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The Joe Rogan ExperienceThe Joe Rogan Experience

JRE MMA Show #162 with Belal Muhammad

Joe sits down with Belal Muhammad, a mixed martial artist and current UFC Welterweight Champion. https://www.ufc.com/athlete/belal-muhammad

Joe RoganhostBelal Muhammadguest
Sep 3, 20242h 42mWatch on YouTube ↗

EVERY SPOKEN WORD

  1. 0:00 – 1:15

    Belal’s title win and the “doubters” conversation

    1. NA

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

    2. JR

      Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (rock music) All right, what's up? Good to see you, man. Congratulations.

    3. BM

      Good to see you, brother. I appreciate you, man.

    4. JR

      The champ is here.

    5. BM

      (laughs)

    6. JR

      Everybody has to shut the fuck up now. (laughs)

    7. BM

      (laughs) That's the best part right now-

    8. JR

      (laughs)

    9. BM

      ... is now I can just talk as much as possible and they can't say nothing.

    10. JR

      They can't say nothing. There was so many doubters, so many naysayers, so many people didn't want you to get that title shot. It was so unfair, dude. It was really wild. It was wild to see. It really was. It really was. 'Cause I'm like, "Are you guys not watching his fights? Like, what the fuck are you guys seeing?"

    11. BM

      (laughs)

    12. JR

      I d- I do not understand when people don't appreciate excellence. I really don't get it. I never... Like, the Sean Brady fight, you see that fight, you don't think this dude is a fucking problem for everybody? You see the Wonderboy fight, see all your fights.

    13. BM

      And all of them, they've been different, right? Like-

    14. JR

      Yeah.

    15. BM

      ... with the Sean Brady, all I did was stand up. I didn't shoot one takedown on him.

    16. JR

      Yeah.

    17. BM

      Gilbert Burns, I didn't shoot one takedown. Wonderboy, I took him down. Obviously, I'm not gonna strike with a kickboxer, so I've showed you guys all forms of martial arts.

    18. JR

      Yeah.

    19. BM

      And people still hated. They're like, they're still hating.

    20. JR

      So crazy.

  2. 1:15 – 5:31

    Breaking down the Leon Edwards game plan: pressure, range denial, and forward-only mindset

    1. BM

      Even with the Leon fight, so even for this fight, I was like, "Bro-"

    2. JR

      I don't know, after the Leon fight, I think they have to shut the fuck up. I think everybody has to shut the fuck up and just recognize what you did, 'cause you put so much pressure on him standing up. You were in his face from the very first second of the very first round. You just advanced and you could tell he wanted that space и you could tell it was a different experience than what he thought he was gonna get from you.

    3. BM

      Yeah, I mean, when we saw him against Colby and him against Usman, uh, the third fight, we saw that he's, he's an expert at distance.

    4. JR

      Yes.

    5. BM

      He manages the distance. He puts it at his own pace, so we were like, "Bro, we gotta make this st- dirtiest fight, the hardest fight for him." So, we gotta step right away. So even when the ref was, like, looking to me and telling me to back up, when he looked at Leon and said, "You ready? You ready?" I'm walking forward right away, so I'm right in his face before he even, like, looks up. So I was like, "I gotta get him on his back foot right away, make him uncomfortable." And I knew he's not good uncomfortable.

    6. JR

      Hmm.

    7. BM

      None of these, no, no striker's really good moving backwards-

    8. JR

      Right.

    9. BM

      ... but I knew Leon specifically, I don't wanna be in his kick range.

    10. JR

      Right.

    11. BM

      I don't want him at his slow pace, like he did against Colby and these guys, where he kicks, moves, kicks, moves. I'm like, "I'm gonna be in his face nonstop, punching him in his mouth, and taking him down whenever I see an opening."

    12. JR

      The Colby fight, I thought was gonna be different. I think Colby broke his foot real early in that fight.

    13. BM

      I mean, I think Colby sucks, but-

    14. JR

      (laughs)

    15. BM

      ... (laughs) like, for me, I think that Colby wasn't, he's just not a good striker. Even with the, the fights that we see that he was really good at, it was just 'cause he put a, he put a good pace on all these guys.

    16. JR

      Right.

