JRE MMA Show #65 with Corey Anderson

Joe Rogan 0:02 Three, one, boom. (fingers snapping) Corey Anderson, ladies and gentlemen. What's up? How are you, man?

Corey Anderson 0:06 What's going on, Joey? What's good?

Joe Rogan 0:07 We finally did it.

Corey Anderson 0:08 Finally did it. We here.

Joe Rogan 0:09 Yeah. And, uh, got some TechnoHunt in as well.

Corey Anderson 0:11 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 0:11 That, that... I told you about that game.

Corey Anderson 0:13 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 0:13 That game is very addictive, isn't it?

Corey Anderson 0:15 I'm already re- trying to get back out there to do some more when this is over, so-

Joe Rogan 0:17 I know. You get itchy, right?

Corey Anderson 0:18 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 0:19 Yeah. No, it's amazing, man. That, that game is incredible. How long you been bow hunting for?

Corey Anderson 0:23 I've been bow hunting since I was 16 or 17, but I've been hunting my whole life.

Joe Rogan 0:28 Wow. What switched you over to bow hunting?

Corey Anderson 0:30 Uh, my high school teammate, actually. I used to go rabbit hunting and stuff with a shotgun, and I've been shooting a bow since I was, like, 12 or 11, just 3D shooting. He's like, "You ever been bowhunting?" I went like, "You can hunt with this?" He's like, "Yeah." Like, "We go hunting all the time." So one day before school, he picked me up and, like, we went over to my buddy's house and got up in the stand. Well, he got in the stand. I couldn't climb 'cause I didn't know what I was doing. I got stuck at the bottom (laughs) of the tree-

Joe Rogan 0:52 (laughs)

Corey Anderson 0:52 ... sitting there with my bow in my lap, so... But that was my first time, and after that I just kept going. And every now and then in between practices and whatnot, but now when I got time between fighting and whatnot, I'm all hunting. That's it.

Joe Rogan 1:03 Oh, I can tell by your Instagram, man.

Corey Anderson 1:05 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 1:05 I follow your Instagram. All... You're, you're constantly shooting and hunting and practicing, and s- it's- it gets in your blood.

Corey Anderson 1:12 I mean, it's just like fighting. Like I said, we were doing TechnoHunt is... I do it so much, it's just muscle memory. And like everybody think, "Oh, you spend too much time hunting, you're not training." When I go win a fight, and they're like, "Oh, that was impressive." Like, I still train two, three times a day, but I get home from the gym and my... I always have a bow in my truck. I have three bows and one is always in my truck. So I pull up, pop the doors open, grab my speaker, and the targets is right there. Get like 30 to 60 shots and then go in, spend time with the family, eat, go back to the gym, come... go to the range and shoot indoors when it's dark. And I'm always shooting, I just enjoy it.

Joe Rogan 1:42 Wow. So is it like a part of meditation for you, do you think?

Corey Anderson 1:46 100%. Coming off the OSP fight, that was actually the first time I hunted in Jersey. I've been in Jersey since 2014 when the show came out. And after OSP fight and all that stuff, and everybody told me like, "Don't pay atten-... You was winning that fight, you got caught. Don't let the people get in your head and tell you you're not there." So actually next day I went home, I went and bought my hunting license and bought a stand and hunted in Jersey for the first time, and that helped me. I didn't think about it all. From November to February 1st I was in a tree stand every day. And when I went back to training, like full camp with everything, my mind, I fou- forgot all about that OSP fight. And that's when I told my wife, "I found my balance." You know, the thing was-

Joe Rogan 2:20 Wow.

Corey Anderson 2:20 ... I was always in the gym and that's why the name 25VIII came because Corey never... At the time I didn't do anything else but train. You know, I would train, to go to the gym and train, to go to therapy, go back to the gym and train, go home, run, go to the garage, hit the heavy bag, go to Mark Henry's hit pads, and go train again. So like I was telling Will on the way here, when I first went to UFC, and now they say, "Oh, Corey's grew, he's gotten bigger." Like, I've always been a big guy. I was 300 pounds one time. But when I got down to 205, I always told myself, "I don't wanna get heavier than, like, 210, 212." So every day I had like a goal, I wanted to end the day off no heavier than 212. So if I was like 215 from eating too much and it's 10 o'clock at night, I gotta lace up and go for a run. So I was all... Every morning I wake up at 2:10. So that's why I took the fights like Jan Blachowicz on two, three weeks notice, Fabio Maldonado in Brazil on a week notice, 'cause I didn't have to cut weight. It was like, "Okay, just go." But when I got to Jimmy Manuel and he told me at the bar, he's like, "Bro, you're a good fighter. You're just too small." Like, I weighed in Friday, and Saturday I stepped in the cage looking the exact same. I gained like six pounds. And he told me, "You gotta eat. You gotta feed yourself." And after I did that, that was probably the best advice I ever got from a fighter, 'cause now I walk around like 235 and I feel great. Like, the last, well, fight with Glover on two weeks notice I was 236. I got the weight off and hydrated right back up and felt fine, fantastic, and went out there and did my thing, because I te- treat my body right now.

Joe Rogan 3:40 So you're 236 up until like how far out of the fight?

Corey Anderson 3:44 I try to stay at least 230, 231 until like two weeks out, then I start tapering down to like 225 area and just get 20 pounds of water off. Lot of water, drinking the water load. And then Tuesday is the first day I hit it hard and just start trimming down.

Joe Rogan 3:59 So you feel like that extra pounds helps you in what way?

Corey Anderson 4:04 It's recovery, as with getting rocked as well. Like, that was the thing in college, my coach was always training in wrestling, "We're gonna go a whole practice, nobody go get a water. If I see anybody go to the water fountain, we doing sprints, whatever, that mean you weak." You know, and it was great, 'cause we train, and then on the mat you see guys gasping for water. In third period-

Joe Rogan 4:21 Mm-hmm.

Corey Anderson 4:21 ... we all standing tall, ready to go. And I had that same mentality when it came to fighting, 'cause you gotta think, "Now we're taking blows to the head, so I gotta keep water, keep that brain hydrated." 'Cause if I'm dehydrated, that one shot, it's lights out. You don't have anything-

Joe Rogan 4:32 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 4:33 ... to help take it. So it's like, like I said, after OSP fight and the hunting and everything, I just went back and did a lot of figuring things out before that Pat Cummins fight, and I just knew what I had to do to be the best me. And, uh, it's like I said, getting bigger, stronger, not worrying about keeping my weight low. The weight gonna come off. It's gonna be hard sometimes, but it's gonna come off, you know? But that's one... I will not miss weight. If I gotta kill myself, I'ma end up in the hospital before I miss weight. So putting all that together, now I feel like I have the recipe.

Joe Rogan 5:00 So the recipe was, um... Did you start weightlifting? Like, what did you do to pack on the extra weight?

Corey Anderson 5:06 Yeah, um, weightlifting was a big thing, big key to my brother first before I had the strength and conditioning coaches that was on board. Uh, my coach before was great for cardio, same guy Frank Yeager had. And we had cond- cardio... And we were getting strong, but it wasn't like size building strong. It was like-

Joe Rogan 5:19 Mm-hmm.

Corey Anderson 5:20 ... mobility, strength to punch and keep the cardio up. Then my brother, he had a contract to play pro ball back in, what, like 2000 or whatever, so he knew like all the combine lifts and whatever. He hit me up and said, "Bro, we gotta get bigger. Like, we gotta... You, you, you're dominant. Like you... Look at these guys you fight, they say you're gonna lose, and you go out there and you dominate. And you're small, so imagine if you put the size on and you got the power, you're... you can dominate these guys for real." So he flew out, like, "I'll fly y'all for a week. You put me on the right diet, and how y'all lifted in NFL camps or whatnot, and we'll get stronger." So he literally had me on compound lifts every day, eating... Like I said, I got the freezer full of deer meat. He's like, "You got all the stuff you need. You got protein right here. Have Jenny go grab..." My wife, "Go grab rice and potatoes and you just eat meat, potatoes, rice. You eat eggs with meat, potatoes and rice. Everything you eat, put meat, potatoes and rice in everything. And you're gonna get that size, I promise you, and the strength and everything will come."And sure enough, I just saw it. I went from, like... After the... This was after the Jimmy fight, he showed up. And it worked out as well. I met my, uh, supplement sponsor, but we went out to the buffet. Like, all right, we had a good workout. We're gonna eat the buffet, eat as much... We carve up. And actually while I was there, I found the nutrition owner of my supplement company. He was like, "You're Corey Anderson, right?" Like, "I'm a huge fan. I would love to work with you." My brother said, "That's... Made it happen." Protein, right there. Get a bottle of protein from him. We're gonna start mixing this in with your meat, potatoes, and rice. Protein shake instantly. And he's put me on a whole plan. And when he left, he left me a whole little list on the refrigerator and I still got it there and it... I don't need it anymore, but that's the thing. You eat your meat, potatoes, and rice. Four or five eggs in the morning. Just got a cup of rice, put some venison or hog, whatever meat I'm using that day, and then put some vegetables and a little bit of potatoes or something. Get a big old meal, carve it up, then go hit the gym. Then when you're done, kill your protein shake, come home. Meat, potatoes, rice, do it again.

Joe Rogan 7:02 How much difference is your diet doing this than it was before?

Corey Anderson 7:06 I mean, it's cra-... You can ask my teammates now and they say, "We c-... We seen the difference of how big you got." Even Mark Henry. I was hitting mitts the other day for the first time with him in probably, like, a couple weeks or whatever in his basement. And I was still moving fast and everything. Like, "Bro, you got huge." (laughs) Like...

Joe Rogan 7:19 (laughs)

Corey Anderson 7:19 I was like, "I just started lifting and eating, Coach."

Joe Rogan 7:21 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 7:21 You know? So I used to work with

Joe Rogan 7:23 So you were probably holding yourself back before?

Corey Anderson 7:25 Oh, yeah. 100%.

Joe Rogan 7:26 Yeah. Yeah. And then probably draining yourself too much by... All that weight cutting and all that, uh, you know, getting it down before the, the actual fight itself.

Corey Anderson 7:33 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 7:33 All the r- extra running and everything.

