JRE MMA Show #68 with Will Harris

1. 0:01 – 2:48

   The McGregor bus dolly incident: viral footage, promotion, and missing credit

   1. JRJoe Rogan0:01

      And (claps) Will Harris, you're live.

   2. WHWill Harris0:05

      Man, this is crazy.

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:06

      (laughs) You're on the other side of the camera now.

   4. WHWill Harris0:08

      Yeah. (laughs)

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:08

      Bef- let me give you an introduct- introduction.

   6. WHWill Harris0:10

      Okay.

   7. JRJoe Rogan0:10

      For people who don't know, Will is the man behind Anatomy of the Fighter. If you ever seen any of those videos, like, particularly the most famous one was when Conor McGregor threw that dolly at the bus with Khabib Nurmagomedov was on it, and it became a huge part of the promotion, which w- I thought was weird that it was this, uh, shameful act, right? That he did that.

   8. WHWill Harris0:30

      Yeah.

   9. JRJoe Rogan0:30

      I mean, really awful. C- cut a bunch of innocent people that were on the bus, but they used it over and over and over again. That was your footage.

   10. WHWill Harris0:38

       Yes. A lot of-

   11. JRJoe Rogan0:39

       A lot of people didn't even know, including me.

   12. WHWill Harris0:40

       No one did. Um, you know, I was telling a friend the other day what's funny. No one has ever heard this, but when it happened, uh, (laughs) I, I showed Khabib at the back of the bus 'cause he was- had a smile on his face, and I showed him and everybody else on the bus that I actually caught Conor doing it 'cause they didn't really know it was Conor.

   13. JRJoe Rogan0:58

       Right.

   14. WHWill Harris0:58

       So, I remember Khabib looked at the footage, I was holding the camera, and he was like, "Brother, you could get paid from this." He's like, "Bro, this is worth $100,000." He looked at his manager, Ali, a shout out to Ali, and he was like, "Get this, get him, give him some money. He deserves this." And then I gave it to the UFC to use for Embedded, and, um, I thought it wa- that was just it, and they promoted the fight with it, and I was like, "Damn, I shoulda just leaned my head to the right and got hit by the dolly so I could-"

   15. JRJoe Rogan1:26

       (laughs)

   16. WHWill Harris1:26

       "... not have to be doing it, uh, you know, Go Fund Me's and shit."

   17. JRJoe Rogan1:29

       Well, what you shoulda done is ask for money for it. That video footage was a- it turned out it was very valuable-

   18. WHWill Harris1:35

       Yeah.

   19. JRJoe Rogan1:36

       ... because it set up the fight, which also set up the post-fight brawl. I mean, there was, there was so much that was involved in him throwing that dolly, and you caught that video, and they played that shit over-

   20. WHWill Harris1:48

       I know.

   21. JRJoe Rogan1:48

       ... and over and over. I was actually kinda shocked that they did that because at the time, we were like, "Whoa, Conor might go to jail." Like that was, that was, like, legitimate assault.

   22. WHWill Harris1:56

       They used it the next day.

   23. JRJoe Rogan1:58

       I know.

   24. WHWill Harris1:58

       Like, I was like, "Damn." Like...

   25. JRJoe Rogan2:00

       WME is merciless.

   26. WHWill Harris2:00

       When I saw it on like, um, when I saw it on, uh, Fox News and CNN, I was just like, "That's my footage."

   27. JRJoe Rogan2:07

       Yeah.

   28. WHWill Harris2:07

       You know, 'cause you know, when you building a s- like, a channel or a series like that, you think, "Oh, this is my moment." Every- everybody has a moment.

   29. JRJoe Rogan2:15

       Yeah.

   30. WHWill Harris2:15

       And unfortunately, the UFC promoted it, and shout out to them because they've been nothing but good to me. I can't say anything. Uh, I still wish I woulda got something from it, bro.
2. 2:48 – 6:19

   How Anatomy of a Fighter started: stumbling into the Blackzilians and early MMA access

   1. WHWill Harris2:48

      Well, e- what was crazy is that I started it almost two years ago. Um, I was just sitting at home in Florida. I was living in South Florida, and I was ha- I was hanging out with the guys at the Blackzilians at Jocko. I had stumbled over there one day at the gym, and I, I seen it when I was grocery shopping, and I just stopped in. Um, and I, I was doing stuff for Shannon Briggs. Let's go, champ.

   2. JRJoe Rogan3:09

      Let's go, champ.

   3. WHWill Harris3:09

      Um, I was going to st-

   4. JRJoe Rogan3:10

      You did this stuff?

   5. WHWill Harris3:10

      Yeah. I was going to the, uh, Heavyweight Factory. And ha-

   6. JRJoe Rogan3:12

      You were do- you do all those-

   7. WHWill Harris3:14

      I, I-

   8. JRJoe Rogan3:14

      ... the Shannon Briggs ones?