    17. BM

      And he dictated the pace with, you know, RDA and, uh, Robbie Lawler, all these guys. But none of those guys really had that type of cardio. When we saw him against Usman, Usman showed you, all right, he could keep up that pace with Colby, and then Colby can't take him down, so it ended up being like a, a kickboxing match.

    18. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    19. BM

      For Leon, he knew if he dictated the pace with Colby, Colby wasn't gonna be able to do anything to him. And I don't think, uh, the time off, I think, hurt Colby's distance management, 'cause his shot takedowns were, were terrible in that fight.

    20. JR

      Yeah.

    21. BM

      Like, he didn't, he wasn't managing it, he was just shooting it.

    22. JR

      Because if he's telling the truth though, I think the foot had a big factor, 'cause I think he broke his foot. I think Leon checked a kick real early on-

    23. BM

      Ah.

    24. JR

      ... or he kicked low and hit the shin and broke his foot.

    25. BM

      Yeah.

    26. JR

      Hit the knee, something. I don't, I don't even remember exactly what happened, but apparently in the first round he broke his foot. And that, you know, if you can't move against Leon, you're in real trouble.

    27. BM

      Yeah, I mean, especially 'cause Leon's so good at his lateral movement.

    28. JR

      Yeah. And his kick control.

    29. BM

      And his kicks hurt so hard, yeah.

    30. JR

      Yeah.

  3. 5:31 – 7:42

    Why the title shot took so long: matchmaking limbo, UFC 300, and star power politics

    1. JR

      How much time did you have to prepare for Leon?

    2. BM

      I had about, uh, eight weeks.

    3. JR

      Did they, did you kinda have an inkling that it was gonna happen before that? Like, were you, had you been preparing mentally before that? Thinking that that was gonna be the date-

    4. BM

      That was the hardest part, right? The, the lead up, because it was after beating Gilbert, they were like, "You're guaranteed next." And then you're like, "When is it happening?" They were like, "Well, Colby has to fight first." So then I'm sitting there and playing the waiting game. And then they offered me Usman. They were like, "Well, you know, if you don't wanna wait, we could give you Usman." So we were at talks with Usman, and then Usman ended up fighting Khamzat on short notice. So then I was like, "All right, well, there's nothing else they could put in front of me. It's gonna be me against a winner of Colby and Leon." Then that fight happens and then Leon's trying to brush it off like, "Nah, there's still other guys I could look at and see who's next." And he even brought up Gilbert Burns, and I'm like, "Bro, I just beat Gilbert Burns." So I'm sitting there, you know, in limbo, like-... what's happening? I'm calling my manager every day and Ali's my manager and he's like, "Bro, trust me. Dana's not gonna go against his word. He's gonna give you the shot. He's gonna give you the shot." And then all of a sudden, a 300 comes up and I'm like, "Oh, so we're probably gonna be 300." And then they say, "Oh, they offered the fight to three other guys," and I was one of those guys. So then like, I'm sitting here like, "Bro, wait. No way am I about to get screwed right now. Are they gonna give it to somebody else?"

    5. JR

      Did you ask if, like, "Why didn't I get the fight at 300?" If they were trying to get Leon to fight at 300, why didn't you get that title shot?

    6. BM

      For me, it was just... Like, I put it out there. I said, "If they really wanted Leon to fight there, they would've put me on there," because I said yes. You know, they asked, they said they asked Islam, they said they asked Shavkat, they said they asked, uh, Khamzat, and they all said no 'cause, uh, uh, Ramadan. But I fought multiple times during Ramadan. So for me, I'm like, "If they really wanted Leon, they coulda had him with me." But I think they just wanted to have that shock factor with 300-

    7. JR

      Mm.

    8. BM

      ... where it's like, "Oh, double champ status for Islam."

    9. JR

      Right, right, right.

    10. BM

      Or Khamzat's obviously a huge star. He comes back down. So I think they just wanted that, and Leon's not a promoter. He doesn't really promote his fights in general. Obviously he's a great fighter, but for 300 I think they want somebody that's gonna try to push the event.

    11. JR

      Yeah, but still.

    12. BM

      Yeah.

    13. JR

      The, the rules are the rules, you know? A guy makes it to the top of the heap, he's supposed to be next in line for a title shot.

    14. BM

      Yeah, I mean, for me, I'm like-

    15. JR

      Yeah.

