JRE MMA Show #172 with Gable Steveson

1. 0:00 – 15:00

   (drumming music) Joe Rogan podcast.…

   1. GSGable Steveson0:00

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

   2. JRJoe Rogan0:06

      Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (rock music) All right. What's happening? Pleasure to meet you, man.

   3. GSGable Steveson0:14

      How are you?

   4. JRJoe Rogan0:16

      Great. I'm great. W- when you got a name like Gable, and you're named after Dan Gable, and you go on to win an Olympic gold medal in wrestling, that is kind of- (laughs)

   5. GSGable Steveson0:24

      That's crazy, right? (laughs)

   6. JRJoe Rogan0:25

      ... that's kind of prophetic.

   7. GSGable Steveson0:26

      Um, my mom, when I was young, she was trying to find names for me, and she liked Kale Sanderson because Kale was a guy at the time. But she was at a tournament in Iowa with my older brother, and she kept hearing, "Gable, Gable, Gable." And it was Dan Gable at the time. And you know, Dan Gable's a huge figure in the Midwest for wrestling, and so she was like, "Why don't I name you Gable Dan?" And the rest was history, which is really crazy-

   8. JRJoe Rogan0:46

      That-

   9. GSGable Steveson0:46

      ... 'cause it- it- his whole timeline is my timeline, which is fantastic.

   10. JRJoe Rogan0:50

       Except the MMA part.

   11. GSGable Steveson0:51

       That too.

   12. JRJoe Rogan0:52

       Yeah.

   13. GSGable Steveson0:52

       Which I wish he would've done.

   14. JRJoe Rogan0:53

       (laughs) Well, he would've been amazing at it, but-

   15. GSGable Steveson0:55

       I think he would've- I think he would've been amazing.

   16. JRJoe Rogan0:56

       But it wasn't around, I mean, when he was wrestling.

   17. GSGable Steveson0:59

       Bare knuckle maybe? I don't know. Do it on a street or something.

   18. JRJoe Rogan1:01

       (laughs)

   19. GSGable Steveson1:01

       (laughs) He could've found- he could've found a way.

   20. JRJoe Rogan1:04

       It's kind of fucked that there's no real professional outlet for actual wrestling.

   21. GSGable Steveson1:10

       It is fucked, and, uh, wrestling needs a real way to go out there and, and be something big. And I think they have a really good one now with, um, RAF. If you haven't heard about it-

   22. JRJoe Rogan1:20

       Yes, I have.

   23. GSGable Steveson1:20

       ... it's American Freestyle. They're trying, and I think they're trying really well, and I think it's gonna come to a point where, how do you make matchups continue? Because, you know, wrestling gets to the point where... And- and fighting and- and- and a lot of other sports, you can get to the point where, you know, maybe you draft a guy, and fighting, there's a next big thing.

   24. JRJoe Rogan1:36

       Mm-hmm.

   25. GSGable Steveson1:36

       There's a next guy out there that you can kinda create, and with wrestling, they're trying to create a- an atmosphere of how can you create that person. And I like it, and I think it might work, and hopefully it keeps going the way it needs to go.

   26. JRJoe Rogan1:46

       (clicks tongue) It would be interesting if it... Well, the problem is MMA is so huge now, and people kind of associate wrestling with either MMA or pro wrestling now.

   27. GSGable Steveson1:55

       Mm-hmm.

   28. JRJoe Rogan1:55

       Like those are the two things that they think of. And it's one... I think it's one of those things like soccer, where soccer should be huge in America. It's huge all over the world, right? It's a very exciting sport. But nope.

   29. GSGable Steveson2:09

       You know what's crazy? How- how popular soccer players are, and I feel like in America, we have so many sports that, like, we can't hit that market for soccer, and I think that might be the biggest case why. Because if you go overseas, Ronaldo's paid-

   30. JRJoe Rogan2:23

       Huge.
2. 15:00 – 30:00

   (laughs) Oh, that's ridiculous.…

   1. GSGable Steveson15:02

      (laughs)

   2. JRJoe Rogan15:03

      (laughs) Oh, that's ridiculous.

