EVERY SPOKEN WORD
150 min read · 30,044 words- 0:02 – 1:42
Bowhunting roots, TechnoHunt addiction, and why fighters love archery
- JRJoe Rogan
Three, one, boom. (fingers snapping) Corey Anderson, ladies and gentlemen. What's up? How are you, man?
- CACorey Anderson
What's going on, Joey? What's good?
- JRJoe Rogan
We finally did it.
- CACorey Anderson
Finally did it. We here.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah. And, uh, got some TechnoHunt in as well.
- CACorey Anderson
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
That, that... I told you about that game.
- CACorey Anderson
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
That game is very addictive, isn't it?
- CACorey Anderson
I'm already re- trying to get back out there to do some more when this is over, so-
- JRJoe Rogan
I know. You get itchy, right?
- CACorey Anderson
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah. No, it's amazing, man. That, that game is incredible. How long you been bow hunting for?
- CACorey Anderson
I've been bow hunting since I was 16 or 17, but I've been hunting my whole life.
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow. What switched you over to bow hunting?
- CACorey Anderson
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-
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- CACorey Anderson
... 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.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, I can tell by your Instagram, man.
- CACorey Anderson
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
I follow your Instagram. All... You're, you're constantly shooting and hunting and practicing, and s- it's- it gets in your blood.
- CACorey Anderson
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.
- 1:42 – 3:40
Hunting as balance and mental reset after losses (the OSP aftermath)
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow. So is it like a part of meditation for you, do you think?
- CACorey Anderson
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-
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- CACorey Anderson
... 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.
- 3:40 – 5:00
From staying tiny to getting stronger: walk-around weight, hydration, and durability
- JRJoe Rogan
So you're 236 up until like how far out of the fight?
- CACorey Anderson
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.
- JRJoe Rogan
So you feel like that extra pounds helps you in what way?
- CACorey Anderson
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-
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- CACorey Anderson
... 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-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- CACorey Anderson
... 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.
- 5:00 – 9:05
Building size the simple way: lifting, compound work, and 'meat-potatoes-rice'
- JRJoe Rogan
So the recipe was, um... Did you start weightlifting? Like, what did you do to pack on the extra weight?
- CACorey Anderson
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-
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- CACorey Anderson
... 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.
- JRJoe Rogan
How much difference is your diet doing this than it was before?
- CACorey Anderson
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...
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- CACorey Anderson
I was like, "I just started lifting and eating, Coach."
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- CACorey Anderson
You know? So I used to work with
- JRJoe Rogan
So you were probably holding yourself back before?
- CACorey Anderson
Oh, yeah. 100%.
- JRJoe Rogan
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.
- CACorey Anderson
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
All the r- extra running and everything.
- CACorey Anderson
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-
- JRJoe Rogan
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?
- CACorey Anderson
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
Like, even if you're down, like, where you wanna be, you're still gonna have to cut more water-
- CACorey Anderson
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... to get to where you need to be, to 205.
- CACorey Anderson
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-
- JRJoe Rogan
Ah.
- CACorey Anderson
... 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.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- CACorey Anderson
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."
- 9:05 – 14:36
From ramen to real fuel: clean eating, energy levels, and wild game protein
- JRJoe Rogan
What did you feel the difference between, like, eating nonsense like ramen and then eating healthy food? Like, what was the big shift?
- CACorey Anderson
You just have more energy, really.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- CACorey Anderson
You know, because in wrestling, that's how we ate. You know, definitely in college, you ain't got no money.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- CACorey Anderson
We go to Walmart on Saturday, Sunday, get a big old box of ramen.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- CACorey Anderson
I used to get spaghetti sauce and just cook the noodles and put spaghetti sauce on. You know?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- CACorey Anderson
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.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- CACorey Anderson
It's packed with grease.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- CACorey Anderson
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...
- JRJoe Rogan
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?
- CACorey Anderson
Thirteen.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs) That's a lot of protein.
- CACorey Anderson
That's a lot of protein.
- JRJoe Rogan
A lot of clean, wild protein.
- CACorey Anderson
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-
- JRJoe Rogan
Canillo.
- CACorey Anderson
Oh, I don't know how to say his last name.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- CACorey Anderson
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.
- JRJoe Rogan
Uh-huh.
- CACorey Anderson
Besides, I had a freezer full anyway. I had no space.
- JRJoe Rogan
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.
- CACorey Anderson
Well, let's put it out there before we get too far. Justin hunts but he can't bow hunt.