    16. BM

      ... what, what else do I gotta do? I-

    17. JR

      All the purists-

    18. BM

      Yeah.

  4. 7:42 – 9:22

    Online trolling, ‘casual’ narratives, and why elite athletes don’t live in comments

    1. JR

      ... felt that way. I didn't see anybody who's like a real solid MMA fan who felt that way. It was a lot of the casuals, a lot of the casuals jumping in with their goofy opinions on things.

    2. BM

      But that's the- that's the- that's the age we live in, right?

    3. JR

      I know.

    4. BM

      The troll age. Nobody has a profile picture. They just say the dumbest stuff.

    5. JR

      Well, not only that. You have a dispro- but look, the reality of the numbers is... I had a joke in my act that 10 p- 90% of all Twitter is done by 10% of the people, and those people are 100% retarded.

    6. BM

      (laughs)

    7. JR

      It, it really almost is that. That's, I mean, it's a joke, but it's kind of almost true because are you commenting on shit all the time? Do you go to someone's YouTube videos and talk shit about them?

    8. BM

      No, no.

    9. JR

      You don't. You're busy.

    10. BM

      Yeah, yeah.

    11. JR

      You're busy being the fucking Welterweight Champion in the world.

    12. BM

      (laughs)

    13. JR

      You ain't got no time for that. So the people that have time to be doing that all the time are, unfortunately, generally not doing that good. They're, they're not the... Michael Jordan's not leaving YouTube comments, you know what I'm saying?

    14. BM

      Yeah.

    15. JR

      It's like, the people that are engaged in these attacks on specific fighters in particular, they're usually just dorks. And I get it that these dorks buy pay-per-view and I get it that these dorks are... But they're not most people. Most people wanna see the best people fight the best people. And would it be exciting to see Islam go up and try to win at 170? Fuck yeah, it would be. I, I would be all in for that fight, unfortunately for you. I mean-

    16. BM

      Yeah.

    17. JR

      ... it sounds great, but if I was running things, I'd be like, the guy (stammers) The fights are gonna be fucking great anyway. It's UFC 300. Everyone's gonna be super hyped up. There's so much on the line. It's a crazy fucking card. That's a great fight! It's a great fight.

    18. BM

      Yeah, and it's two guys that are on 10-fight winning streaks.

    19. JR

      Yeah.

    20. BM

      So it, I mean, in general, yeah.

  5. 9:22 – 14:15

    Fighting at 5 a.m. in the UK: sleep hacks, light glasses, and chaos logistics

    1. JR

      But how weird was it to have to do the fight at, like, 5:00 in the morning?

    2. BM

      Oh, my God.

    3. JR

      Explain. So let's explain that to people who don't know. Y- the UFC that was done in England was done on American pay-per-view time. So the card had to start... What did it start at, like 1:00 AM?

    4. BM

      Yeah, it started, yeah, the first fight was 1:00 AM.

    5. JR

      First fight of the night, 1:00 AM. Undercard, UFC Fight Pass, first fight of the night. That's crazy.

    6. BM

      Yeah.

    7. JR

      That's so crazy. As if we can't watch it earlier in the day.

    8. BM

      (laughs)

    9. JR

      As if UFC fans on a fucking Saturday are gonna say, "Oh, the pay-per-view starts at noon." Okay. We watch football games at noon. We, we, we wouldn't watch world title fights at noon? Making you guys fight at 5:00 in the morning to me was bananas. I was like, "That is so contrary to anything you would want from optimum physical performance."

    10. BM

      Yeah, it was wild. Like, we got down there the week before on Saturday and, you know, we're trying, we found a gym so we're like, "Let's start trying to work out at 4:00 AM," 'cause being the main event, they said it'll probably be on around like 5:00, 5:30. So the hardest part was just trying to stay up from midnight to 4:00 AM to go drive to this gym. And, you know, we, we had like a big house so we had a bunch of people with us, but one person yawns and it's like addictive.

    11. JR

      (laughs)

    12. BM

      And it's like, bro, it's midnight. We're all just like watching Netflix and then we like, we didn't have no games or anything, so we were just like trying to watch movies.

    13. JR

      Wow.

    14. BM

      And then one guy yawns and you're like-

    15. JR

      Fuck.

