JRE MMA Show #38 with Gaston Bolanos & Kirian Fitzgibbons

1. 0:00 – 0:00

   Intro

   1. KFKirian Fitzgibbons0:00

      ... hundred.

2. 0:00 – 0:41

   Bolanos’ three-sport juggling act (MMA, Muay Thai, kickboxing)

   1. JRJoe Rogan0:00

      Four, three, two, one. Yeah! And we're live, gentlemen. What's up? What's up, boys?

   2. GBGaston Bolanos0:08

      What's, what's going on, man?

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:08

      Good to see you again. What's happening?

   4. GBGaston Bolanos0:10

      Yeah. Happy to be here, man.

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:11

      Happy to have you here, man.

   6. GBGaston Bolanos0:12

      Yeah, thanks.

   7. JRJoe Rogan0:13

      You are the only guy right now that I know of that is fighting at the highest level in three combat sports.

   8. GBGaston Bolanos0:19

      Correct.

   9. JRJoe Rogan0:20

      MMA, Muay Thai, and kickboxing. That's fucking crazy.

   10. GBGaston Bolanos0:25

       Thanks, man. I, I just-

   11. JRJoe Rogan0:26

       How do you keep your head together?

   12. GBGaston Bolanos0:28

       I don't know. Like, last time warming up in Rome, actually it was the first time, like, warming up for a kickboxing fight, I threw a spinning back elbow and said, "I better not do that shit." (laughs)

   13. JRJoe Rogan0:34

       Yeah.

   14. GBGaston Bolanos0:34

       While I'm in there.

   15. JRJoe Rogan0:35

       Spinning back elbows-

   16. GBGaston Bolanos0:36

       (laughs)

   17. JRJoe Rogan0:36

       ... no bueno in a kickbox.

   18. GBGaston Bolanos0:37

       Yeah.

   19. JRJoe Rogan0:37

       You can do a spinning back fist though, right?

   20. GBGaston Bolanos0:38

       I did, which I landed two of 'em, um, in my last fight.

3. 0:41 – 2:00

   Spinning strikes, broken arms, and the fine print of kickboxing rules

   1. JRJoe Rogan0:41

      Do you, do you see the, what's happening lately where a lot of guys are hitting foreheads with their arms and snapping their arm?

   2. GBGaston Bolanos0:47

      Yeah.

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:47

      Page did it. Um, uh, obviously, uh, who else did it recently? Paul Felder did it.

   4. KFKirian Fitzgibbons0:52

      Mm-hmm.

   5. GBGaston Bolanos0:52

      Yeah.

   6. JRJoe Rogan0:53

      A couple guys have done it.

   7. GBGaston Bolanos0:54

      Yeah.

   8. JRJoe Rogan0:54

      They spin and you, you catch foreheads, and that is not a good combination.

   9. GBGaston Bolanos0:58

      Yeah, I feel, I feel like the kickboxing glove protects you a little bit more than the MMA glove-

   10. KFKirian Fitzgibbons1:03

       Right.

   11. GBGaston Bolanos1:03

       ... probably does.

   12. JRJoe Rogan1:04

       Yeah.

   13. GBGaston Bolanos1:04

       Because, you know, four ounce, 10 ounce, there's a, there's a little bit of cushion there that might protect you a little more, but-

   14. JRJoe Rogan1:09

       Yeah.

   15. GBGaston Bolanos1:10

       It's still ... I don't know. It's, it's still something that, you know, when I first started fighting kickboxing, he was like, "I don't know, man. Like, be careful with it." 'Cause I would, like, kinda catch, like, the middle of my arm.

   16. JRJoe Rogan1:20

       Right.

   17. GBGaston Bolanos1:20

       So it's ... You know, it's a little, it's a little different than the spinning elbow, which is a l- i- in my opinion, a lot more safer to throw.

   18. JRJoe Rogan1:26

       Now, what happens if you throw a spinning back fist in kickboxing and you really kinda catch 'em with, like, the meat above the elbow?

   19. KFKirian Fitzgibbons1:32

       It's illegal.

   20. JRJoe Rogan1:33

       It's legal or ill?

   21. KFKirian Fitzgibbons1:34

       No, it's illegal.

   22. JRJoe Rogan1:35

       It's illegal.

   23. KFKirian Fitzgibbons1:35

       You're only allowed-

   24. JRJoe Rogan1:36

       But what about here?