   9. WHWill Harris3:14

      No, I wasn't doing his phone videos.

   10. JRJoe Rogan3:16

       Oh, okay.

   11. WHWill Harris3:16

       What happened was I reached out to him, and he invited me to the Heavyweight Factory. Holyfield was there, everybody, and I just went there a few times, and I, I created some creative videos for them.

   12. JRJoe Rogan3:26

       Holyfield still working out?

   13. WHWill Harris3:28

       He was when I was there. I seen him.

   14. JRJoe Rogan3:30

       He still looks good.

   15. WHWill Harris3:31

       He does, man. He like what?

   16. JRJoe Rogan3:32

       It's crazy. He's like 50 years old.

   17. WHWill Harris3:34

       50 something years old.

   18. JRJoe Rogan3:34

       At least 50 years old.

   19. WHWill Harris3:35

       I got some, I got some amazing stories about, like that I've never released about Tyson fight, like crazy things, like his, his, his-

   20. JRJoe Rogan3:43

       Him, him talking about it?

   21. WHWill Harris3:44

       Oh, man, I got some stuff. Yeah.

   22. JRJoe Rogan3:45

       When you putting it out?

   23. WHWill Harris3:46

       Well, initially Anatomy of a Fighter was just supposed to be a documentary. That was it, and I was, that was it. Just a hour-long documentary. Um, I, I never knew who a Khabib was or nothing.

   24. JRJoe Rogan3:58

       Really?

   25. WHWill Harris3:59

       Like, I just didn't know. I, I, I knew Michael Johnson and all these guys because they was at the Blackzilians. So, I knew, the first day I ever went in a gym, like Michael Chandler, Kamaru Usman. Shout out to Kamaru Usman 'cause I, the first time I ever saw him, I thought he was a, a bum.

   26. JRJoe Rogan4:12

       What?

   27. WHWill Harris4:13

       'Cause Michael Chandler gave it to him, and I got it on camera.

   28. JRJoe Rogan4:16

       Oh, no.

   29. WHWill Harris4:16

       And I, I thought Michael Chandler was a stud, right? And then they was like, "Oh, he won the Ultimate Fighter," things like that. So, that was almost two years ago.

   30. JRJoe Rogan4:24

       You thought he was a bum?
3. 6:19 – 7:30

   From wedding videographer to fight storyteller: career pivot and finding purpose

   1. JRJoe Rogan6:19

      This is a giant shift for you, right?

   2. WHWill Harris6:21

      Yeah.

   3. JRJoe Rogan6:21

      So, like, what were you filming before two years ago-

   4. WHWill Harris6:24

      Well-

   5. JRJoe Rogan6:24

      ... when you worked with Blackzilians?

   6. WHWill Harris6:25

      Uh, before that, like, I have a, a wedding business, so I was doing weddings.

   7. JRJoe Rogan6:29

      (laughs)

   8. WHWill Harris6:29

      My big Black ass was doing weddings.

   9. JRJoe Rogan6:31

      (laughs)

   10. WHWill Harris6:32

       Which is funny. I'll go to these weddings and people be like-

   11. JRJoe Rogan6:34

       People will know 'cause Will's sitting down. Will's gigantic.

   12. WHWill Harris6:36

       Yeah.

   13. JRJoe Rogan6:36

       How tall are you?

   14. WHWill Harris6:36

       6'5".

   15. JRJoe Rogan6:37

       So he's towering over all these people-

   16. WHWill Harris6:38

       Look-

   17. JRJoe Rogan6:38

       ... filming their weddings.

   18. WHWill Harris6:39

       Yeah, yeah, yeah. It, it... I, I, I, I, I really thought like, "Man, my life is miserable," at one point. I was like, "I'm just shooting these, uh-"

   19. JRJoe Rogan6:47

       Oh, boring.

   20. WHWill Harris6:47

       Yeah. After a while, like, you win a award, then another award, then another award, and it's all based off reviews, right? And it was like, "Man, I got, I gotta do something more than this." So I, I did, like, basketball documentaries in Italy. I li- I lived in Italy for a minute. I went to China, did a basketball documentary there 'cause that's my background, basketball. But after that, I was just like, "Man, what, what else can I do?" And I literally just stumbled... I saw the gym one day, JockO, and I was like, "That's where them Blackzilians train," and I went over there, and that's how all of it started.

   21. JRJoe Rogan7:16

       So you just walked in? No martial arts training?

   22. WHWill Harris7:18

       Nothing. I just saw the gym-

   23. JRJoe Rogan7:20

       Wow.

   24. WHWill Harris7:20

       ... and I was like, "That's JockO. I know the Blackzilians train there." So I went in there, like, midday. Nobody was in there, and I just said, "Listen, I'm a filmmaker. I would love to film some of these fighters." And that's how it happened.

4. 7:30 – 12:31

   Basketball scholarship, ACL tear, and the first camera that changed everything

   1. JRJoe Rogan7:30

      Did you go to school for that?

