JRE MMA Show #24 with Kevin Lee

1. 0:00 – 15:00

   Boom, and we're live.…

   1. JRJoe Rogan0:04

      Boom, and we're live. Kevin Lee.

   2. KLKevin Lee0:07

      Yes, sir.

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:07

      This is about as fresh off of a fight as you can get man, right?

   4. KLKevin Lee0:10

      Yeah, just about, touching down.

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:11

      Two days?

   6. KLKevin Lee0:12

      Yeah, barely slept. Straight here. Yeah.

   7. JRJoe Rogan0:14

      Yeah, right? It must have been a crazy... First of all, like, after a fight, it's probably, you're probably still wired and, like, can't believe it's over, right? What is it like?

   8. KLKevin Lee0:22

      Y- it takes you a minute for it to hit you, really. Uh, I didn't sleep at all after the fight. I just, I laid there for a little bit, mind kind of racing, didn't really settle down. Uh, I just ended up just getting up, getting some breakfast, and then, uh, right on the plane over here. Didn't sleep all on plane. Came over here, 3:00 AM. I've been up all morning.

   9. JRJoe Rogan0:42

      But you're, what are you, like 25?

   10. KLKevin Lee0:44

       Yeah, yeah, I can keep going.

   11. JRJoe Rogan0:45

       You can do that. You can keep going. (laughs)

   12. KLKevin Lee0:45

       Yeah, I can keep going. Rockstar lifestyle, baby. (laughs)

   13. JRJoe Rogan0:47

       (laughs)

   14. KLKevin Lee0:48

       I gotta live it. (laughs)

   15. JRJoe Rogan0:48

       25, you can do that for, like, two days in a row before it really starts to settle in.

   16. KLKevin Lee0:52

       Yeah, no, I'll be good for a minute. I mean, besides getting kicked in the head, I'm all good, other than that.

   17. JRJoe Rogan0:57

       Yeah. Dude, that w- f- that was, first of all, it was a very, very, very impressive performance. I mean, Edson Barboza is no fucking joke, and notoriously difficult to take down. Even Khabib struggled getting him down the early parts of the first round, but you got him down quick.

   18. KLKevin Lee1:11

       Yeah, I think a lot of people underestimate that, uh, especially how technical m- my wrestling can get.

   19. JRJoe Rogan1:16

       Mm-hmm.

   20. KLKevin Lee1:16

       Um, I've, I just feel like e- Edson was really strong. Uh, he was probably the strongest guy that I've ever faced. Physically, uh, it just, h- his body is just, it m- it moved a little bit different. But technically, I, I just had the, the aspect there and when, when you add those two things up, I'm equally as strong. You know, the, the-

   21. JRJoe Rogan1:35

       Yeah.

   22. KLKevin Lee1:35

       Yeah, I'm just gonna blow him out the water.

   23. JRJoe Rogan1:36

       Well, he's just a bundle of fast twitch muscle fiber, man, and that dude, I mean, people, you know, they'll see the Khabib fight and they'll see this fight with you. They might not understand how good that guy really is. He's very, very good.

   24. KLKevin Lee1:49

       He's a beast, and, uh, he's gonna come back and he's gonna knock some people out. He, he-

   25. JRJoe Rogan1:52

       Oh, for sure.

   26. KLKevin Lee1:52

       He's only gonna get better from here, I think.

   27. JRJoe Rogan1:54

       Yeah.

   28. KLKevin Lee1:55

       Uh, it's just, he, it's the styles make the fights too. And me, I feel like I can fight any style, you know? That, that was my number one goal when I got into this sport, just to be the most well-rounded, complete, uh, fighter that there is. And, and I feel like I can take advantage, uh, of, like, some of his, things that he's not good and good at. But he's gonna get better at 'em. He's gon- he's gonna be back. He's a beast.

   29. JRJoe Rogan2:15

       Well, that focus and that mindset of being well-rounded was very obvious in that fight. I was very impressed by the fact you, you fight just as good southpaw as you do orthodox. You switch up easily.

   30. KLKevin Lee2:25

       I've, I've been, uh, I've only been going southpaw for maybe the past year, year and a half or so, uh, and just kinda getting a feeler, uh, for it down. But I feel like that could be one of the hu- when you listen to a lot of the great fighters in, in the past, they talk about a right-handed southpaw. There's so many advantages that can be there.
2. 15:00 – 30:00

   It's crazy 'cause you…

   1. KLKevin Lee15:00

      you know, (laughs) that equilibrium gave off and you see, I saw four guys in front of me, I'm just like, "Let me just keep my eyes on this motherfucker right here." Like ...

   2. JRJoe Rogan15:07

      It's crazy 'cause you think of how hard Barboza is usually to take down. You just got ... You ... It was very fortunate that he was right there for you to grab him, 'cause he was trying to move in for the kill.

   3. KLKevin Lee15:15

      Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's, it's ...

   4. JRJoe Rogan15:17

      If you were his coach, you would have been screaming, "Get the fuck away from him," right?

