JRE MMA Show #157 with Craig Jones

1. 0:00 – 0:58

   Cauliflower ear, hearing loss, and why AirPods don’t fit anymore

   1. JRJoe Rogan0:00

      (drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out. The Joe Rogan Experience. (gong sound) Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night. All day. (rock music plays) How you doing? What's going on? I like the one ear side.

   2. CJCraig Jones0:15

      Oh, thank you. Yeah, ƒ-

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:16

      That's professional. A lot of guys do that.

   4. CJCraig Jones0:17

      Help my hearing. Hey, it's fading in my old age.

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:20

      Do you have, um, fucked-up ears 'cause of the cauliflower? Does it fuck up your hearing?

   6. CJCraig Jones0:24

      Yeah, just one of them. I thought it was cool until the inner ear started to swell and it was messing with my hearing. And I was like-

   7. JRJoe Rogan0:29

      Yeah.

   8. CJCraig Jones0:30

      I was like, "That's not cool anymore."

   9. JRJoe Rogan0:31

      Did you get it fixed?

   10. CJCraig Jones0:32

       I just face it at the women I'm talking to.

   11. JRJoe Rogan0:34

       (laughs)

   12. CJCraig Jones0:35

       (laughs)

   13. JRJoe Rogan0:35

       Did you get it fixed or do...

   14. CJCraig Jones0:37

       Oh, it eventually drained out, but that's as good as it's gonna get, I think.

   15. JRJoe Rogan0:41

       Yeah. I've, I always wore, uh, ear guards. I was always scared of the ears. 'Cause it just, it, there, there's a design. Like, it helps capture sound and bring it into your ear.

   16. CJCraig Jones0:51

       I didn't know the AirPods were coming. That threw a curveball when I called this one 'cause-

   17. JRJoe Rogan0:54

       Oh, right.

   18. CJCraig Jones0:55

       ... I can't use the AirPods now.

   19. JRJoe Rogan0:55

       'Cause you can't stuff them in there?

   20. CJCraig Jones0:56

       I jam them in, but they pop back out.

2. 0:58 – 1:47

   Why Craig is launching a tournament that goes head-to-head with ADCC

   1. JRJoe Rogan0:58

      (laughs) Yeah. You gotta wear over-the-ears. So, uh, let's talk about your tournament.

   2. CJCraig Jones1:03

      The tournament. All right.

   3. JRJoe Rogan1:05

      What, where did, where did this come from, first of all?

   4. CJCraig Jones1:07

      Well-

   5. JRJoe Rogan1:07

      'Cause you've competed at Abu Dhabi. This is what I don't understand.

   6. CJCraig Jones1:10

      (laughs)

   7. JRJoe Rogan1:12

      You're, you're, uh, b- you're gonna go head-to-head with ADCC, which is the biggest-

   8. CJCraig Jones1:17

      (laughs)

   9. JRJoe Rogan1:17

      ... grappling organization in the world. By the way, that's Gordon Ryan's belt up there. If you wanna look at it.

   10. CJCraig Jones1:21

       Gordon Ryan. Oh, mate. I might take that home with me, hey. (laughs)

   11. JRJoe Rogan1:23

       (laughs)

   12. CJCraig Jones1:23

       How can I get the money to buy it? (laughs) Well, I mean, what started it? Well, obviously you can't win a tournament, you put your own tournament only, you can win.

   13. JRJoe Rogan1:33

       (laughs)

   14. CJCraig Jones1:33

       And probably lose anyway. (laughs) Um, I mean, really, it's for the growth of the sport. We're getting some beef involved, some Tupac, Biggie, Drake, Kendrick energy to this. But really, to compensate the athletes well and to raise some money for charity along the way.

3. 1:47 – 3:49

   The mystery backer and the $1,000,000 cash proof-of-funds moment

   1. JRJoe Rogan1:47

      And who's funding this thing?

   2. CJCraig Jones1:49

      That's one of those things, you know? Your girl takes a trip to the UAE, sh- she comes back with a handbag. You don't talk about it. You don't ask too many questions, you know.

   3. JRJoe Rogan1:55

      (laughs) You brought with you, uh, a million dollars in cash, which-

   4. CJCraig Jones1:58

      Yeah.

   5. JRJoe Rogan1:58

      ... I've never seen before. I've never seen a million dollars-

   6. CJCraig Jones2:03

      Oh, yeah.

   7. JRJoe Rogan2:03

      ... in one place. I've never even seen a million-dollar check.

   8. CJCraig Jones2:06

      Should we tip this out?

   9. JRJoe Rogan2:07

      Yeah, I guess tip it out. Let's-

   10. CJCraig Jones2:09

       Oh, knock my coffee over.

   11. JRJoe Rogan2:11

       Make sure we don't, uh, spill any... Ladies and gentlemen, that is $1 million in cash. What here falls, stays. (laughs)

   12. CJCraig Jones2:24

       (laughs)

   13. JRJoe Rogan2:24

       That is so ridiculous. Look at that. That's so crazy.

   14. CJCraig Jones2:30

       (sniffs) Ah.

   15. JRJoe Rogan2:31

       Wow. Whoever, uh, is running this really trusts you.

   16. CJCraig Jones2:36

       They should, hey?

   17. JRJoe Rogan2:36

       'Cause th- those are loose. They're, they're f- like, a lot of these are just kind of flying around.

   18. CJCraig Jones2:41

       They're flopping around here, you know?

   19. JRJoe Rogan2:42

       Yeah. Oops.

   20. CJCraig Jones2:42

       They have way too much faith in me.

   21. JRJoe Rogan2:44

       Yeah. A lot of faith in you.

   22. CJCraig Jones2:46

       I mean, this was to prove I s- I had the idea. I was like, "I'll bring a prop million dollars on Joe Rogan," but people were... I was thinking then, they already don't believe I have the money, so if I pulled out a prop million and you were like, "Oh, that's fake money," then I'm like, "Oh, my tournament's fucked."

   23. JRJoe Rogan2:58

       (laughs)

   24. CJCraig Jones2:58

       So, we had to... So let's had to do some bad things for that.

   25. JRJoe Rogan3:02

       Um, so, uh, I mean, how does one even get a million dollars out of a bank?

   26. CJCraig Jones3:07

       So-

   27. JRJoe Rogan3:07

       That's got to be a pain in the ass, right?

   28. CJCraig Jones3:09

       Yeah, so my buddy that's helping me out with this basically called his bank. He said, "I need a million dollars on Thursday." They said, "Yo, that takes two to three weeks." And he's like, "Get me the million on Thursday, or I'll find a bank that can." And that, I mean, that put the energy in him to get it. Here we are.

   29. JRJoe Rogan3:23

       So, what does this guy do that he has all this loot?

