JRE MMA Show #54 with Din Thomas

1. 0:00 – 15:00

   ... four, three, two,…

   1. JRJoe Rogan0:00

      ... four, three, two, one. Dude, I didn't even get a picture of you. I ought to get a picture. Would you go with a, the blowtorch or the samurai sword in front of the flag? What do you think?

   2. DTDin Thomas0:09

      Um, I don't know. What does everybody else do?

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:12

      (clicks tongue) They mix it up. Some, some folks go blowtorch. It's that Elon Musk blowtorch.

   4. DTDin Thomas0:17

      I'm going Elon Musk.

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:19

      That's a good move.

   6. DTDin Thomas0:19

      Yeah, I, yeah-

   7. JRJoe Rogan0:20

      I like that.

   8. DTDin Thomas0:20

      You know, why wouldn't ... I want to be like E- Elon Musk.

   9. JRJoe Rogan0:22

      (laughs)

   10. DTDin Thomas0:23

       You know what I'm saying? That's, it's-

   11. JRJoe Rogan0:24

       I don't want to be that smart.

   12. DTDin Thomas0:25

       Why not?

   13. JRJoe Rogan0:26

       I think that's bad for you.

   14. DTDin Thomas0:28

       Nah.

   15. JRJoe Rogan0:29

       When I was talking to him, and, you know, like one of the ... There was a moment where I said, like, "What's it like being you?" And he's like, (clicks tongue) "It's not easy." (laughs) Like, he was l- it was like talking about, like, the thoughts that are bouncing around in his head. I think his head is like a, like a runaway train. Like, his, his brain's just constantly going.

   16. DTDin Thomas0:45

       Well, yeah, I mean, but, but to be that smart, man, you can come up with anything. You could make anything-

   17. JRJoe Rogan0:50

       Yeah.

   18. DTDin Thomas0:50

       ... to make things work for you in life.

   19. JRJoe Rogan0:52

       Well, that is true, I guess. I guess. I don't know, man. I want a little peace and quiet.

   20. DTDin Thomas0:58

       What, like-

   21. JRJoe Rogan0:59

       I like being kinda dumb.

   22. DTDin Thomas1:00

       Do you really?

   23. JRJoe Rogan1:01

       And just relax.

   24. DTDin Thomas1:01

       'Cause ignorance is bliss. You can just say that.

   25. JRJoe Rogan1:03

       Just, oh, you can just kick back and relax sometimes, you know? I don't ... Sometimes I just like to come home, put the headphones on, just lay back on the couch and listen to music. Just, just listen to some music. I don't wanna think about having to fix the environment.

   26. DTDin Thomas1:16

       Yeah. I mean, I, I see that too. I mean, I'm the same way. Don't get ... I'm an introvert, so, like, don't get me twisted.

   27. JRJoe Rogan1:21

       Are you really?

   28. DTDin Thomas1:21

       Yeah.

   29. JRJoe Rogan1:22

       Really?

   30. DTDin Thomas1:22

       Yeah.
2. 15:00 – 30:00

   Just the fact that…

   1. DTDin Thomas15:00

      I mean, but here it is.

   2. JRJoe Rogan15:00

      Just the fact that ... Here's Arlovski. This is, (coughs) this is, like, I want to say this was UFC fucking 37 or some shit. Boom. Look at that.

   3. DTDin Thomas15:12

      Oh, yeah. That was straight down the pike.

   4. JRJoe Rogan15:13

      S- yeah. Sh- show that again real quick. Look at this. Boom. I mean, just the timing, the precision. He was a fucking savage back then.

   5. DTDin Thomas15:25

      Yeah, that was s- yeah.

   6. JRJoe Rogan15:27

      (coughs)

   7. DTDin Thomas15:27

      You couldn't really do it better than that.

   8. JRJoe Rogan15:28

      People forgot about him.

   9. DTDin Thomas15:29

      Yeah, yeah.

   10. JRJoe Rogan15:29

       He was, he was the scariest fucking heavyweight on the planet for a while.

   11. DTDin Thomas15:33

       I mean, and he had a, you know, you gotta respect his career because he's-

   12. JRJoe Rogan15:35

       Yeah.

   13. DTDin Thomas15:35

       ... done a lot.

   14. JRJoe Rogan15:36

       And he's still good.

   15. DTDin Thomas15:37

       Yeah, yeah. And he's still-

   16. JRJoe Rogan15:38

       He's still good. He beats Drew-

   17. DTDin Thomas15:38

       He's still competitive.

   18. JRJoe Rogan15:39

       ... just like a year ago.

   19. DTDin Thomas15:39

       He's still competitive, yeah.

   20. JRJoe Rogan15:41

       I mean, he loves to fight.

   21. DTDin Thomas15:42

       Yeah.

   22. JRJoe Rogan15:42

       He still, he, he still fights with enthusiasm.

   23. DTDin Thomas15:45

       Yeah.

   24. JRJoe Rogan15:45

       He just can't get his body to do what it used to do.

