasn't there anymore.

Jared Cannonier 47:06 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 47:07 But I do like to see a guy like you go from heavyweight all the way down to middleweight. I do like that.

Jared Cannonier 47:11 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 47:11 'Cause when you fight, I go, "Goddamn, he's big."

Jared Cannonier 47:13 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 47:13 Like, it's worth it. It's worth it, 'cause you, you, you know, you could really be a bully in there sometimes.

Jared Cannonier 47:18 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 47:18 You're, you're a big middleweight.

Jared Cannonier 47:19 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 47:19 And it, it has advantages. It has its advantages in durability too, I think.

Jared Cannonier 47:24 Uh, you're absolutely right. I'm able to absorb a lot more.

Joe Rogan 47:26 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 47:26 Even though that's not my ... My goal is to-

Joe Rogan 47:28 Right.

Jared Cannonier 47:28 ... not absorb anything in there.

Joe Rogan 47:30 Of course.

Jared Cannonier 47:30 So. But, uh, it's the nature of the beast. You can't really, uh, block them all, I suppose.

Joe Rogan 47:35 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 47:35 But, um ...

Joe Rogan 47:37 Same for guys like Vettori. It's like, one of the things he's famous for is he can take shots.

Jared Cannonier 47:40 Yeah, look at this man. Yeah, 'cause I was putting some heavy leather on that guy.

Joe Rogan 47:44 (laughs)

Jared Cannonier 47:44 And he was just looking at me like-

Joe Rogan 47:45 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 47:47 Like, yeah.

Joe Rogan 47:48 No, he's a warrior. But that was, uh, a really intriguing fight for me, because, um, I, I know he's elite, and I know you're elite. But, you know, you had just beat Sean Strickland, and then you went right into that fight. I was like, "This will show, you know, this will show where, where he's ... " And then pshew-

Jared Cannonier 48:05 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 48:05 Flying colors, man.

Jared Cannonier 48:06 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 48:06 You, you just dominated him. That was, uh, I think your, uh, it's a, your most technical performance. Do you agree with that?

Jared Cannonier 48:14 Uh, I think the Anderson Silva fight was pretty technical as well.

Joe Rogan 48:19 That was very technical.

Jared Cannonier 48:20 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 48:20 That was very technical. That was.

Jared Cannonier 48:20 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 48:20 That was very technical. That was very ...

Jared Cannonier 48:24 ... but that was mostly leg kicks in the- the, predominantly leg kicks in the head.

Joe Rogan 48:28 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 48:29 You know? I think I was more disciplined in that fight, to be honest, because the goal was he's gonna be hard to hit in the head.

Joe Rogan 48:36 Right.

Jared Cannonier 48:37 Whereas... Well, I'm thinking of comparing this one to the Strickland fight, not to the, uh, Vettori fight. But I was able to make that adjustment.

Joe Rogan 48:47 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 48:48 "Okay, his head's gonna be hard to hit right off the bat, so I'm just gonna touch you down here." And I stayed to that and the- and it only took one round to make... cause that injury.

Joe Rogan 48:57 Yeah, Anderson is, as far as I know, the only guy who's successfully come back after that shin break.

Jared Cannonier 49:06 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 49:06 No one else has really... No one else was able to do it.

Jared Cannonier 49:09 Well, uh, didn't, uh, McGregor-

Joe Rogan 49:11 Well, Tyrone Spong.

Jared Cannonier 49:14 Didn't McGregor fight, uh...

Joe Rogan 49:16 No, he hasn't fought since the-

Jared Cannonier 49:17 Oh, okay. He hasn't fought the injury. All right.

Joe Rogan 49:19 ... the injury. But Tyrone Spong, he's done it.

Jared Cannonier 49:21 Yeah. He injured... Yeah. He's done the injury.

Joe Rogan 49:21 He, he... He had a horrible one against Gokhan Saki.

Jared Cannonier 49:24 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 49:24 Horrible. Same thing as, uh, Chris Weidman, Uriah Hall.

Jared Cannonier 49:27 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 49:27 Same check. Horrible. Snap. And he's- he's-

Jared Cannonier 49:30 But isn't he about to come back though? He's scheduled to fight-

Joe Rogan 49:32 Well, Tyrone Spong became a boxer. I mean, he's... He, he'll still do MMA. I know he had at least one MMA fight since then.