   5. KLKevin Lee15:21

      (laughs)

   6. JRJoe Rogan15:21

      Wouldn't you?

   7. KLKevin Lee15:21

      Honestly, his, his, his coaches was not doing him no favors during that fight.

   8. JRJoe Rogan15:25

      No?

   9. KLKevin Lee15:25

      I felt bad for the guy, to be honest with you.

   10. JRJoe Rogan15:26

       Why? What do you mean? In what way?

   11. KLKevin Lee15:28

       Ah, they coulda, they coulda did him better. Uh, through the se- uh, he ... I probably could have put him away in the second round, um, but he was panicking and I could see it in him. You know? And his coaches like caused him to panic a little bit more. You know, they just kept screaming at him the time, like, "You only got two minutes to survive" or ...

   12. JRJoe Rogan15:46

       Right.

   13. KLKevin Lee15:47

       And I was like, "Oh, let me not ..." You know? Barboza a nice guy. He really is. And, uh, you know, I didn't wanna hurt him too bad, so ...

   14. JRJoe Rogan15:53

       It's two very similar fights for him in a row.

   15. KLKevin Lee15:55

       Yeah, yeah.

   16. JRJoe Rogan15:55

       Two maulings-

   17. KLKevin Lee15:56

       Yeah, that too.

   18. JRJoe Rogan15:57

       ... you know, in a row. That's ... You know, when you're that guy who wants to stand up and, you know, you got guys that are just, just constant pressure, constant pressure.

   19. KLKevin Lee16:05

       Yeah.

   20. JRJoe Rogan16:05

       I mean, the ... People don't realize how much endurance that takes to move away too. You're moving backwards. It's a lot more difficult to do.

   21. KLKevin Lee16:11

       Uh, yeah, true. I mean, uh, I, I feel like i- everything kind of pushed, you know. It, it, it's about who controls the, the pace of the fight.

   22. JRJoe Rogan16:17

       Yeah.

   23. KLKevin Lee16:17

       And I feel like I did a good job of that. And I, you know, I, I, I thought even after I got wobbled with the, with the kick in the third, I still came back and-

   24. JRJoe Rogan16:23

       You won the round. I mean-

   25. KLKevin Lee16:24

       Yeah, I tried to make it a point to finish standing.

   26. JRJoe Rogan16:25

       Other than that moment, you won the round.

   27. KLKevin Lee16:27

       Yeah.

   28. JRJoe Rogan16:27

       You know, and, uh, you hurt him bad in the second round too with a kick to the body. Like-

   29. KLKevin Lee16:32

       Yeah.

   30. JRJoe Rogan16:32

       ... you could see him cover up and tensing, but you could see it. It, it was a, a strong right kick to the body.
3. 30:00 – 45:00

   Mm. …

   1. JRJoe Rogan30:00

      um, anytime you have any sort of, uh, ringworm or staph or anything, there's some natural stuff. Not like some bullshit homeopathic nonsense, but some actual real natural stuff that can help you. And D-Fense soap specializes in that because, uh, Guy Sacco, the guy who owns the company, he, uh, is, you know, coaches wrestling and deals, deals with kids that always have ringworm and staph infections, so he came, he came out with these soaps, these natural soaps-

   2. KLKevin Lee30:25

      Mm.

   3. JRJoe Rogan30:25

      ... that are just designed for grapplers. That's why it's called D-Fense soap.

   4. KLKevin Lee30:28

      Oh.

   5. JRJoe Rogan30:28

      And then, um... I'll have them send you some.

   6. KLKevin Lee30:30

      Yeah.

   7. JRJoe Rogan30:31

      And then the essential oils and balms and stuff, like, uh, ointments for scratches and shit like that-

   8. KLKevin Lee30:36

      Okay.

   9. JRJoe Rogan30:36

      ... so they don't get infected. That's... You know, gyms, it's... You're always getting infected.

   10. KLKevin Lee30:40

       Yeah, and that's, uh... That was one of the biggest focuses of this camp, is just like make sure I stay healthy, because if, if you don't have your health you don't have nothing.

   11. JRJoe Rogan30:46

       Yeah.

   12. KLKevin Lee30:46

       Uh, and, and that was what it was at that Tony fight, and it just...... it, it became so... And I didn't wanna... It was such a big event and it was my first real big event too, uh, that I just wanted it all just to go right and go over. But, it ended up being just a lot on my bo- It, it... The staff, originally, I think it came from mental stress, you know? It was so many stresses going on, you know? You really look-

   13. JRJoe Rogan31:11

       A lot of pressure.

   14. KLKevin Lee31:11

       Yeah, you, and you look at the three biggest stressors, you know, I was going through a divorce and I had just moved into a house. You look at those in a normal day-to-day life that, th- those are like, the two biggest stressors you can have. Uh, then to add on fighting for a world title in six weeks, so I'm just like, "Let's fucking go."

   15. JRJoe Rogan31:29

       (laughs)

   16. KLKevin Lee31:29

       Like, I'm like, you know, I wasn't expecting to... I, I was thinking maybe, uh, they was gonna give me Tony, but maybe in December in D-

   17. JRJoe Rogan31:35

       Mm-hmm.