Corey Anderson 7:35 Like even on the show, like we would finish eating, and this is when I found out you can cut weight in a hot tub. I didn't know this because I fought heavyweight before The Ultimate Fighter. The guy's like, "Oh, you can lose weight in a hot tub." I was like, "What?" And everybody was sitting in the hot tub for, like, 40, 50 minutes and I get out, I lost all my weight. I'm at 206. They go, "This is great." So we eat a bunch. Like, even one day Frankie and the coaches brought In and Out Burgers over (laughs) you know, we ate and watched the fights and I just sat in this hot tub for, like, 40 minutes and got all the weight off, down to 210. Like, "I'm where I wanna be." They're like, "Bro, you can get up some." I'm like, "Nah, because we fight, we never know when we're gonna fight. He wins tomorrow on Tuesday, I might be fighting Thursday. I don't wanna have to worry about that." I was always scared of the weight cut because I wrestle-

Joe Rogan 8:09 Right. But if, if you're getting in the sauna and, or getting in the hot tub and losing all that weight, that's just water weight though, right?

Corey Anderson 8:15 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 8:15 Like, even if you're down, like, where you wanna be, you're still gonna have to cut more water-

Corey Anderson 8:19 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 8:19 ... to get to where you need to be, to 205.

Corey Anderson 8:22 To get... Yeah. But you can ask my wife, I have the worst... Not now, but before, I didn't know anything about nutrition because I wrestled heavyweight from freshman year in high school-

Joe Rogan 8:29 Ah.

Corey Anderson 8:29 ... to my senior year in college. And I fought heavyweight until The Ultimate Fighter. So I never had to worry about the diet. You know, I used to eat ramen noodles. I remember moving in my first time fighting, Ben Askren took me up to Rufusport and I moved in a fighter house and everybody eating, like, chicken fillets and salmon. I came in with a big old box of ramen and a thing of chunky noodle soup.

Joe Rogan 8:47 (laughs)

Corey Anderson 8:47 I was like, "What are you doing?" Like, "This is, this is how I eat." "Like, bro, that's not gonna work." "What do you mean? Like, I train every day and I eat this same stuff." Eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast and they all cooking like, "Yo, that's, that's not healthy." Like, "It works for me." But then when it came time to go to 205 the first time, I was like, "Oh, this, this isn't working for me. (laughs) I have to figure something out."

Joe Rogan 9:05 What did you feel the difference between, like, eating nonsense like ramen and then eating healthy food? Like, what was the big shift?

Corey Anderson 9:12 You just have more energy, really.

Joe Rogan 9:14 Right.

Corey Anderson 9:14 You know, because in wrestling, that's how we ate. You know, definitely in college, you ain't got no money.

Joe Rogan 9:18 Mm-hmm.

Corey Anderson 9:18 We go to Walmart on Saturday, Sunday, get a big old box of ramen.

Joe Rogan 9:22 Mm-hmm.

Corey Anderson 9:22 I used to get spaghetti sauce and just cook the noodles and put spaghetti sauce on. You know?

Joe Rogan 9:26 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 9:26 Um, canned soup right out the can. You're eating stuff like that, but you're training all day so it doesn't really get to stick in your body and you don't really feel the, the difference in energy because you never really ate clean. You're eating cafeteria food.

Joe Rogan 9:37 Right.

Corey Anderson 9:37 It's packed with grease.

Joe Rogan 9:39 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 9:39 But now it's like we got meal prep companies and stuff out there and you try all that different stuff. And then my wife fights too, so she fought, like, 120 so she was always dieting. So when she's cutting weight, I would eat clean and I would notice a difference in my energy. Like, I wake up a lot earlier, I can go longer that day. At the end of the night, I'm not crashing. I, like, I peacefully put myself in bed, watch TV and fall asleep. But when you got all that sugar and all that stuff in you, you feel like crap. By the end of the day, you're kind of like, you're just fighting. Y- you don't have control anymore, so...

Joe Rogan 10:05 Well, you also have the advantage of the best protein. The fact that you have, you, you... How many deer did you say you shot last year?

Corey Anderson 10:10 Thirteen.

Joe Rogan 10:10 (laughs) That's a lot of protein.

Corey Anderson 10:12 That's a lot of protein.

Joe Rogan 10:13 A lot of clean, wild protein.

Corey Anderson 10:15 And I didn't... I got half that meat still in Texas that I never got... Actually, Justin Gaethje got it and I heard they... We went hunting together one time, me, Gaethje and his coach, Lu- Calillo, whatever. And we put the meat-

Joe Rogan 10:26 Canillo.

Corey Anderson 10:26 Oh, I don't know how to say his last name.

Joe Rogan 10:27 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 10:27 But they put the meat in the same place and we said, "Some of this goes to Corey, and the other part go to Justin." But they sent all of it down to Justin at his camp.

Joe Rogan 10:35 Uh-huh.

Corey Anderson 10:35 Besides, I had a freezer full anyway. I had no space.

Joe Rogan 10:37 Yeah. He's another one. Ray Borg, he's another. He bow hunts. Chad Mendes bow hunts. TJ Dillashaw bow hunts. Uh, and we, we could probably keep going down the line. There's a lot of, uh, pro fighters who bow hunt.

Corey Anderson 10:49 Well, let's put it out there before we get too far. Justin hunts but he can't bow hunt.

Joe Rogan 10:53 He can't?

Corey Anderson 10:53 We had (laughs) him with a crossbow on a ranch (laughs) and we pushed...

Joe Rogan 10:57 (laughs)

Corey Anderson 10:57 Like, everybody that got him, he kept missing. We put him in a corner, like, "All right, we're gonna all, like, drive them to you."

Joe Rogan 11:02 Uh-huh.

Corey Anderson 11:02 "So all you gotta do is be ready, bro. Just shoot." (laughs) Somehow all these big old deer come and he still missed. Like, they was probably 10 yards, 10 to 15 yards. He missed, like-

Joe Rogan 11:12 With a crossbow?

Corey Anderson 11:13 With a crossbow. Like, "Bro, how the hell did you miss? Like, you can't shoot." Then they went to another ranch and the guy gave him a gun. Like, "You wanna do a gun instead?" He killed it with a gun, but-

Joe Rogan 11:22 He has a... His vision's not the best, right?

Corey Anderson 11:24 No.

Joe Rogan 11:25 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 11:25 That's something with what is wrong... With his vision and, and his energy. You know, he's kind of... I mean, he's a great guy. He's-

Joe Rogan 11:31 His energy?

Corey Anderson 11:31 Not, like, bad energy. Kind of, like, focused. That's what I mean.

Joe Rogan 11:34 Oh, well, focused, yeah.

Corey Anderson 11:34 Like, it's hard for him to, like, sit still. Like, we in the trees... Or in the, uh, this loft (laughs) and he's like shadow boxing. So, like, "Bro, you gotta chill." (laughs)

Joe Rogan 11:43 (laughs)

Corey Anderson 11:43 "Calm down. We hunting." But...

Joe Rogan 11:45 Some people can't hang out in the stand.

Corey Anderson 11:47 They can't.

Joe Rogan 11:48 The stand is hard for them. It's harder for them than just b- s- spot and stalk just walking the mountains for all day.

Corey Anderson 11:54 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 11:54 It's easier for them than to just stay put and do nothing.

Corey Anderson 11:57 Yeah. It's the sitting there quiet, you know?

Joe Rogan 11:59 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 12:00 Um, I went with a buddy, we went turkey hunting. This was my first week of turkey hunting this year.And he's never hunted before. He's actually my archery partner and I taught him how to shoot bow, like, 15 weeks ago. And he's actually got pretty good. He was hitting, like, all bullseyes in the league, and he's like, "I wanna go hunting with you." So he sat in the blind. And I told him we was going out there, like, "Bro, when we get out here, you gotta... You can't move. Like, we in the blind, but that one window, the turkeys can see us. Make sure if you're moving, they gonna see you. And they got good hearings too, so you gotta chill out." So I'm like, "I'm gonna put the decoys up, just sit down." (laughs) I turn around, he like walking around like, "What are you doing?" Like, "I'm, I'm covering the blind." I figure, like, little bitty twigs, he putting across the... (laughs)

Joe Rogan 12:33 (laughs)

Corey Anderson 12:33 Like, "Bro, we don't have time to blend in." He's like, "I've seen it on YouTube, like get in the blind." I was like, "Bro-"

Joe Rogan 12:36 I've seen it on YouTube.

Corey Anderson 12:37 (laughs) I was like, "Bro, get in the blind." "Does it work? Does it work?" I'm like, uh... Like, we not, we not killing anything. He in there talking like, "Call, call. Use a call." Like-

Joe Rogan 12:45 (laughs) Use a call.

Corey Anderson 12:46 (laughs) Like, "Bro, I already called." I was like, "Do it again. Do it." I was like-

Joe Rogan 12:49 They get bored.

Corey Anderson 12:50 Yeah. It's like, exactly. He just... Attention span. Some people don't-

Joe Rogan 12:53 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 12:53 They can't sit there. I can sit there for a whole day from sunup to sundown, I'm fine with it. I'm fine. Peace. Just listen to the birds and watch the animals. I have my phone, check my phone every once in a while, but some people, they, they don't have that peace. They need to be talking or doing things.

Joe Rogan 13:08 Yeah, that's real ADD, right?

Corey Anderson 13:09 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 13:10 Yeah. It, it's a, it's, it's a weird mental exercise, just sit there and do nothing and just wait for an animal to come to you. And it seems like it would be easy, but after a while it, it starts fucking with your head.

Corey Anderson 13:20 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 13:21 You know, it's-

Corey Anderson 13:22 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 13:22 ... it's a, it's a mental exercise.

Corey Anderson 13:24 The thing that's crazy, I can do that in a tree stand, but in college I couldn't focus on shit. Like if you-

Joe Rogan 13:29 In school?

Corey Anderson 13:29 Yeah. If I'm-

Joe Rogan 13:30 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 13:30 Even now, if I go to, like, a meeting or something and people are talking, I start dozing off.

Joe Rogan 13:34 (laughs)

Corey Anderson 13:34 Instantly. I can't sit there. But in that tree s- I can sit wide awake for hours and have no problem-

Joe Rogan 13:38 Also, in that tree stand, though, you're waiting for something. It's very specific. If you're doing something you don't wanna do, a guy like you who burns off so much energy in the day-

Corey Anderson 13:46 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 13:46 ... your body's probably like, "This is boring as fuck. Let's just nod out."

Corey Anderson 13:49 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 13:49 "Let's just-"

Corey Anderson 13:50 Pretty much. (snores)

Joe Rogan 13:51 "You've been training six hours a day," you know.

Corey Anderson 13:53 It's the s- it's the same way at home. I mean, my wife say, "You, you never stop moving, just hang out," you know.

Joe Rogan 13:57 (laughs)

Corey Anderson 13:57 Like y- do we always say, and I'll be babying, have my baby and I'm doing something with the camera.

Joe Rogan 14:01 Right.