Jared Cannonier 49:37 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 49:38 Uh, but, you know, he was an elite kickboxer. He was an elite, man.

Jared Cannonier 49:41 Yeah, he was.

Joe Rogan 49:41 He was so good.

Jared Cannonier 49:43 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 49:43 And to see his shin snap like that, you're like, "God damn."

Jared Cannonier 49:47 Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 49:48 I mean, you would always think about it before you went to throw a shot.

Jared Cannonier 49:51 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 49:51 You would always think about the two years it took you to fucking regrow your bone back where you could throw kicks with it again.

Jared Cannonier 49:57 Yeah. I wouldn't say it slowed my kicks down. Checks have done that enough.

Joe Rogan 50:01 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 50:01 You know what I mean? Checks hurt, hurt enough or are deterrent enough. But, uh... And yeah, it definitely gives you something to think about, you know?

Joe Rogan 50:12 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 50:12 It's, it's definitely a scary effect of it.

Joe Rogan 50:13 It's the most horri- one of the most horrific injuries in the sport.

Jared Cannonier 50:16 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 50:17 That, that shin injury. And it's happened so... There's so many versions of it now on Instagram (laughs) .

Jared Cannonier 50:21 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 50:22 You can find so many-

Jared Cannonier 50:22 You see a...

Joe Rogan 50:23 ... small shows where guys are doing it.

Jared Cannonier 50:25 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 50:25 Accidentally breaking their legs.

Jared Cannonier 50:26 I think Nogueira, uh, getting his arm snapped was pretty horrific as well.

Joe Rogan 50:30 Oh, that was horrible.

Jared Cannonier 50:31 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 50:31 That was horrible. I saw another girl get her arm snapped in a jujitsu tournament.

Jared Cannonier 50:34 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 50:34 Same thing. "Oh, God damn it, tap."

Jared Cannonier 50:37 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 50:37 I remember when, uh, Khabib had Michael Johnson and I remember thinking, "Just please tap. Please tap."

Jared Cannonier 50:44 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 50:44 "Please tap. Just please tap. Don't make me see this, man. Don't make me see this."

Jared Cannonier 50:47 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 50:47 "Tap. He got you. Fight another day. Please tap. Please tap." That fucking spiral arm fracture from that Kimura-

Jared Cannonier 50:55 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 50:55 ... is so nasty.

Jared Cannonier 50:57 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 50:58 Ugh.

Jared Cannonier 50:59 And I hear those are... From, from doctors, I hear those are really hard to, uh, repair and stuff.

Joe Rogan 51:03 To heal. Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 51:03 To heal.

Joe Rogan 51:03 Hard to repair.

Jared Cannonier 51:04 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 51:05 You, you know, who knows if your arm's ever gonna be the same again?

Jared Cannonier 51:07 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 51:07 That's a rough one to come back from. My friend, Tom, broke his arm playing basketball. Like, what was it? Like two years ago, Jamie? Two years ago. It's still fucked.

Jared Cannonier 51:16 Uh-

Joe Rogan 51:16 He's still struggling with it.

Jared Cannonier 51:17 His humerus or ulna?

Joe Rogan 51:18 What part did he break? He broke the top-

Narrator 51:20 I think everything.

Joe Rogan 51:21 He broke the top bone-

Jared Cannonier 51:22 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 51:22 ... like up here.

Narrator 51:23 And his-

Jared Cannonier 51:24 Oh, that's the humerus. Ugh.

Joe Rogan 51:25 Yeah. It was big.

Jared Cannonier 51:26 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 51:26 Big fracture.

Jared Cannonier 51:27 Yeah, that one-

Joe Rogan 51:28 Nerve damage in his hand. All kinds of shit.

Jared Cannonier 51:29 I can imagine that one being painful 'cause there's... Not only is the break-

Joe Rogan 51:34 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 51:34 ... painful, but you got the weight of the arm-

Joe Rogan 51:36 Uh-huh.

Jared Cannonier 51:36 ... pulling on that thing.

Joe Rogan 51:37 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 51:37 And that can make it hard for it to heal as well.

Joe Rogan 51:40 Yeah, dude. Injuries.