   2. WHWill Harris7:31

      Yeah, so I went to college at University of Southern Indiana in Evansville on a basketball scholarship. I was the top senior in America coming out of high school, and I went to this top division two school after I tried to wait my senior year to get some division one offers. Obvious- if people know, like, division one is the top level of basketball, and then division two is right under that. Probably not now, but back then it was. And, um, I went. Uh, Bruce Pearl was my coach. He was very persuasive to get me to come to the university. He, he coaches at Auburn now. Uh, they just went to the final four this year, if you know anything about basketball. But I played my first year, and then going into my second year, I tore my ACL. And, uh, I... My life was over. All I knew was basketball. If anybody know anything about Carbondale, it's about 25,000 people. People don't l- leave that town. It's kind of a miserable, you know, thing. I think, like, the average household median income there is like 16,000 a year for families.

   3. JRJoe Rogan8:31

      Jesus.

   4. WHWill Harris8:31

      Yeah, like, so you come from the bottom.

   5. JRJoe Rogan8:33

      Did you get it repaired?

   6. WHWill Harris8:35

      Yeah, so I had surgery. I had the red shirt. So when you're in college and you sit out a year-

   7. JRJoe Rogan8:38

      Mm-hmm.

   8. WHWill Harris8:38

      ... you red shirt. So, one day I was dating this girl and she was going to Walmart, and she literally was just like, "Oh, you want to come to Walmart with me?" And I was like, "Yeah." I had some Pell Grant money, and I, I was addicted to the, the... Remember the MTV show Road Rules and Real World?

   9. JRJoe Rogan8:53

      Yeah.

   10. WHWill Harris8:53

       I used to be addicted to that stuff, so I used to watch it all the time. And I went to Walmart that day and bought a camera. That was my f- a Sony Handycam, the one you used to put l- little mini DVDs in.

   11. JRJoe Rogan9:04

       Mm-hmm.

   12. WHWill Harris9:04

       And that was the birth. I... Literally, my life changed soon as I bought that camera. And I was like, "Oh, I'm gonna just film my rehab and, uh, come back more ferocious," and all I was doing was, like, filming girls at parties-

   13. JRJoe Rogan9:16

       (laughs)

   14. WHWill Harris9:16

       ... doing bongs and shit like that, like literally for four years. I had a camera every day.

   15. JRJoe Rogan9:20

       So you just stopped playing basketball-

   16. WHWill Harris9:22

       No, I, I-

   17. JRJoe Rogan9:23

       ... totally?

   18. WHWill Harris9:23

       ... I con- I continued to play basketball. I, I, I came back a year after my red shirt. Um, I finished at one of the top five scorers in school history and university history, top four rebounds, all-time leader in field goal percentage, All-American my senior year. We went to the national championship, played on national TV, everything. After that was done, I wasn't the same player after I tore my ACL. I can just admit that. Like, I was this high-flying, super freak, athletic, 45-inch vertical type of player, to... I couldn't do that anymore, so I had to adjust my whole game.

   19. JRJoe Rogan9:53

       What was, what was wrong?

   20. WHWill Harris9:55

       I don't know. Maybe I just... You know, s- it was different back in 2001, right?

   21. JRJoe Rogan10:00

       As far as the surgery?

   22. WHWill Harris10:01

       Yeah, for surgery and f-

   23. JRJoe Rogan10:02

       Did you get the patella tendon graft?

   24. WHWill Harris10:04

       I got patella, yep. Yep, exa-

   25. JRJoe Rogan10:04

       That's a rough one to come back from.

   26. WHWill Harris10:05

       That's a rough, that's... And they don't do that anymore.

   27. JRJoe Rogan10:07

       They still do.

   28. WHWill Harris10:08

       They do?

   29. JRJoe Rogan10:09

       Yeah, Georges St-Pierre had that done.

   30. WHWill Harris10:10

       Yeah.
5. 12:31 – 23:32

   Post-college drift: call centers, chasing pro hoops, and running out of money abroad

   1. WHWill Harris12:31

      That's funny. But, so I graduated college in 2004, and, um, I moved to Phoenix with my best friend, Mr. Organic. And, uh, he was out there just living, and I wanted to get out of my little town. So I went out there and I, I kinda wanted to, like, take a year off and then try to play professional basketball. Because you either play in the NBA or you go overseas to play basketball. So I went to Phoenix with no idea what I was gonna do with my life, and I, I literally started working at a call center. Amer- uh, it was, uh... What was that old, uh, phone company that went out of business? I can't remember what it was called, but, uh, I used to just call people collect, uh, and try to get them to sign up for long distance, and then you get caught. Uh, like I, I got caught every word in the book, every day, but it was funny. Like, people was calling you the N-word and everything, and you just laughing 'cause they mad, right?