   30. CJCraig Jones3:26

       Uh, I really don't wanna say. I'm gonna keep it all directed at me. It's all aboveboard legal, you know what I mean? But we're sorta keeping it mysterious. I don't want any negative energy towards the tournament coming my direction. Not the anonymous sugar daddy in the background.
4. 3:49 – 5:17

   Nonprofit structure, venue economics, and why ADCC prize money hasn’t changed

   1. CJCraig Jones3:49

      Does it benefit their bus- I mean, we're running it as a nonprofit, so like, obviously for people that wanna support the sport of jujitsu, like, we're gonna donate basically all the ticket sales of this event towards different charities. So, we really wanna do this as a nonprofit. 'Cause my thoughts were, if jujitsu doesn't make a profit, we might as well make it nonprofit.

   2. JRJoe Rogan4:06

      Hm. Okay. Well, j- does jujitsu make no profit? Like, uh, Abu Dhabi doesn't turn a profit, right? It, it's done primarily because of the Sheikh's, uh, love of the sport.

   3. CJCraig Jones4:18

      Like the, yeah. It's like a passion project. But I mean, sort of my problem with the latest event is, like, we're selling so many tickets. And they, their event is in T-Mobile.

   4. JRJoe Rogan4:29

      Mm-hmm.

   5. CJCraig Jones4:29

      T-Mobile's super expensive. As far as I know, I remember their event organizer posted the amount they paid for T-Mobile, and it was basically two of these. So, I was-

   6. JRJoe Rogan4:39

      Just to rent out the venue?

   7. CJCraig Jones4:41

      Just to rent out. And then-

   8. JRJoe Rogan4:42

      And you were at the Thomas & Mack?

   9. CJCraig Jones4:44

      Yeah, so the previous event were at, they were at Thomas & Mack, so I, I just thought, "Hey, I might as well check how much Thomas & Mack costs." And it was a lot cheaper. So in my opinion, we're really doing this because the prize money's been the same for so long. A, a lot of events don't pay a lot of money, but obviously ADCC's the biggest.

   10. JRJoe Rogan5:00

       Right.

   11. CJCraig Jones5:01

       And this sells a lot of ticket sales, but really, they made a lateral move in, uh, the venue that didn't really grow much in the way of seating. And none of that money really went-

   12. JRJoe Rogan5:11

       How much does Thomas & Mack seat?

   13. CJCraig Jones5:13

       Uh, I think we'll have about 11,000 seats for this one.

   14. JRJoe Rogan5:15

       And T-Mobile's, what, 18?

5. 5:17 – 7:38

   CJI pay structure: show money for everyone and $1,000,000 to win

   1. CJCraig Jones5:17

      I think 18, yeah. So not s- not massive difference, and really, ADCC prize money's stayed the same. So, their prize money, you have to win four matches to get 10K. Not that I'd know 'cause I could never fucking win it, but we're gonna pay... We're gonna do two divisions and pay 100 times that amount of money to the division winners.

   2. JRJoe Rogan5:34

      So, 10K is the winner of ADCC?

   3. CJCraig Jones5:37

      And we're gonna pay $10,001 to show up to that tournament.

   4. JRJoe Rogan5:41

      10,001?

   5. CJCraig Jones5:42

      We'll throw an extra dollar on.

   6. JRJoe Rogan5:43

      Oh, okay.

   7. CJCraig Jones5:43

      That's from me personally.

   8. JRJoe Rogan5:44

      So, anybody who competes gets $10,000? Really? So, even if you just get smoked?

   9. CJCraig Jones5:49

      Yeah. I mean, I'm thinking of the, the other guys like me in these tournaments that don't make the final. Compensate everyone, you know?

   10. JRJoe Rogan5:54

       (laughs)

   11. CJCraig Jones5:55

       (laughs)

   12. JRJoe Rogan5:55

       Well, that is nice, but ADCC's never made money, right? So for them, raising the money would just be losing more money.

   13. CJCraig Jones6:03

       Yeah. I mean, but if, I mean, if, if you could sell 11,000 seats. You know what I mean? Like, if you could sell streaming rights to an event, I feel like some of that should go back towards the athletes rather than just spending it all on production. Like, I g- A lot of people talk about the cost of production, and it's important to grow a sport. But I really feel like at least the athlete compensation should go up a little bit. You know, like, in terms of ticket sales, some of that should go back towards the athletes.

   14. JRJoe Rogan6:29

       Even if the ADCC's not making any money at all?

   15. CJCraig Jones6:33

       But in terms of ... They do make money, but it's where they spend it. They choose to spend it on production rather than the athletes.

   16. JRJoe Rogan6:39

       They ... Right. But it's not profitable, like es- in terms of the- the organi- organization itself is not really profitable, I don't believe.

   17. CJCraig Jones6:47

       Well, I w- I would imagine if they had chose Thomas and Mack with the streaming rights and the cost of the venue, like, that they've spent on T-Mobile, for sure they would have made a profit off this event. You could cut tu- curtail production costs down. Like, it's not gonna be that crazy if you choose the right venue. My opinion is that grappling's amazing, but I don't think we're ready for T-Mobile. That's, that's a massive, expensive venue.

   18. JRJoe Rogan7:11

       Right. Well, T- The, the Thomas and Mack was very impressive last year. It was very impressive, the, the whole overall production and just the scope of it and the, the, the amount of fans that came out to watch ADCC. It was pretty impressive.

   19. CJCraig Jones7:25

       It's crazy, yeah. It's crazy. Obviously-

   20. JRJoe Rogan7:27

       Yeah.

   21. CJCraig Jones7:27

       ... I've never competed in that many, in front of that many people before. It was awesome. It was an awesome spectacle. And that w- that was basically my opinion is, like, why are we making a lateral move, in my opinion, when we could still keep the same venue?

6. 7:38 – 16:47

   Going head-to-head: athlete choices, confirmations, and annual plans

   1. JRJoe Rogan7:38

      So, what was the idea about going head-to-head with ADCC? If you wanna grow the sport, wouldn't it be better to do it in an alternative weekend? That way, the people that compete at ADCC can also compete at your event.

   2. CJCraig Jones7:52

      Well, we kind of ... We d- I mean, yeah. O- obviously, athletes can't do both, but in terms of for the fans, the fans will be able to go to our event Friday, Saturday, still see ADCC finals on Sunday. But in terms of doing it at the same weekend, we're ... I mean, we're really trying to make a stand that, uh, like, the athletes can unify in this sense, and we can, uh, get compensated better. 'Cause again, none of th- I mean, none of the athletes care where we compete. You know what I mean? Like, we want to make l-

   3. JRJoe Rogan8:15

      Right.

   4. CJCraig Jones8:15

      L- as the sport grows, grappling's growing, obviously thanks to people like you. You've blown it up. Our sh- When you, whenever you shout us out, our followers go up, so I mean, the events are getting more eyes on it. People are, uh, more ticket sales. Like, we should get at least some token gesture of a payment increase.