Jared Cannonier 51:41 Yeah. I've broken-

Joe Rogan 51:42 He- ha- what's the worst injury you've had in MMA?

Jared Cannonier 51:44 In MMA? I've torn... Well, I hadn't... I didn't te- ... In my MMA career, I've torn my pec training. You know what I mean? I think the worst one I had in competition... I mean, I've broken my hand in competition.

Joe Rogan 51:57 Did you tear your pec in drilling or sparring or-

Jared Cannonier 51:59 It was just... The... We were initiating a warmup. So it was a warmup row. Me and Ben. It was like a warmup row. And I was passing his guard and he-

Joe Rogan 52:08 Ben Henderson?

Jared Cannonier 52:09 Ben Henderson. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 52:09 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 52:10 Yep. And he, uh-

Joe Rogan 52:11 Shout out to The Lab.

Jared Cannonier 52:13 Yep. Sh- oh yeah, all day long. Lab all day. You all know that. Everybody knows what, what uh-, what we do.

Joe Rogan 52:18 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 52:18 So, uh...

Joe Rogan 52:19 It's a great, great gym.

Jared Cannonier 52:20 Yeah. It really is. Yeah. That's the whole reason why I quit my six-figure job and moved, moved to Phoenix, Arizona.

Joe Rogan 52:26 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 52:27 But yeah, uh, he had a, a whizzer on my left arm, and I was passing to the right side, so I cleared the... I cleared his leg and, uh, I went to pass his guard and I went to, uh... I was extended with my left arm 'cause he had the whizzer, and I went to get strong to collect him up with the side control, and as soon as I contracted that pec, tch, tch-tch.

Joe Rogan 52:48 Ooh.

Jared Cannonier 52:48 It tore just like that. Little... Three little rips and it tore. Um, that was February. I think that was during the... That was fight week for Jon Jones versus... Who did he... His last fight at light heavyweight? Dominic Reyes.

Joe Rogan 53:03 Do- Dominic Reyes. Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 53:05 Yeah. So that happened in Houston at the hotel.

Joe Rogan 53:07 Wow.

Jared Cannonier 53:07 And then I had... And then I came back and fought... Yeah, that was 2020 before COVID. And then I came back and fought Robert Whittaker in Abu Dhabi.

Joe Rogan 53:17 Was it still fucked up?

Jared Cannonier 53:18 No, the pec was fine.

Joe Rogan 53:19 Okay.

Jared Cannonier 53:19 Shout out to Air's Physical Therapy.

Joe Rogan 53:21 Oh.

Jared Cannonier 53:22 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 53:22 There you go.

Jared Cannonier 53:22 Now you got me running around my, all my shout-outs now.

Joe Rogan 53:23 (laughs)

Jared Cannonier 53:24 Shout out to Air's Phy- Air's Physical Therapy. I've been hitting them up since, uh, the Anderson Silva fight. You know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 53:31 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 53:31 I've been working out with them, uh, working out there, as well as working out at The Lab. Those two combined have... You see... You guys seen my cardio. Those two combined has really-

Joe Rogan 53:40 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 53:41 ... uh, propelled my career. But, uh, I came back after the pec tear to fight Robert Whittaker and, look, not, not a minute into the fight, he throws his patented Reaper combo, one-two head kick, and breaks my, uh, left ulna.

Joe Rogan 53:56 Oh, man.

Jared Cannonier 53:57 So, I ended up fighting this guy for what? Another two rounds plus four minutes of the first round with a broken ulna and uh...

Joe Rogan 54:07 Phew.

Jared Cannonier 54:07 I almost got him too.

Joe Rogan 54:10 (laughs)

Jared Cannonier 54:10 (laughs) You should see the other guy, right?

Joe Rogan 54:12 That's one of those crazy freak injuries that like, it can always happen when you're blocking kicks.

Jared Cannonier 54:17 Yeah. But it was my fault. I blo- I extended my arm to block.

Joe Rogan 54:19 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 54:19 More reactionary as opposed to being grounded and prepared.

Joe Rogan 54:22 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 54:23 And bracing and, you know, ready to absorb the kick.

Joe Rogan 54:26 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 54:26 I was like, "Oh, shit." Kick.

Joe Rogan 54:27 Right.