   18. KLKevin Lee31:35

       ... In Detroit or something like that.

   19. JRJoe Rogan31:37

       Right.

   20. KLKevin Lee31:37

       But it was like, six weeks. I was like, "All right. Well fuck, let's do it."

   21. JRJoe Rogan31:40

       That's right. They were thinking about doing you in Detroit, right? That was, uh, that was, that was the talk and you were requesting a big fight in Detroit.

   22. KLKevin Lee31:46

       Yeah, yeah. That's where all my like, you know, every year I kind of-

   23. JRJoe Rogan31:50

       Sure.

   24. KLKevin Lee31:50

       ... Plan out my year and I, and I got my vision in my head. Uh, I gotta call them audibles in there. That was one of 'em. But, yeah. It, it ended up putting a little bit too much stress on me all, all at once and I took on a lot for, for that one, but-

   25. JRJoe Rogan32:02

       You did.

   26. KLKevin Lee32:03

       ... I learned a lot.

   27. JRJoe Rogan32:03

       But I'll tell you what, man. When you took him down and mounted him in the first round-

   28. KLKevin Lee32:07

       Yeah.

   29. JRJoe Rogan32:07

       I was like, "Holy shit." 'Cause I know how good Tony is on the ground. You know, it's interesting because you don't... You look at someone when they fight, and this is one of the things that I've been saying about Khabib, um, it- it's because it's so hard 'cause he's doing what people do, right? He's taking people down, he's mounting them, grounding, pounding 'em. But he's doing it to people that other people can't do it to. And he's doing it in a way that it's like, "Wow, how good is this motherfucker?" Like, when he was mauling Michael Johnson, I was like, "How fucking good is he?" 'Cause this is crazy. Like, he's in that moment, several levels better than anybody Michael had fought before on the ground. And when I'm seeing you, first of all, see the Chiesa fight and right to this day, I'm like, "Jesus fucking Christ, just let him go out."

   30. KLKevin Lee32:50

       (laughs)
4. 45:00 – 59:01

   He's funny, man. Yeah,…

   1. KLKevin Lee45:00

      mean, he probably about right too, to be honest, but-

   2. JRJoe Rogan45:01

      He's funny, man. Yeah, but, um, it wasn't... He wasn't wearing sunglasses.

   3. KLKevin Lee45:07

      Yeah, I mean, I just wanna-

   4. JRJoe Rogan45:07

      I just wanna clear it up for Tony.

   5. KLKevin Lee45:08

      That, that... Like I said, I mean, I, I feel bad for him. I really do. I think he'll-

   6. JRJoe Rogan45:12

      The good news is he can come back from that injury. That's an injury he can come back from.

   7. KLKevin Lee45:15

      At, at 34, especially with the way he trains, I mean, I think he... I think the body can come back, it's just I don't know if his mind will let him be as free as... That was one of Tony's biggest assets to the style, is he was... I mean, he just does whatever the fuck he wants, you know?

   8. JRJoe Rogan45:29

      Right.

   9. KLKevin Lee45:29

      And now when he gets back in there, is he gonna be thinking about his knee? Even if it, that's in the back of your mind, it's still, it's, it's limited on that type of style that he, th- that he likes to fight.

   10. JRJoe Rogan45:38

       Maybe you're, maybe you're just fucking with his head right now. (laughs)

   11. KLKevin Lee45:44

       (laughs)

   12. JRJoe Rogan45:44

       Maybe you're planting some seeds, Kevin Lee.

   13. KLKevin Lee45:46

       (sighs) You never know. There's some money to be made, Joe. I gotta be-

   14. JRJoe Rogan45:49

       Oh, I understand.

   15. KLKevin Lee45:49

       I gotta get it, boy.

   16. JRJoe Rogan45:50

       I understand.

   17. KLKevin Lee45:51

       (laughs)

   18. JRJoe Rogan45:51

       I gotta get it. Well, he will be out for quite a while.

   19. KLKevin Lee45:53

       Yeah, yeah.

   20. JRJoe Rogan45:53

       I would imagine he won't be able to even really train hard for six months.

   21. KLKevin Lee45:57

       Yeah, at least. At least.

   22. JRJoe Rogan45:57

       Yeah.

   23. KLKevin Lee45:58

       He's at least a year out, so, uh, you know-

   24. JRJoe Rogan46:00

       Yeah.

   25. KLKevin Lee46:00

       ... I, I, I'll, I'll, I'll... Like I said, I mean, I... When I look at that and I see that fight and just, you know, how much different shit could be now.

   26. JRJoe Rogan46:08

       Mm-hmm.

   27. KLKevin Lee46:08

       You know? Uh, had I went into that fight healthy especially, I think the, the entire division would look different. But I'ma correct all that in a little bit. Let me-

   28. JRJoe Rogan46:16

       Yeah.

   29. KLKevin Lee46:16

       Let me get my hands on Khabib first and-

   30. JRJoe Rogan46:17

       Well, it's interesting.

Episode duration: 2:19:25