   5. JRJoe Rogan8:33

      Well, I think the best-case scenario out of this is that ADCC does ramp it up and that the sport does get more eyeballs because people are aware of this huge increase in pay. And then over ... Look, I always feel like competition is good. I just don't necessarily like the idea of going head-to-head, 'cause I feel like it just kind of messes with the athletes 'cause th- You know, it get- puts 'em in a situation where they have to choose, first of all, between ADCC and the Craig Jones Invitational. And if they do that, ADCC's gonna probably hold a grudge.

   6. CJCraig Jones9:05

      Oh, I mean, hopefully not. (laughs)

   7. JRJoe Rogan9:07

      Well, well, hopefully they ... Yeah, hopefully they won't.

   8. CJCraig Jones9:08

      Hopefully they don't hold a grudge to me.

   9. JRJoe Rogan9:10

      But likely, they will. I mean, it ... Doesn't it make sense that they would? I mean, if you're kinda crippling their organization by taking the elite guys and offering them potential for ... Like, how many people are gonna jump ship? Do you know?

   10. CJCraig Jones9:21

       Ooh, I mean, who all have we got confirmed already? We've got Ffion Davies, past champion. The Tackett brothers were the first two. We've got Nicky Ryan. I'm gonna announce today Nicky Rod's jumping across. Uh, we got Luke Rockhold in there. We threw him in 'cause he's just ... He's honestly pretty impressive. He tapped me out in the gym. I was like, "Fuck it, we'll throw him in." Uh, in terms of the under, we've got Joseph Chen. So, I mean, a lot of people are gonna make the move, and what's interesting to me ... I, I can't say any names in particular, but a lot of the old legends obviously wanna be a part of this event. I think they believe. They wanna support the cause, you know? I mean, and you say make the athletes make a choice. I mean, really they should be able to make the choice if there's an event with such a huge amount of prize money on display. You know, the argument is prestige versus prize money, and my argument is if the prize money's there, that becomes the most prestigious event.

   11. JRJoe Rogan10:09

       Yeah, it does, it does ramp up the prestige. But will this happen again? Is this a one-time thing, or are you guys planning on doing multiple ones of these?

   12. CJCraig Jones10:16

       Yeah, we wanna do a ... We're doing ADCC every two years, so most of the time the guys have to wait every two. We wanna do it every year.

   13. JRJoe Rogan10:23

       Well, that would be good. Then there'd be a year where it's not in competition with-

   14. CJCraig Jones10:26

       We don't wanna just kill another organization and then I just disappear off into the sunset, maybe-

   15. JRJoe Rogan10:31

       Right.

   16. CJCraig Jones10:31

       ... sneak a couple million. But we wanna do it every year for sure. The goal is really to raise money for charities and do some film projects around the world using jiu-jitsu, really, helping out some underprivileged kids and stuff.

   17. JRJoe Rogan10:41

       Well, that, the, the whole idea of using it for charity's beautiful. That's, that's amazing. Um, but is this guy willing to fork up this kind of ca- Like, does he have a commitment to do this more than once?

   18. CJCraig Jones10:50

       I mean, basically he says if, "Hey, w- we do a good job of this one, you can do it every year." He's super invested in the sport of jiu-jitsu. Loves it.

   19. JRJoe Rogan10:57

       And this guy's just throwing loot away. (laughs)

   20. CJCraig Jones10:59

       Throwing a lot of loot away, thank God. Thank God.

   21. JRJoe Rogan11:02

       That's a crazy thing to commit to, though. I mean, even, no matter how rich you are. I mean, 'cause if you're giving away $3 million in prize money. Is that what it is? Or was it two?

   22. CJCraig Jones11:10

       Uh, yeah, so I mean, the-

   23. JRJoe Rogan11:12

       So, how's it go all together?

   24. CJCraig Jones11:13

       Well, uh, we basically got a budget of three million, and we decided to give 2.3 million of that to the athletes, and the rest we're gonna spend on production. Obviously, we're gonna have sponsors come in. We're gonna work with particular sponsors, but we're gon- Again, the ticket sales, that's going to charity, and we're really allowing some of the athletes to choose. Like, if we have an influential grappler and stuff, we're not really trying to leverage the money we have. We're saying, "Hey, if we get you on board, we're happy to donate a percentage of the ticket sales to a charity of your choice." So, we give them a bit of freedom in who they wanna help.

   25. JRJoe Rogan11:40

       Well, that's nice. And if this does go well, like, what is, what's the ... When, when you say go well, like, what are the guidelines? Like, what are, what are you trying to achieve in terms of, like, going well to do this again?

   26. CJCraig Jones11:53

       I mean, based on the investment and how much money we can raise for charity is really the goal there. Like, if we can sell out Thomas and Mack and we can demonstrate that we can do this in a cost-effective way, we can bring in more sponsors.Definitely gonna keep doing this every year. (smacks lips)

   27. JRJoe Rogan12:07

       Well, I, like I said, I think competition is always great. And I think, uh, just more eyeballs and more people paying attention to it is great for the sport. Obviously, I love jujitsu and I think, you know, uh, the athletes getting paid a million dollars to win first place is fantastic. I mean, 'cause, you know, we both know that most athletes don't make much money off of actual competition. The money that they do make, they usually make in seminars and-

   28. CJCraig Jones12:31

       Onlyfans.

   29. JRJoe Rogan12:32

       Yeah. (laughs) Onlyfa- that's you. (laughs)

   30. CJCraig Jones12:34

       (laughs) Yeah. Tha- that's a lot of underwear I have to sell, you know?
7. 16:47 – 18:36

   The ‘biggest superfight in grappling history’: Craig Jones vs Gabi Garcia

   1. CJCraig Jones16:47

      We got, we got another announcement here today.

   2. JRJoe Rogan16:48

      Another one?

   3. CJCraig Jones16:49

      The biggest Superfight in grappling history. We signed it actually, I signed this maybe an hour and a half ago. So, I got the-

   4. JRJoe Rogan16:56

      Okay.

   5. CJCraig Jones16:56

      ... contract here.

   6. JRJoe Rogan16:57

      Yeah. B- bust it out. Uh-oh. The biggest Superfight in grappling history?

   7. CJCraig Jones17:02

      I mean-

   8. JRJoe Rogan17:02

      Really?

   9. CJCraig Jones17:03

      Yeah, it might be one of the biggest events in-

   10. JRJoe Rogan17:08

       What is the biggest so far?

   11. CJCraig Jones17:10

       ... sporting history.

   12. JRJoe Rogan17:10

       So far? It's probably-

   13. CJCraig Jones17:11

       Or-

   14. JRJoe Rogan17:11

       ... Gordon and Galvao, in f-

   15. CJCraig Jones17:13

       Yeah, Gordon Galvao.

   16. JRJoe Rogan17:13

       ... in terms of... Yeah.

   17. CJCraig Jones17:14

       Rogebu Shosha.

   18. JRJoe Rogan17:15

       Yeah.