Jared Cannonier 54:28 And, uh, the reason being because I was slipping his...... his initiation.

Joe Rogan 54:32 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 54:32 Typical shit. It, we all see it happen all day, all day long with Robert Whittaker. We all know that combination and, (sniffs) so-

Joe Rogan 54:39 Were you surprised at the Dricus du Plessis fight?

Jared Cannonier 54:42 Oh, yeah. Who wasn't, right?

Joe Rogan 54:44 I-

Jared Cannonier 54:44 I wouldn't say I was surprised, as if he doesn't have the capability to do what he did.

Joe Rogan 54:48 Right.

Jared Cannonier 54:49 But it was still surprising to see it happen, right?

Joe Rogan 54:52 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 54:52 'Cause we all think so highly of Robert-

Joe Rogan 54:54 Yes.

Jared Cannonier 54:54 ... and his ability to go in there and fight at the ti- at the highest level, but-

Joe Rogan 54:58 It was shocking.

Jared Cannonier 54:59 I'm sure, you know, Dricus, he fucking o- he opened some eyes there with that one.

Joe Rogan 55:03 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 55:03 But to be honest, when I look at that fight, when I was looking at that fight in the lead up to it, that fight went exactly how I thought it could've gone.

Joe Rogan 55:11 Really?

Jared Cannonier 55:11 I either thought Robert was gonna be the tactician that he is and pick him apart, you know what I mean? Maybe hurt him with some shots and get a finish or take him to the, to a decision. Um, or, uh, Dricus, who was a buzz saw, the, my, my words exactly. The dude's a buzz saw. He keeps going, you know what I mean? He doesn't slow down. He may look, he may look, from the outside, look tired, but he probably doesn't feel tired to his opponent in there. I'm pretty sure he's putting some pressure on.

Joe Rogan 55:37 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 55:37 And that's exactly what he did and Robert began to wilt in the first round from what I saw.

Joe Rogan 55:42 Well, he got his nose fixed now. He can breathe out of his nose.

Jared Cannonier 55:44 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 55:44 So for the longest time, the reason why he had his mouth open, he had no nose.

Jared Cannonier 55:47 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 55:47 His, uh, nostrils are completely closed off.

Jared Cannonier 55:49 So he won't look exhausted, slack-jawed in that fight.

Joe Rogan 55:51 Always looks slack-jawed, but he also was a- he would fight awkward too. I think it affected his cardio quite a bit.

Jared Cannonier 55:57 I think that's his style though, right?

Joe Rogan 55:57 Yes, for sure.

Jared Cannonier 55:57 I would say that's his style.

Joe Rogan 55:59 It is, but he used to get a little too overeager, and he would like blitz, just run forward.

Jared Cannonier 56:05 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 56:05 Which you can't do with a Whittaker.

Jared Cannonier 56:06 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 56:06 You can't do with, you can't do with Pereira. You can't do with an elite guy.

Jared Cannonier 56:10 Mm-mm.

Joe Rogan 56:10 But he tightened all that up, man. And he-

Jared Cannonier 56:12 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 56:12 ... specifically tightened all that up for the Whittaker fight. That was a very technical fight.

Jared Cannonier 56:16 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 56:17 Dude, there's someone-

Jared Cannonier 56:17 Uh-

Joe Rogan 56:17 Someone broke it down on, uh, Instagram, one of those breakdown sites. I forget who it was, whether it was Lawrence, Kenshin, or some, one of the other ones. But they were, um, talking about the, his, uh, use of, uh, the right hand, like stopping Whittaker and the right hook, stopping Whittaker as he was coming forward.

Jared Cannonier 56:34 Hmm.

Joe Rogan 56:34 And that Whittaker has this like leap in style and that, you know, uh, he had, they had figured out the distance for that, and that's when he started putting it on him.

Jared Cannonier 56:42 Hmm.

Joe Rogan 56:43 It was very technical, man. What he did was, you know, it was, it was a very interesting fight.

Jared Cannonier 56:48 I'm gonna have to find that fight video.

Joe Rogan 56:49 He's, 'cause Whittaker is so fucking good, man.

Jared Cannonier 56:52 Yes.

Joe Rogan 56:52 For him to beat him down like that it's like, wow, you gotta take that guy for real.

