The Joe Rogan ExperienceJRE MMA Show #173 with Benny "The Jet" Urquidez & William "Blinky" Rodriguez
At a glance
WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT
Kickboxing pioneers reflect on fighting evolution, honor, and forgiveness power
- Rogan reconnects with Urquidez and Rodriguez, emphasizing their role as foundational pioneers in full-contact karate and early international kickboxing, especially during an era with few rules, minimal safety standards, and little financial reward.
- They trace how rule sets (PKA vs. WKA/Japan vs. Muay Thai) shaped the sport’s evolution, discuss technical trends like calf kicks, and highlight how media/promotion decisions influenced kickboxing’s popularity in the U.S.
- The conversation repeatedly returns to martial arts as a character-building path: conditioning, controlled sparring, defense-first training, and the “warrior code” (bushido/budo heart) that they feel has eroded under commercial pressures.
- Rodriguez shares deeply personal stories of community violence intervention after his son’s murder—culminating in meeting and forgiving the man who killed his son—framing forgiveness as a transformative force stronger than physical skill.
IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING
5 ideasEarly “no rules” competition was the real laboratory for modern MMA.
They describe 1970s-era events with no weight classes or meaningful rule structure, forcing rapid adaptation and revealing which skills translated under pressure—an early blueprint for today’s mixed-rule combat sports.
Rule sets didn’t just change technique; they changed what the public learned to value.
PKA’s above-the-waist emphasis (and kick-count requirements) created a TV-friendly but strategically limited product that, in their view, delayed American audiences from appreciating leg kicks, clinch work, and “international” striking.
Calf kicks are a ‘rediscovered’ weapon, not a new one.
Rodriguez notes setting up wins with below-the-knee attacks decades ago, while Rogan connects it to current trends where Kyokushin-derived fighters (e.g., Yuki Yoza, Masaaki Noiri) are disrupting Thai stylists by systematically destroying mobility.
Innovation often comes from necessity—Urquidez credits shin-guard creation to surviving Thai leg kicks in training.
Without local Muay Thai coaching available, he studied film and improvised protection for hard checking drills, describing early homemade shin guards with Velcro as a response to bare-shin training damage and long-term nerve concerns.
Controlled sparring is a competitive advantage, not ‘soft’ training.
They contrast gym “wars” that create concussions with Thai-style play sparring that preserves athletes for frequent competition; Rogan and Urquidez argue there’s a time for hard rounds, but constant damage erodes careers and performance.
WORDS WORTH SAVING
5 quotes“My son got shot while he was learning how to drive a stick shift.”
— William “Blinky” Rodriguez
“I honestly, I thought that was his name.”
— Benny Urquidez
“I created the first… shin guards.”
— Benny Urquidez
“It’s high-level problem-solving with dire physical consequences.”
— Joe Rogan
“The power of forgiveness is more powerful than my left hook.”
— William “Blinky” Rodriguez
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