   19. CJCraig Jones17:16

       Um, but now we're talking the most decorated female athlete of all time, Gabi Garcia, has put pen to paper to face me-

   20. JRJoe Rogan17:27

       (laughs)

   21. CJCraig Jones17:27

       ... on my own event. So, we're talking 10, 11 time world champion, four-time ADCC champion, 6-foot-4-

   22. JRJoe Rogan17:33

       You have been joking around about this forever. This is actually gonna happen?

   23. CJCraig Jones17:37

       100% gonna happen. We booked it, we signed this contract earlier, so like, uh, I mean, it's... I had to do a lot of things to get it done, you know?

   24. JRJoe Rogan17:44

       What'd you have to do?

   25. CJCraig Jones17:45

       I had to talk to Gabi a lot.

   26. JRJoe Rogan17:46

       (laughs)

   27. CJCraig Jones17:48

       I had to go over there, give her a back rub.

   28. JRJoe Rogan17:49

       Did you have to dance for her?

   29. CJCraig Jones17:50

       Th- I mean, it's... Getting this done, like, she's like a Harvey Weinstein producer, you know?

   30. JRJoe Rogan17:53

       (laughs)
8. 18:36 – 21:28

   Free on YouTube and a new rule set: open scoring + 10-point must system

   1. JRJoe Rogan18:36

      Good luck. Good luck. Um, so when this all goes down, um, are you gonna stream it live? And how are you gonna do that?

   2. CJCraig Jones18:45

      Free on YouTube.

   3. JRJoe Rogan18:46

      Really?

   4. CJCraig Jones18:46

      Yeah. We wanna put it free on YouTube. 'Cause we- like, everything I wanna do about this event is to grow the sport. So like, jujitsu scoring is confusing. It's hard to keep up.

   5. JRJoe Rogan18:55

      Yeah.

   6. CJCraig Jones18:55

      Some events don't even know their own scoring. And to be honest, I compete in events where I don't even know the rules, you know? I'm just hoping for the best. But this one, we're gonna do, for the lead-up matches, the non-finals, qualifying matches, three by five-minute rounds. And we're gonna have the judges score it according to your traditional jujitsu. You know, like, if you get a good position, it might be a- if there's a four-point discrepancy, something like that-

   7. JRJoe Rogan19:17

      Are you using a specific rule set or are you guys making your own?

   8. CJCraig Jones19:20

      Making our own one. We wanna make it- make it our own completely. So we wanna take what jujitsu guys already know. So we'll have three judges use s- some sort of preexisting point system they understand. But we'll have the judges translate into a 10-point must system so the MMA fans will understand.

   9. JRJoe Rogan19:35

      Mm-hmm.

   10. CJCraig Jones19:35

       So say if there's a- after round one, the guy f- finishes on the other guy's back. The ref stops it. We get up. We have a minute break. That's a strong position. We'll score that at 10-8.

   11. JRJoe Rogan19:46

       Mm-hmm.

   12. CJCraig Jones19:46

       And we'll do open scoring. So jujitsu guys are used to knowing the score as the match progresses. They don't like the surprises. Like MMA, it's surprise at the end.

   13. JRJoe Rogan19:54

       Mm-hmm.

   14. CJCraig Jones19:54

       Jujitsu guys, they don't want things to be too different. So we're basically keeping it very similar to what they already understand while trying to introduce it in a- a way that's friendly to fans that tune in f- 'Cause fans are tuning in and being like, "What the fuck's happening?"

   15. JRJoe Rogan20:07

       Right.

   16. CJCraig Jones20:07

       And they're like, "Oh, he- he won the round tonight."

   17. JRJoe Rogan20:09

       I wish that MMA had open scoring 'cause it would expose a lot of really bad scoring.

   18. CJCraig Jones20:16

       Yeah, you know where you're at.

   19. JRJoe Rogan20:17

       Yeah, because there's so many times where it's just not... And the argument against it, I think, is silly 'cause the argument against it is that the person would coast if they were ahead. But my feeling is that would make the person who's behind really get after it 'cause they know they're behind, you know? And then in fights where you know a guy's ahead and the guy's getting tooled up, that's already the case. Y- y- there's no... You know, if like, if, uh, like Adesanya is fighting somebody and he's just dominating the fight, we all know that. We all know that. And the only thing that could fuck him is a bad judge.

   20. CJCraig Jones20:49

       Some crazy judge, yeah.

   21. JRJoe Rogan20:50

       Yeah. And, uh, and we've seen that. We've seen, like, two scores that are like, "That's right." And then one score, one judge is like, "What the fuck was that guy watching?"

   22. CJCraig Jones20:59

       That's the guy we're gonna hire for our event.

   23. JRJoe Rogan21:00

       (laughs)

   24. CJCraig Jones21:02

       (laughs) That guy's gonna be cheap. (laughs)

   25. JRJoe Rogan21:04

       Why? (laughs) That guy's gonna be dangerous. What- why 10-8? Like, w- I don't even like 10-8 for MMA. I think it sucks.

   26. CJCraig Jones21:11

       I mean, just for a way that we can grow, like, we can have an easy-to-digest... I mean, I guess MMA is still pretty confusing. But we want MMA fan. We wanna steal MMA fans. Like, that's m- been my whole strategy is I'll take on guys in the UFC 'cause I know they're drug-tested and I'm not. And I'll be like, and they're famous. It's like a perfect match-up.

   27. JRJoe Rogan21:27

       Mm-hmm.

9. 21:28 – 22:53

   Building a better ‘mat space’: the ‘alley’ with angled walls to prevent resets

   1. CJCraig Jones21:28

      But we wanna do that 'cause we wanna steal their fans. And we're also changing, and it's very fucking expensive actually. Every jujitsu event is basically on a elevated stage or just on mats. And we have this problem where there's all these weird resets. Like, guys might fall off the stage.

   2. JRJoe Rogan21:42

      Yeah. Yeah.

   3. CJCraig Jones21:42

      They crash into the table.

   4. JRJoe Rogan21:44

      That's crazy.

   5. CJCraig Jones21:44

      So inspired by Karate Combat, we're gonna do a rectangular mat space with a angled wall-

   6. JRJoe Rogan21:52

      Oh.

   7. CJCraig Jones21:52

      ... 'cause there's no, there's nowhere to run. And we're gonna call this rectangular mat space the alley. You basically, you only have the back alley to fight or fuck, sometimes fuck.

   8. JRJoe Rogan21:58

      But isn't the angled wall a bit of a problem? Like, I, I saw your match with Phil Breau.

   9. CJCraig Jones22:04

      Yeah.

   10. JRJoe Rogan22:05

       And the angled wall, like, all of a sudden he's fucked 'cause you're just gonna go down. Like, it's not like a wall, like a wall... I don't like the cage in MMA. I've said multiple times, I really think they should be fighting in a basketball court. Just make it all matted up. Have a long red line-

   11. CJCraig Jones22:21

       Yeah. Well, we're-

   12. JRJoe Rogan22:21

       ... where you have to bring it back.