Jared Cannonier 56:57 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 56:57 You gotta take that guy serious.

Jared Cannonier 56:59 Yeah. But that's what I saw. Uh, what I saw Dricus do to Whittaker, I personally feel was the effect that it had on, on, uh, Vettori, right? 'Cause I was in his face.

Joe Rogan 57:12 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 57:12 Putting pressure on him.

Joe Rogan 57:14 Right.

Jared Cannonier 57:14 You know, I was hitting him too.

Joe Rogan 57:15 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 57:15 So, um, I think that could be a, a bit of a difference, but I think the pressure, the fact that Robert had to stay on.

Joe Rogan 57:25 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 57:25 You know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 57:26 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 57:26 That does something to, to guys. Guys aren't used to being on the whole time like-

Joe Rogan 57:31 Right.

Jared Cannonier 57:31 ... in their feet like.

Joe Rogan 57:32 Right. Getting chased.

Jared Cannonier 57:33 Yeah. Sprinting.

Joe Rogan 57:34 Yeah. Right.

Jared Cannonier 57:34 It's like sprinting. It's-

Joe Rogan 57:36 The dude can-

Jared Cannonier 57:36 ... I equate to sprinting.

Joe Rogan 57:37 He can fucking crack too.

Jared Cannonier 57:38 So, Dricus can sprint in there.

Joe Rogan 57:40 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 57:40 That's a good term. I'm, I'm gonna keep that one.

Joe Rogan 57:42 Well, it's go- uh, it's gonna be interesting to see, you know, what happens with him and Adesanya.

Jared Cannonier 57:47 Yeah. I mean, he's not fighting in September, right?

Joe Rogan 57:51 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 57:52 So, I don't know. I hear rumors that they're gonna go with the, uh, Strickland fight. Um-

Joe Rogan 57:57 Well, that's, that's, uh, I think that is happening now. I'm sorry.

Jared Cannonier 57:59 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 58:00 That is definitely happening now. I'm sorry, because, uh, Strickland... But they're, they're in negotiations still though.

Jared Cannonier 58:05 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 58:05 Because I think Strickland wants more money, you know?

Jared Cannonier 58:07 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 58:07 I think there's... I don't know. I don't know what they're doing. I hope they work it out. That would be a good fight.

Jared Cannonier 58:12 Well, I'm not, I don't wanna be Mr. Steal Your Girl here, you know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 58:16 (laughs) Ha! I know.

Jared Cannonier 58:16 But, shit, if-

Joe Rogan 58:17 I was thinking that when you came on here. (laughs)

Jared Cannonier 58:20 (laughs) But, you know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 58:23 Are you preparing for something like that, the possibility to do something like that?

Jared Cannonier 58:25 Well, when I get back after this, my diet is gonna change. I'm gonna prepare for somebody-

Joe Rogan 58:30 How many weeks is Australia? September 29?

Jared Cannonier 58:31 That's like five, six weeks, right? I think it's-

Joe Rogan 58:34 It'd be just enough time-

Jared Cannonier 58:35 ... September 9th. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 58:36 ... for Jared Cannonier to get-

Jared Cannonier 58:37 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 58:37 ... popping again.

Jared Cannonier 58:38 So that's what I'm preparing for. I'm preparing for the stars to align.

Joe Rogan 58:42 Right.

Jared Cannonier 58:42 And me to go in there and win my title. Um, who knows what's gonna happen. If Sean is being difficult, you know what I'm saying?

Joe Rogan 58:51 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 58:51 Mick, you know who to call.

Joe Rogan 58:53 (laughs)

Jared Cannonier 58:53 Dana, you know who to call. You know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 58:56 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 58:56 Y'all know Lou. Y'all know First Round, you know how we handle business. Y'all know I'm not difficult, you know what I mean? I think you guys pay me good. I'm not gonna ask for too much extra to go to Sydney. I've never been there. I think my contract is, uh, something that we agreed upon prior to these events occurring and, you know, I think we can make something happen, you know? So, uh, that's what I'm gonna be getting ready for. You know what I mean? I'm always-

Joe Rogan 59:19 Well, I definitely wanna see you fight for the title for sure.