   25. KFKirian Fitzgibbons1:37

       No. You have to in ... Uh, based on in, whether it's Glory-

   26. JRJoe Rogan1:41

       Mm-hmm.

   27. KFKirian Fitzgibbons1:41

       ... or it's K-1 or it's, uh, Bellator, it has to be with the back knuckle, back of the pad of the glove.

   28. JRJoe Rogan1:49

       The back? It can't be the side?

   29. GBGaston Bolanos1:50

       No.

   30. KFKirian Fitzgibbons1:50

       It cannot be a hammer fist. That is illegal. It ca-
4. 2:00 – 3:00

   Schilling vs Sato controversy and how emotion derails fighters

   1. KFKirian Fitzgibbons2:00

      Yeah, when Sato knocked out Joe in that Bellator fight, if you watch it, it was a hammer fist and there was a lot of talk about whether it was legal or illegal. But it, it wasn't a back fist, it was a hammer fist.

   2. JRJoe Rogan2:09

      Hmm.

   3. KFKirian Fitzgibbons2:10

      Yeah. It's not-

   4. JRJoe Rogan2:11

      Interesting.

   5. KFKirian Fitzgibbons2:11

      Yeah, it's illegal per ISKA and, and most governing bodies.

   6. JRJoe Rogan2:15

      So when he knocked out-

   7. KFKirian Fitzgibbons2:16

      And in the US it's illegal.

   8. JRJoe Rogan2:16

      ... Joe Schilling.

   9. KFKirian Fitzgibbons2:17

      In that kickboxing fight when they first fought.

   10. JRJoe Rogan2:18

       Yeah, so because they spun-

   11. KFKirian Fitzgibbons2:20

       Mm-hmm.

   12. JRJoe Rogan2:20

       ... and it ... Because he landed with the back of the hand or the side of the hand, it's actually illegal?

   13. GBGaston Bolanos2:25

       Yeah.

   14. KFKirian Fitzgibbons2:25

       It's considered a foul.

   15. GBGaston Bolanos2:26

       Yeah.

   16. JRJoe Rogan2:26

       Did anybody bring it up?

   17. KFKirian Fitzgibbons2:28

       Eh, they mentioned it, but I think at that time, Joe had come off of that Simon situation with Lion Fight and he was like, "Ah, move on." You know?

   18. JRJoe Rogan2:36

       Right.

   19. KFKirian Fitzgibbons2:36

       "I, I ... you know, I got knocked out. It is what it is," you know. So he didn't make a big deal about it.

   20. JRJoe Rogan2:40

       That dude hits fucking hard.

   21. KFKirian Fitzgibbons2:41

       Yeah, absolutely.

   22. GBGaston Bolanos2:42

       Yeah.

   23. JRJoe Rogan2:42

       Yeah, and Joe's so reckless.

   24. GBGaston Bolanos2:45

       Mm-hmm.

   25. JRJoe Rogan2:45

       He's so aggressive-

   26. KFKirian Fitzgibbons2:46

       Yeah.

   27. JRJoe Rogan2:47

       ... you know. Like, he, he has these moments of, like, extreme emotion where he just g- just-

   28. GBGaston Bolanos2:52

       Yeah.

   29. JRJoe Rogan2:52

       And that dude, he wanted to knock that dude out so bad after he got knocked out in the MMA fight.

   30. KFKirian Fitzgibbons2:56

       Yeah.
5. 3:00 – 6:30

   Cody Garbrandt vs TJ Dillashaw: game plan vs ‘seeing red’

   1. KFKirian Fitzgibbons3:00

      And I think it's what you saw with Cody this weekend too.

   2. JRJoe Rogan3:02

      Yeah.

   3. KFKirian Fitzgibbons3:02

      He was just so angry.

   4. GBGaston Bolanos3:03

      So much emotion in one fight, you know.

   5. JRJoe Rogan3:05

      Yeah, man. We were talking about that and watching the replays. Like, you could see in his face that every shot-

   6. GBGaston Bolanos3:11

      Yeah.

   7. JRJoe Rogan3:11

      ... he was trying to knock him out with.

   8. GBGaston Bolanos3:12

      Yeah. As soon as I saw him walk ... I mean, not walk out. As so ... He, he looked okay walking out. As soon as, like, the bell rung, I was like, he just did ... He looked a little stiff.

   9. KFKirian Fitzgibbons3:22

      Yeah.