   13. CJCraig Jones22:21

       ... gonna be big, 30 by 40. It's gonna be massive.

   14. JRJoe Rogan22:23

       That is big. Yeah.

   15. CJCraig Jones22:24

       So we heard the basketball court, but we threw some angles on the end.

   16. JRJoe Rogan22:28

       What-

   17. CJCraig Jones22:28

       But it punishes them. We wanna punish guys for backing up.

   18. JRJoe Rogan22:31

       Okay.

   19. CJCraig Jones22:31

       So like again, like you said, with a cage, they back up, but they remain vertical. And guys are so... Like, you can use that angle to not get taken down. But if you back up, if you're running away, we want it to be detrimental to you while-

   20. JRJoe Rogan22:42

       Yeah.

   21. CJCraig Jones22:42

       ... not having any referee interruption.

   22. JRJoe Rogan22:44

       Mm-hmm.

   23. CJCraig Jones22:45

       So if I'm, if I'm, like you said, I see, I won the first round 10-8, I'm coasting, I'm backing up, that guy can chase me and there's nowhere I can go. And if I back up, it's detrimental to me.

10. 22:53 – 25:25

    Karate Combat stories: the Phil Rowe(?) wall triangle, beers before matches, and ‘taking the edge off’

    1. JRJoe Rogan22:53

       I wanna ask you a specific question about the Phil Breau fight because he posted his arm down to, like, against the- the angle. And I was like, "Well, you're kind of fucked-"

    2. CJCraig Jones23:04

       Yeah.

    3. JRJoe Rogan23:04

       "... if you're doing that." And then you threw up the triangle and you- you trapped him.

    4. CJCraig Jones23:08

       Yeah.

    5. JRJoe Rogan23:08

       But like, did you train for that? Like, so he- this is, this, this is the setup. And this is in Karate Combat, which is, by the way, in Austin this Thursday. I'm gonna go down and check that out.

    6. CJCraig Jones23:17

       Oh man, it's a good show.

    7. JRJoe Rogan23:17

       So like this, like when he posted his arm down, I'm like, "Oh no, that's..."

    8. CJCraig Jones23:21

       Uh, honestly, here's the funny thing about it is, uh, Asim, the promoter, said to me, he goes, "Bro, we gotta sell the angled wall for grappling." He's like, "Can you try to submit him off the wall?" And I was like, "Fuck yeah, I'll do that."

    9. JRJoe Rogan23:30

       (laughs) They asked you-

    10. CJCraig Jones23:30

        But I was like-

    11. JRJoe Rogan23:31

        ... to do it? (laughs)

    12. CJCraig Jones23:31

        I was like, "I've got no plans of that at all."

    13. JRJoe Rogan23:33

        They asked you to do it? Oh, that's-

    14. CJCraig Jones23:34

        Yeah, they said, they said, "That'd be cool if you could do it." And then afterwards, he's like, "Did you plan that?" I was like, "Yeah, sure."

    15. JRJoe Rogan23:39

        (laughs)

    16. CJCraig Jones23:39

        But, I mean, anytime someone posts a hand on the ground-

    17. JRJoe Rogan23:42

        Yeah.

    18. CJCraig Jones23:42

        ... and we have an overhook and we can put weight on that hand, they can't lift it off the ground, so we can shoot a triangle pretty easy.

    19. JRJoe Rogan23:48

        (clicks tongue) Yeah.

    20. CJCraig Jones23:48

        So when- as soon as I saw him, I've got an overhook here. We'll get the Russian tire. As soon as I see him put that right hand on the floor, I was like, "We can do something flying." And I- and I saw 'cause of the angle, you can be a bit more brave, you know? Like it's not-

    21. JRJoe Rogan24:01

        Mm-hmm.

    22. CJCraig Jones24:01

        ... as, it's not as sharp a fall.

    23. JRJoe Rogan24:03

        Right.

    24. CJCraig Jones24:03

        Like, I'm, I'm 32. I probably shouldn't be doing flying shit. But you throw an angle in there, I'll give it a crack.

    25. JRJoe Rogan24:08

        Well, especially with everything padded up like that and the walls.

    26. CJCraig Jones24:11

        Yeah. Well, I mean, man, me and Phil were laughing before this match.

    27. JRJoe Rogan24:14

        (laughs)

    28. CJCraig Jones24:14

        Like we were jo- I had a couple beers before this. I thought, "We're just gonna have a good time." Phil said-

    29. JRJoe Rogan24:17

        (laughs) You had a couple beers before the match?

    30. CJCraig Jones24:19

        Yeah. Phil said he was gonna drink a tequila shot to start the match. But then I saw him put water in his cup. I was like, "I've been misled here."
11. 25:25 – 33:31

    Coaching Volkanovski: short-notice Islam rematch, concussions, and comeback planning

    1. JRJoe Rogan25:25

       Yeah. (sighs) That fight, (clears throat) I wanted to talk to you about that too. I want to talk to you about just the Volkanovski fight and training him in general. Like, did you try, did you try in any way to discourage him from taking the Makhachev fight on 10 days notice?

    2. CJCraig Jones25:42

       No. I mean, I'm not involved in that process at all, you know? Like, uh, I got the call that it was happening. Like, he called me... Man, I was jet-lagged at the time, I'd just gotten to Austin for a day and I get a call at 4:00 AM from Volks. He's like, "I think I have Makhachev booked in two weeks." And I was like, "Fuck it, tell me, I'll just book the next flight," and I just got on a plane down there. So I'm not involved in the matchmaking decision process at all.

    3. JRJoe Rogan26:03

       Did... Were you apprehensive about him taking that fight on such short notice?

    4. CJCraig Jones26:08

       I mean, I wouldn't say apprehensive. I, I, like, believe in, believe in him fully. I knew it would be a very difficult challenge. I didn't know what sort of shape he was in at the time, I hadn't seen him for a while. But like, I believe in him that he can do it and it's like, I'm gonna just do everything I can to get him ready-

    5. JRJoe Rogan26:24

       Mm-hmm.

    6. CJCraig Jones26:24

       ... for that moment. And yeah, I mean, it is the risk of the game, you know? Especially you take a short notice fight like that.

    7. JRJoe Rogan26:29

       Had he been training at all?

    8. CJCraig Jones26:31

       I, I honestly don't know. I don't think he... Like, he wasn't in the same shape he was for the previous Makhachev fight. The previous Makhachev fight, I was down in, in Wollongong with his team, Freestyle, for like a six to eight weeks helping him prepare for that one.

    9. JRJoe Rogan26:44

       Mm-hmm.

    10. CJCraig Jones26:45

        But I mean, this one, yeah, such short notice.

    11. JRJoe Rogan26:47

        Well, it made it such a huge difference, the, the six to eight weeks, just the fact that he was able to survive on the ground the way he was. Uh, not just that, but just, not just survive, but be completely safe. He, he was never even close to being threatened with a submission, you know, and the fact that he was like laughing it off and punching him from behind.