   25. DTDin Thomas15:49

       Yeah, i- in the gym, like, it took him a while for him to kind of lighten up a bit. I remember he'd come in the gym. You know, he's, you know, he's got that, that Russian, that scary Russian look to him.

   26. JRJoe Rogan15:57

       Yeah, yeah.

   27. DTDin Thomas15:57

       And he'd come in the gym and wouldn't say nothing to nobody.

   28. JRJoe Rogan16:00

       Yeah.

   29. DTDin Thomas16:00

       But now he's a, now he smiles.

   30. JRJoe Rogan16:02

       Well, that's cool.
3. 30:00 – 45:00

   Yeah. …

   1. JRJoe Rogan30:00

      he, you know, he's training overseas with, you know, he trains with Ilir Latifi who's really good.

   2. DTDin Thomas30:05

      Yeah.

   3. JRJoe Rogan30:06

      But I mean, does he have world class coaching over there? I mean, does he, does he have world class sparring partners, people that recognize patterns?

   4. DTDin Thomas30:13

      So, yeah, so that's, that's what I think too is it in Europe, and somebody mentioned this to me couple, couple months ago, is that in Europe the coaches are better.

   5. JRJoe Rogan30:21

      Really?

   6. DTDin Thomas30:22

      And I don't necessarily think-

   7. JRJoe Rogan30:23

      How so?

   8. DTDin Thomas30:23

      ... that they're better, but they're more attentive.

   9. JRJoe Rogan30:26

      Hmm.

   10. DTDin Thomas30:27

       They're more attentive to their fighters, so they know... So if Gus were to leave his coaching te- his coaching staff, I think he'd be a worse fighter. I think he needs to keep his coaching staff, but maybe add something else to it.

   11. JRJoe Rogan30:37

       Well, he spent some time in Alliance.

   12. DTDin Thomas30:38

       Yeah.

   13. JRJoe Rogan30:38

       You know?

   14. DTDin Thomas30:38

       And I think he needs, he needed that.

   15. JRJoe Rogan30:40

       Yeah.

   16. DTDin Thomas30:40

       But what he might need are just better partners.

   17. JRJoe Rogan30:43

       Mm-hmm.

   18. DTDin Thomas30:43

       He might just need a few better guys to give him some different looks.But I think that the coaching staff, or the, his coaching staff is fine. I've worked with some of them before, 'cause L- L- L- Latifi used to come to The Top Team, and I met all them guys. They're smart, and they're more attentive to their guys than American coaches.

   19. JRJoe Rogan30:59

       Hmm.

   20. DTDin Thomas31:00

       American coaches sometimes, just, "All right. Go ahead, roll. Go ahead. Do what you gotta do." There's a bunch of good guys in the room. I don't need to tell you nothing, you know?

   21. JRJoe Rogan31:06

       Hmm.

   22. DTDin Thomas31:06

       So, like, I think that's the biggest difference between, like, America and then, like, in Europe.

   23. JRJoe Rogan31:11

       They're more attentive.

   24. DTDin Thomas31:12

       More attentive.

   25. JRJoe Rogan31:12

       Do you think... What is, what's the reason for that? M-

   26. DTDin Thomas31:16

       Just not many, not many guys to work w- work with.

   27. JRJoe Rogan31:19

       Hmm. Right.

   28. DTDin Thomas31:19

       You know? So, um, you know, as... And you go to... The states here are so big, it's, you go to a room, there's one coach, 20 fighters.

   29. JRJoe Rogan31:26

       Right.

   30. DTDin Thomas31:27

       And the coach is just like, "Well, you guys are good. Go ahead, spar, and whoever's left, I'm gonna get you a fight."
4. 45:00 – 1:00:00

   It was a bad…

   1. DTDin Thomas45:00

      in a... Where was I? It was, uh, Justin Scoggins fought a kid just recently, and I think he got dropped from UFC from that loss.

   2. JRJoe Rogan45:06

      It was a bad decision.

   3. DTDin Thomas45:07

      Oh, it was a terrible de- I'm thinking, "Oh, yeah." I went, in fact, I left to get something to drink because I was like, "Oh, he won that." And he-

   4. JRJoe Rogan45:12

      Scoggins got dropped?

   5. DTDin Thomas45:13

      Yeah. H- he just fought in, like, Japan or somewhere.

   6. JRJoe Rogan45:15

      Oh, yeah. He's good.

   7. DTDin Thomas45:17

      Yeah.

   8. JRJoe Rogan45:17

      He had a weird style too.

   9. DTDin Thomas45:18

      Yeah, yeah, yeah.

   10. JRJoe Rogan45:18

       Sideways, karate style, but can wrestle.

   11. DTDin Thomas45:20

       Yeah, sideways. He's like a small, like, Wonderboy that can wrestle.

   12. JRJoe Rogan45:22

       Yeah.

   13. DTDin Thomas45:22

       Yeah.

   14. JRJoe Rogan45:23

       Interesting, right?

   15. DTDin Thomas45:24

       Yeah. Well, they're all from the same area. Like, they do a lot of karate up in this Carolinas, I think.

   16. JRJoe Rogan45:27

       Yeah. That's interesting, right?