Corey Anderson 14:01 Editing, head- editing my YouTube channel, so I can't just sit still 'cause I'll fall asleep. I have to do something. But, like, when it's time to just relax, she'll be like, "It's Sunday, we're just gonna sit here and watch TV." Sit down, five minutes in, I'm out.

Joe Rogan 14:12 (laughs)

Corey Anderson 14:12 She'll go, "What'd you think about the movie?" Like, "Huh?"

Joe Rogan 14:14 (laughs)

Corey Anderson 14:15 (laughs) Like, "My bad, babe, I fell asleep." (laughs)

Joe Rogan 14:17 Yeah. Well, if you're a guy who trains as much as you, I mean, every chance your body gets to actually rest, your body's probably like, "Right about now, it's a good time."

Corey Anderson 14:26 It is.

Joe Rogan 14:26 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 14:27 Doesn't take much. We get in the car, before we out the driveway-

Joe Rogan 14:29 (snorts)

Corey Anderson 14:29 ... she's driving. "Which way am I going?"

Joe Rogan 14:32 (laughs)

Corey Anderson 14:32 "Cor, huh? Oh, we ain't even out the driveway yet. My bad, babe." (laughs)

Joe Rogan 14:36 Well, the, a guy who works as hard as you do... Because one of the things that you and I are known for, man, is your cardio. You have crazy fucking cardio. And you notice it in fights, where around the second and the third round, I start seeing your opponent start to slow down a little bit. And then you ramp it, like Ilir Latifi is a perfect example. That was a great fight for you because that guy's a tank.

Corey Anderson 14:56 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 14:56 He's a tank, very scary dude, hits really fucking hard, strong as shit. But he's a, he's a guy that relies on that explosive power. He's like a sprinter in a lot of ways. And you can only do that for so long. And you could say, like, somewhere around the second round, it was real obvious that you weren't slowing down at all.

Corey Anderson 15:15 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 15:15 And he was taking some big, deep breaths, and it's just, it's harder for him. Have you always had that kinda cardio?

Corey Anderson 15:20 I mean, I got it in wrestling. Like I said, I was big, you know. I was, especially when I got to 300 pounds and I was still working cardio, trying to get down as a heavyweight to wrestle and be... I always study little guys' films, you know. Like, the Henri Cejudo films and shit like that.

Joe Rogan 15:34 Mm-hmm.

Corey Anderson 15:34 When I was in college, that's just what I watched. My coach would be like, "Watch heavyweights." And I'd be like, "Nah, I wanna move, I want footwork, I wanna fake, I wanna take shots."

Joe Rogan 15:41 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 15:41 Like, I led my team in takedowns as a heavyweight because I moved around as a big guy. And the same thing, I've had match... One match, the guy was beating me, what, 15 to one. He needed one more point to take me, going into the third point, but h- in the third round, but he gassed and I was still going. I came back and beat him in overtime.

Joe Rogan 15:57 Wow.

Corey Anderson 15:57 It's because I can just keep going. That was the mindset. Guys are gonna break eventually.

Joe Rogan 16:02 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 16:02 My coach always said, "Act fresh. Even if you're tired as dog shit, stand up and act fresh. Like, no matter what."

Joe Rogan 16:07 Mm-hmm.

Corey Anderson 16:07 "Look fresh." And you'll be surprised how your mind take over and you'll realize later on, you're not really tired. And when you're tired, keep pushing, 'cause the next time, you usually get tired around that three-minute mark, it'll make it to about the seven, eight minute.

Joe Rogan 16:19 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 16:19 Then it's like 15... You start doing those grind matches and you go 30 minutes lie and when it's done, I'm able to walk, shake coach's hand, and go grab another partner or go get on a treadmill. It's because we always push as a big guy. So you gotta imagine, when I came down to 205, it was like... (grunts)

Joe Rogan 16:33 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 16:34 It was crazy.

Joe Rogan 16:34 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 16:34 Like, "This is, this is like magic. I can do this all day, coach."

Joe Rogan 16:38 (laughs)

Corey Anderson 16:38 Five rounds, that first Jim... My five-round fight with Jimmy, when they called me, like, "Oh, it's the main event now. You gotta train six rounds." Like, "Okay." Like, we was in the middle of the cage, we did three rounds, Mark like, "You know you're doing six today?" "That's fine." Gave me three new partners, went, and they was tired and I was still good. Like, "Dude, your cardio's crazy." It's just a mental... Even when I'm tired, I never show it. It's like, I just gotta act fresh and get through it. It can only last so long.

Joe Rogan 16:59 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 16:59 My father told me that forever.

Joe Rogan 17:00 It is a weird thing, isn't it, that your, your mind can give you more energy. Like, you know that feeling that sometimes you're on a treadmill or something like that and you're running and a great song comes on. And all of a sudden you're like, "Whoo."

Corey Anderson 17:12 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 17:12 You, like, feel it, like, you got, like-

Corey Anderson 17:14 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 17:14 ... all of a sudden extra, like, where's that coming from?

Corey Anderson 17:16 Every time.

Joe Rogan 17:16 It's coming from your mind.

Corey Anderson 17:17 Your mind. That one beat, that uptempo beat-

Joe Rogan 17:19 Yes. Yes.

Corey Anderson 17:19 ... and your heart start pumping and you kinda start dancing while you're running.

Joe Rogan 17:22 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 17:22 And, like, h- three to five minutes, however long that song is, you, like, on a sprint.

Joe Rogan 17:26 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 17:26 Then once that song end, you like, "Ah."

Joe Rogan 17:28 Then you really feel it.

Corey Anderson 17:29 (laughs) Then the, the tone change, you're like, "Oh, shit, I'm tired again."

Joe Rogan 17:31 It's crazy, isn't it? That that's some... There's a switch in your mind that you almost, uh, like, you have to figure out where it is. You gotta go find it.

Corey Anderson 17:39 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 17:39 And a song can find it for you.

Corey Anderson 17:42 Yes.

Joe Rogan 17:42 But, like, for you just to be able to pull it out, like especially in a fight or something like that, when you're battling doubt and this and that and, you know, you're wondering how he's doing, you know, is he o- uh, is he tired? Am I on, uh, uh... Who's tireder, me or him? You know, and there's that switch in your mind, that if you could just access that all the time and keep it on.

Corey Anderson 18:01 One of the things I think... One of the guys I looked up to when I was in college, you know, he was passed, Steve Prefontaine. I used to watch his story all the time, his quotes. "To do anything..."W- anything less than your best is a waste of a gift, you know?

Joe Rogan 18:12 Hmm.

Corey Anderson 18:12 Like every d- he ran, he didn't... It's cross country, but guys trot, they pacin'. And every day he said, "I'm running to like I'm sprintin'." You know, like I watched all his movies, the movies on him, how his mindset... Even that one race when he was full out sprintin', and they say his heart's gonna give. He gave out right before the finish line. Like, I'd rather go out that way than pacing my whole, the whole time, and then try to sprint in and fail because I wasn't ready.

Joe Rogan 18:34 Hmm.

Corey Anderson 18:35 So that's like in my fight, I start off so fast, that's just, I'm going all out. You're not, there's no fill out period. We're gonna touch gloves and I'm ready to move. And I already know, like if I'm getting tired, I know this guy's getting tired-

Joe Rogan 18:46 Right.

Corey Anderson 18:46 ... 'cause he's not training like I'm training. And if he is training like I'm training, he might not be tired. But in my mind I'm thinking he's getting tired, so just keep pushing 'cause eventually he's gonna break. He's gonna break before me.

Joe Rogan 18:55 Now, do you have, uh, a system in terms of, like, your strength and conditioning program? Do you, do you, uh, have a schedule that you follow, like, f- like, s- very specifically for however many weeks you have before your fight?

Corey Anderson 19:08 When I get into fight camp, everything get really specific. Like I said to Ar- on the Ariel show, I'm, I'm calculating. When it's camp time, like, you don't mess with my order. Like, I'll be early. I have my bags packed night before. I have three, four training bags packed at the, right at the little ex- exit way. So when I come home, if I'm short, running short on time, running late, grab something to eat, grab the next bag, I'm about to do it. And I know where I gotta go. I hate when people have to cancel, they're like, "Oh, I can't make it today," or something came up, or I show up and my partner don't show up, you're not on time. I'm like, I'm on the guys, like I'm kinda like the leader of the big guys. Like, "We gonna be here early this week so we can start at 10:30 'cause I wanna do drills after. We're gonna do this. You need to work on that." I'm very punctual like that. I hate, you know, when it's camp time, if you're showing up late, I hate it. It kinda, it runs me rag... And I just, when we spar I kinda take it out on people. I just, I'm very calculated when it come to camp because this is my career, you know? I'm serious about this. I'm not showing up late. Like, I go to boxing gyms with guys and people are always, "Oh, we sparring at 6:00." So I show up at 5:45 or 6:45, they still not there. When they put, walk in like nothing's wrong, talking and dancing. I'm like, "Yo, you said 6:00, right? Like, you're a professional, ain't you? Well, quit acting like an amateur. Get here on time, let's go. This is your camp. I'm here to help you." Even that makes me mad. But when it's my camp and you show up, it's, it's not fun.

Joe Rogan 20:20 (laughs) .

Corey Anderson 20:20 Because I know I'm not gonna get tired, so I'm just gonna beat on you.

Joe Rogan 20:23 Who writes out your sched- do you write it out or do you just-

Corey Anderson 20:25 I do it myself.

Joe Rogan 20:25 ... know what it is? Do you, do you have it in your head or do you write it out?

Corey Anderson 20:28 I write it out.

Joe Rogan 20:28 You write it out?

Corey Anderson 20:28 At the beginning of camp. Well, I put, get like a notepad and I put how many weeks and I put it out. And I try to, early into it, like when I first start, I give like an idea of what I wanna do. So Tuesday, Thursday, strength and conditioning, or Monday, Friday, strength and conditioning before jujitsu with Ricardo. And then Tuesday and Thursdays I'm gonna do one-on-ones with Ricardo. On Wednesday, I'm gonna do my one-on-one with Nick Ettone. And then, (clears throat) excuse me, Tuesday night or Monday night I'm gonna do mitts with Mark. And then Saturday after sparring I do another mitt. Try to do two of everything, then I go up to Rutgers and wrestle 'cause in Jersey everything is such a commute. So you have the time everything perfect 'cause if practice goes 15 minutes past or whatever, or somebody's late, that's messing me up. 'Cause I gotta drive an hour to 45 minutes to get to the next place, and now I'm running late for that practice. Or if it's three practices in a row and I get there just a little bit right on time, I don't have time to get ready to do my full warmup to make sure my body's warm.

Joe Rogan 21:16 Hmm.