    12. CJCraig Jones27:07

        It's crazy, yeah. I mean, I can't take, uh, too much credit for that. That guy just is a beast.

    13. JRJoe Rogan27:11

        He's an animal.

    14. CJCraig Jones27:11

        Yeah, he's just a monster. He's so hard to hold down, even for me to hold down. I don't get it. I'm like, "Fuck, you're 145. This, this shouldn't be the case," you know?

    15. JRJoe Rogan27:18

        Rugby.

    16. CJCraig Jones27:18

        Yeah, some rugby energy, hey?

    17. JRJoe Rogan27:20

        Well, also, he used to weigh 214 pounds and he's still got those fucking tendons from being a big gorilla.

    18. CJCraig Jones27:25

        That's true, yeah. The rugby days, that's crazy. I, I mean, I trained... When I trained at his gym, one of the rugby players come in actually, and I was just fucking around rolling with him and he put me in a chin strap when I was stuck. I was like, "Fuck, thank God these guys make real money in other sports-

    19. JRJoe Rogan27:36

        (laughs)

    20. CJCraig Jones27:36

        ... so I don't have to deal with this shit."

    21. JRJoe Rogan27:38

        Yeah, it's a hard fucking sport, man. It's a hard sport that Americans don't necessarily appreciate, they don't understand. Like, those are guys that could compete in the NFL and they, they instead they're playing rugby 'cause they live in a different country. But it's-

    22. CJCraig Jones27:53

        For sure.

    23. JRJoe Rogan27:53

        When Volkanovski fought the first time (clears throat) and he was perfectly prepared, it was an amazing fight. I thought he won. I thought it was very close, but I thought he won. I gave the, the... I think round two was the difference and I could see round two going either way, but I gave it to Volk. But I was like, when, when they announced it, the rematch, part of me was like, "Ooh, that's great fight," but the other part of me was like, "Eeh, this is the number one... In my opinion, this is the fight for number one pound-for-pound," right? I believe Volk won the first fight, although very close. It's... I don't think it's a robbery, but very close, and I think that puts him as the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world. And then he loses the fight to Islam, he gets caught with that head kick, and then he gets knocked out by Topuria, and now he's not even in the conversation anymore. So this is a short amount of time, you know, and then everything kinda falls apart. And I think it wouldn't have fallen apart with... if not for the rematch. If it wasn't for the re... If he just waited for Topuria, I think... I gotta think that head kick has a factor. I mean, to get brained like that with a shin to the dome, which is the, the worst way to get knocked out, you know? It's, it's so much power in legs. I mean, your legs are... You're carrying... Your, your legs are carrying your body around all day. I don't think people that have never been kicked understand how much more power is in a leg.

    24. CJCraig Jones29:13

        Yeah, I, I wouldn't know.

    25. JRJoe Rogan29:13

        You get head kicked like that and then you fight the, a guy who's obviously the most dangerous boxer i- in the division in the next fight and get KO'd.

    26. CJCraig Jones29:24

        I mean, yeah, it's crazy. I don't know the eff-... I've had a, a couple concussions from grappling, like accidents, but I don't-

    27. JRJoe Rogan29:28

        Knees and headbutts-

    28. CJCraig Jones29:30

        Yeah.

    29. JRJoe Rogan29:30

        ... clashes.

    30. CJCraig Jones29:30

        Accidents. Always that one asshole, you know?
12. 33:31 – 36:51

    Superfights and crossover appeal: MMA names, legends returning, and ‘no one’s tapping for a million’

    1. CJCraig Jones33:31

       And then I think, I hope personally we get Volk at grappling match. Maybe we get him at this event. I'm hoping we get him, we get some MMA guys at this event.

    2. JRJoe Rogan33:38

       Is he thinking about doing something like that?

    3. CJCraig Jones33:40

       Uh, he has been planning.

    4. JRJoe Rogan33:41

       Like, he doesn't have a whole lot of time, right? When is this event?

    5. CJCraig Jones33:43

       This is August 16th, 17th. Yeah, so not much time. But I mean, if he's in shape, his training, he's got Bang Tao, Thailand, get some rounds in, I think it's fine, especially against another MMA guy. They both have the same type of training, you know? It's not like he's taking on a pure grappler that's only grappling.

    6. JRJoe Rogan33:57

       So do you have a budget to do something like that, to do super fights as well?

    7. CJCraig Jones34:01

       Actually, yeah. So we're, we're gonna start taking sponsors to try and get more super fights. And I'm in talks with some legends of the game right now, like some guys that you'd be shocked-

    8. JRJoe Rogan34:11

       Can you say names?

    9. CJCraig Jones34:11

       ... are hitting me up. Uh, I won't say any names, but p- potentially, I'll tell you-

    10. JRJoe Rogan34:17

        Can you make the names rhyme? (laughs)

    11. CJCraig Jones34:20

        (laughs) Uh, one of them has a Mexican-sounding last name, but I'll talk to you about that after, yeah.

    12. JRJoe Rogan34:23

        Okay, okay.

    13. CJCraig Jones34:24

        Um, yeah.

    14. JRJoe Rogan34:24

        Oh, I know that one.

    15. CJCraig Jones34:25

        Yeah, all the legends. They wanna, so many people wanna come outta retirement for this.

    16. JRJoe Rogan34:28

        Mm.

    17. CJCraig Jones34:29

        I think they just know, like especially when I explain the rules, explain that it's in that alley st- like the sunken floor, you know, they like that format. Obviously you throw a million dollars on your Instagram, you get some messages, you know what I mean?

    18. JRJoe Rogan34:41

        Yeah.

    19. CJCraig Jones34:41

        You get some, uh, "Hey, brother." (laughs) "What's going on," you know?

    20. JRJoe Rogan34:45

        Yeah, I think people are gonna be shocked at how good Luke Rockhold is.

    21. CJCraig Jones34:48

        Yeah, he, man, he's so tough, so tough.

    22. JRJoe Rogan34:50

        He's very good on the ground. I remember when he got Weidman down and mounted him, and Weidman could not get up. I was like, "This is ..." His ground game is very underrated and 'cause he's just known as an MMA guy.

    23. CJCraig Jones35:02

        And he's gonna come train with us. He's gonna come to B-team for five weeks.

    24. JRJoe Rogan35:04

        Oh.

    25. CJCraig Jones35:05

        So he's gonna prepare with us before this event. So we'll watch him and Nicky Rod kill each other every day. I'll love to watch that shit.

    26. JRJoe Rogan35:10

        Wow. Yeah, um, I always wondered how he would've done if he had gone straight grappling. 'Cause the people that I know that trained with him said, "Dude, I think he could've competed with the best in the world as a grappler, just as a pure grappler."