   3. GSGable Steveson15:03

      So I'm like, "Why you even... Why you even come then?" So she... Out of the three fights I've had, she's sat in the back and, and she'll be like... The... John will go and get her, and, and be like, "Gable's done." And she'll be like, "Oh, what happened?" And John will be like, "Good, it's all day." (laughs)

   4. JRJoe Rogan15:18

      (laughs) So does she get nervous? Is that what it is?

   5. GSGable Steveson15:20

      Oh my God, she's sweating and she's nervous. But I'm just like... Um, I- I kinda... I'll give her that look of like, if it's... If this is one of them ones, I'm gonna tell you. Um, but I haven't gave her those looks yet.

   6. JRJoe Rogan15:31

      Hmm.

   7. GSGable Steveson15:31

      So, she'll know.

   8. JRJoe Rogan15:32

      So when you make this... So you decide football's not gonna happen.

   9. GSGable Steveson15:36

      Mm-hmm.

   10. JRJoe Rogan15:36

       WWE is not gonna happen.

   11. GSGable Steveson15:38

       Mm-mm.

   12. JRJoe Rogan15:38

       You did... You did, like, one televised match with WWE, right?

   13. GSGable Steveson15:40

       I did, yes.

   14. JRJoe Rogan15:41

       Yeah. What was that like?

   15. GSGable Steveson15:42

       Um, honestly, I had a... I had a great... From, from me being real and, and honest, I had a great experience. I have no, no... Nothing wrong with anybody there. Um, TKO was great. Triple H, Paul Levesque was great. Stephanie, Vince, everybody was great. Um, I just had a competitive drive that I needed to get out.

   16. JRJoe Rogan15:58

       Right.

   17. GSGable Steveson15:58

       And so, you know when you have... That gap is there, you can't do both.

   18. JRJoe Rogan16:02

       Right.

   19. GSGable Steveson16:02

       And I was trying to bridge both, and I wasn't giving my 100% to the business. And if I'm not gonna give 100% to the business, then you might as well X me out-

   20. JRJoe Rogan16:11

       Yeah.

   21. GSGable Steveson16:11

       ... because it's already over with. So, um, I just... That's how... That's practically how it happened.

   22. JRJoe Rogan16:15

       Yeah. No slight on pro wrestling, but it's just like, if you really want to compete, compete...

   23. GSGable Steveson16:20

       You gotta get it all out.

   24. JRJoe Rogan16:21

       Yeah.

   25. GSGable Steveson16:21

       And so I- I would love to go back in the future. I would love to, to, to do a sport and go out there and dominate and then, hey-

   26. JRJoe Rogan16:27

       Maybe after, be UFC heavyweight champ.

   27. GSGable Steveson16:29

       For sure.

   28. JRJoe Rogan16:30

       (laughs)

   29. GSGable Steveson16:30

       Maybe after a couple times. (laughs) And so-

   30. JRJoe Rogan16:32

       Yeah.
3. 30:00 – 45:00

   ... the baddest heavyweight…

   1. JRJoe Rogan30:00

      doesn't matter.

   2. GSGable Steveson30:00

      ... the baddest heavyweight out there.

   3. JRJoe Rogan30:01

      It doesn't, the belt doesn't mean jack shit when it's Jon Jones.

   4. GSGable Steveson30:03

      Mm-mm.

   5. JRJoe Rogan30:03

      Doesn't mean jack shit.

   6. GSGable Steveson30:04

      It doesn't.

   7. JRJoe Rogan30:05

      It's l- you know, there's, so many fighters could do that. They could just step away from the belts, abandon the belts, and then come back and all, uh, uh, it's really just about the fighter. Everybody knows who John is.

   8. GSGable Steveson30:14

      Mm-hmm.

   9. JRJoe Rogan30:14

      Everybody knows what John does. It's like people will pay to... They, they, you don't need a belt. A belt doesn't mean anything.