Corey Anderson 21:16 Then get to the next spot and do the same thing, now I'm rushing. Now it's nonstop. Now I gotta get home and grab something to eat quick. Or I gotta keep my food with me and it's getting cold, and this is... Like, I, um, very punctual and specific when it comes to stuff like that.

Joe Rogan 21:29 Do you meal prep? Do you have like, uh, little Tupperware-

Corey Anderson 21:33 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 21:33 ... containers with your food?

Corey Anderson 21:34 Yeah. I used-

Joe Rogan 21:34 So you just grab one and-

Corey Anderson 21:35 I used to use... Well, not use, I still use Eat Clean Bro when it get, in the camp.

Joe Rogan 21:39 Mm-hmm.

Corey Anderson 21:39 I used to use 'em all the time, but now, like I said, I got a wife-

Joe Rogan 21:41 It's called Eat Clean Bro?

Corey Anderson 21:42 Eat Clean Bro. It's, uh-

Joe Rogan 21:43 (laughs)

Corey Anderson 21:43 ... Jamie... I can't remember his last name, but Jamie in New Jersey.

Joe Rogan 21:45 That's a good name.

Corey Anderson 21:46 He's killing it, man. He's... DJ Khaled, uh, Camalo- Carmelo Anthony, Lala, all the, all the famous people use him. He just opened up another one in Atlanta. He's killing the game with the meal prep. And he's, it's good. It's accurate. It wasn't as accurate before, but he's teamed up with this company, Revolutionize, which is a nutrition company. They do the calculations of all the meals for fighters and different people, bodybuilders.

Joe Rogan 22:07 Hmm.

Corey Anderson 22:07 And it's perfect, but...

Joe Rogan 22:08 So it has all your nutrients, all your-

Corey Anderson 22:10 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 22:10 ... protein. It has it set up like, "This is 40 grams of protein."

Corey Anderson 22:14 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 22:14 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 22:15 And then you can also go in there and just order the raw stuff. They give it, they deli- and they deliver it to your door.

Joe Rogan 22:19 And then you just cook it?

Corey Anderson 22:20 Yeah, you can get it raw and they'll put it in a freezer bag. You get it and just put it... I know people that do it that way.

Joe Rogan 22:25 Hmm.

Corey Anderson 22:25 Like I said, now that I have my wife who fights and she... Or used to fight, and she knows what's going on, most of the time she does that for me, you know? So...

Joe Rogan 22:32 If you bring them venison, will they cook that and put that in there?

Corey Anderson 22:35 I'm sure he would.

Joe Rogan 22:35 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 22:35 I know he told me if I get a turkey, he would cook it up for me.

Joe Rogan 22:37 Hmm.

Corey Anderson 22:37 So I'm sure he'd give me some venison if I... Or cook me venison-

Joe Rogan 22:40 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 22:40 ... if I took it to him.

Joe Rogan 22:41 Now, when you say you have everything set up, um, are you monitoring your heart rate? Like, what are you, what are you doing to make sure that you're not overtrained or-

Corey Anderson 22:50 No, that's the thing.

Joe Rogan 22:50 ... that you're not sick?

Corey Anderson 22:51 That's one thing I'm still... Not, I'm not really dancing with it. Not in my mind. I'm fine with it, 'cause growing up my coaches used to tell me all the time, no such thing. Overtraining is a mental state, you know? Long as you train, eat, rest, you're giving your body time to rest and recover, get to bed by a certain time so you get at least seven to eight hours of sleep, it's kinda hard to overtrain. But those days where you feel you hurting, like shoulders, like with my injuries, it's okay to dial back. When you go to the gym, you don't have to hit it hard. Just go through the motions.

Joe Rogan 23:17 Mm-hmm.

Corey Anderson 23:17 Sometimes they like, "Oh, don't be hitting it, go through the motions." But sometimes it ain't bad to go through the motions as long as it's... You, you focus on one thing-

Joe Rogan 23:23 Right.

Corey Anderson 23:23 ... to master this take-down, or master this sweep, or master that jujitsu submission, or a sweep, or whatever it is.

Joe Rogan 23:28 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 23:28 Focus on it and going nice and slow, calculate. You don't have to get a sweat every time 'cause you learn it. Muscle memory. Do it 1,000 times, and now it's kinda like mu- it's in there.

Joe Rogan 23:37 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 23:37 I got it. But, um, with the overtraining and heart monitoring, I only heart monitor for the, the last five to six weeks, 'cause that's when I hit cardio hard. Not so much strength anymore, but pushing the pace. Everything I'm doing, blowing it out, trying to keep my heart rate above a certain thing. So if the last day before I go into that space, I put the heart rate monitor on and I see wherever I got to. I don't take much of a break between my training s- my stations, see where my heart rate got. So if the high was 172 today or whatever, all right, so if that's the high on a slow day, and it's hard for me to get my heart rate up. So it's like when we doing cardio, I'm shooting for like 180s after everything. I need to be above that. So it take time for that to come down.So in between that 30 to a minute break, if I'm still right there at 180, 170, so I'm gonna hit the next one, I know my heart is still racing, so I'm stretching my lungs out and take a little short break. Now I never do a full minute break, even in sparring. So in fighting, that's why in that minute you see me talking to Mark Henry and everything, 'cause everybody, "Oh, Corey's having a conversation." In between a round, Mark calls something up, I'm like, "Yep, yep. Okay." And when we're going jiu-jitsu, Mark saying something, I'm trying, "I hear you." Because I've... That's how we train in practice, on a short clock.

Joe Rogan 24:42 Mm-hmm.

Corey Anderson 24:42 A longer time work, a shorter time recover. And I'm tired in practice at the beginning, but then at the end it's kind of like going into the fight that last week, we talking, we, we smiling, we chilling. "Good round. This and this. You got to do this. All right, what we got to do better this time? Did I have the sweep right? Did that submission... What was wrong with my hands?" And the next one, "All right. Work on this again." And to be able to communicate and not be tired, (scoffs) it makes a world of difference.

Joe Rogan 25:04 Do you give yourself 30 seconds in training or do you-

Corey Anderson 25:06 It depends.

Joe Rogan 25:07 (coughs)

Corey Anderson 25:07 It depends on who we fighting (laughs) . It depends on my mentality. You know, if I feel like today is gonna be a hard day, if we ain't got the clock, sometimes I have a ph- on my phone if the coaches aren't there, and my wife doing it, and I stand up and I feel like I'm recovering in like 20 minutes or 20 seconds, start, go. And I just-

Joe Rogan 25:23 Mm-hmm.

Corey Anderson 25:23 Got to keep rotating my partners though, 'cause I know they can't recover all the time.

Joe Rogan 25:26 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 25:26 But it's just like I'm, I'm a little different, you know? It's like always thinking outside the box. I'm, I'm trying to do what the other people aren't. You know, everybody going off like the Dolce diet or the keto diet or such and such training or Westside Barbell or this and that. That's kind of like I take the different stuff I learned from this guy and I saw from this guy and I learned in wrestling and I seen on YouTube and I heard somebody say this, like, "I wonder if I can just take away and take a little bit of this, put a little bit with the Westside Barbell, put it with the keto diet, along with my own venison diet and this, this, and this, and just try it out. And if it works, it works. And if I don't feel good, if I feel low energy, it's like, all right, that doesn't work. Gonna try something different." You know?

Joe Rogan 26:01 It seems like a lot of people would want to listen to you though.

Corey Anderson 26:04 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 26:04 I would imagine if I was in camp with a guy like you and I saw the kind of cardio that you have for a big guy and the amount of effort that you put in, I w- I would imagine there's other dudes that are following you now.

Corey Anderson 26:14 Oh, my teammates, yeah, they know. Like, um, one of the guys is my... Like a brother to me, his name is Carl Roberson. You seen, he stepped up-

Joe Rogan 26:21 He's a beast, dude.

Corey Anderson 26:21 He stepped up on the Glory fight.

Joe Rogan 26:23 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 26:23 And that's something we talked about when he was an amateur. I've been working with him since he was an amateur.

Joe Rogan 26:26 (coughs)

Corey Anderson 26:26 And I told his coach Dean, like, "This kid is good."

Joe Rogan 26:28 He's crazy.

Corey Anderson 26:28 "He get the right stuff, he go pro, he'd be in the UFC in no time, I'm telling you."

Joe Rogan 26:31 Yep.

Corey Anderson 26:31 'Cause he was... I watched him, me, him and Chris Weidman. He came in with us when I was helping Weidman with the Rockhold fight. And I'm cu-... I'm not sure if he was a amateur or pro yet, but he was hanging... His jiu-jitsu and the wrestling, he didn't have that. But striking wise, he was giving us problems. It was like, "This is... This kid is good."

Joe Rogan 26:46 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 26:46 They're like, "Oh, he's a Glory kickboxer." Like, "Ah, that makes sense. He kicks hard."

Joe Rogan 26:51 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 26:51 Like, I done seen him put many people to sleep with his head kick in practice. Like, "Yo, pull it." He's like, "Bro, that wasn't even hard." Like, "What you mean that wasn't hard?" He's like, "I just flicked it up there." But he's just so explosive and athletic.

Joe Rogan 27:01 Mm-hmm.

Corey Anderson 27:02 He hit me with a knee, what, last Saturday, my chest still hurt.

Joe Rogan 27:05 (laughs)

Corey Anderson 27:05 It was like I got shot and he caught me on, caught me on the shot and it's like, "Oh, shit." But I was in deep, but he's just so quick. It's just... But like, he's won. He hits me up all the time when I come to camp, like, "Yo." He has it dialed down 'cause of Bo and Clint out at the PI.

Joe Rogan 27:20 Mm-hmm.

Corey Anderson 27:20 He has that... When it come like to work and stuff, "Should we keep doing this? Should we do this?" I'm a run today, so when I want to work on my jiu-jitsu, "When should I do this? Should I just drill or should we go hard? Should I go do-"

Joe Rogan 27:28 So he trains sometimes at the Performance Institute in Vegas?

Corey Anderson 27:31 Well, every time we get a camp, me and him, we got to think. If one of us get in camp, we already know. I'm gonna contact him, "You got to fight when we going to Vegas." So I go, we go out there for a week or two weeks, me, him, and Rex Harris. He was in the, uh, PFL.

Joe Rogan 27:42 Mm-hmm.

Corey Anderson 27:42 We call each other the Bash Bros, only three dudes at UFC in Jersey. We done traveled around. We've been to Vegas, we've been to Arizona, wherever we go, and we go hard, and that's why we called it the Bash Bros. There's no, "Oh, we going light today, bro. Don't hit me h-"

Joe Rogan 27:55 (laughs)

Corey Anderson 27:56 Every time it's like, "Are we... You read- you ready?" Rex actually text me when we were doing Takumo hunt, he was like, "I'll be there tomorrow 'cause I'm flying here and I'll get back in time for training." So Bash Bros meet up and we go at it. That's it.