   2. JRJoe Rogan13:26

      (laughs)

   3. WHWill Harris13:26

      And then you're like convincing, like, this 90-year-old lady to sign up for long distance, knowing that it's illegal as hell. Like, you just convinving- convincing this lady (laughs) to sign up for long distance. But I was good at it, though. I was good at it. So that was, like, my first job I ever had in my life.

   4. JRJoe Rogan13:39

      So it's like one of them shady phone... They call you up, like...

   5. WHWill Harris13:42

      (laughs)

   6. JRJoe Rogan13:42

      I get tho- those robo calls.

   7. WHWill Harris13:44

      Yeah.

   8. JRJoe Rogan13:44

      Those calls you... You did that shit?

   9. WHWill Harris13:45

      Like, "Do you want unlimited long distance?"

   10. JRJoe Rogan13:47

       Do you feel guilty?

   11. WHWill Harris13:49

       A little bit.

   12. JRJoe Rogan13:49

       (laughs)

   13. WHWill Harris13:50

       But they went out, they went out of business at, like, six months after I, uh, had the job.

   14. JRJoe Rogan13:55

       Oh, okay.

   15. WHWill Harris13:55

       And, uh, I... From there, I- I just didn't know what I was gonna do. And I had a, um... He's not my cousin but he's like somebody we all call our cousins. Like Black people, we call everybody our cousins. But he played in the NBA, his name was Troy Hudson, and he was from my town. So he was like the most successful person that ever got out of our town. He was, uh, you know, playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves. And I reached out to him 'cause I basically was like, "Listen, man, I need help 'cause I, I wanna play basketball again, but I don't know h- how I'm gonna... I don't have a agent, I don't have anything." So he kinda invited us up to Minneapolis. That's the first time I lit-... I, I literally went from Evansville, Phoenix, to Minneapolis to try to pursue this whole basketball career. And I did that for like three years, like chasing it, going to tryouts, things like that, sending tapes to, to agents and things like that. And it just didn't pan out. Nothing stuck. You know, I had opportunities, they just... I just wasn't the same player, and I can admit that and I'm comfortable with that because I know I had a successful basketball career. It just didn't go to the level where I made millions of dollars. So after that, man, I was literally stuck. After traveling around the world, I ended up in Malaysia, I was in Australia trying to pursue-

   16. JRJoe Rogan15:04

       Malaysia?

   17. WHWill Harris15:04

       You don't wanna know how I ended up over here.

   18. JRJoe Rogan15:06

       I do wanna know.

   19. WHWill Harris15:07

       Man, this is funny.

   20. JRJoe Rogan15:09

       (laughs)

   21. WHWill Harris15:09

       Only a few people know this story. So, (laughs) wh- when you at your bottom, you try to find something for comfort. I- I've never done weed or anything in my life, but I- I was addicted to, like, online dating back then.

   22. JRJoe Rogan15:22

       Really?

   23. WHWill Harris15:23

       Yes. I was, like, trying to meet girls, like, just to try to find some situation. I felt like, "Oh, I feel incomplete, so let me, like, online date or whatever." And I met this girl... Like, one of my friends in Phoenix played basketball in Kuala Lumpur, so obviously you need a visa to go over there. So I'm thinking to myself, like, "What's the, the, the way I can get over there to Kuala Lumpur and try to play basketball?" So I was, like, online dating. I don't even remember what website it was.

   24. JRJoe Rogan15:48

       Well, I wanna say, you're a good-looking guy.

   25. WHWill Harris15:49

       I know.

   26. JRJoe Rogan15:50

       How you not getting girls in America?

   27. WHWill Harris15:51

       I do.

   28. JRJoe Rogan15:52

       (laughs)

   29. WHWill Harris15:52

       But, uh, I'm just saying, I was just... Listen, my whole point-

   30. JRJoe Rogan15:55

       I'm sorry, go ahead.
6. 23:32 – 26:55

   Vegas reset: living with strippers, a $9,000 slot win, and the San Diego detour

   1. WHWill Harris23:32

      No matter if you got a roof over your head. And I feel, I feel like people... You see all these beautiful moments w- that I do now, or what anybody does, does, and they don't see the, the story that ultimately led you. Like, what, what ultimately turned to you doing what you're doing now? So after Australia, I went to Vegas. I was living with two strippers. Yes, I lived with two strippers.

   2. JRJoe Rogan23:56

      Congratulations again.

   3. WHWill Harris23:57

      Yeah, I lived in Vegas with two strippers that worked at the Rhino, the Spearmint Rhino. I met them on Craigslist.... for rooms to rent.

   4. JRJoe Rogan24:05

      Jesus Christ.

   5. WHWill Harris24:07

      And I had enough money, like $600 to move into, uh, a room. So I literally moved in with these girls and one day... Have you ever been in the Vegas casinos? 'Cause this is like the climax. You, you ever seen like the Megabucks-

   6. JRJoe Rogan24:24

      Yeah.

   7. WHWill Harris24:24

      ... slots?

   8. JRJoe Rogan24:25

      Sure.