   10. GSGable Steveson30:20

       Yo, this is a crazy story. I, I came...... my, I had a French bulldog that passed away. So I like to go out there and, and I adopt French bulldogs. And I kinda give them a better home, and I either ship 'em to a new home or I keep 'em. And so, at the time, I had a baby French bulldog. He passed away, and I, I told John, I was like, "Yo, my dog died. I gotta go home." He let me go home. I came back, and I came back on a Tuesday. I didn't see John till Thursday. And mind you, this is a week before he's gonna go out there for Stipe. He's sick, like super sick. And I watch this guy do five rounds on a Thursday, and they sent, they shark baited him, five new people, and he's dead tired. And this is when I knew he was unstoppable. He went out there, nobody could touch him. And I'm telling you, high class PFL fighters, ex-UFC fighters, ex-Glory kickboxers were going in there after him, and he was just mopping them. And I was like, "Damn, this dude is beyond next level." And that was like... You know you gotta see greatness.

   11. JRJoe Rogan31:12

       Mm-hmm.

   12. GSGable Steveson31:12

       And I see it at the fight. But you also gotta see it when, how does this guy be great before the fight? And I saw that and I was like, "God damn." Um, I said, "Excuse me, John, um, you think I can go in there with you?" And he was like, "No." And I was like, "Why you think so?" Um, he was like, "You don't know how to defend." And it was kind of a funny joke, because the guy, a partner got hurt. And I was like, I raised my hand. I told Greg Jackson, I said, "Greg let me in there." And Greg was like, "Not today, Gable." (laughs) And this was when I didn't know how to defend or anything. He was like, "Gabe, not today." And I was like, "Man, why? You know I can go in there and take him down." And he was like, "This is different." And when I saw that, that was like the epitome of, like, super greatness in my eyes. Because I like hard workers. I like guys that beat on guys. I don't like guys that go out there and, and do the little extras that they, to look cool. I mean, just go out there and dominate and let's go home. And I saw that and I was like, "Yeah, it's over with for Stipe. It's gonna be a long night."

   13. JRJoe Rogan32:06

       Well, unfortunately, they met when Stipe had already had a lot of miles on the clock, and-

   14. GSGable Steveson32:11

       A lot, a lot of miles.

   15. JRJoe Rogan32:12

       ... and John was still elite. It's crazy that John essentially developed a spinning back kick, a real spinning back kick, when he's 36 years old.

   16. GSGable Steveson32:18

       Crazy.

   17. JRJoe Rogan32:19

       It's so nuts, 'cause I mean, he tried it earlier in his career. But it was like, he would spin instead of go straight, you know what I mean?

   18. GSGable Steveson32:26

       Mm-hmm.

   19. JRJoe Rogan32:27

       But when he hit Stipe, it was perfect. It was per-... You, that picture, we, we, we showed a video of it and then Freeze froze the, the, the heel.

   20. GSGable Steveson32:36

       It was like boom.

   21. JRJoe Rogan32:36

       It was halfway into his ribcage. It was crazy.

   22. GSGable Steveson32:39

       I wouldn'ta got up either.

   23. JRJoe Rogan32:41

       Well, very few people would. Very few human beings can top... That kick is so powerful, and when it comes from a big guy like John with those long-ass legs and all that leverage with perfect technique, and it goes right into the sweet spot like that, like good luck. But it's such a brilliant think-... It's such brilliant thinking on his side, 'cause he's like, "Okay, I have to fight heavyweights, and I need something that can take them out with one shot." Like, what is that? Well-

   24. GSGable Steveson33:06

       Mm-hmm.

   25. JRJoe Rogan33:06

       ... it's the most powerful kick, which is the spinning back kick. And so, he trains it constantly.

   26. GSGable Steveson33:11

       Constantly.

   27. JRJoe Rogan33:12

       You know, which is just... Very few people have the mindset to be able to do... Very few guys develop new skills late in life, you know, late in their career-

   28. GSGable Steveson33:22

       Mm-hmm.

   29. JRJoe Rogan33:22

       ... they start incorporating new skills like that.