Joe Rogan 28:07 Are you, are you always sparring hard or do you spar technically?

Corey Anderson 28:10 We got certain days, like if we don't want to spar hard, we know not to go with each other.

Joe Rogan 28:14 Mm-hmm. (laughs)

Corey Anderson 28:14 (laughs) Because it's kind of like if one week I get the best of Rex... Like there's been times, like, I've had Carl for... With OSP 'cause he's southpaw and he's super good. So I went with Carl three rounds hard. So his main focus was take down, don't let him up. So I take him down, just beat him on the ground, beat him on the ground, take him down, beat him on the ground 'cause he didn't have wrestling at the time. And then he would go with, like, somebody else, like, "Ah, I need one more round." And he'd be mad (laughs) so I know that. But that's why I'm not going with him in the for- fourth round, 'cause he's mad. And he go out there with somebody else and just, he just eat them up and it's like, "I'm sorry." I have to apologize to the other guy, like, "I'm sorry for beating him up." (laughs)

Joe Rogan 28:46 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 28:46 Because of the hostility. So we go hard, but then it's times we pull other guys in, like, I'm gonna call this amateur guy in, pretty good amateur or a low level pro- pro. Some guys like Eddie Alvarez knows him or whatever, "Oh, I got this kid. He's pro 205. He's a beginner, whatever. You want to work with him? That's a guy..." "All right, bring him up. Today I'm gonna do a technical move day, kind of like wall work, drilling." We sparring. We have headgear on just in case 'cause accidents happen, but nothing is thrown with the intention to hurt anybody.

Joe Rogan 29:11 Well, you have a fantastic camp too, man. It's one of the most unheralded camps if you want to talk about who's training out there. Zabit, you guys have, uh, Marlen, you know, of course Frankie Edgar. I mean, so many guys come from that area. Eddie Alvarez, you, and I mean, it's just Mark Henry is one of the most underappreciated guys in MMA, I think, because he's so quiet and unassuming, doesn't toot his own horn. But when you talk to that guy, you see the wheels spinning, you're like, "Wow, he's something serious." And everybody I know that's worked with him has said he's like one of the best coaches I've ever, ever seen.

Corey Anderson 29:45 There's nothing like it. I remember first time I went, he broke it down. I remember he was telling me movement. On the show, he broke me down a little bit, like, "We're gonna work, like, throw a punch, slide out, slide back, slide left, clinch." Different stuff, staying out of punching range.

Joe Rogan 29:56 Mm-hmm.

Corey Anderson 29:56 He broke it down very lightly for six weeks and, like, I fell in love with it there.

Joe Rogan 30:00 Is that the first time you worked with him?

Corey Anderson 30:02 That was the first... Uh, you ask him to this day, when Wiz in the back, the first fight to get in the house, and that was the last fight. And I told my coach, uh, I like to warm up early. They said... So I wanted to start warming up before the first fight just to get my heart going. It was a wrestling thing, go hard and then just chill 'til time. And when I was going, he was like, "Have you ever done this before?" I had no background in anything, just a wrestler that can throw a one-two. That was it.

Joe Rogan 30:20 Mm-hmm.

Corey Anderson 30:21 And he was like, "I'm gonna show you this." And he kept telling me to do it and I was listening, like, "Bro, you listen so well." Like, "When we're wrestling, you have to listen." And that's when me and Mark clicked from that day. And I remember when they flipped a coin and it came out Frankie, saying Frankie get the first pick, I remember hearing Mark in the back, "Corey! We want Corey! He listens, he's a wrestler. This and this."

Joe Rogan 30:37 (laughs) He listens.

Corey Anderson 30:37 And me and Mark have been like this since.

Joe Rogan 30:39 Wow.

Corey Anderson 30:39 And we have that bond. But I remember coming the first day of this house, I got the jersey, is... That's how I got there. Mark was the one text me. Frankie Ru- said, "Oh, come out." Ricardo, I met everybody together. But Mark was the one that was more hands on, texting me while I was back home with the family. "Work this, work that, work this, work that. Go to Ruefus Sport and work your kicks. We need to have the kicks good by the time you get here."And it was in the basement. He's like, "All right, so..." And you see, like, this whole piece of paper, like, all the way down, like, codes. Everybody's code's-

Joe Rogan 31:03 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 31:03 ... wrote out on paper. And what is that? He's like, "Oh, that's the combos." Like, "That's like 100 combos." Like, "Oh, yeah, we got codes." Like nobody ever knows this is- (laughs)

Joe Rogan 31:10 And he changes the code for each fight, right?

Corey Anderson 31:12 Yeah. And I'm like, "What is that?" And you see my paper just blank. He's like, "All right, so this is your schedule." He had me on the first go. "This is your schedule." And that was just packed with like 13 weeks of non-stop going. He was like, "And this is what we're gonna work for your code. So today we're gonna start with the jab, cross, give you the codes for that, and movement." About three rounds in, I was like, "Yo." Like, I'm flat-footed. I couldn't move. Like, I, I can't do this. He's like, "You can do it. It's like a tandem dance. If we join a dance team, the first day we learn this new routine, we're gonna be all over. We're tripping each other every day. And the next day, we get a little better. In a week, we got it kinda like the first, the first course, we got it. By the end of the time, when it's time to perform, we're gonna look beautiful, I promise you." And sure enough, he, he's, uh... (laughs) I found he had the pizzeria. Like, "I want a slice of pizza." He's like, "I want you to learn how to move. Like, you learn how to move, I'll give you a slice of my pizza."

Joe Rogan 31:56 (laughs)

Corey Anderson 31:57 He said, "When you can move, I'll bring you a slice of pizza."

Joe Rogan 31:59 I heard he's got some killer pizza.

Corey Anderson 32:00 Yeah, it's pretty good. I think, like, it was week 10 before the fight, I had 13-week camp. He's like, "You, you actually moved a little bit. I'll tell my wife to bring you (laughs) home a slice."

Joe Rogan 32:08 (laughs)

Corey Anderson 32:09 He said it was a slice. Like, I got his approval. And ever since then, like, it's just been a thing, that movement and his, his scientific ways. Like-

Joe Rogan 32:16 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 32:17 Like, I've seen Chris Weidman do it, Rashad Evans. We got Lance Palmer and Claudia now, different people, like-

Joe Rogan 32:22 Mm-hmm.

Corey Anderson 32:22 ... watching and trying to learn. You can just see-

Joe Rogan 32:24 Oh, Lance Palmer's out there too now?

Corey Anderson 32:26 Yeah, he just came out recently.

Joe Rogan 32:28 Mm-hmm.

Corey Anderson 32:28 He was out, uh, last week right before I left, he showed up.

Joe Rogan 32:30 Who else is out there? Who would you say?

Corey Anderson 32:31 Uh, Claudia.

Joe Rogan 32:31 Claudia D'Elia?

Corey Anderson 32:32 She had a gym out there-

Joe Rogan 32:33 Mm-hmm.

Corey Anderson 32:33 ... and she's been at our gym working. And when Mark was, like, helping them after sparring last Thursday, and he called me in the cage. Like, "Cory, Cory, it's really good, just show him how we do the, the one, two, blah, blah, blah." And like, when I looked back at him, they both had that look at each other like, uh. (laughs) That's a lot of, that was a lot of shit. But you figure it out in time.

Joe Rogan 32:50 Right.

Corey Anderson 32:50 When it's new-

Joe Rogan 32:52 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 32:52 ... anything new to you is gonna be uncomfortable. But after you figure it out and you do it for so much, it's muscle memory.

Joe Rogan 32:57 So when you were fighting as a heavyweight, you weren't a mover? You weren't moving?

Corey Anderson 33:00 I mean, what I thought was moving wasn't moving. But for a heavyweight, it was just kind of like a little bounce. Bounce on my knees-

Joe Rogan 33:05 Mm-hmm.

Corey Anderson 33:05 ... if they go a step forward. When they go throw a punch, hop out and then come back with a jab to a double leg.

Joe Rogan 33:09 Right.

Corey Anderson 33:10 That's what I had. To me-

Joe Rogan 33:10 Standard shit.

Corey Anderson 33:11 Yeah, that was movement.

Joe Rogan 33:12 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 33:12 I thought I was the man. I'm moving my ass off.

Joe Rogan 33:15 (laughs)

Corey Anderson 33:15 No. (laughs) That was nothing. You get to Mark and it's kinda like feet all on your toes. Bounce, bounce, don't ever stop. When you stop-

Joe Rogan 33:21 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 33:21 ... he hit you like 10 times. Like, that's what happen when you stop.

Joe Rogan 33:23 It's really interesting when you watch the difference between the way people utilize footwork. I think probably the best example in combat... Well, there's two great examples in combat sports. Lomachenko, who has got some of the most incredible footwork of all time. And Saenchai, who's a, a Thai fighter-

Corey Anderson 33:37 Muay Thai.

Joe Rogan 33:37 ... who's got crazy footwork. Constantly switching stances, light on his toes, fights different than any other Thai fighter, and widely considered the best of all time. You know? And Lomachenko, like, when you watch... Guys who have good footwork fight him, they're like, "What in the fuck?" Like, you throw a punch and he's over here and he's hitting you here and uppercut's coming under your arm. He's, he's back this way and he's-

Corey Anderson 34:00 It's like The Matrix.

Joe Rogan 34:01 ... constantly moving. And that guy started out as a dancer. His dad, when he was... His dad was training him how to box, he made him do Russian folk dancing, I think for... I wanna say for, like, four years he made him do this, this kind of Russian style of dancing. He was like, "You gotta, you're gonna have to learn how to move your feet." And now you see him, he fights, it's effortless. It's just a part of who he is. And guys who are, like, more plodding and they're used to that normal stationary target, he's so much more complex and you see... And he obviously fantastic puncher too, but the footwork is off the charts. It's just such a different thing. There's levels to everything.

Corey Anderson 34:40 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 34:41 And you, I guess, realized that when you went from heavyweight to training with Mark.

Corey Anderson 34:45 235, Mark, yeah. But like when you said, the footwork thing, one thing I seen at, in MMA, the Holloway-Ortega fight.

Joe Rogan 34:51 Yes.

Corey Anderson 34:52 I feel like e- In my mind, I feel like I was watching Lomachenko at MMA how Holloway was, like, hitting angles.

Joe Rogan 34:57 Mm-hmm.