   9. WHWill Harris24:25

      So, one day it was Floyd Mayweather versus Oscar De La Hoya. So that was the year. I was in the, the Mirage and I seen these two hot Black girls and I had like some money in my pocket c- a hundred or something. So I went to sit down next to them, so I went over there and sat next to them and was just, you know, trying to shoot the shit. And I put a $20 in them slots, 'cause you know you can get free drinks if you put in a slot. So, I just hitting it talking to them, "Where y'all from? Y'all going to the fight," blah, blah, blah. And then one of the girls was like, "Hey, you won." I was like, "Oh, okay." You know, you thinking you ain't winning no slots. Guess how much I won?

   10. JRJoe Rogan24:59

       How much?

   11. WHWill Harris24:59

       $9,000.

   12. JRJoe Rogan25:01

       Whoa.

   13. WHWill Harris25:01

       Swear to God. $9,000 till somebody broke.

   14. JRJoe Rogan25:06

       Wow.

   15. WHWill Harris25:06

       Yes, $9,000. So, f-

   16. JRJoe Rogan25:09

       When they give you that, do you pay taxes on it later or the-

   17. WHWill Harris25:11

       Yeah, I gave them the wrong Social Security number though.

   18. JRJoe Rogan25:14

       You gave them the wrong Social (laughs) number?

   19. WHWill Harris25:16

       Yeah, I gave them the wrong Social.

   20. JRJoe Rogan25:17

       (laughs) They c- you can do that?

   21. WHWill Harris25:19

       Yeah, 'cause they just ask you your name and your Social Security number.

   22. JRJoe Rogan25:21

       Oh, okay. Maybe you shouldn't have just told everybody that.

   23. WHWill Harris25:24

       I don't know. They don't, they can't prove that I won anything.

   24. JRJoe Rogan25:28

       They can't?

   25. WHWill Harris25:29

       That was like 12 years ago.

   26. JRJoe Rogan25:31

       They didn't have records back then?

   27. WHWill Harris25:32

       I don't think so.

   28. JRJoe Rogan25:33

       I hope not.

   29. WHWill Harris25:34

       Nah, me too.

   30. JRJoe Rogan25:35

       Okay. (laughs)
7. 26:55 – 30:16

   Quitting the last job: Minnesota winter, buying a Canon, and grinding film skills

   1. WHWill Harris26:55

      literally a failure. I got a c- I g- have a college degree, I, I graduated from college. So it wasn't like... I just didn't want that responsibility of having to do a 9:00 to 5:00 or, and things like that. So, it wasn't until I lived in San Diego that I, I literally talked to the guy that I was living with and was like, "Bro, I, I don't know what I'm going to do in my life, bro, but I got to figure something out." I was like nearing 30, and, um, I ended up moving to Minneapolis, back to Minneapolis, and I got a job as a teacher, uh, like a teacher's assistant. Uh, they called it behavior assistant. I was like working with kindergarten kids.

   2. JRJoe Rogan27:28

      Jesus.

   3. WHWill Harris27:28

      Literally crazy life, right?

   4. JRJoe Rogan27:30

      What a crazy life. (laughs)

   5. WHWill Harris27:31

      To end up where I'm at now to be on Joe Rogan, right? So it w- it was March 3rd, 2- 2011. Um, it was like negative 20 degrees outside. I was living with my guy, my best friend, and, um, I went to work that day and it was freezing outside, and they literally still went to recess that day. I'll never forget that. They was like, "Oh, g- put your coats and gloves on, kids. It's time to go to, to recess." And I was like, "What do you mean? Are we going in the gym or outside?" He was like, "We're going outside." I was like, "Man, these people in Minnesota are crazy."

   6. JRJoe Rogan28:00

      They're hard, those are hard people, bro.

   7. WHWill Harris28:02

      That was the last day I ever worked in my life.

   8. JRJoe Rogan28:04

      Y- you said, "Fuck this"?

   9. WHWill Harris28:05

      I can't do it, man. I was like, "Bro-"

   10. JRJoe Rogan28:06

       You can't be outside in that weather?

   11. WHWill Harris28:07

       I- it was just the fact that I was like, "What am I doing with my life? I'm working with kinder," d-

   12. JRJoe Rogan28:12

       Right.

   13. WHWill Harris28:12

       Great rewarding job. I'm like, "What? I, it's nothing wrong with me."

   14. JRJoe Rogan28:16

       Right.

   15. WHWill Harris28:16

       I'm physically able to do anything, I'm intelligent enough to do anything, I'm qualified enough to do anything.

   16. JRJoe Rogan28:22

       You're a victim of circumstance-

   17. WHWill Harris28:23

       Victim of-

   18. JRJoe Rogan28:24

       ... because things just kept happening.

