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The Joe Rogan ExperienceThe Joe Rogan Experience

JRE MMA Show #39 with Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone

Joe sits down with UFC fighter Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone.

Donald "Cowboy" CerroneguestJoe Roganhost
Aug 29, 20182h 35mWatch on YouTube ↗

At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Cowboy Cerrone Exposes Gym Politics, Near-Death Dive, and Wild Life

  1. Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone joins Joe Rogan to unpack his public split from the Jackson-Wink MMA gym, describing how money, loyalty, and internal mismanagement led to a profound falling out before his Mike Perry fight.
  2. He details what he sees as the decline of one of MMA’s top teams into a “puppy mill,” why he built his own BMF Ranch facility, and how he struggles balancing being both fighter and self-coach.
  3. Cerrone also recounts a terrifying, almost fatal cave-diving incident, his first DMT experience, and his addiction to high-risk adrenaline pursuits like skydiving, racing, and mounted shooting.
  4. Throughout, they riff on parenting, toughness, psychedelics, hunting ethics, flat-earth conspiracies, sexuality, and the limits of acceptable language in today’s culture.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Loyalty clashes with money in high-level MMA gyms.

Cerrone feels betrayed that Jackson-Wink chose to corner newcomer Mike Perry against him, arguing that Winkeljohn prioritized a paying client over a decade-plus of loyalty and confidential fighter knowledge.

Gym culture and quality control can make or break fighter development.

He criticizes Jackson-Wink for letting almost anyone train and even coach, turning what was once an elite, tightly controlled room into a chaotic environment where unknowns can injure pros and real instruction suffers.

Elite fighters still need a ‘general,’ not just talent and facilities.

Running his own BMF Ranch forced Cerrone to be both fighter and program director; he stresses how much high-level athletes need objective coaches to set structure, throttle training, and make hard decisions for them.

Staying calm in chaos is a literal survival skill.

His cave-diving story—getting lost in total blackout silt and nearly running out of air—shows how panic compounds danger; methodical breathing, self-talk, and tracking time/air are what ultimately got him out alive.

Psychedelics can reframe fear and priorities for high-risk performers.

Cerrone’s DMT trip made his injuries glow on an ‘out-of-body’ version of himself and allowed him to question his fears and motives, opening the door to mushrooms and a different way of evaluating risk and life.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

“It’s turned into like a puppy mill. It’s all about money now and not the old Jackson.”

— Donald Cerrone

“The relationship between a coach and a fighter is very intimate… for someone to violate that in that way?”

— Joe Rogan

“I’m supposed to be just a soldier. How come I have to be the general and the soldier?”

— Donald Cerrone

“Panic kills everybody involved.”

— Donald Cerrone

“I’m gonna fight till I don’t love it anymore.”

— Donald Cerrone

Cerrone’s conflict and breakup with Jackson-Wink MMA and Mike WinkeljohnThe erosion of gym culture: from elite fight team to commercial “puppy mill”Building and training at the BMF Ranch; need for real coaching leadershipNear-death cave-diving experience and risk addictionPsychedelics (DMT, mushrooms) and how they reshape fear and perspectiveParenting, toughness, and modern ‘nerfed’ cultureFuture plans: fighting at 155, promoting amateur events, acting, and racingDebates over language (slurs), sexuality, and social-media outrage

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