Jared Cannonier 59:22 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 59:22 Uh-

Jared Cannonier 59:22 It's gonna be a different thing, you know? Everybody, you know, we all saw the first one and nobody was too entertained by that. Not, especially me. So, um, I've made the adjustments not only to make it more entertaining 'cause I know that's what people want, to be entertained, but-

Joe Rogan 59:37 Do you, do you have to balance that out in your head sometimes? Like be entertaining or-

Jared Cannonier 59:40 No. I don't concern myself with being entertaining or anything like that. It's n- not, it's, it's-

Joe Rogan 59:46 Well, you are.

Jared Cannonier 59:46 ... furthest from me.

Joe Rogan 59:47 You are fortunately, but your style's very entertaining, so you don't have to worry about that maybe.

Jared Cannonier 59:50 Well, it's just coincidental, right?

Joe Rogan 59:52 Right. (laughs)

Jared Cannonier 59:52 Yeah. I like to hurt, I like to hit, but I, I, if anything, I'm entertaining myself 'cause this is fun-

Joe Rogan 59:57 Mm.

Jared Cannonier 59:58 ... for me. You know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 59:58 Right.

Jared Cannonier 59:58 I'm going in there having fun.

Joe Rogan 59:59 Right.

Jared Cannonier 1:00:00 You know what I mean? Uh, and this is something I tell people all the time, you know, I don't think of this as a job. It is a career and I do get paid and it, it is my livelihood, but I don't approach it as my job or anything, like I have to go to work now. You know, this is something that me fighting is only merely a part of my training. You know what I mean? It's like the test you take. You know what I mean? Every couple of weeks you take a test in school or you challenge yourself somehow and that's the, that's, for me, that's what this is. This is the challenge. Marvin Vettori is the challenge. Israel Adesanya is the challenge. And my, and...... I'm here to, to conquer these challenges, you know what I mean? To-

Joe Rogan 1:00:39 That's a beautiful approach. So-

Jared Cannonier 1:00:41 Tha- that's why your fights are the best.

Joe Rogan 1:00:41 ... that's probably why you just keep getting better. That's why you keep getting re- it's, it's a fantastic mindset-

Jared Cannonier 1:00:46 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:00:46 ... for, uh, an elite fighter.

Jared Cannonier 1:00:48 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:00:48 The c- mon- mindset of constant growth, constant improvement.

Jared Cannonier 1:00:50 I'm always trying to learn. That's the only thing, that's the love of, that's the thing I love about it.

Joe Rogan 1:00:54 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 1:00:54 'Cause I get to go into study, you know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 1:00:58 Mm-hmm. Right.

Jared Cannonier 1:00:59 So, something that I want to learn. Something that I want to dissect, and analyze, and break down, and not only do it with my mind, but do it with my body as well. That's, that's something you can't really do a lot, you know what I'm saying? Operate-

Joe Rogan 1:01:12 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 1:01:13 ... a field of, a field of thought with your mind and your body.

Joe Rogan 1:01:18 Well, it's also very impressive and very, um, inspirational to people that you're doing it at like, I think you're 39 now? You're 39?

Jared Cannonier 1:01:25 Yeah. 39.

Joe Rogan 1:01:26 You're getting, you're getting better at an elite athlete's level.

Jared Cannonier 1:01:30 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:01:30 Like, you're getting better at i- uh, one of the most difficult jobs.

Jared Cannonier 1:01:34 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:01:34 For, uh, like, uh, combat sport athletes, w- that's one of the hardest fucking jobs on earth.

Jared Cannonier 1:01:38 Yeah. Well, that's, um-

Joe Rogan 1:01:38 In terms, f- uh, ter- terms of, like, physical demands, like, what's-

Jared Cannonier 1:01:41 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:01:41 And you're getting better at 39. It's amazing.

Jared Cannonier 1:01:43 Well, you know, I've mitigated a lot of the wear and tear through my years. I didn't grow up, you know, jumping big hills on bicycles and shit like that.

Joe Rogan 1:01:51 (laughs)

Jared Cannonier 1:01:51 And, uh, or anything like that. Um, on top of that, um, I find my body to be valuable, so I didn't like grow up destroying my body or anything like that. When I got into, when I fir- when I finally started training, I was like 25 years old in, in, uh, in Alaska, so I got into it relatively late. I didn't grow up doing martial arts or anything like that, so. Um, I wouldn't say that I regret it, but I would like it to be the other way around. I would've loved to have done martial arts as a child.