   19. WHWill Harris28:25

       Things kept happening. Um, and a lot of it is my fault, like, because you're just lazy, right? So March 3rd, 2011 is the day I, I said, "I'm quitting, uh, my job." I went back to my apartment with my roommate. He was pissed. He was like, "Bro, you're always quitting jobs." (laughs) And he was like, "Bro, what you going to do?" I was like, "Bro, I'm f- I'm finna figure something out. I'm finna buy a camera or do something." He was like, "Yeah, yeah, whatever." And, and we literally were sitting in the kitchen, in his little kitchen on the floor talking about life, 'cause I was just tell, I literally mentally broke. I was like, "Bro, I'm just jacked. Like, I got to figure something out." I had... Pell Grant was coming up. I was getting my, my tax returns back and I had enough to buy a camera, and the first camera I ever bought was a Canon T2i. It was like $800 and I bought a lens, and that was it. That was it. It changed my life. And I literally spent, like, the next year shooting videos in garages, like cars coming up, filming the wheels. And I was just reall- literally honing myself. Because back then when I had a camera in college, digital cameras weren't even out until 2008, like these little new style cameras. So I had to relearn everything, and I, I relearned a lot from YouTube and Vimeo, and I was watching the... I had a creative eye and a, a mindset, so I was just like, "I got to get this skill set." So I started doing rap videos for $50, $100, free. You know, I tell all these kids that message me now, like, "Bro, I spent two years doing videos for free just trying to learn how to do this stuff." Everybody want to get paid for something, and I'm like, "You probably don't deserve to get paid yet." So I, I, I had friends, shout out to Mack Erv, Mr. Organik, like, I was shooting they videos for free.... and I was just getting better. I was getting better and better and better and better. And then, like, three years into it, I shot a music video called Saks Fifth Avenue. And, um-

8. 30:16 – 49:06

   Music video hustle to documentary voice: finding his style beyond ‘just rap videos’

   1. JRJoe Rogan30:16

      So, you're editing these as well?

   2. WHWill Harris30:17

      I'm editing, I'm doing them all.

   3. JRJoe Rogan30:18

      What are you editing on?

   4. WHWill Harris30:19

      Uh, at the time, I was editing on Sony Vegas.

   5. JRJoe Rogan30:23

      Hmm, okay.

   6. WHWill Harris30:24

      Uh, a old program now.

   7. JRJoe Rogan30:25

      I remember that.

   8. WHWill Harris30:25

      And, and it's ... Yeah. It's, it's, it's, it's popular now. It's- it's- it's pretty easy to use and, um, it was cheap to buy, like, 90 bucks, so I was able to use that, um, like the movie studio version that was y- you don't get all the little tools, but you got enough. And I had this cheap laptop, uh, that this girl bought me. Uh, she lied and told me she was gonna buy me a camera, then ended up buying me a, a laptop. I was pissed off.

   9. JRJoe Rogan30:50

      (laughs)

   10. WHWill Harris30:51

       And I was like ... She was like, "Listen." Like, the most popular Canon, uh, camera back in, like, 2011 was, like, a Canon 5D Mark II. It was, like, $2,000. I couldn't afford that. So, I met this girl online. (laughs)

   11. JRJoe Rogan31:06

       (laughs)

   12. WHWill Harris31:08

       Literally.

   13. JRJoe Rogan31:09

       She's just like-

   14. WHWill Harris31:09

       From Denver, Colorado, from D- Denver, Colorado. And, you know, you start your little love affair or whatever, you talking, you promising. And, and, "I wanna see you." So, one day, she was like, "I'm gonna come see you in Minnesota." This is around the time I started. And, uh, she told me she was gonna buy me that camera, 'cause I was telling her that's, like, my dream camera, my dream camera. And I remember my roommate, uh, like, I run in his room, like, "Look, bro, look at this short film that was shot with this camera. I'm finna have this camera, bro. We finna do all types of things." So, she, like, kept telling me she had the camera, kept telling me he had the camera. So, like, the day she came, I picked her up. I had this little used 9- 1992 Ford Taurus, it was blue. And, um-

   15. JRJoe Rogan31:47

       (laughs)

   16. WHWill Harris31:48

       ... I picked her up at the airport. I remember, I was like, "Where the camera at?" as soon as she p- (laughs)

   17. JRJoe Rogan31:52

       (laughs)

   18. WHWill Harris31:53

       Soon as, soon as she picked me up, "Where the camera at?" She was like, "Don't worry, don't worry, don't worry." And I'm, like, driving, thinking like, "Man, she ain't got this camera. She lied to me. She just wanna see me," right? So, we get to my apartment. And my boy, he anticipating it too. He's like, "Man, he finna get this camera. We finna shoot all the music videos," right? 'Cause if you get this camera at this time, you ... Oh, you shooting with a 5D? So, I remember she, like, pulled ... She was like, "Here's a gift." It's like, she pulled out the gift and I'm like, "This ain't no camera box." It was a, a brand new laptop, and I'm sitting there complaining. (laughs)

   19. JRJoe Rogan32:23

       (laughs)

   20. WHWill Harris32:23

       I'm complaining about a laptop, and I already have a camera.