Corey Anderson 34:58 Because Brian isn't, like, a mover type. He's just-

Joe Rogan 35:01 Right.

Corey Anderson 35:01 ... game. He's biting down, he's gritty, he's ready to go.

Joe Rogan 35:03 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 35:03 And it seemed like as the rounds, like third, fourth, and fifth round, or third and fourth round, like, when he would go to punch, Max would switch to southpaw.

Joe Rogan 35:11 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 35:11 Pow, pow. And when he'd go to counter, he'd go back with the hook this way. And it was just like, yo, his footwork right now was... Like, I watched it probably, like, seven times just studying his feet. Like, how is he... And he never lost balance-

Joe Rogan 35:21 Hmm.

Corey Anderson 35:21 ... one time. And I was like, this is just incredible. I love watching that. Like you said, a dance. It's beautiful.

Joe Rogan 35:26 Yeah. Max is very good at distant control... distance control. He's one of the very best at just moving slightly out of range, then right back in.

Corey Anderson 35:34 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 35:34 And he puts a lot of pressure on you because of that too. There's no... If he catches you breathing heavy, if he cat- If he sees any slowing down in you, he starts pouring it on. Like, he starts trying to get you to wilt. He sees it.

Corey Anderson 35:45 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 35:46 It's very int- Very interesting how he does it too, because he does it with... He overloads you not just with his attack, but also with all the variables that you see, the combinations, the switching, the putting pressure on you. Just there's, there's so much going on that you're always thinking about it and it's... Just that on top of it makes you more tired.

Corey Anderson 36:03 Yeah. He's good at smelling the blood.

Joe Rogan 36:05 Yeah. That's it. He knows a lot of people... I know that's one thing I'm not good at. (laughs)

Corey Anderson 36:09 I don't... I've, I'm working on it. Mark was telling me the other day like, "I wanna start finishing people with their hands." Like, you had so many fights where you couldn't, but you hit a guy with a combo and then you take a shot. Like, the guy will be rocked, you just don't see it.

Joe Rogan 36:18 Hmm.

Corey Anderson 36:19 Instead of keep punching him, you would shoot. He'd stop punching, you would shoot on him. It's like I hit guys with combos in the... Like when I go to the boxing, they're like, "Bro, you box like you a boxer. But you go into your fights and you box just to get to your takedowns." But that's because I'm a wrestler.

Joe Rogan 36:32 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 36:32 I can box. I don't have to, but I will.

Joe Rogan 36:35 Do you think there's a, a, a worry though when you're trying to finish fights versus just trying to fight your best? I think guys should just fight their best and if a finish comes, it comes.

Corey Anderson 36:46 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 36:46 I'm of the opinion that. I'm of, of the opinion that when people make big mistakes... And I wouldn't discourage anybody from going crazy. If someone likes to go crazy, they like to fight wild-Hey, man. That's you, that's your style, that's how you express yourself. Nothing wrong with it.

Corey Anderson 37:00 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 37:00 But if I was gonna give some advice, they said, "What should I do? I wanna have a long career as a professional." I'd say, "Fight your best. Don't worry about the outcome, just fight your best. And if you fight your best and if you connect and someone gets hurt and you put him away, that's great. But if you just win, that's great too."

Corey Anderson 37:16 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 37:16 "Just fight your best. The more, the more you can do what you can technically and take as little damage as possible, that's a good fight."

Corey Anderson 37:26 And that's, like I said, that's something about the OSP fight, Mark said it. Like, "You just gotta smother this guy, whole can't... Like, he's got that good kick." And the-

Joe Rogan 37:34 Mm-hmm.

Corey Anderson 37:34 At the OSP fight and Gian Villante, the two fights Mark called, the only things I can get knocked out with. He said, "With Gian Villante, the only thing this guy can knock you out with is an overhand right." He says, "You gotta bring that jab right back after. You got a good jab, but bring your hands back because he times that overhand right so smooth." And even in between rounds, like, "You eating overhand right. I know it's not hurting you, but it only takes one, it takes one. Keep that hand up, keep that hand up."

Joe Rogan 37:57 Mm-hmm.

Corey Anderson 37:57 And sure enough, to this day he say, "Remember I told you, overhand right." And then with OSP he's like, "Only thing he can get you with is that ha- that left kick. If you stay close to him, keep the pressure, keep him on the cage. When he's down, he stand up, bring him back down. Don't listen to the fans. People gonna boo, they're gonna get in your head and make you wanna strike trying to get in that fight. That's what they wanna see, but we just trying to get the win. Don't go right and keep pressure."

Joe Rogan 38:19 Mm-hmm.

Corey Anderson 38:19 "Do not go right and keep pressure." If you watch that fight, the whole two rounds, pressure. Not going right, going left, put him to the cage, taking him down, keep him down in the cage. He stand up, bring him back. Third round, I took him down, he popped up when I was against the cage. I can remember hearing people say, "Oh, let's stand up and fight, stand up and fight." And I backed away for a second and started moving, like, all right, I'm gonna just play from the outside a little bit. And I went right.

Joe Rogan 38:41 Pssh.

Corey Anderson 38:41 Right into the head kick. And I was like, and when I came, first thing Mark said in the back, like, "Bro, you look phenomenal. You just went right. Like, you look great. You just went right. Everything was beautiful that fight. That was your breakthrough fight. You, you just went right. But we're gonna go back, you're gonna do better. I know you will." And I was just like, after that, like I said, I went to the drawing board, but I was like, "Fuck what the fans say."

Joe Rogan 39:04 Fuck what the fans say.

Corey Anderson 39:05 We winning. But like you said, when you and Sha were talking, I listened before you say, "I beat Leo Leitife, I beat this, but you don't hear my name." It's because I'm not trying to do the stuff that's exciting anymore. I'm just winning.

Joe Rogan 39:13 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 39:13 And my style ain't exciting to them, but that's 'cause you're not a mixed martial arts fan.

Joe Rogan 39:17 Mm-hmm.

Corey Anderson 39:17 You're a fan of a knockout.

Joe Rogan 39:18 Right.

Corey Anderson 39:18 Or you're a fan of some fancy stuff. They talking Johnny Walker up, this, this, and this.

Joe Rogan 39:22 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 39:22 Johnny Walker hasn't shown mixed martial arts yet. He's shown fancy stuff that knock people out. It's, it looks great, yes. But just like Anthony Smith and all those guys, when they get in front of somebody like Jon Jones and you can't hit him with that one punch. What are you gonna do?

Joe Rogan 39:36 Mm-hmm.

Corey Anderson 39:37 You know what I mean? So that's the thing I say. Uh, right now I'm not fighting. If you say, "When you gonna fight?" I don't know, but I'll be ready 'cause I can do everything.

Joe Rogan 39:44 Yeah, we were just talking about Johnny Walker. He's in surgery now. He, he had to go through surgery for his shoulder-

Corey Anderson 39:49 For his shoulder.

Joe Rogan 39:49 ... because of that-

Corey Anderson 39:50 That celebration.

Joe Rogan 39:50 That celebration was just so crazy. He wins, he beat, beat Cirkunov with a beautiful timed knee. Perfect flying knee, looks fantastic. And then drops to the ground just playing around and blows his fucking shoulder out. It's crazy.

Corey Anderson 40:04 That's the game. Anything can happen. And then there's injuries.

Joe Rogan 40:07 Anything can happen, but when it, when it happens-

Corey Anderson 40:09 (coughs) .

Joe Rogan 40:09 ... like that, it's like, "Goddamn, man. You're so promising." Um, he's, uh, he's, uh... I mean, what, what gets people excited when people finish fights, right?

Corey Anderson 40:17 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 40:18 When people KO people. And so a lot of times people try to lean towards that. But if that's not your style, you know, you should, you should fight the way you're f-... If I was in your corner, uh, first of all, I'd say, "Listen to Mark Henry."

Corey Anderson 40:30 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 40:30 "Mark Henry knows everything." And then second of all, I'd say, "Don't change shit, man. What you're doing is perfect. Just, just fight the way you're fighting. The way you're fighting is just, you're winning, you know? You're win, you're, you're f..." I just think that it should be, what... It should be emphasized always to fight the best you can. Fight intelligently. And you gotta decide and everybody has to decide, when is it time to take a risk? When is it time to close the distance? When is it time to put pressure on someone and, and throw yourself into the fire to try to get a finish?

Corey Anderson 41:01 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 41:02 And if you just think you should just fight technically, look, man, fucking Floyd Way- Mayweather's done that most of his career. Especially, like, later on. When he was Pretty Boy Floyd earlier on in his career, he was trying to knock a lot of guys out. But later on in his career, in most of his big fights, like with Pacquiao and a lot of other guys, like, he just wins. He just wins, and he makes more money than anybody. Just wins.

Corey Anderson 41:23 Trust me. I'm, in my mind, I know exactly what... I tells... When I get into sparring-

Joe Rogan 41:28 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 41:28 Sparring is when I wanna work on things.

Joe Rogan 41:29 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 41:30 You know, every, every Saturday going to sparring with my wife, Joash, like, "What are we working on today?" We're gonna try to work on putting a little more emphasis on the punches and not shoot right away, blah, blah, blah, on the ground, more ground and pound, don't worry about the jujitsu submissions, just hit this, this, and this. When it's come time to fight, when that lights come on Saturday night and Joe or Bruce Buffer in there and you sitting at the side, it's a whole different game plan.

Joe Rogan 41:48 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 41:48 'Cause I know what I can do and I know what's right. And that's why I get into those spots. It ain't like I tell myself, "Take a shot." It's muscle memory.

Joe Rogan 41:54 Right.

Corey Anderson 41:54 I hit him, he put his hands up and he stopped. The legs was wide open.

Joe Rogan 41:57 Of course.

Corey Anderson 41:57 I was a NCAA All-American. Uh, NCAA finalist. Why wouldn't I shoot? I take him down, you know?

Joe Rogan 42:02 Exactly.

Corey Anderson 42:02 And if you look at my last three fights, I feel like, going back and watching them, those you can't say I'm one sided, because with Alir, everybody go, "No way he can wrestle Alir." Alir is way more powerful and a better wrestler. He wrestled for, uh, whatever, where he's from Albanian World Team. He couldn't take me down and I outstruck him. You know, he went to Glover. Like, "Oh, Glover's a finisher and a jujitsu guy. If Corey goes to ground with him, it's over." And he could knock Corey out. I- I outstruck him, out wrestled him, and got him in mount, and had him in side guard. I had his, had his back. I had every position on him. So you can't say I don't have jujitsu, I don't have wrestling, I don't have striking, 'cause in there... And then Pack comes, everybody like, "Oh, here's the NCAA D1 All-American, this, this, and this. He beat DC at OTC, he'll, he's gonna kill Corey in wrestling." Stopped his take down and set the record with 13 take downs on him, who had the record at 11. It's like, I don't understand the fans. Everybody got something to say, but if you actually-

Joe Rogan 42:52 I think you listen to people too much, Corey.