    16. BM

      ... "I'm gonna go upstairs by myself for a second." And then just like, they, uh... The PI is really good 'cause they gave us like some, uh, jet lag, like, glasses that shine light in your eyes that you're supposed to turn on at, um, right when the sun, sunset. Because when the sun sets, you start getting melatonin, uh, in your body and it makes you wanna go to sleep. So they're like, "Put this on when the sun sets so it like shocks your body to make you think it's about to be sunlight."

    17. JR

      Really?

    18. BM

      Yeah.

    19. JR

      Oh, wow.

    20. BM

      So I'm walking around the house with like these glasses that are like shining light in my eyes and it still was hard.

    21. JR

      (laughs)

    22. BM

      We would, we would still (laughs) ... We would show up to the gym-

    23. JR

      You probably it's like, "Fuck you, bitch. It's 3:00 in the morning." (laughs)

    24. BM

      We, we, we went to go work out. So I'm trying to get everybody to work out with me so like we had maybe us, five or six guys with us, and then the gym was at 30 minutes away. So by the time we finished working out at night, it was starting... The sun was rising 'cause it was like 7:00 AM. And I'm like, "How am I about to fall asleep right now?" So I would like take melatonin fight week and then it would make, wake me up at like 2:00 PM and I would still be groggy the rest of the day. And then you have to do like interviews and stuff like that.

    25. JR

      Oh, man.

    26. BM

      It was, it was hard.

    27. JR

      So did you try to stay on Chicago time the whole, the whole thing?

    28. BM

      I tried, but it was... It was still hard just because, like I said, that, that time in between where... That bored time-

    29. JR

      Right.

    30. BM

      ... where we're like, "All right, we gotta work out at 4:00 AM." And then, you know, during the day we had interviews and stuff starting at 3:00 PM. They did, they adjusted those times. So then when we would finish everything, it'd be like 7:00 PM.

  6. 14:15 – 18:22

    Cardio building and strength work: heavy lifts, swimming, and pace as a weapon

    1. JR

      That was, uh, it was interesting because it was, you could see him, uh, using energy management. You know, you could see him trying to figure out when to just defend and when to try to break free. And, you know, w- when to, when to plant himself and fire shots and when to just stay, stay on the back foot and keep moving. Like, he tried to hold you off a few times. But I think whatever you were doing for strength and conditioning, your, your cardio was insane, because the volume, just the, the sheer volume and pressure that you were putting on him, and the fact that you kept that up solid five rounds.

    2. BM

      Yeah.

    3. JR

      That was insane.

    4. BM

      Yeah, I think every fighter's fear is to get tired in the cage. Every fighter's fear is to be in there and not be able to lift up your arms. And you've seen it, it g- happen with a lot of guys, big name guys, where you'll see them give up a choke.

    5. JR

      Yep.

    6. BM

      And it'll be like, "He just lifted up his neck."

    7. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    8. BM

      "And maybe he was too tired." No, he just wanted to get out of there. For me, I had no fear, and I know that I could go harder than any of these guys. And if I'm tired, I know he's gonna be twice as tired.

    9. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    10. BM

      But I think a lot of it, like you said, is just, you know, the team I have around me. I got, I do strength and conditioning with my boy Matt Murphy, but it's not anything outrageous, right? We're not doing that, the crazy new stuff that's coming out. We do heavy weights, and we do all, like, the, the big muscles, like chest, uh, lower back, and squats. But we put all this other s- stuff around it, like the cosmetic stuff too. Uh, and we're lifting three days a week.

    11. JR

      What do you mean by cosmetic stuff?

    12. BM

      Like, say if I, I go heavy on my squat, and then we'll still end up doing, like, low b- lower back, uh, chest, and, like, dumbbell with chest and everything on that day. But, like, on a heavy chest day, we're going, like, uh, legs, lunges, like, lesser weight.

    13. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    14. BM

      So we go heavy with, like, squats, chest, and deadlifts one day a week for each of those, and then oth- we still do full body stuff that same day, but just, like, lower the weights and higher reps.

    15. JR

      So you're essentially doing almost, like, y- you're doing, like, power lifter work.

    16. BM

      Yeah.

    17. JR

      You're doing bench press, like, just power generating stuff.