   10. GBGaston Bolanos3:22

       You know, and I was hoping, like, he would shake it off, get in the rhythm, like, land a couple jabs, just like, you know, we were working on when ... I sparred with him a couple times, uh, leading up to, uh, the TJ fight.

   11. JRJoe Rogan3:32

       Mm-hmm.

   12. GBGaston Bolanos3:33

       I go up to Alpha Male to do my wrestling, a lot of my grappling. Um, you know, they have so many 135, 145 pounders up, up there that it, you know, it ... Only an hour and a half away drive.

   13. JRJoe Rogan3:43

       Right.

   14. GBGaston Bolanos3:43

       It only makes sense to go up there, you know.

   15. JRJoe Rogan3:45

       Sure.

   16. GBGaston Bolanos3:45

       Exchange knowledge.

   17. JRJoe Rogan3:46

       Mm-hmm.

   18. GBGaston Bolanos3:48

       So, you know, as soon as I saw him walk out and started the fight, I was like, "I hope she d- he just shakes it off and, like, gets into his, his groove." Like, when he fought-

   19. JRJoe Rogan3:55

       Right.

   20. GBGaston Bolanos3:55

       ... Dom, like-

   21. JRJoe Rogan3:55

       Yes.

   22. GBGaston Bolanos3:55

       ... that was artwork. That was-

   23. JRJoe Rogan3:56

       Yes.

   24. GBGaston Bolanos3:57

       ... that was incredible. He just let him come to him and I was hoping tha- that was-

   25. JRJoe Rogan4:01

       What was, what was his game plan? Knock his fucking ass out, bro.

   26. GBGaston Bolanos4:05

       No. (laughs)

   27. JRJoe Rogan4:07

       (laughs)

   28. GBGaston Bolanos4:07

       He, he wanted to use more wrestling from what, uh, we were talking to Danny and all those guys about. He wanted to use more wrestling and definitely-

   29. JRJoe Rogan4:12

       Well, he threw a lot of kicks.

   30. GBGaston Bolanos4:13

       Yeah. He, he wanted to kick a, a little bit as well, but he also wanted to just do the same thing to ... what he did to Dom.
6. 6:30 – 8:16

   Lion Fight feud: parents, trash talk, illegal elbow drama, and ‘bad blood’

   1. KFKirian Fitzgibbons6:30

      Absolutely. If you look at his face, uh, this kid has 50 fights. He has 50 fights; amateur, Muay Thai, MMA, kickboxing, back to a junior. The only scars you're gonna see on his face are from a fight where he fought Damion early whose brother had beat-

   2. JRJoe Rogan6:46

      That was in Lion Fight.

   3. KFKirian Fitzgibbons6:47

      That was at Lion Fight.

   4. GBGaston Bolanos6:47

      Yeah. That's ... I saw that fight.

   5. KFKirian Fitzgibbons6:48

      Yeah.

   6. GBGaston Bolanos6:48

      I was very angry.

   7. KFKirian Fitzgibbons6:49

      The ... Uh, he was very angry.

   8. GBGaston Bolanos6:50

      I wanted to put him away.

   9. KFKirian Fitzgibbons6:51

      Why?

   10. GBGaston Bolanos6:52

       I dropped him, what, twice once?

   11. KFKirian Fitzgibbons6:54

       Be- because, uh, Gaston was r- a rising star in Lion Fight at the time and the family, the, the Earlys, the Chastains, and everything's cool now, but at the time, the parents were very aggressive on Lion towards Gaston. They were like, "We want-"

   12. JRJoe Rogan7:08

       His parents were?

   13. KFKirian Fitzgibbons7:09

       Yeah. The, uh, they won't fight.

   14. GBGaston Bolanos7:11

       Ugh.

   15. KFKirian Fitzgibbons7:11

       Yeah, exactly. The, the, he ... Gaston won't fight our boy. Well, one, you're not even in his weight class, you know, and then, you know, they said, "Oh, we can make the weight." Said, "Okay, if you make the weight, we'll take the fight." And they made the weight, they made the weight, but it was the one ... and I've said it since in April-

   16. GBGaston Bolanos7:23

       Well, it was the Eddie thing too.

   17. KFKirian Fitzgibbons7:25

       Oh, yeah.

   18. GBGaston Bolanos7:26

       Eddie, Eddie and then-

   19. JRJoe Rogan7:26

       Eddie who?