   30. GSGable Steveson33:26

       I think that's a, that's a thing where he was a-... He's always all ears too, and that's kinda what he's putting into me also. Um, I watched him do a spinning back kick the night before at midnight when we were practicing in the hotel lobby, um, and-
4. 45:00 – 1:00:00

   Yes. Um, yeah, the…

   1. JRJoe Rogan45:01

      That's random, but we're talking about history.

   2. GSGable Steveson45:02

      Yes. Um, yeah, the old days were wild, man. It's wild. It's, it's wild to go back and watch those fights. It's like phew. Since you, um, since you've been kinda like, um, like a, a huge figure your whole life, have you gone back and, like, watched Fear Factor?

   3. JRJoe Rogan45:17

      (smacks lips) Uh, I watched it because my kids were watching it. My kids were watching Fear Factor because th- there was, like, a whole Fear Factor channel.

   4. GSGable Steveson45:24

      (laughs)

   5. JRJoe Rogan45:24

      Was it TruTV or one of those-

   6. GSGable Steveson45:26

      TruTV. (laughs)

   7. JRJoe Rogan45:26

      It had-

   8. GSGable Steveson45:26

      Or Spike TV, maybe. I don't know.

   9. JRJoe Rogan45:27

      One of those things. They had Fear Factor on, like, all day long, and my kids were watching it. They thought it was hilarious.

   10. GSGable Steveson45:32

       Man, I was watching it too. I'm just gonna tell you right now.

   11. JRJoe Rogan45:35

       (laughs)

   12. GSGable Steveson45:35

       And all the shit they was doing, hell no.

   13. JRJoe Rogan45:38

       Yeah. A lot of it is in your head.

   14. GSGable Steveson45:40

       (laughs)

   15. JRJoe Rogan45:40

       Like, a lot of the stuff that they had to eat is not that bad. Some of it was fucking disgusting.

   16. GSGable Steveson45:45

       Yeah, was y- were you trying some while they were trying some?

   17. JRJoe Rogan45:47

       I, I ate a bunch of things.

   18. GSGable Steveson45:48

       What was the worst thing?

   19. JRJoe Rogan45:49

       (inhales deeply) (sighs) None of the things I ate were that bad. You know, like, I ate a Madagascar hissing cockroach. It's like a, a cockroach the size of, like, this lighter.

   20. GSGable Steveson45:59

       Damn.

   21. JRJoe Rogan46:00

       Yeah. Yeah. Uh-

   22. GSGable Steveson46:01

       That wasn't bad? What, it was just crunchy, huh?

   23. JRJoe Rogan46:03

       It didn't have much ... Yeah, it doesn't have much flavor to it.

   24. GSGable Steveson46:05

       Hmm.

   25. JRJoe Rogan46:06

       Yeah. It's-

   26. GSGable Steveson46:06

       What was the-

   27. JRJoe Rogan46:07

       ... more in your head than anything.

   28. GSGable Steveson46:08

       I'm, I'm sure. What was ... Uh, being, being on that show, what was the worst thing you saw, like, someone tense up about?

   29. JRJoe Rogan46:15

       (smacks lips) The worst thing was what they had to eat. You know, p- and watching people throw up. Like, people ... I, I watched people throw up every day. You know how, like, the smell of throw-up makes you wanna throw up?

   30. GSGable Steveson46:25

       Mm-hmm.
5. 1:00:00 – 1:04:17

   So, you d- you…

   1. GSGable Steveson1:00:00

      some days are two-a-days, like 'cause I go to Lifetime and play basketball. I go to Lifetime and sit in a cold tub and, and, and, uh, and sauna and stuff. Um, but when I strike, I go in there, one round's maybe boxing, next round is kicks, teeps, knees, everything, elbows. The next round is what, um, the blueprint I have of what moves I need to really do to get in to kinda get to my shots, or I'm gonna fake shoot and punch. Um, and, and then the n- I probably go 10 rounds, 12 rounds of that, five minutes each.

   2. JRJoe Rogan1:00:28

      So, you d- you always incorporate all the MMA skills-

   3. GSGable Steveson1:00:31

      Mm-hmm.