   21. JRJoe Rogan32:27

       Right.

   22. WHWill Harris32:27

       But she, like, give me this laptop and I was just like, "All right, cool." So, she gave me the laptop and, uh, I get the Sony Vegas program, and then I started editing with that. And I had that camera for about two years. I couldn't-

   23. JRJoe Rogan32:37

       Where's that girl?

   24. WHWill Harris32:39

       I don't know.

   25. JRJoe Rogan32:41

       (laughs)

   26. WHWill Harris32:41

       There's a lot of that in my life.

   27. JRJoe Rogan32:42

       (laughs)

   28. WHWill Harris32:44

       And I don't blame them girls. Listen, man.

   29. JRJoe Rogan32:45

       Oh, yeah.

   30. WHWill Harris32:46

       I used to be one of those guys. You know them girl, them girls that's materialistic?
9. 49:06 – 51:21

   Building Anatomy of a Fighter: storytelling fighters’ lives, not just fight week

   1. WHWill Harris49:06

      Right? Where I'm at now is beautiful. You know, I was filming videos to survive, and then I finally found something that stuck. I never in my fucking life thought it was gonna be MMA. Never.

   2. JRJoe Rogan49:17

      That's crazy.

   3. WHWill Harris49:18

      Never.

   4. JRJoe Rogan49:18

      So you, you saw people with addiction problems and you just didn't want to have anything to do with anything-

   5. WHWill Harris49:23

      No, I, I just-

   6. JRJoe Rogan49:24

      ... and you just kept-

   7. WHWill Harris49:24

      Yeah, I just thought it was... Luckily for me, man, I, I found sports in, in the fifth grade, and I just was obs... I have an addictive personality.

   8. JRJoe Rogan49:31

      Me too.

   9. WHWill Harris49:31

      Whet- what, whether it's masturbation or anything, right?

   10. JRJoe Rogan49:34

       (laughs) I have a very similar situation.

   11. WHWill Harris49:36

       Yeah. I, I, you know what's crazy? I seen one of y... Like, what's fascinating about this podcast is that if you go to your channel on YouTube and you go to, click oldest videos, that's why I'm not in a, in a rush for anything, 'cause everything takes time. I looked at like one of your podcasts with Eddie Bravo, like three hours long, it got like 11,000 views.

   12. JRJoe Rogan49:53

       Oh, yeah?

   13. WHWill Harris49:53

       Yeah, like 20,000 views.

   14. JRJoe Rogan49:55

       Well, people always want to say like, "Hey, how do I get paid for podcasts?" I'm like, "Do 'em for six years."

   15. WHWill Harris49:59

       Yeah.

   16. JRJoe Rogan49:59

       I didn't get paid at all for years. I mean, this podcast is almost 10 years old and I didn't really start getting paid-

   17. WHWill Harris50:05

       Yeah, like-

   18. JRJoe Rogan50:06

       ... like five years ago.

   19. WHWill Harris50:07

       And I, that's what... It's fascinating to see that, like you go look at your oldest videos, 20,000, 30,000 views.

   20. JRJoe Rogan50:12

       Yeah.

   21. WHWill Harris50:13

       And that's the thing, like MMA fans are fickle, right? They like who they like, they don't like who they like. It's only about three or four fighters that can get a lot of views on YouTube.

   22. JRJoe Rogan50:21

       But that's, that's, that, it's that way with everything.

   23. WHWill Harris50:23

       That's what I'm saying.

   24. JRJoe Rogan50:24

       So with comedy, so with...

   25. WHWill Harris50:25

       Yeah. And people are fascinated. Like, m- I- I'm lucky enough to know a Khabib, right? Or somebody like that. Like, I didn't know who this guy was until Rashad Evans was like, "Yo, let me introduce you to my guy Ali." And then I met Ali filming some Renzo Gracie stuff for him, um, and he was like, "Yo. I like you, man. Let me put you together with my fighter Kha... You know who Khabib is?" I was like, "Is that the guy that fought Michael Johnson?" I didn't know who Khabib was. He was like, "I think y'all would be a good fit, 'cause the way you do stories and stuff like that, I think you, he'll like you and you'll like him." And I literally met him of January of last year, of 2018, in Boston, um, when Francis was fighting Stipe and Volkan was fighting DC.

   26. JRJoe Rogan51:08

       Hmm.

   27. WHWill Harris51:08

       And that was the first time I ever met Khabib, and the rest is history. I, I, I filmed him up there, he was gonna fight Tony, um, then I filmed him doing the whole Conor fiasco, Al Iaquinta. Then I went to Dagestan, I went to Dagestan.

10. 51:21 – 1:08:18

    Dagestan Chronicles: Ramadan, checkpoints, culture shock, and why Khabib feels unbreakable

    1. JRJoe Rogan51:21

       What's that like?