   20. GBGaston Bolanos7:27

       Eddie Abasolo, my, one of my teammates.

   21. JRJoe Rogan7:29

       Oh, okay.

   22. GBGaston Bolanos7:29

       You know, we've, we've been training together for what, like, five years now.

   23. KFKirian Fitzgibbons7:31

       Yeah.

   24. JRJoe Rogan7:32

       And what was the problem with them?

   25. GBGaston Bolanos7:34

       They fought. Damion and Eddie fought at 155 pounds, which is what Eddie ... They're, they both fought at that weight. They ... He wanted to come down to fight me, but Eddie landed an illegal elbow in the back of the neck. It wasn't ... It didn't seem like it was that hard, but it's ... It ended the fight and Eddie got DQ'd and then they were-

   26. JRJoe Rogan7:51

       Ah.

   27. GBGaston Bolanos7:52

       They were just talking mad shit saying, "Oh, you know, you wanna ... You did that on purpose." And like, Eddie ... If you meet Eddie, you'll be like, he's the coolest guy ever. Like-

   28. KFKirian Fitzgibbons7:59

       He's a smooth fighter, man.

   29. GBGaston Bolanos8:01

       Yeah.

   30. KFKirian Fitzgibbons8:01

       He's like-
7. 8:16 – 16:11

   From hating Eddie Abasolo to calling him the team’s ‘glue’

   1. GBGaston Bolanos8:16

      Yeah, yeah. He's, he's my favorite people to work with. Like-

   2. KFKirian Fitzgibbons8:19

      Yeah?

   3. GBGaston Bolanos8:20

      Like, train with?

   4. KFKirian Fitzgibbons8:21

      To train with?

   5. GBGaston Bolanos8:21

      Yeah.

   6. KFKirian Fitzgibbons8:22

      Yeah. He's, he's, he's, he's such a, and he's such an amazing human being. Now, and, and the best part is, is that Gaston hated him.

   7. GBGaston Bolanos8:29

      I hated Eddie.

   8. KFKirian Fitzgibbons8:29

      Why?

   9. GBGaston Bolanos8:30

      I hated him. I hated Eddie and I didn't-

   10. KFKirian Fitzgibbons8:32

       Was it the braids? (laughs)

   11. GBGaston Bolanos8:32

       (laughs) That was his pre- pre-braids Eddie. Uh-

   12. KFKirian Fitzgibbons8:37

       Yeah.

   13. GBGaston Bolanos8:37

       Yeah, uh, so growing up as an amateur, Eddie, Eddie started what, like, two years after I did?

   14. KFKirian Fitzgibbons8:43

       Yeah, yeah.

   15. GBGaston Bolanos8:43

       Yeah, about two years after I did and, you know, I, I would always, like, shake his hand and stuff like that when I saw him, but we ... The camp that he was from, his coach hated me, did not like me at all. Yeah.

   16. KFKirian Fitzgibbons8:54

       And, uh, so Gaston was fighting in San Francisco and it was the first time that Gaston ever got knocked out.

   17. GBGaston Bolanos9:01

       Mm-hmm.

   18. KFKirian Fitzgibbons9:01

       And he got knocked out.

   19. GBGaston Bolanos9:02

       Yeah.

   20. KFKirian Fitzgibbons9:02

       He was supposed ... You know. There's ... And Gaston, at the time, locally in the Bay Area, he was the guy.

   21. GBGaston Bolanos9:07

       Yeah.

   22. KFKirian Fitzgibbons9:07

       You know, the amateur kid-

   23. GBGaston Bolanos9:08

       Yeah.

   24. KFKirian Fitzgibbons9:08

       ... he's a star, everybody loves him.

   25. GBGaston Bolanos9:10

       18 years old, beating everybody, fighting anybo- anybody in any weight class from, you know, 130, 137 to one f- 150. I will fight anybody.

   26. KFKirian Fitzgibbons9:19

       Right.

   27. GBGaston Bolanos9:19

       I didn't care. I was just trying to get the experience. The first two years of my, of my junior career ... No. So my ... The first year I fought as a junior, I beat pretty much every- everybody my age and back then, the rules were, like, if you're under 16 you can't ... If the, if you're under 18, you're a junior.

   28. KFKirian Fitzgibbons9:35

       No, you're gonna get me in trouble, man.