Joe Rogan 1:02:21 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 1:02:22 But, uh, it is what it is.

Joe Rogan 1:02:23 You know what I think, though? I think one of the be- I mean, especially a guy like you that's maintained your, uh, your peak athleticism into your late 30s, you don't have the wear and tear that someone who started doing it when they were like 13, 14, by, you know, by the time you're 25, 26, you got 10 plus years of getting kicked, and punched, and taken down-

Jared Cannonier 1:02:42 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:02:42 ... your knees twisted, and your neck cranked.

Jared Cannonier 1:02:45 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:02:45 Like, everybody gets banged up within 10 years. I mean, I, I had a friend who was 22 when he had his first nerve blockage-

Jared Cannonier 1:02:53 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:02:54 ... where his, his fucking arm wasn't working correctly-

Jared Cannonier 1:02:56 Ugh.

Joe Rogan 1:02:56 ... because his, his nerves were getting pinched in his neck.

Jared Cannonier 1:02:59 In his neck, yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:03:00 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 1:03:00 Ugh.

Joe Rogan 1:03:00 I mean, and so he, his neck was started to get fucked when he was a young, young man.

Jared Cannonier 1:03:05 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:03:06 So, by the time, you know, you enter into martial arts later in life, but you already a mature man. And one of the things I think about, like, a big guy that cuts down is like your body thinks you're 300 pounds still.

Jared Cannonier 1:03:17 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:03:18 You know what I'm saying? So, but you have all the tendons of a guy who was 300 pounds for a while.

Jared Cannonier 1:03:23 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:03:23 But meanwhile, you know, you're, you're competing at, you know, 210, 215.

Jared Cannonier 1:03:27 Yeah. I liken it to Goku training in a hyperbaric chamber.

Joe Rogan 1:03:31 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 1:03:31 As Super Saiyan, I just want to be regular Super Saiyan all the time, so here, let me just get heavy, train Super Saiyan-

Joe Rogan 1:03:37 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 1:03:37 ... and then when I lose weight, it'll be like regular.

Joe Rogan 1:03:39 Yeah. Well, you seem to have got it down to a science. It's, it sucks when people don't make weight, like this past weekend, Michel Pereira.

Jared Cannonier 1:03:46 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:03:46 And, um, Wonderboy-

Jared Cannonier 1:03:47 He's been Wonderboy, yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:03:48 ... they canceled the fight. That's a-

Jared Cannonier 1:03:49 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:03:49 That's a bummer to me, man. That's such a bummer.

Jared Cannonier 1:03:52 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:03:52 That dude's so big, though.

Jared Cannonier 1:03:54 He is big.

Joe Rogan 1:03:55 He's gigantic.

Jared Cannonier 1:03:55 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:03:56 D- he's, that's a gigantic 170.

Jared Cannonier 1:03:58 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:03:58 He's fucking huge. So, I could see it because, uh, Darren Till missed weight with Wonderboy in the past, and Wonderboy always felt like that was a factor.

Jared Cannonier 1:04:07 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:04:07 That he, he came in heavy. He didn't have to-

Jared Cannonier 1:04:09 I was going to sub for one of his fights. I think there were concerns ei- uh, I think it was visa issues. Visa and weight issues.

Joe Rogan 1:04:15 The Darren Till one?

Jared Cannonier 1:04:16 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:04:16 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 1:04:18 But...

Joe Rogan 1:04:19 Man, it's interesting watching these guys come and go, and, you know, and come in with so much promise, and it doesn't, doesn't quite l- you know, injuries.

Jared Cannonier 1:04:29 Go their way, yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:04:29 Yeah, there's in- well, Darren Till had a bunch of knee injuries.

Jared Cannonier 1:04:31 Yeah. Well, you know, the UFC is a, is a promotion machine.