    18. BM

      Yeah.

    19. JR

      Are you doing any plyometrics or any of that kind of stuff?

    20. BM

      I mean, I do a lot of, uh, swimming for my, for, like, cardio-wise. And then people make fun of me a lot.

    21. JR

      Swimming is so hard.

    22. BM

      Uh-

    23. JR

      Swimming is fucking hard. Hard.

    24. BM

      People don't know how to s- yeah, people when they, when I take them to the pool, like, when I take a brand new fighter to the pool, and if they never swam before, they get so tired.

    25. JR

      Yeah.

    26. BM

      And I tell them, "Bro, it's a full body workout."

    27. JR

      Yeah.

    28. BM

      "It's everything you need, especially for fighting. It's, like, one of the hardest things you could do."

    29. JR

      Especially if you're, like, built like you, 'cause you probably sink like a rock.

    30. BM

      Yeah.

  7. 18:22 – 22:53

    Media cluelessness and “street fighting” misconceptions; boxing vs MMA as ‘real fighting’

    1. BM

      Yeah. It's funny how you say the-

    2. JR

      With cardio.

    3. BM

      ... the headbutt days. I was, I did a interview yesterday with the Chicago News, and then the lady's like, she had no idea w- who I was. I'm like, "You didn't do no research?" 'Cause she's like, "You're the champion of street fighting, right?"

    4. JR

      Oh, boy.

    5. BM

      And I'm just like... (laughs)

    6. JR

      Imagine that. You, you're literally the world champion, and this person hasn't even done five minutes of research into the sport you do.

    7. BM

      That was, that was wild. And I was like, "People still think that." I-

    8. JR

      You should just start making shit up.

    9. BM

      (laughs)

    10. JR

      Yeah, we meet in alleyways, you know? It's not even, so you gotta get it on the dark web.

    11. BM

      (laughs) I had my belly face.

    12. JR

      I fight with a roll of nickels in my hand. I don't give a fuck. (laughs)

    13. BM

      I didn't realize there was still people out here that have that mindset, like...

    14. JR

      Well, there's people in the news that aren't even humans. They're just robots. They're like media robots. All they wanna do is be on TV.

    15. BM

      (laughs)

    16. JR

      Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. They, they have no opinions, no personality. "Oh, I hear you're the champion of street fighting."

    17. BM

      (laughs)

    18. JR

      (laughs)

    19. BM

      It, it, I'm looking at the teleprompter. I'm like, "I feel like that's all they do is just read the teleprompter."

    20. JR

      That's such ... That's so disrespectful to someone who has risen to the top of the greatest organization ever for combat sports. We all know that ... Look, I'm a huge boxing fan. Boxing's amazing, I love boxing. But we all know if Francis Ngannou and Tyson Fury had a fight fight, that shit would not last one round. There's not a chance in hell, if they had a fight fight, a real fight, like an MMA fight.

    21. BM

      Yeah.

    22. JR

      Boxing is a sport. MMA is the sport of fighting. It's the hardest fucking thing to do for an athlete. The hardest thing to do is what you did, become the champion of the world in a tank filled with sharks. It's not saying that it's not, if you were a 170-pound boxer, it'd be just as difficult. I'm not saying boxing's not hard to do. I'm not saying it's ... It's hard as fuck to be a, a Ryan Garcia. Hard as fuck to be a Gervonta Davis. I- i- i- just the same mentality they have, they would've been world champions in MMA. But MMA is harder. It's harder. It's ... And it's more effective. It's the real sport of fighting. So, for you to reach the pinnacle in the greatest combat sport ever, and this lady to go, "You're the champion of street fighting."

    23. BM

      (laughs)

    24. JR

      And you're on fucking TV. That's so cra... Why can't they bring in an expert? There's so many people who coulda interviewed you.

    25. BM

      I, I was, I was like, "Yeah, don't you guys have a sportscaster or somebody that's gonna interview me?"

    26. JR

      Call in Ariel Helwani.

    27. BM

      (laughs)

    28. JR

      Call, call in somebody. There's somebody out there that can do this. This is crazy.

    29. BM

      I- Or do one little second of research.

    30. JR

      Yes.