   29. GBGaston Bolanos9:37

       (laughs)

   30. KFKirian Fitzgibbons9:37

       (laughs)
8. 16:11 – 23:18

   Kirian becomes Gaston’s guardian: the Korea Worlds debut vs a returning champion

   1. KFKirian Fitzgibbons16:11

      Yeah, I became his... His parents moved back to Peru and I became his legal guardian so he could finish school here in the US, and he came to live with me. And I put him, put him into college and-

   2. GBGaston Bolanos16:20

      Yeah.

   3. KFKirian Fitzgibbons16:20

      ... all that.

   4. GBGaston Bolanos16:21

      Yeah, a year before that-

   5. JRJoe Rogan16:22

      That's a tight relationship.

   6. GBGaston Bolanos16:23

      Yeah. A year before that, I was commuting, so I had... I was training at Fairtex Mountain View, uh, at the time and-

   7. KFKirian Fitzgibbons16:31

      And I was coaching there.

   8. GBGaston Bolanos16:32

      ... and he was coaching there f- uh, every couple days. And then, you know, we... 2008 happened, South Korea, IFMA, uh, he was the coach for the US National Muay Thai team. And, you know, we just, we just clicked. We were just like, you know, he-

   9. KFKirian Fitzgibbons16:48

      W- when I, when I met him at, at Fairtex, I was teaching and I was hitting a heavy bag, he came walking up to me. He's like, he's 14, 15. He's got his picture on the front window at Fairtex Mountain View. So he's, you know, 'cause he's a good-looking kid, he was a surfer and modeling and all that. So he walks up and he rolls up his, he rolls up his shorts and next thing he goes, "Who are you, man?" And I'm like, uh, I'm, I'm like, "Oh, I'm Kirian." He goes, "Oh, okay." He goes, "What do you do here?" I was like, "I teach." He goes, "I never seen you here before. Johnsannon's my coach." Starts kicking the bag, kicking the bag. I'm like, "Oh, okay, cool. All right. Good to know." So then Johnsannon couldn't coach the national team in 2008 in Korea, so-

   10. GBGaston Bolanos17:24

       Yeah.

   11. KFKirian Fitzgibbons17:24

       ... as a Fairtex coach, they asked me if I wanted to go. I said yeah, so I get onto the plane on my way to Korea for the World Championships and I see this little-

   12. GBGaston Bolanos17:30

       And the connection, and the connection, right?

   13. KFKirian Fitzgibbons17:31

       That's the connection flight.

   14. GBGaston Bolanos17:32

       Yeah, that connection, I was like, "Why is he here?"

   15. JRJoe Rogan17:35

       (laughs)

   16. KFKirian Fitzgibbons17:35

       And I see this, and I see this little fuck and I'm like, "Oh, god, I hate this kid."

   17. GBGaston Bolanos17:39

       (laughs)

   18. KFKirian Fitzgibbons17:39

       I couldn't stand him. And so we get there and I'm like, "He's gonna get murdered and I'm happy, I'm glad. He's gonna get... He's gonna learn a lesson. He needs a valuable lesson."

   19. GBGaston Bolanos17:47

       I didn't cut away at the time and-I've- I was fighting the return- returning two-time gold medalist at FMMA, my first ever, that was my first-

   20. KFKirian Fitzgibbons17:56

       Grown-ass man. His- he made his amateur debut at the World Championships against the returning champion who-

   21. GBGaston Bolanos18:02

       Who was like Uzbekistan, Uzb- Uzbekistani kid, like really, really good, probably 80 fights. He was 17, about-

   22. JRJoe Rogan18:09

       Jesus Christ.

   23. GBGaston Bolanos18:10

       Yeah.

   24. KFKirian Fitzgibbons18:10

       So-

   25. GBGaston Bolanos18:10

       He was 17, about to make the jump into, you know, A-class the next year.

   26. KFKirian Fitzgibbons18:14

       So I'm literally, I'm- I'm writing out his parents' name and phone number so I can call them after this kid kills him.

   27. JRJoe Rogan18:20

       (laughs) This is your amateur debut?

   28. GBGaston Bolanos18:21

       Pretty much, yeah.

   29. JRJoe Rogan18:22

       Your amateur debut-

   30. KFKirian Fitzgibbons18:23

       Yeah.
9. 23:18 – 30:05

   Why Muay Thai struggles in US media (and what promotions got right/wrong)

   1. JRJoe Rogan23:18

      Man. Yeah, the, uh, the- the crazy thing about that is this, you know, in America people don't even understand that Muay Thai could be that big somewhere else, that it could be that important to people.