    27. CJCraig Jones35:23

        Yeah, I mean, he, look at the guys he's training with, Khabib and Islam, Cain Velasquez, like-

    28. JRJoe Rogan35:27

        DC.

    29. CJCraig Jones35:27

        ... DC, all those guys. It's like-

    30. JRJoe Rogan35:29

        Mm-hmm.
13. 36:51 – 55:55

    Danaher era and B-Team aftermath: pressure, burnout, and Craig’s semi-retirement mindset

    1. CJCraig Jones36:51

       Yeah, he's saying, "Do these things." I'm like, "What's happening, bro?" And then I show up to this next event, yeah, Kasai Grappling in New York.And of all the locker rooms, they threw me in there with the Danaher guys. And I'm just like, "This is a bit weird." Like, had this guy armbar last week, then he choked me, and now it's just me in a locker room with them all. It was very awkward, but then broke the ice and, uh, came in to train the next week.

    2. JRJoe Rogan37:10

       And you were with them for a long time. You were with them for like, what, five years?

    3. CJCraig Jones37:16

       With Danaher?

    4. JRJoe Rogan37:16

       Yeah.

    5. CJCraig Jones37:17

       Two, two years.

    6. JRJoe Rogan37:17

       Two years.

    7. CJCraig Jones37:18

       So I, I-

    8. JRJoe Rogan37:18

       So wait, did it start before Puerto Rico?

    9. CJCraig Jones37:21

       Yes. Yeah, I lived in New York for, oh, I mean, man, my memory is hazy. But we did Puerto... We survived Puerto Rico for six months and, uh, before that was, I would come and go from New York. I was probably with the team two and a half years. But yeah, things get weird out there in the jungle, you know?

    10. JRJoe Rogan37:38

        Yeah.

    11. CJCraig Jones37:39

        Apocalypse Now style.

    12. JRJoe Rogan37:40

        Well, everyone's confused as to what happened with you guys. That's what, like, there's no real version of the truth.

    13. CJCraig Jones37:48

        We got a book deal, we got a movie deal coming out.

    14. JRJoe Rogan37:51

        What? (laughs)

    15. CJCraig Jones37:51

        You know, I'm gonna exploit that story to the bitter end. (laughs)

    16. JRJoe Rogan37:54

        You have a book deal? For real?

    17. CJCraig Jones37:55

        No, I'm, I'm joking, but I could. The story's good enough, you know.

    18. JRJoe Rogan37:57

        What, what happened with you guys?

    19. CJCraig Jones38:00

        I mean, there's so many things we really can't discuss, you know. Uh, a lot of, a lot of problems, obviously, a lot of problem... Obviously, if two brothers split up, there's gonna be some serious issues there.

    20. JRJoe Rogan38:10

        Mm-hmm.

    21. CJCraig Jones38:10

        Um, but yeah, it's not really my place to say. But hopefully, one day it comes out. I think it'd be an interesting story. Who knows, this year it might kick things off, it might be World War III again.

    22. JRJoe Rogan38:20

        So when you left, like, how, did you leave to start your own place? When you guys started B Team, was that the plan all along?

    23. CJCraig Jones38:28

        No, I honestly never even wanted to start a gym. I'd already told the guys, like, at Danaher's, that I was like, "Hey, I'm gonna, this will be my last ADCC, and then I just wanna travel around, see the world, visit interesting destinations, teach seminars." Like, I felt like I'd already built a brand. But then when the team split, I felt like I sort of wanted to help them kickstart something. So we came here, we started the B Team. I've been with the B Team, we've had the B Team two, three years, but I'm not there too much anymore, you know. I helped kickstart it, we got the gym, the guys have it, you know. So like, I like traveling around.

    24. JRJoe Rogan39:00

        So are you basically semi-retired?

    25. CJCraig Jones39:03

        For sure, yeah, for sure. I mean, obviously, when you put on, like, if you put on an event that pisses off every other promotion in the sport, it's gonna probably be hard to get matches in the future. So I'll probably compete for my own show and that's it. That's the plan, we wanna keep doing these shows.

    26. JRJoe Rogan39:17

        Well, I think you're gonna piss off ADCC for sure by going head-to-head with them. But I, I don't think it would piss off Fight Pass or-

    27. CJCraig Jones39:24

        Nah, Fight Pass is probably better than

    28. JRJoe Rogan39:24

        Who's number one or do you think?

    29. CJCraig Jones39:26

        Well, I mean, if whoever's streaming ADCC is obviously not gonna be, not gonna be happy. There's, like, more competition. But again, I still think longterm, this story is gonna grow the sport.

    30. JRJoe Rogan39:38

        Yeah.
14. 55:55 – 1:01:56

    Origins story: self-taught years, instructionals (and torrents), Lachlan Giles, and leg-lock timing

    1. JRJoe Rogan55:55

       What year did you start training?

    2. CJCraig Jones55:58

       Oh, f- probably 17 years ago now.

    3. JRJoe Rogan56:01

       And even back then, there weren't many black belts around?

    4. CJCraig Jones56:04

       No. When I started training, I just trained with my cousin and he was like, a four stripe white belt. There was like two people on the mats, you know? There was nothing. I trained twice a week. I didn't train properly for a long time.

    5. JRJoe Rogan56:13

       You trained twice a week?

    6. CJCraig Jones56:14

       Yeah, it was just like-

    7. JRJoe Rogan56:15

       Really?

    8. CJCraig Jones56:15

       I didn't even think ... Y- w- I didn't even know what it was, you know? It was just fucking around.

    9. JRJoe Rogan56:18

       You were just doing it for fun?

    10. CJCraig Jones56:19

        Yeah, just-

    11. JRJoe Rogan56:19

        What were you doing for a living back then?

    12. CJCraig Jones56:21

        I was still in high school when I first started. And then I was just flipping burgers at Burger King basically. Then I did s- uh, a psychology degree, just a bachelor's, some bar t- Like, I had to work jobs, study and do jujitsu. So these assholes today that get to just train, I'm so envious of them, you know? Like, it's just the sport ... Again, the sport's growing that much with the sponsorship deals and stuff. So they're much luckier.

    13. JRJoe Rogan56:44

        So back then when ... How did you learn technique?

    14. CJCraig Jones56:47

        Man, I had Eddie ... Like, here's the funny thing. I had Eddie Bravo's Mastering the Rubber Guard book. That came to me at a very influential time where I read the chapter about weed. I was like, "Fuck it, maybe I should start smoking weed, you know?"

    15. JRJoe Rogan56:55

        (laughs)

    16. CJCraig Jones56:56

        So like, I was like, thinking I'm gonna learn some techniques, ended up smoking weed all the time.