  8. 22:53 – 36:45

    Fighter development and longevity: rushed prospects, handling losses, and aging realities

    1. JR

      Do you think there's something to be said for not jumping in too quick? Because I th- I feel like there's some fighters that they just got rushed and they weren't really prepared for an elite fighter and they got tuned up and they were kinda never the same again. I think there's been a few guys like that, that I think had real potential, but someone rushed them into a top 10 situation way too quick.

    2. BM

      Yeah, 100%.

    3. JR

      Yeah.

    4. BM

      I think Darren Till is probably, like, the, the biggest one I think of when I think of that, when they rush him to the title fight.

    5. JR

      It's hard to say, though, because Darren Till, when he knocked out Cowboy ... See, people have two Darren Tills in their head. They have Darren Till with knee injuries, older, later in his career, and you have Darren Till when he was 170.

    6. BM

      Yeah.

    7. JR

      Darren Till, when he could make 170, and, dude, he was dangerous. When he fucked up Cowboy, I was like, "Jesus Christ, this guy is fucking terrifying." He was ferocious. But he didn't keep that for whatever reason, you know? He didn't keep that s- level of success. He didn't ... And he had mad potential. So, I'm not sure if he got rushed or if he just got injured or if it was this, a grappling game, he was too late taking in the grappling game.

    8. BM

      I think there's just a lot of guys that don't know how to take a loss.

    9. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    10. BM

      I think that once they ... You know, he was undefeated, then you get your first loss.

    11. JR

      Right.

    12. BM

      And then you go back to the gym, your confidence deflated. You look at-

    13. JR

      Yeah.

    14. BM

      People look at you differently, like you don't have that same, you know, mentality, "I'm, I'm the biggest one in the room." And then-

    15. JR

      Well, Darr- Tyron Woodley, he fought Tyron when Tyron was in his prime.

    16. BM

      Ah.

    17. JR

      That was prime-time Tyron Woodley, and p- Tyron Woodley fucked him up. But Tyron Wood- Woodley in his prime fucked everybody up. Everybody just thinks about that Jake Paul fight, get that outta your head. That's an older athlete at the end of his run, doing something m- only really mostly for money. Right?

    18. BM

      Usman said it yesterday, he said, like, "People are so quick to forget," right?

    19. JR

      (laughs)

    20. BM

      "Of the stuff you did when you were great."

    21. JR

      Yeah.

    22. BM

      "And when you were at the top." And especially guys like Woodley, where he was a, he was one of the best to, to ever do it.

    23. JR

      One of the best welterweights of all time.

    24. BM

      Then later, you start losing a couple.

    25. JR

      Exactly.

    26. BM

      And then it just tarnishes everything. I'm like, "Bro, go back to the knockout of Robbie Lara. That was crazy."

    27. JR

      Yeah.

    28. BM

      Like, the way he did, and Robbie was the, the man at that time.

    29. JR

      I think one of his most impressive performances, two of his most impressive performances, are performances that weren't even that exciting.And that's the Wonderboy fight.

    30. BM

      (sighs)

  9. 36:45 – 44:18

    Eye damage and surgeries: Belal’s three procedures, detached retina recovery, and Bisping comparisons

    1. JR

      How many eye surgeries have you had to have?

    2. BM

      I've had, I've had three.

    3. JR

      Wow.

    4. BM

      Yeah. They-

    5. JR

      Holy shit.

    6. BM

      They're literally the hardest thing in the world, the most depressing thing in the world.

    7. JR

      (sighs)

    8. BM

      Yeah. I don't think, uh-

    9. JR

      Did you have one after the Leon fight or before?

    10. BM

      I had one after that as well.

    11. JR

      Wow.

    12. BM

      Like even in my, uh, my fight in, uh, when I fought Luque-... after the third round. Uh, I went back to my corner and I was like, "There's something in my eye." And, like, I couldn't see out of my eye and I'm, like, trying to blink it out. And then, uh, the cut man, Tate, he's like, "Bro, ain't nothing wrong with your eye. Stop touching your eye." So then I was like, "All right. Well, whatever." So I go back in there the fourth and fifth round, and I just can't manage distance. I'm, like, just shooting in. And then I was like, "Man, there's still something wrong with my eye." And then I ended up going to the, the doctor, like, two days later 'cause I, I thought it was just a scratched cornea or something. But it ended up being, like, a detached lens.