   2. GBGaston Bolanos23:34

      Yeah.

   3. JRJoe Rogan23:34

      You know, it's- it... Muay Thai is a mystery to me-

   4. KFKirian Fitzgibbons23:37

      Yeah.

   5. JRJoe Rogan23:37

      ... in- in- in the sense that I just don't understand why it never caught on. I really don't get it.

   6. KFKirian Fitzgibbons23:41

      I- I think it's- it's, part of it's the music, part of it's the- the- the ritual, part of it is just the way MMA blew up. I mean, if you look at the-

   7. JRJoe Rogan23:50

      Do they go through all the wide crew and everything in Europe?

   8. KFKirian Fitzgibbons23:53

      Y- y-... if it's Muay Thai, yeah, if it's kickboxing, no.

   9. JRJoe Rogan23:56

      Mm-hmm. Right.

   10. KFKirian Fitzgibbons23:57

       But if it's Muay Thai, yeah. But like, he was the first, literally, he wa- he was the first junior that the US ever sent to the world championships.

   11. JRJoe Rogan24:04

       Yeah.

   12. KFKirian Fitzgibbons24:04

       Ever.

   13. JRJoe Rogan24:04

       Mm-hmm.

   14. KFKirian Fitzgibbons24:05

       He was by himself and he was the only junior ever. Today, there are 16 juniors fighting in Thailand at the Junior World Championships. They went eight and O today.

   15. JRJoe Rogan24:14

       Yeah.

   16. KFKirian Fitzgibbons24:15

       Eight and O.

   17. JRJoe Rogan24:15

       So there's some momentum?

   18. KFKirian Fitzgibbons24:17

       Huge momentum right now, literally.

   19. JRJoe Rogan24:18

       But not in the public?

   20. KFKirian Fitzgibbons24:20

       Not-

   21. JRJoe Rogan24:20

       So, it's in the fighters themselves?

   22. KFKirian Fitzgibbons24:22

       Yes. It's not publicly known, but right now, the best junior team at the Junior World Championships is the United States of America.

   23. JRJoe Rogan24:29

       Have you thought about that, though? Why is that? Like why, wh- how come no one can figure out a way to make it exciting or make it, uh, put it on television, let people know like, "Hey, this is probably one of the most dynamic combats, definitely one of the most dynamic combat sports in the world next to MMA"?

   24. KFKirian Fitzgibbons24:46

       Um, a lot of it has to do with money. It's, it's, promoters will come in and they will be the next best thing. Lion Fight got it right the most, and then they lost the AXS TV deal.

   25. JRJoe Rogan25:01

       (inhales deeply) What happened with them?

   26. KFKirian Fitzgibbons25:03

       Um, if you ask Lion Fight, they lost the deal because AXS TV wanted too much commitment. If you ask AXS TV, Lion Fight was canceling too many shows. It depends on who you ask.

   27. JRJoe Rogan25:13

       Mm-hmm.

   28. KFKirian Fitzgibbons25:14

       But this is-

   29. JRJoe Rogan25:14

       So now what are they on, like ESPN3 or some shit?

   30. KFKirian Fitzgibbons25:17

       No.
10. 30:05 – 38:24

    Training with Team Alpha Male: sparring looks, stance switching, and TJ-style movement

    1. JRJoe Rogan30:05

       Yeah.Yeah. Now when you were training with Cody, um, when you were over at Team Alpha Male, what- what is the coaching like? Like, how are they- how are they w- doing rounds with him?

    2. GBGaston Bolanos30:16

       (smacks lips) Uh, well, he was doing his sparring separately. They brought us- they brought me and Eddie up just to spar with him. Uh, it wasn't like-

    3. JRJoe Rogan30:22

       But who was that? Like, who was coaching him?

    4. GBGaston Bolanos30:24

       Uh, Danny and... What's his name?

    5. JRJoe Rogan30:26

       Danny Castillo?

    6. GBGaston Bolanos30:26

       Danny Castillo and Chris Holdsworth, yeah.

    7. KFKirian Fitzgibbons30:28

       Chris.

    8. JRJoe Rogan30:28

       So they were essentially his coaches.

    9. GBGaston Bolanos30:30

       They were, yeah, they were coaching him.

    10. JRJoe Rogan30:31

        Okay.