   4. JRJoe Rogan1:00:31

      ... together in a workout?

   5. GSGable Steveson1:00:32

      I try to.

   6. JRJoe Rogan1:00:33

      What's interesting when I was talking to Ilia Topuria, um, when he's, particularly when he's not training for a fight, he doesn't do that. He is very rare in that, like, when he goes and he works on his boxing, he, he'll just box. He just boxes. When he works on his jujitsu, he just t- does jujitsu. When he works on his wrestling, he just does wrestling.

   7. GSGable Steveson1:00:53

      Mm-hmm.

   8. JRJoe Rogan1:00:54

      And then he puts them all together with MMA training. But he spends an exorbitant amount of time on each individual skill by itself to really like hone and tighten those things up.

   9. GSGable Steveson1:01:05

      Mm-hmm.

   10. JRJoe Rogan1:01:06

       Which is, it's an interesting choice. And obviously, for him, it's worked out spectacularly.

   11. GSGable Steveson1:01:11

       Yes, it has.

   12. JRJoe Rogan1:01:11

       But there's no real, like... I guess, if you wanna be like an elite soccer player, I'm sure there's a program that they've kinda devised, like, "This is the very best way to become a good soccer player."

   13. GSGable Steveson1:01:24

       Mm-hmm.

   14. JRJoe Rogan1:01:24

       They have, you know, coaches, and they game plan. They know what to do. With MMA, there's all these different approaches. Everyone... Alex Pereira's approach is different than Merab's approach, which will be different than your approach.

   15. GSGable Steveson1:01:37

       Mm-hmm.

   16. JRJoe Rogan1:01:37

       Everybody's got a different thing.

   17. GSGable Steveson1:01:39

       Yeah. It's just, it... Like you said, it depends a person, and it also depends the team that you have. Um, I'm just really big on... I'm just still very new, so I'm really big on just trying to make sure I can absorb all the information possible, and kinda when I go into these fights, these f- these first few fights come, kinda showcase what I can. Um, and sadly, they have ended early. Not sadly, but... And in a good way, you know what I'm saying? Um, but just go out there and showcase who I am. And, and when I go train, man, I don't mind sitting in there all day. Sometimes me and, me and John will practice for hours.... just sitting there repeating, repeating. And then, all of a sudden, we going to 8:00, it's midnight. Um, but I like that though, because it makes me feel good. It makes me feel like there's someone invested in me, and it makes me feel like I'm here for a purpose. And it makes me feel like this is what I'm... There's, there's someone out of the country, there's someone in Russia, when I'm sleep, he's up.

   18. JRJoe Rogan1:02:26

       Mm-hmm.

   19. GSGable Steveson1:02:27

       And I don't like that. He's up working. So when I can get all the time possible, I'm making sure I get all that time, because I don't want that dude to show up one day and he's got a little inch on me.

   20. JRJoe Rogan1:02:36

       Mm-hmm.

   21. GSGable Steveson1:02:36

       And I just can't, I can't think about that happening.

   22. JRJoe Rogan1:02:39

       I always have that thought in my head with, in terms of like UFC fighters. Like, there's such a shallow division. The heavyweight division is so shallow. I'm like, "There has gotta be some elite Russian wrestlers that are thinking about g- going the Fedor Emelianenko route."

   23. GSGable Steveson1:02:55

       Mm-hmm.

   24. JRJoe Rogan1:02:55

       Like, they're thinking about... I know Nemkov, who just won the PFL title.

   25. GSGable Steveson1:02:59

       Yep.

   26. JRJoe Rogan1:02:59

       He's a very high-level guy. But there's, there has to be some like really high-level wrestlers that are m- considering going into MMA.

   27. GSGable Steveson1:03:07

       Right now, Russian heavyweights are really, um, not as good as people think in wrestling.

   28. JRJoe Rogan1:03:12

       Really?

   29. GSGable Steveson1:03:12

       Um, they got a guy named Abdurakhshisadulov. I don't know if you heard of him.

   30. JRJoe Rogan1:03:15

       I have.

Episode duration: 2:16:20