    13. JR

      Oh, Jesus Christ.

    14. BM

      So the, the whole lens they had to, like, take out and then, like, sew back in.

    15. JR

      Ew.

    16. BM

      Yeah. And it was... My eye was, like, super bloodshot red for, like, two weeks. And then I ended up doing, like, a, a weigh-in show with the UFC, at their pay-per-view, and everybody's, like, posting pictures of me like, "Oh, lookit, somebody farted on his pillow," 'cause he has, I had, like, a red eye.

    17. JR

      (laughs)

    18. BM

      And they're, like, making it a front of me. And I was just like... (laughs) I'm, like, crying to myself in my room, like, "I don't got pink eye."

    19. JR

      Geez.

    20. BM

      It's, it's surgery.

    21. JR

      (laughs) How long did it take to recover from that?

    22. BM

      That one is, wasn't as long. That one was, uh, it w- the, the blood was still in there for probably, like, a month. The, the detached retina was the hardest one. That one is, like, eight weeks of not doing absolutely nothing. And I have to be like this, my head sideways for a full eight weeks.

    23. JR

      Really?

    24. BM

      Yeah, and they have, like, a bubble in your eye the whole time. And then even when I'm watching TV, I have to, like, put my head in a massage chair-

    25. JR

      Oh, wow.

    26. BM

      ... and I'm... And there's, like, a mirror at the top so I, I aim the mirror at the TV, and I can't do nothing-

    27. JR

      Wow.

    28. BM

      ... but, like, keep my head down or sideways.

    29. JR

      And how long'd you have to stay like that for?

    30. BM

      It was, like, eight weeks.

  10. 44:18 – 1:19:43

    Refereeing controversies and rule redesign: no stand-ups, resume ground positions, and glove changes

    1. JR

      He got fucked in the Kamaru Usman fight. He got fu-uh-uh-uh-uh-fucked.

    2. BM

      (laughs)

    3. JR

      He got fucked. He got to Kamaru's back. He had one hook in standing up, and they fucking separated him. It is one of the greatest tragedies and travesties in the history of the sport.

    4. BM

      S- yeah.

    5. JR

      That one positional change. That is a terrible... I don't know what referee it was. I don't wanna call them out. People make mistakes, but for Demian Maia he got fucked because he had Kamaru's back. And Kamaru's only loss up to that point was a rear naked choke in his first fight.

    6. BM

      Yeah. And he-

    7. JR

      Kamaru was nowhere near the grappler in te- terms of submissions that Demian was. Demian will set traps and will do shit to you, and he just gets ahold of guy. Like what he did to Neil Magny. Like, Da- Demian gets ahold of dudes, and you're like, "What is happening here?" (laughs)

    8. BM

      Yeah.

    9. JR

      This is a different kinda squeeze, man.

    10. BM

      Yeah.

    11. JR

      And he got fucked. He got totally fucked.

    12. BM

      But that's crazy, right? 'Cause a lot of fights-

    13. JR

      The world could have changed.

    14. BM

      ... off of one ref.

    15. JR

      Oh, yeah.

    16. BM

      Or one judge could change the whole thing, impact your career.

    17. JR

      Everything could have changed from that fight.

    18. BM

      Yeah.

    19. JR

      Everything could have changed. So, so let's imagine the judge doesn't do that. There is a 30% likelihood Kamaru's gonna get him to the ground and strangle him. Now li- legitimately.

    20. BM

      Yeah.

    21. JR

      You're looking at primetime Demian Maia in the worst possible position, one hook in, he's got your back. How are you shaking him off?

    22. BM

      Yeah.

    23. JR

      You got a 30% chance of shaking him off. You're stuck.

    24. BM

      You're stuck.

    25. JR

      Y- you've got a, a, a good chance of holding off until the end of the round if you can't le- if you could s- you might be able to stop him from advancing, but it's perilous. This is a terrible position you're in. Demian Maia's on your back, and the referee's like, "Break it up. There's no action here."

    26. BM

      (laughs)

    27. JR

      Like, w- are you a champion street fighter?

    28. BM

      (laughs)

    29. JR

      Like, it's the same shit. (laughs) Like, what are you doing? This is the sport.

    30. BM

      Yeah.

Episode duration: 2:42:35

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