    17. JRJoe Rogan57:00

        (laughs)

    18. CJCraig Jones57:01

        (laughs)

    19. JRJoe Rogan57:01

        Yeah, it doesn't work for everybody. It's interesting the, the weed thing 'cause, uh, some people think it makes you lazy. And I think you're just lazy. I think if you ... if weed makes you lazy, you're lazy. I just ... I don't, I don't, I ... It makes me think about the consequence, i- like, the idea of paranoia, like people talk about weed paranoia. I think it's like a hyperawareness. And, you know, Eddie once said this to me, like, "If your life is shit and you smoke weed, it's gonna feel terrible. But if your life is great and you smoke feet- weed, you're gonna feel good." Like, if you got all ... You don't have any problems in your life, you don't have any things you're dealing with, if you've dealt with your problems and you're just like, on a good path, then weed's good for you. But weed has never made me lazy. It's the opposite. I smoke weed, I always feel like, "Don't be lazy. Gotta get, you gotta things to do. You don't want these things fucking with you. You don't want these things hanging over your head." Like that hyperawareness is, it's like part of my work ethic, you know? Like d- b- the, the like, oversight, like someone is looking over me all the time making sure I, I can't lie to myself or to other people. Like, I have to do the s- the things I'm actually supposed to do. That's my feeling about it.

    20. CJCraig Jones58:10

        Well, I mean, I read his book when I was like 17, smoking bongs, driving to training in the car, having pre-workout, getting ready to go to war, you know? Like, that's basically (laughs) the influence of that on me. But it was good. I think rolling, like rolling high keeps you fluent, keeps you ... I wouldn't do it all the time. Sometimes I meet guys that are so high that I've just smashed them for a round, but they've done one thing, but they're so like, fascinated by that, like their perception's off sometimes.

    21. JRJoe Rogan58:34

        Y- I think that's possible true. That's true. But I- I've always felt like I was like 10% better when I was high. I really feel like ... Uh, that's the ... It was, uh, quite a few things. With pool.

    22. CJCraig Jones58:42

        You gotta try a couple beers. Have a round.

    23. JRJoe Rogan58:44

        I'm scared. It t- Beers don't help me. Like, like, p- when I play pool, if I play pool high, I play way better. If I play pool drunk, I'm not good.

    24. CJCraig Jones58:52

        Oh, really?

    25. JRJoe Rogan58:52

        Yeah. I think m- with me, alcohol just makes me not pay attention to shit. Alcohol for me is like, uh, ah! I'm not, I'm not a focused person if I'm drinking.

    26. CJCraig Jones59:02

        Well, I need that for sport. That gives me a false sense of confidence, you know?

    27. JRJoe Rogan59:05

        (laughs)

    28. CJCraig Jones59:06

        I think that's useful.

    29. JRJoe Rogan59:07

        Maybe one or two beers. But drunk, have you ever competed drunk?

    30. CJCraig Jones59:11

        Uh, ch- ch- ... I've felt it for sure, you know?
15. 1:01:56 – 1:28:05

    Gym reality: staph infections, antibiotics, overtraining, and health markers like blood pressure

    1. JRJoe Rogan1:01:56

       How bad was the staph infections going around down there?

    2. CJCraig Jones1:01:59

       I got staph every month.

    3. JRJoe Rogan1:02:01

       (laughs)

    4. CJCraig Jones1:02:01

       Every month there. I'm-

    5. JRJoe Rogan1:02:02

       How the fuck is that possible?

    6. CJCraig Jones1:02:05

       I got w- I got it under my eye one time and the guy was, the doctor was like, "Bro, if hits your eye, you're fucked." I was like, "Oh, that's reassuring. Hey, thank you." But yeah, every month I was on it. I remember I, I used to go trips to Mexico to get some medicine. So I'd go down there, buy a bunch of doxycycline, buy like 90 tablets of it. I'd just sit on it and keep taking them. Used to buy my steroids down in Mexico too.

    7. JRJoe Rogan1:02:25

       But isn't that, that's probably what fucked Gordon's stomach up.

    8. CJCraig Jones1:02:29

       The steroids? I mean-

    9. JRJoe Rogan1:02:30

       No, I mean the, the antibiotics.

    10. CJCraig Jones1:02:32

        Oh. (laughs) Yeah.

    11. JRJoe Rogan1:02:33

        I don't think the steroids help.

    12. CJCraig Jones1:02:34

        Well, I mean, yeah, probably, probably a bit of everything. Who knows? Yeah. The anti, the antibiotics definitely not good for you.

    13. JRJoe Rogan1:02:39

        But when you're on antibiotic ... He was on antibiotics for a year straight, which first of all is crazy because the amount of discipline it takes to train that much while you're on antibiotics. For people who don't know, antibiotics wreck your cardio, just wreck your physical strength, wreck your, your vitality. I got staph once and I remember I took antibiotics and, and I don't think I'd ever taken antibiotics before while I was training. And, um, when I was recovering from staph, I was like, "This is nuts. I feel like I'm 50%." You're at 50%. Like when Luke Rockhold beat Chris Weidman, he was on antibiotics.

    14. CJCraig Jones1:03:13

        Taking C ... I mean, I've taken it a lot during matches. I've taken it a lot. I've been on it all the time. You know, the last two matches-

    15. JRJoe Rogan1:03:19

        It fucking wrecks you though, right?

    16. CJCraig Jones1:03:20

        Yeah. I had bad staph on my leg, like even during the, that Filip Bro match. I remember I submitted him and then he had staph a few days later. I was like, "Got you twice, mate."

    17. JRJoe Rogan1:03:28

        (laughs)

    18. CJCraig Jones1:03:30

        But ... But that was bad when the doctor had to cut that open and like squeeze it out. That was horrible. But I think, yeah, the more you take antibiotics, the less, uh, effect they have on you. So now I get staph, it's fucking really annoying.

    19. JRJoe Rogan1:03:39

        Do you use anything to protect your skin? Like do you use defense soap or anything like that?

    20. CJCraig Jones1:03:44

        Nah, I just try to shower straight afterwards, you know.

    21. JRJoe Rogan1:03:47

        Just regular soap?

    22. CJCraig Jones1:03:48

        Re- Yeah. Anything. I think we have some branded soap in there. But like, I think it's just important, like, I mean we're dealing with some people that don't even know how to shower, like ...

    23. JRJoe Rogan1:03:55

        That's crazy.

    24. CJCraig Jones1:03:56

        Yeah. Some of them, they have a quick rinse, get out of there, you know. You gotta scrub it off.

    25. JRJoe Rogan1:03:58

        I would see guys do that when they would train and they would just go home sweaty. I'm like, "You're out of your fucking mind. Like, you're allowing that stuff to breed on your skin. While you're in your car, it's hot out."

    26. CJCraig Jones1:04:08

        That was Puerto Rico. We had no showers at the gym.

    27. JRJoe Rogan1:04:10

        Oh, God.

    28. CJCraig Jones1:04:11

        So we'd have a 60-minute drive home after each class without, uh, having to shower.

    29. JRJoe Rogan1:04:15

        Oh, that's insane.

    30. CJCraig Jones1:04:15

        Not good for the car fabric smell.

Episode duration: 2:09:39