- JRJoe Rogan
He can't?
- CACorey Anderson
We had (laughs) him with a crossbow on a ranch (laughs) and we pushed...
- 14:36 – 18:55
Cardio as a weapon: wrestling mindset, 'act fresh,' and breaking opponents
- JRJoe Rogan
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.
- CACorey Anderson
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
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.
- CACorey Anderson
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
And he was taking some big, deep breaths, and it's just, it's harder for him. Have you always had that kinda cardio?
- CACorey Anderson
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.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- CACorey Anderson
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."
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- CACorey Anderson
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.
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- CACorey Anderson
It's because I can just keep going. That was the mindset. Guys are gonna break eventually.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- CACorey Anderson
My coach always said, "Act fresh. Even if you're tired as dog shit, stand up and act fresh. Like, no matter what."
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- CACorey Anderson
"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.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- CACorey Anderson
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)
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- CACorey Anderson
It was crazy.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- CACorey Anderson
Like, "This is, this is like magic. I can do this all day, coach."
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- CACorey Anderson
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.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- CACorey Anderson
My father told me that forever.
- JRJoe Rogan
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."
- CACorey Anderson
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
You, like, feel it, like, you got, like-
- CACorey Anderson
(laughs)
- 18:55 – 29:11
Camp structure and intensity: scheduling, punctuality, sparring rules, and leadership
- JRJoe Rogan
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?
- CACorey Anderson
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.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs) .
- CACorey Anderson
Because I know I'm not gonna get tired, so I'm just gonna beat on you.
- JRJoe Rogan
Who writes out your sched- do you write it out or do you just-
- CACorey Anderson
I do it myself.
- JRJoe Rogan
... know what it is? Do you, do you have it in your head or do you write it out?
- CACorey Anderson
I write it out.
- JRJoe Rogan
You write it out?
- CACorey Anderson
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.
- JRJoe Rogan
Hmm.
- CACorey Anderson
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.
- JRJoe Rogan
Do you meal prep? Do you have like, uh, little Tupperware-
- CACorey Anderson
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... containers with your food?
- CACorey Anderson
Yeah. I used-
- JRJoe Rogan
So you just grab one and-
- CACorey Anderson
I used to use... Well, not use, I still use Eat Clean Bro when it get, in the camp.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- CACorey Anderson
I used to use 'em all the time, but now, like I said, I got a wife-
- JRJoe Rogan
It's called Eat Clean Bro?
- CACorey Anderson
Eat Clean Bro. It's, uh-
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- CACorey Anderson
... Jamie... I can't remember his last name, but Jamie in New Jersey.
- JRJoe Rogan
That's a good name.
- CACorey Anderson
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.
- JRJoe Rogan
Hmm.
- CACorey Anderson
And it's perfect, but...
- JRJoe Rogan
So it has all your nutrients, all your-
- CACorey Anderson
Yeah.
- 29:11 – 31:10
New Jersey’s ‘unheralded’ super-camp and the Mark Henry effect
- JRJoe Rogan
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.
- CACorey Anderson
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.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- CACorey Anderson
He broke it down very lightly for six weeks and, like, I fell in love with it there.
- JRJoe Rogan
Is that the first time you worked with him?
- CACorey Anderson
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.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- CACorey Anderson
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."
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs) He listens.
- CACorey Anderson
And me and Mark have been like this since.
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- CACorey Anderson
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-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- CACorey Anderson
... 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)
- 31:10 – 36:09
Mark Henry’s secret language: combo codes, multi-language systems, and constant reinvention
- JRJoe Rogan
And he changes the code for each fight, right?
- CACorey Anderson
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."
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- CACorey Anderson
He said, "When you can move, I'll bring you a slice of pizza."
- JRJoe Rogan
I heard he's got some killer pizza.
- CACorey Anderson
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."
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- CACorey Anderson
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-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- CACorey Anderson
Like, I've seen Chris Weidman do it, Rashad Evans. We got Lance Palmer and Claudia now, different people, like-
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- CACorey Anderson
... watching and trying to learn. You can just see-
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, Lance Palmer's out there too now?
- CACorey Anderson
Yeah, he just came out recently.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- CACorey Anderson
He was out, uh, last week right before I left, he showed up.
- JRJoe Rogan
Who else is out there? Who would you say?
- CACorey Anderson
Uh, Claudia.
- JRJoe Rogan
Claudia D'Elia?