    11. GBGaston Bolanos30:31

        Yeah.

    12. JRJoe Rogan30:32

        And so when you were working with him, were they saying, "Hey, we wanna really work on certain things," or were they just letting you do your thing? Were they asking you to, like-

    13. GBGaston Bolanos30:39

        I- I was being... You know, I- I go up there and, like I said, I go grapple.

    14. JRJoe Rogan30:43

        Right.

    15. GBGaston Bolanos30:43

        And so I was trying to be a good-

    16. JRJoe Rogan30:45

        Right.

    17. GBGaston Bolanos30:45

        ... give him good looks, give him the switches, give him that-

    18. JRJoe Rogan30:48

        Mm-hmm.

    19. GBGaston Bolanos30:48

        ... like, that TJ shoulder move type of thing.

    20. JRJoe Rogan30:50

        Did you practice that stuff or did you...

    21. GBGaston Bolanos30:52

        No, I just, I've just been one of those guys, like, when Kirin... Ever since I started with Kirin, it's like, and I've had to help somebody, like give them looks.

    22. JRJoe Rogan30:58

        Right.

    23. GBGaston Bolanos30:58

        So I've just been that guy and I've been good at it. I've- I was good-

    24. JRJoe Rogan31:00

        Right. But did you practice TJ's looks or did you just kind of know how to do it?

    25. GBGaston Bolanos31:04

        I- I- I- I always switch regardless.

    26. JRJoe Rogan31:07

        Mm-hmm.

    27. GBGaston Bolanos31:07

        Like, that's one of my favorite things to do, just offensively and defensively. I love switching.

    28. JRJoe Rogan31:12

        Did you have a traditional martial arts background? Did you start out with traditional martial arts?

    29. GBGaston Bolanos31:15

        I started with Muay Thai.

    30. JRJoe Rogan31:16

        You started with Muay Thai, interesting.
11. 38:24 – 54:49

    Mindset and recovery after a tough Bellator loss: grounding visualization and staying ‘assassin-calm’

    1. JRJoe Rogan38:24

       Do you have any sort of a pre-fight routine that you go through mentally in order to get yourself into a state of mind like that?

    2. GBGaston Bolanos38:30

       You know, the, uh, recently since, uh, I, I lost a... I don't know if you watched my, my last year's fight. My second, uh, MMA fight with Bellator. I got-

    3. JRJoe Rogan38:38

       Yes, I saw.

    4. GBGaston Bolanos38:39

       I got-

    5. JRJoe Rogan38:39

       Yeah.

    6. GBGaston Bolanos38:39

       I got dropped, I got submitted, it was-

    7. JRJoe Rogan38:41

       You got hit with a wheel kick, right?

    8. GBGaston Bolanos38:42

       With a wheel kick, yeah.

    9. JRJoe Rogan38:43

       Yeah.

    10. GBGaston Bolanos38:43

        I didn't see it coming, that was-

    11. JRJoe Rogan38:44

        And then you got triangled.

    12. GBGaston Bolanos38:45

        I was going through a lot at the time. I'm going through a divorce, you know, very emotional time, uh, of my life last year. And then I had to, you know, dig deep and rise to the occasion and, you know, get out of that hole that I was in. Uh, so I started grounding my energy before fights. I was trying to like, trying to visualize and really see myself, you know, doing the things that I would do, because that's, that's how I got a lot of my knockouts in, in, uh, in Lion Fight. I could... It was the weirdest thing. I could like, just like visualize and see it. Like when I knocked out Tyler Tonner, I saw that happening before the fight even, and I was like... It, it felt like a deja vu moment, like, oh shit, like I seen this happen. And I'd just like try to like get as calm as I possibly can and I just remind myself that it's another day in the office, and like I've had fif- almost 50 fights now, and I just know that it... You know, regardless of what happens, whether I win or lose, I'm gonna go out there and give it my best. But what I try to do is, is uh just try to like close my eyes and like, um... I call it grounding, grounding myself. I visualize like roots coming out of my feet and, and hands and I, I really like ground myself and ground my energy into-

    13. JRJoe Rogan39:52

        You visualize roots, like tree roots-

    14. GBGaston Bolanos39:54

        Yeah.

    15. JRJoe Rogan39:54

        ... coming out of you.

    16. GBGaston Bolanos39:54

        Yeah, like tree roots coming out of my hands and coming out of my feet. And I... Like, th- this last fight was crazy actually, I could visualize it like going all the way into the ring. And like once I walked in there, it just felt like home.