Corey Anderson 42:53 I mean, that's the problem.

Joe Rogan 42:54 You're listening to people. (laughs)

Corey Anderson 42:54 My wife says all the time, like, every morning she's like, "No negativity today." That's what she always says.

Joe Rogan 42:58 You should just stay the fuck offline.

Corey Anderson 42:59 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 42:59 That's what you should do. Don't read that shit.

Corey Anderson 43:01 But it's so hard 'cause now I'm doing the hunting stuff.

Joe Rogan 43:03 Oh, okay.

Corey Anderson 43:03 And when I post the stuff, it's like, as I go to put... And it pops, something will pop up.

Joe Rogan 43:07 MMA questions.

Corey Anderson 43:08 And then you see it. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 43:08 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 43:09 Or at the top of the screen, it'll drop down or it pop up in the notification or I get a, an email notification, somebody said, and you see half of it. And I'm like, "Don't open it. Don't open it." (laughs)

Joe Rogan 43:19 (laughs)

Corey Anderson 43:19 And I'm driving like, "I wonder what the rest of it say." It could be a good thing. It might be bad.And I actually open it up later on and somebody's saying something bad. And it's just like... Like my wife just said, she's like, "I see it, just don't pay no attention to it." But it's-

Joe Rogan 43:32 Yeah. You're j- you're allowing negativity into your life that you don't need. I mean, you think about your camp, you got all these positive people, all these motivated people, all these professionals, you know, exceptional human beings, right? Everybody training and grinding together. And then you got schmoes that are contacting you on Twitter or Instagram or whatever, and just saying a bunch of nonsense, and that can fuck with your head.

Corey Anderson 43:54 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 43:54 You know? I, I... And these are not people that would ever say that if they were in front of your face.

Corey Anderson 43:58 No.

Joe Rogan 43:58 It's, it's a, it's a gross way to communicate. It's just, it's not a he- It's like, it's like passing by a shitty fast food restaurant and being drawn in to eat.

Corey Anderson 44:07 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 44:07 And then you eat and you're like, "God, why'd I eat that garbage?"

Corey Anderson 44:10 Why'd I do that? (laughs)

Joe Rogan 44:10 It's the same thing. It's like-

Corey Anderson 44:12 That makes sense.

Joe Rogan 44:12 ... you're eating... It's like fast food for your brain. It's, it's so tempting because you just want to read those comments and most of the people are probably good people who are fans. Most of 'em. But all it takes is 10% assholes and you never want to look at your comments again.

Corey Anderson 44:27 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 44:27 One out of 10. And it's not hard to get 10%, you know? 10% assholes is, like, pretty damn good in the real world, you know?

Corey Anderson 44:33 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 44:33 If you only run into one out of 10 that's an asshole, you know? Or one out of a hundred. Even if it was one out of a hundred and your comments are shitty, you don't want to read those comments.

Corey Anderson 44:41 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 44:42 It's just, for a fighter, man, it's... So much of it is about mindset and, and just being focused and not having any distractions. And I think those comments are a giant distraction. You know? You don't need anybody telling you what to do. You got Mark fucking Henry, you, you got Ricardo Almeida, you got all these world champions around you. Like, you don't need any, any other information. You're getting plenty of information, you know? Fuck all that shit. You shouldn't even look at it.

Corey Anderson 45:06 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 45:07 You should post and just run away. Just post something and don't even look at it.

Corey Anderson 45:11 Don't even read.

Joe Rogan 45:11 Just keep going. Just keep going. Just-

Corey Anderson 45:14 I gotta work it.

Joe Rogan 45:15 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 45:15 I know I gotta work on it. Definitely.

Joe Rogan 45:16 Because what you're saying right now, all the things you were saying about beating Glover, about beating Ilir Latifi, yeah, but you're saying it like you're arguing with somebody.

Corey Anderson 45:25 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 45:26 You're saying it like someone told you you can't do it. But who gives a fuck what they said? You did do it. So why argue with someone who clearly doesn't know what the fuck they're talking about anyway, right? But in your head, you're like, "They said I couldn't do this. They..."

Corey Anderson 45:38 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 45:38 Like, so you still have that... (laughs) See, you know what I'm talking about.

Corey Anderson 45:42 Yeah, 'cause-

Joe Rogan 45:43 You have that battle with you.

Corey Anderson 45:43 100%. 'Cause Mark, they tell me all the time like, "Bro, quit feed..." Like-

Joe Rogan 45:47 Don't, don't even read it.

Corey Anderson 45:48 Where I come from, small... Me and my brother, we also had that mentality, like people like to talk this and this.

Joe Rogan 45:53 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 45:53 We weren't the type to... We ain't gonna sit there and talk back and forth.

Joe Rogan 45:55 Right.

Corey Anderson 45:55 It's like I... N- My first response to anybody they talking shit, like, "All right, put your hands up. Let's-"

Joe Rogan 46:00 Right.

Corey Anderson 46:00 "I'm ready to fight." (laughs) "You saying that shit, I'm gonna prove you wrong."

Joe Rogan 46:03 Right.

Corey Anderson 46:03 "That's gonna be my time." Like, they always said, "Cory couldn't do this, you wouldn't do that, you wouldn't do this," my whole life. Like in college, they're like, "Cory, you're not good enough to go to Midlands. We only take five guys on the team. And you... I guarantee you Coach ain't gonna take you." For the two years I was there, I was the guy that went to Midlands the first pick every time. Like, I'm always shooting to prove somebody wrong and they didn't stop that.

Joe Rogan 46:20 Do you feel like that's a part of your motivation?

Corey Anderson 46:22 Yes. It's always been that way.

Joe Rogan 46:24 But you're also... Your motivation is obviously excellent, so there's no way it could just be to prove someone wrong as hard as you work.

Corey Anderson 46:30 No, but that's just... That's what... That's how I got to the mentality and the work ethic I got.

Joe Rogan 46:35 Hmm.

Corey Anderson 46:35 'Cause in high school I wasn't like this. I sucked in high school. I lost to-

Joe Rogan 46:38 What way?

Corey Anderson 46:39 I lost to... (scoffs) I didn't win a match till I was a sophomore in high school.

Joe Rogan 46:42 Really?

Corey Anderson 46:42 I've been wrestling since third grade. Like, I was ass-tastic in school.

Joe Rogan 46:45 (laughs)

Corey Anderson 46:45 I was horrible. Like-

Joe Rogan 46:47 Why?

Corey Anderson 46:48 I got beat one time, the coach left me. They left, they loaded the bus and left me sitting there.

Joe Rogan 46:52 Because you got beat the way you got beat?

Corey Anderson 46:54 Yes. Yes.

Joe Rogan 46:54 They didn't wanna bring you home?

Corey Anderson 46:56 It wasn't I got beat that I got... I lost to a girl, Joe.

Joe Rogan 46:59 (gasps) You lost to a girl?

Corey Anderson 47:01 Deadass.

Joe Rogan 47:01 Wow.

Corey Anderson 47:02 I didn't have the mental... I lost the... When I got off the mat, the team was gone. Went outside, the bus was gone. Only reason I got home was because the varsity came for a dual that night. And the coach was like, "Why are you still here?"

Joe Rogan 47:11 Wow.

Corey Anderson 47:11 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 47:11 That's fucked up.

Corey Anderson 47:12 Yeah. Yeah. That's some-

Joe Rogan 47:13 A ruthless coach.

Corey Anderson 47:14 But that's the thing. I wasn't... I was that boy, like they got the little boy that cried wolf. You know? Every... I was always trying to get out of workouts. I was fat, I was lazy. At the time, growing up, I loved the outdoors, but I loved video games and I loved eating junk. You know, I didn't always have this mindset. So when it came to the point when I wanted to do good, and I was trying, I took my first injury. My very first injury. Sophomore year in high school before conference, I snapped my ankle clean through. And I remember everybody... I was sitting there hurt. First time I was actually hurt, but I had faked so many injuries, even the coach came up and like, "Tell him to get up, Cory." Oh, I was faking. "Everybody's gonna run sprints till you get up." Because they all thought I was faking. But I was actually hurt and my buddy stopped the fight. He grabbed me and took me to the trainer. Even the trainer's like, "Oh, it's probably a sprain, he'll be fine."

Joe Rogan 47:54 (laughs)

Corey Anderson 47:54 I went to the doc, my dad came and got me. Went through, they did an x-ray on my... There was like this much bone holding my foot from falling off my leg. Like, "Your ankle is, like, pretty much shattered. Why didn't nobody bring you in?"

Joe Rogan 48:02 (laughs)

Corey Anderson 48:02 Like, they kept saying there was nothing wrong. And I went back for the x-ray and they were like, "Oh, bro, we're so sorry. Like, you have been, like, for so long..."

Joe Rogan 48:09 Faking it.

Corey Anderson 48:09 Since I've been wrestling since third grade. You know, I did it 'cause my brother did.

Joe Rogan 48:12 Right.

Corey Anderson 48:12 And I wanted to do everything he did, but I didn't, I didn't have the drive he had. But after that, seeing the way everybody kind of, like, dogged me out. I remember coming back from recovery from that, and the first time I ran after that injury, and even in my mind, I'm like, "I can't run this. I can't run yet." And I did and I was limping and I was scared it was gonna break again. But I made it to where I was going, I was like, "Bro, I can do this." It's just... It's all here now. That's my reali- Everything is mentality. Like, I never had any problem, I was just lazy. I didn't want to work, so I was finding a way out. And after that, the next year, you can ask the coaches, they told my parents I got... Moved into the varsity tournament, what, the first or second match? And I ke- I took second and third in a varsity tournament after wrestling JV four the year before. And I lost to the guy that won the thing. They're like, "Difference between Cory now is night and day." Is because I realized if I put my mind to it, it'd just work, quit worrying. My dad said it too. That's the thing. My dad pushed on so at such a young age, my brother got it and he was a star athlete, but he didn't get the, the openings and the opportunities I had, you know? Because he was always working for my father and working here and working there. He didn't have the time to do camps and all that. Me being the youngest, it was a little easier for me. I seen what he did, what he told me, what my brothers, my sisters and teammates and all the diff- different people around me had done.I knew the way I needed to go to get somewhere. But being a, a star athlete, a s- a professional athlete was never a goal of mine. I wanted to be an engineer. I loved building clubhouses and shit like that. That was what I wanted to do.