- CACorey Anderson
She had a gym out there-
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- CACorey Anderson
... 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.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- CACorey Anderson
When it's new-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- CACorey Anderson
... 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.
- JRJoe Rogan
So when you were fighting as a heavyweight, you weren't a mover? You weren't moving?
- CACorey Anderson
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-
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- CACorey Anderson
... 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.
- 36:09 – 42:52
Winning vs. entertaining: OSP lesson, fan pressure, and why Corey stopped chasing hype
- CACorey Anderson
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.
- JRJoe Rogan
Hmm.
- CACorey Anderson
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.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- CACorey Anderson
I can box. I don't have to, but I will.
- JRJoe Rogan
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.
- CACorey Anderson
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
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.
- CACorey Anderson
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
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."
- CACorey Anderson
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
"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."
- CACorey Anderson
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-
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- CACorey Anderson
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."
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- CACorey Anderson
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."
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- CACorey Anderson
"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.
- JRJoe Rogan
Pssh.
- CACorey Anderson
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."
- JRJoe Rogan
Fuck what the fans say.
- CACorey Anderson
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.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- CACorey Anderson
And my style ain't exciting to them, but that's 'cause you're not a mixed martial arts fan.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- CACorey Anderson
You're a fan of a knockout.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- CACorey Anderson
Or you're a fan of some fancy stuff. They talking Johnny Walker up, this, this, and this.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- 42:52 – 46:20
Fueling chip-on-shoulder motivation: negativity online and proving people wrong
- JRJoe Rogan
I think you listen to people too much, Corey.
- CACorey Anderson
I mean, that's the problem.
- JRJoe Rogan
You're listening to people. (laughs)
- CACorey Anderson
My wife says all the time, like, every morning she's like, "No negativity today." That's what she always says.
- JRJoe Rogan
You should just stay the fuck offline.
- CACorey Anderson
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
That's what you should do. Don't read that shit.
- CACorey Anderson
But it's so hard 'cause now I'm doing the hunting stuff.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, okay.
- CACorey Anderson
And when I post the stuff, it's like, as I go to put... And it pops, something will pop up.
- JRJoe Rogan
MMA questions.
- CACorey Anderson
And then you see it. Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- CACorey Anderson
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)
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- CACorey Anderson
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-
- JRJoe Rogan
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.
- CACorey Anderson
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
You know? I, I... And these are not people that would ever say that if they were in front of your face.
- CACorey Anderson
No.
- JRJoe Rogan
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.
- CACorey Anderson
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
And then you eat and you're like, "God, why'd I eat that garbage?"
- CACorey Anderson
Why'd I do that? (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
It's the same thing. It's like-
- CACorey Anderson
That makes sense.
- JRJoe Rogan
... 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.
- CACorey Anderson
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
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?
- CACorey Anderson
Yeah.
- 46:20 – 1:18:56
Origin story: injuries, racism, bad coaches, and the mindset transformation
- JRJoe Rogan
Do you feel like that's a part of your motivation?
- CACorey Anderson
Yes. It's always been that way.
- JRJoe Rogan
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.
- CACorey Anderson
No, but that's just... That's what... That's how I got to the mentality and the work ethic I got.
- JRJoe Rogan
Hmm.
- CACorey Anderson
'Cause in high school I wasn't like this. I sucked in high school. I lost to-
- JRJoe Rogan
What way?
- CACorey Anderson
I lost to... (scoffs) I didn't win a match till I was a sophomore in high school.
- JRJoe Rogan
Really?
- CACorey Anderson
I've been wrestling since third grade. Like, I was ass-tastic in school.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- CACorey Anderson
I was horrible. Like-
- JRJoe Rogan
Why?
- CACorey Anderson
I got beat one time, the coach left me. They left, they loaded the bus and left me sitting there.
- JRJoe Rogan
Because you got beat the way you got beat?
- CACorey Anderson
Yes. Yes.
- JRJoe Rogan
They didn't wanna bring you home?
- CACorey Anderson
It wasn't I got beat that I got... I lost to a girl, Joe.
- JRJoe Rogan
(gasps) You lost to a girl?
- CACorey Anderson
Deadass.
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- CACorey Anderson
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?"
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- CACorey Anderson
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
That's fucked up.
- CACorey Anderson
Yeah. Yeah. That's some-
- JRJoe Rogan
A ruthless coach.
- CACorey Anderson
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."
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- CACorey Anderson
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?"
Episode duration: 3:10:51
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Transcript of episode 9aiJ1HaDsx0