    17. JRJoe Rogan40:06

        Oh, wow.

    18. GBGaston Bolanos40:08

        Crazy.

    19. JRJoe Rogan40:08

        Yeah.

    20. GBGaston Bolanos40:09

        And I don't think I told... I even told him that, but-

    21. JRJoe Rogan40:10

        Is this something that you read how to do or is this something that someone coached you how to do?

    22. GBGaston Bolanos40:15

        Actually, my ex-wife taught me how to do that.

    23. JRJoe Rogan40:18

        (laughs)

    24. KFKirian Fitzgibbons40:18

        (laughs)

    25. GBGaston Bolanos40:19

        Funny enough, uh-

    26. JRJoe Rogan40:21

        Ugh.

    27. GBGaston Bolanos40:21

        Yeah, she taught me how to do that. And I, I just like... I thought I was like, "She's fucking bullshitting." Anyways, I tried it and-

    28. JRJoe Rogan40:26

        Did you try it after you got divorced?

    29. GBGaston Bolanos40:28

        Yeah.

    30. JRJoe Rogan40:28

        That's hilarious.
12. 54:49 – 1:04:23

    Weight cutting, hydration testing, and safer rehydration protocols

    1. GBGaston Bolanos54:49

       That's, that's one thing, like, I don't think, like, some people, like, realize. Like, yeah, okay, you made the weight. You only cut in, like, seven, eight pounds, like, th- the night before.

    2. JRJoe Rogan54:57

       Mm-hmm.

    3. GBGaston Bolanos54:58

       But when you're depleting your body throughout, like, that camp-

    4. KFKirian Fitzgibbons55:01

       ... yeah.

    5. GBGaston Bolanos55:01

       I think I, I can definitely... You know, people ask me all the time, "Hey, are you gonna go to bantamweight?" I'm like, "Fuck, no, man." I like, I like, feeling good throughout my camp.

    6. KFKirian Fitzgibbons55:08

       What do you walk around at?

    7. GBGaston Bolanos55:10

       Like, 162.

    8. KFKirian Fitzgibbons55:11

       Oh, that's not too bad.

    9. GBGaston Bolanos55:12

       And that's two- and that's what people tell me.

    10. KFKirian Fitzgibbons55:14

        17 pounds-ish.

    11. GBGaston Bolanos55:14

        That's what people tell me. They're, "Oh, you could probably make bantamweight." And I was like, "Yeah, man." But, like, I like to feel strong physically-

    12. KFKirian Fitzgibbons55:20

        Yeah.

    13. GBGaston Bolanos55:20

        ... mentally strong throughout my camp then only cut, like, eight to 10 pounds.

    14. KFKirian Fitzgibbons55:25

        Yeah. We, we don't, we don't cut a lot of weight at CSA. I, I don't.

    15. GBGaston Bolanos55:28

        Smart.

    16. KFKirian Fitzgibbons55:29

        I don't, I don't like it. I don't want it. And I... And, uh, part of it is, you know, I got this kid knocked out.

    17. GBGaston Bolanos55:33

        (laughs)

    18. KFKirian Fitzgibbons55:33

        I'm telling you right now, I got... It was my... As a coach, you have to own it. It was my fault. Fight week, I'm gonna take five extra pounds off of this kid-

    19. GBGaston Bolanos55:41

        Mm-hmm.

    20. KFKirian Fitzgibbons55:41

        ... you know-

    21. GBGaston Bolanos55:42

        Right.

    22. KFKirian Fitzgibbons55:42

        ... just because he's not gonna fight? Okay, then we don't fight.

    23. GBGaston Bolanos55:45

        Right.

    24. KFKirian Fitzgibbons55:46

        You learn as you go.

    25. GBGaston Bolanos55:47

        Right.

    26. KFKirian Fitzgibbons55:47

        Um, so no, I, I, I have a, you know, 10% rule. I'll, I'll pull you if-

    27. GBGaston Bolanos55:51

        I like what-

    28. KFKirian Fitzgibbons55:52

        ... you know.

    29. GBGaston Bolanos55:52

        ... ONE FC is doing. You know, we had Ben Askren in here and he was explaining how ONE A- ONE FC does these hydration tests.

    30. KFKirian Fitzgibbons55:59

        Mm-hmm.

Episode duration: 2:29:07