Joe Rogan 49:27 Wow.

Corey Anderson 49:27 But all that opened doors. I wanted to go to school, to University of Wisconsin-Platteville for the engineering program. But just like sports, my grades was ass. (slaps hands)

Joe Rogan 49:35 (laughs)

Corey Anderson 49:35 I didn't sh- I didn't try on stuff. I went there to hang out with my friends and be cool.

Joe Rogan 49:39 Right.

Corey Anderson 49:39 You know what I mean? When I applied, they messaged me back saying, "Your GPA isn't good enough." The wrestling coach wanted me there, 'cause by the end I was good at wrestling. My last two years, I killed it. I never made the state, but I killed it in the regional and sectionals. I won all the way up to sectionals and lost in the finals. You had to go, you had to win that or third, whatever. But, um, they said, "You can't get here, but you gotta go to junior college. You get your GPA up, we can get you in." Again, I went there. I didn't plan on wrestling anymore. I loved wrestling. I cried when it, it was over. But then, um, a guy, Dave Clem, Matt Hughes's old coach. That's how I met Matt Hughes, through Lincoln College. He reached out to me and was like, "I heard about you. You got the mentality of a warrior, like you work hard, you're a work horse. I need somebody like you to come here and work for me. I can't give you a scholarship 'cause you didn't do much and I don't have money left. I can give you 1800 bucks." It was 27,000. I thought I was gonna like a full ride. I'm like, "Oh shit, I'm getting money." You know, I went there excited, determined to get there. And everybody was like, "Oh, you, you never made the state. You're not gonna do good. This, this, and this." So again, that was motivation from right there. Going to school like, "They don't think I can do this. They, my grades aren't good enough, they don't think I can get a good education. I'm not good enough at sports, they don't think I'm all-American. They think I'm gonna go there and just be another member of the team." I went there, I cut up, but right before the season, snapped my leg in three. Thought it was over again. And that coach was like, "I saw you fire."

Joe Rogan 50:46 A different leg injury?

Corey Anderson 50:47 The same, the same leg, but different injury, like three years later.

Joe Rogan 50:50 Let me bring you back to the first one. Th- that injury is what changed you?

Corey Anderson 50:54 Well, I got tired of people thinking I was faking.

Joe Rogan 50:56 So because you were injured for real, and people thought you were faking it, you realized something was wrong.

Corey Anderson 51:02 I felt like, I realized I had been lazy. And my father, my whole life... You go to my old house right now, in the garage, it's still carved in there. I'll never forget the day. It was probably like eight o'clock, nine o'clock on a school night. My dad woke me and my brother up to help him do some stuff on the boat. We tired, you know? We wanted to go to bed, and we out there complaining the whole time. He says, "You..." My dad, if you've met my dad, he's the most motivating person ever. Don't have an education or nothing, but he, he started his own business from the ground up and he's living the dream. Hunting properties, whatever he want, he can do it. And that's where I got it from. But it took me forever to realize this. And I'll never forget the day. To this day, it comes to me all the time, I think about it. He stood up on the boat and we was up against the garage door. Brand new garage door, he just put it up. "You know one thing I hate, I cannot stand is lazy." And he took his drill and he cut L-A-Z-Y in the back of his brand new garage door, and it's still there 'til this day.

Joe Rogan 51:46 Wow.

Corey Anderson 51:46 When I go home and I visit, I go to that gar- and you'll see it cut in the door, lazy. And he cannot stand it. And if you know him and the way he works, he's f- just turned 59 Tuesday. And I could, and his voice, when I said, "You're at the job site, aren't you?" On his... They were working. He got a bunch of 20-year-olds, 30-year-olds. He outworks everybody. 59 years old, up and down the ladder, running the crane, driving the truck to the shop, and that's it. He always said when I was a kid, "Son, it can only last so long." I never understood what he said. He was coming to me on the football field. And I'd be crying and moping. He'd go, "It can only last so long, son. Keep going. It can only last so long." I said, "What the... What do you mean? Why you always say that?"

Joe Rogan 52:19 (laughs)

Corey Anderson 52:20 And then later on, when it started getting hard, I started thinking, like, "Practice going. Look at the clock. It's like 45 minutes, but it can only last so long." It clicked like, "Oh, shit. That's what my dad meant all these years."

Joe Rogan 52:30 Just grind.

Corey Anderson 52:30 It can only last so long. Just go.

Joe Rogan 52:32 Just go.

Corey Anderson 52:33 Just put your nose down and get to it.

Joe Rogan 52:35 So you have this injury sophomore year, your ankle snaps, and you realize you've been lazy. So what, what shifted in your mind? What did, how did you change?

Corey Anderson 52:45 I just stopped worrying about excuses to get out of practice and figured out reasons to stay.

Joe Rogan 52:48 Was it immediate or was it a gradual change?

Corey Anderson 52:50 It was as I was healing. You know? I was on bed rest for a while. It was so bad, and people come in and out. And my brother used to come over. At the time, he was playing football and whatever. And watching his games, it's just like sitting there for so long away from all the sports and all your friends and just sitting there, just yourself. And I just realized, like, "I c- I've been doing this since third grade. I've seen this stuff a million times. I know the moves, I just don't apply. And I think when I get back, if I actually start trying and drilling and actually practicing and getting an extra workout in, I could cut up."

Joe Rogan 53:22 Wow.

Corey Anderson 53:22 And sure enough, that's what happened.

Joe Rogan 53:24 So what was the first step?

Corey Anderson 53:26 When I came back, it was with that first run, I was literally... My dad's shop is probably 200 yards from my house and it was raining. That's all, that's the only reason why I ran, 'cause I didn't wanna get wet. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 53:35 (laughs)

Corey Anderson 53:35 I was like, "I'm about to run to the house." And I'm thinking like, "But this leg, I don't know if I can make it." And then right then, that doubt in my mind, I'm like, "Why are you telling yourself you can't make it?"

Joe Rogan 53:42 How many months out from the injury?

Corey Anderson 53:45 This was, what... I broke it in, what, January or December, and this was summertime, so it was a long... Like, I had the cast on for like five, six months, so...

Joe Rogan 53:53 Really?

Corey Anderson 53:54 Yeah. And then I went to It was like it was bad.

Joe Rogan 53:56 Five or six months?

Corey Anderson 53:57 It was bad. And then, like right now, I got the plate and the screws in there, but I broke some of the screws because I was like trying to move in a wrestling stance in my boot, and I slipped. My da- had, um, the tile, or the cement, and it had the little gloss over it. And I was washing the cars one day.

Joe Rogan 54:10 Mm-hmm.

Corey Anderson 54:10 And then I was like, "I'm just gonna..." And my shadow's there. I don't know what, I slipped on a wet spot.

Joe Rogan 54:14 Oh, no.

Corey Anderson 54:14 And I slipped, I felt it. And then two of the pins that go across my ankle had snapped, so I had to wait for all that to heal again.

Joe Rogan 54:20 Jesus Christ.

Corey Anderson 54:20 Yeah, it was a whole process. So I was laid up for a while.

Joe Rogan 54:23 You snapped the pins?

Corey Anderson 54:23 The two, I still got the two long screws that they take out. They leave the sub and they go up the femur, or the, um, tibia.

Joe Rogan 54:28 Mm-hmm.

Corey Anderson 54:28 But the two long ones they're supposed to pull out. But the middle one, I slipped, they broke in half-

Joe Rogan 54:33 Ugh.

Corey Anderson 54:33 ... on my bone, so that made the bone heal slower. 'Cause now it's just the little spot they drilled through, it opened up like that much, that much more. So they had to wait for all that to heal before I could actually walk.

Joe Rogan 54:42 Did they take the screws out and put new ones in?

Corey Anderson 54:43 No, they're still in there.

Joe Rogan 54:44 They just... So you got broken screws in your ankle?

Corey Anderson 54:46 If you look at, like when I work out... Like, "Bro, your ankle is fat as hell." That's because the plate, the plate and the screws, the screws are so long, the ankle won't... The swelling and everything-

Joe Rogan 54:52 It looks different?

Corey Anderson 54:53 Exactly.

Joe Rogan 54:53 At that other angle?

Corey Anderson 54:54 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 54:54 Let me see what-

Corey Anderson 54:54 The bone heals-

Joe Rogan 54:55 Let me see what it looks like. Which ankle?

Corey Anderson 54:56 The left. So if you look.

Joe Rogan 54:59 That's a fat ankle.

Corey Anderson 55:00 Yeah, that's the fat one. And this is normal. See, here it's like-

Joe Rogan 55:04 That one's pretty fat too.

Corey Anderson 55:06 Oh. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 55:06 You got some big ankles, dude.

Corey Anderson 55:07 I mean, like, this part.

Joe Rogan 55:08 Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

Corey Anderson 55:09 See how this is all fat?

Joe Rogan 55:09 Oh, yeah, it does a big difference.

Corey Anderson 55:11 Yeah, see?

Joe Rogan 55:12 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 55:12 So like, when I get done training-

Joe Rogan 55:13 Oh, yeah.

Corey Anderson 55:13 ... this one is like this big, 'cause all the blood and everything swelling around the screw.

Joe Rogan 55:17 Wow.

Corey Anderson 55:18 So...

Joe Rogan 55:19 Does it fuck with you anymore, like when it gets cold out or anything?

Corey Anderson 55:22 I mean, I feel it, but again, mental. Everything is mental to me now.

Joe Rogan 55:25 Right.

Corey Anderson 55:26 Everything in life, I... Even my... She hates it 'cause I tell her all the time. She has a negative int- uh, negative insight on something, I'm like, "Find the positive in it." Like, "It's all in your mind, baby. You can make the best out of anything."

Joe Rogan 55:35 Hmm.

Corey Anderson 55:36 You know what I mean? She'll be, "Oh, this, this, and this happened." I'm like, "Well, you could be dead or you could..." (laughs) Like, "It could always something worse."

Joe Rogan 55:41 You could have cancer. You could have no legs.

Corey Anderson 55:43 Yeah. Like, she got her car smashed at work. Somebody hit the side of it and tore it all up, and it had to go in the shop. And it was like, "The windows didn't break though." I was like, "Think about it, le- it drives and your windows ain't broke."

Joe Rogan 55:52 (laughs)

Corey Anderson 55:52 I'm like, "It's the middle of winter, it ain't gotta be cold."

Joe Rogan 55:55 Yeah.

Corey Anderson 55:55 "Think about that. It could've totaled the car."

Joe Rogan 55:56 And you didn't get hurt.

Corey Anderson 55:56 Yeah, it's like it's a mill- million different