Joe Rogan 1:04:35 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 1:04:35 So, they sell the world a dream for each and every one of us. You know what I mean? So, a lot of people out there in the world have this, have this idea of me, that, you know, is com- c- could be completely wrong, you know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 1:04:47 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 1:04:47 So, um, we all have these expectations. Everybody has these hopes, and, and dreams, and stuff like that, and us as far as, especially with the mics in front of our faces, are allowed to share ours, so everybody definitely believes us when we say, w- believes me when I say, "I'm gonna be, uh, a champion one day." You know what I mean? I sure as hell believe myself when I say that. So, um, but th- uh, very few of us are gonna make it to that, to that level, you know what I mean? A very few percentage of us are gonna make it, so that's the reality of it, you know? Um, and that's the reality I had already come to terms with when I first started this. So, when I first started doing, uh, MMA, I already had a full time job, a good, comfortable job, you know what I mean? Um, I was able to take care of my family, so I was good. And I was able to go train, so I was happy. Um, I just told myself, "I'm just gonna go as far as I can go." You know what I mean? Um, pretty much make myself no promises, you know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 1:05:48 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 1:05:48 'Cause I understand that, I understand my ability and I had confidence in myself, which is why I did it in the first place. But I understand the reality of it, and I should be bl- and I was blessed to have, already have a full time job to be able to take care of myself, 'cause there's a lot of fighters, a lot of fighters out there are broke trying to fight.

Joe Rogan 1:06:06 Yeah. Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 1:06:06 You know, the majority of, a majority of fighters are in broke situations trying to fight, so. Um, yeah, when I first, when I was training, it wasn't my goal to be a UFC fighter. I just wanted to go as far as I can, learn as much as I can while I have this time here on earth. So, this is as far as I've gotten, you know?

Joe Rogan 1:06:27 Well, you've gotten pretty fucking far.

Jared Cannonier 1:06:28 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:06:28 You've got a great approach, man. You got, uh, a great approach to life, a great approach to this, this path that you're on to, to be a better martial artist and a better person. Like, that, that's a, it's, it's, it's an, a fascinating approach. It's very samurai-like, you know?

Jared Cannonier 1:06:44 Mm-hmm. Well, thank God.

Joe Rogan 1:06:44 It is.

Jared Cannonier 1:06:45 I do take, I take... For me, I like to take energies from all places and try to create this-... I don't wanna say character, but create this avatar and equip this avatar with all these different perks and stuff that I find admirable, that I find moral, and-

Joe Rogan 1:07:00 Mm-hmm.

Jared Cannonier 1:07:01 ... things that's gonna make me a bigger, stronger, better, what am I? A human-

Joe Rogan 1:07:05 Right.

Jared Cannonier 1:07:06 ... a man-

Joe Rogan 1:07:06 Right.

Jared Cannonier 1:07:07 ... a Black man, if we wanna use those labels and terms, you know what I mean? But, uh, for me, being who I am. And, uh-

Joe Rogan 1:07:15 That's a great way to think about it.

Jared Cannonier 1:07:16 Yeah. And not necessarily try to distinguish myself from any and everybody else, you know what I mean? Look to any and everybody else to see the potential that I have, because we're all human. We all have the potential to do great and wonderful things, or terrible and bad things, you know what I mean? I'll tell y- I said, this is one thing I tell my children, my children, you know, we have the ability... As humans, this is what makes us unique from any other species on this planet, that we have the ability to be an animal, or we can be something better than that. We have the ability to be a demon or a devil, or we can be a celestial, or a god, or a goddess, you know what I mean? (smacks lips) Not that we would physically embody our definitions of these things. These are just conceptualizations, but (clears throat) I think, for me, that allows me to take the trajectory of my life and point it to where I want. I want to ascend, you know what I mean? To concept, to use the word that has been so conceptualized, to godhood. And I realize that I'm not the Almighty, but I am living a, uh, (smacks lips) an aspect, I am generating a perspective, I am... So many different ways to put it. Living an experience, you know what I mean? That God can look back and say, "Yep, I've done this." You know what I mean? Maybe this has already been done, maybe it hasn't, but (sniffs) for me, I just wanna go up, be better. I wanna be able to levitate and shit like that, you know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 1:08:55 Yeah.

Jared Cannonier 1:08:56 Do things that nobody else does, which is probably one of the reasons why I joined the army and do martial arts in the first place, because everybody where I'm from, where I grew up, d- definitely wasn't joining the army and nobody was doing martial arts that I knew of. So, um, (sniffs) I guess I was just born a, a, uh, nonconformist, if you will, and I just like taking the route that