   17. DTDin Thomas45:27

       Yeah.

   18. JRJoe Rogan45:28

       Did you see that Robin Black breakdown of the dude... There's, I've always said that one thing that I used to see in sport karate and I used to see in taekwondo was sliding. Like, guys knew how to lift up that front leg and slide in.

   19. DTDin Thomas45:41

       Yeah.

   20. JRJoe Rogan45:41

       And it doesn't, I don't see that a lot in MMA, but if someone was good at it... There was, like, there was a guy that I used to train with, his name was Larry Jones. And Larry was a, he was tall. He was, like, 6'2", but his legs went up to his armpits, man. It was crazy.

   21. DTDin Thomas45:57

       (laughs) That's happened.

   22. JRJoe Rogan45:58

       This dude would just fuck people up with his front leg in taekwondo tournaments. He would just slide across. Bam!

   23. DTDin Thomas46:04

       Yeah.

   24. JRJoe Rogan46:04

       Just slide across. And people just didn't know what to do with that front leg. They were trying to figure out that front leg. And Robin Black, uh, see if you can find this. I think it's on his Instagram. This dude, I don't know who the guy is, I've never seen him fight before, but he slides in with a side kick, blam! Slides in again, blam! And then goes to the guy's face with a si- I mean, he's covering, like, 15 feet with his one leg up in the air and one leg down, just sliding in with his hips and his momentum.

   25. DTDin Thomas46:31

       Yeah. Well, see, that's a unique skill to have.

   26. JRJoe Rogan46:32

       Yeah.

   27. DTDin Thomas46:32

       And I gotta tell you, and like, when, when me and Tyron, when we first started training for the Wunderbo- Wunderboy fight, we couldn't find anybody that could do that really.

   28. JRJoe Rogan46:39

       Yeah.

   29. DTDin Thomas46:39

       And that's why a lot of people have problems with Wonderboy, because, "Oh yeah, I'll just get a bunch of guys that can strike." But his striking is different.

   30. JRJoe Rogan46:46

       It's different.
5. 1:00:00 – 1:02:53

   Mm. …

   1. DTDin Thomas1:00:00

      in this game, really. More so than size. That's why I was saying about, like, cutting weight. Speed is key in this game, and a lot of people get exposed when they're not fast enough.

   2. JRJoe Rogan1:00:09

      Mm.

   3. DTDin Thomas1:00:10

      You know? Because... And I don't mean necessarily even just speed in physically, like, as heavyweight. Speed, physically, but, like, speed in decision-making.

   4. JRJoe Rogan1:00:16

      Right.

   5. DTDin Thomas1:00:16

      Speed... All that speed is key. And I don't think Megan Anderson's gonna be... have enough speed to deal with Amanda.

   6. JRJoe Rogan1:00:22

      Well, you also have to think that Megan Anderson, when she fought Holly Holm, that was her UFC debut, right? And that is... that octagon shot-

   7. DTDin Thomas1:00:30

      Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

   8. JRJoe Rogan1:00:30

      ... is legit as fuck.

   9. DTDin Thomas1:00:31

      We've all had it. (laughs)

   10. JRJoe Rogan1:00:33

       Yeah, you see the-

   11. DTDin Thomas1:00:34

       We've all had it.

   12. JRJoe Rogan1:00:35

       You see that moment where the bright lights hit you for the first time and you're like, "Whoa."

   13. DTDin Thomas1:00:39

       Yeah.

   14. JRJoe Rogan1:00:39

       And then also, her first fight is against Holly fucking Holm?

   15. DTDin Thomas1:00:42

       I know, yeah.

   16. JRJoe Rogan1:00:42

       I'm like, "Jesus Christ."

   17. DTDin Thomas1:00:43

       Yeah.

   18. JRJoe Rogan1:00:44

       I mean, that's as experienced as you get. I mean, Holly is... she's... What was she, like, an 18-time world boxing champion? Some ridiculous shit like that.

   19. DTDin Thomas1:00:52

       Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, she's, yeah, she was, like, 27-2, was a boxer.

   20. JRJoe Rogan1:00:56

       She had-

   21. DTDin Thomas1:00:56

       Yeah.

   22. JRJoe Rogan1:00:56

       One of the... Uh, until Amanda knocked out Cyborg, she had the greatest highlight reel KO in a championship fight.

   23. DTDin Thomas1:01:02

       Well...

   24. JRJoe Rogan1:01:03

       Yeah, in a championship fight. Because I think that, uh, Jessica Andrade, when, um, she knocked out-

   25. DTDin Thomas1:01:10

       Karolina.

   26. JRJoe Rogan1:01:10

       Karolina Kowalkiewicz.

   27. DTDin Thomas1:01:12

       Yeah.

   28. JRJoe Rogan1:01:12

       Yeah, th- that was... that was a bigger knockout than Holly Holm's-

   29. DTDin Thomas1:01:17

       Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right, right.

   30. JRJoe Rogan1:01:17

       ... 'cause that was, like, one... Well, not bigger. It was right up there.

Episode duration: 2:53:36