    2. WHWill Harris51:22

       Intense. But it was-

    3. JRJoe Rogan51:24

       What was it like?

    4. WHWill Harris51:24

       ... it was beautiful. Because people tried to scare me when I was supposed to go to Dagestan.

    5. JRJoe Rogan51:29

       Who?

    6. WHWill Harris51:29

       Like, I got people in the UFC that was like, "Yo. Be careful over there." I'm thinking like-

    7. JRJoe Rogan51:33

       People that work for the UFC?

    8. WHWill Harris51:34

       Yeah, just saying like, "Be careful." Like, and I'm thinking to myself like, in my DMs on Instagram, like, "Bro, just be careful."

    9. JRJoe Rogan51:41

       They don't fucking play over there.

    10. WHWill Harris51:42

        I was going d- I went during Ramadan last June.

    11. JRJoe Rogan51:45

        Wow.

    12. WHWill Harris51:45

        At the end of Ramadan. And, uh...

    13. JRJoe Rogan51:47

        Did you have to observe while you were there?

    14. WHWill Harris51:50

        So, uh, Khabib wanted me to come during like the last tail end of Ramadan, right? So I went over there, um, by myself, went and got my visa in Miami and went over there, just fl- got my ticket, and, um, I went over there. I remember the first day I got there, I was in like customs for like two hours, 'cause they couldn't speak English at this little airport in, in Dagestan. And Khabib was outside (laughs) and he wouldn't come in the airport 'cause he's too famous, right? And this is in the middle of the night. And I remember when I first got there, uh, it was just checkpoints everywhere when I got there. Like, we'd like drive down the street, person with some guns. I'm like, "All right, cool. This... Well, I don't know where we at, but this is Dagestan." And, um, I ended up getting to this, this... I stayed at his uncle house, I think, and from there it was, it was just a beautiful moment. The Dagestan Chronicles is my most popular thing on my channel, obviously 'cause it's showing Khabib in a way no one's ever seen him. Um, I observed Ramadan the whole time I was there. I didn't eat, I didn't drink, I did exactly what Khabib and them did, because I think a, a problem with us a lot as Americans is we take our culture somewhere else, and I wanted to observe their culture and really see what it was like. And I was fascinated, I wanted to know why women covered themselves, and I asked all of those questions. All of that stuff is in the documentary. And now when I get all these millions of people watching these videos, the most common thing is like, "Where's the women at?" And I'm like, "Why are these people so obsessed with where the women at?" And, and I literally went into that, like I asked, like, "When you, when these women are married, you don't point a camera at these people." Y-

    15. JRJoe Rogan53:20

        Hmm.

    16. WHWill Harris53:20

        Like, I've seen women. You just don't point a camera at 'em, it's rude, right? And that's like the-

    17. JRJoe Rogan53:25

        In their culture.

    18. WHWill Harris53:26

        In their culture.

    19. JRJoe Rogan53:26

        Did they ex- explain this to you?

    20. WHWill Harris53:28

        Yeah, they did. They did.

    21. JRJoe Rogan53:29

        Or is this something... Well, how w- what did they say?

    22. WHWill Harris53:30

        They literally just said they look at they w- like... I talked to a couple of 'em, a couple people over there, and they was just like, "We look at our women as, women as queens. And we cover 'em because in, in, in the, in the Quran it's, uh, you know, the man is weak to the flesh." So they don't want their woman to be c- y- n- y- you know, looked at by other men. I think it's-

    23. JRJoe Rogan53:51

        Ogled.

    24. WHWill Harris53:51

        Ah. Yeah, that's the word I was looking for.

    25. JRJoe Rogan53:53

        Yeah.

    26. WHWill Harris53:53

        So they just cover themselves up. Um, and that... In our culture, that's, you know, that may be weird, but I respected... Like what they told me, it made sense. It literally made sense, where it was just like, "Listen, we don't let another man look at our wife," right? I'm not gonna bash on that culture because I feel like that's silly. A woman can do whatever they want to do. That's just how they feel. Like I don't... You know? So, but I've seen women. I've seen some beautiful women too while I was in Dagestan. So, it wasn't the fact that I didn't film any women, I seen women.

    27. JRJoe Rogan54:23

        But they explained to you, "When you go here, w- you cannot film the women?"

    28. WHWill Harris54:27

        No, no, no. It was just...Yeah, in a way. Like, just don't film another man's woman. Like, I think I talked to Chris Weidman once, uh, when I was at- at his gym, when I was doing La Cuenta. He, he went to Chechnya.

    29. JRJoe Rogan54:40

        Yeah.

    30. WHWill Harris54:41

        And, uh, he told me a story. I think him and Werdum went to Chechnya, and he was telling me a story of like, he accidentally touched a woman's hand, and, uh, they like literally got on him like, "You don't touch another woman. You don't touch a woman's hand over here 'cause that's bad on her," right?

Episode duration: 3:05:11