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The Joe Rogan ExperienceThe Joe Rogan Experience

JRE MMA Show #8 with Jimmy Smith

Joe Rogan sits down with Jimmy Smith to discuss recent and upcoming fights.

Joe RoganhostJimmy Smithguest
Jan 3, 20182h 7mWatch on YouTube ↗

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  1. 0:002:03

    Jimmy Smith’s Bellator exit: what happened and why it matters

    1. JR

      ... waiting on ja-? We good?

    2. JS

      Just waiting on you guys.

    3. JR

      Oh, okay. Oh, yeah. Oh, sorry. (laughs)

    4. JS

      (laughs)

    5. JR

      We're chatting about kombucha. I just wanna say before this podcast starts, you fucked up, Bellator.

    6. JS

      (laughs)

    7. JR

      You fucked up. You fucked up. I've been telling everybody that Jimmy Smith's the best out there forever, and you let him go. That's, that's, that's a, that's a huge error on their part.

    8. JS

      It's just... We can't talk about anything.

    9. JR

      It is what it is.

    10. JS

      That might be, like, uh, some future news. We can't talk about that. We can't, uh- But the past is, the past is up for-

    11. JR

      Yeah.

    12. JS

      ... for discussion, that's for sure.

    13. JR

      The past is up for discussion. I would be-

    14. JS

      The present's good.

    15. JR

      ... thrilled if somehow or another they were able to work it out where Jimmy Smith was at the UFC.

    16. JS

      We shall see.

    17. JR

      That would be what I would like to see.

    18. JS

      We shall see how that goes.

    19. JR

      I would like to see that.

    20. JS

      We will.

    21. JR

      That, they've... That's a big fuck up.

    22. JS

      Yeah, man. It was, um... What do you want me to say? Like, uh, just a little background because a lot of people have been asking me. I haven't made any real public statements other than that-

    23. JR

      I'm not a Bellator hater. I just want to say.

    24. JS

      Yeah, no. Bellator is-

    25. JR

      Across the board, never been a Bellator hater.

    26. JS

      Yeah, yeah.

    27. JR

      Respect. You know?

    28. JS

      Yeah.

    29. JR

      I enjoy watching it. I like the fighters.

    30. JS

      Yeah.

  2. 2:036:17

    Why fight commentary is a real craft (and why fighters don’t automatically excel at it)

    1. JR

      It's fascinating to me that in, in the world of, uh, mixed martial arts, professional mixed martial arts, there haven't been that many people that have done you... what you and I both do.

    2. JS

      Yes, yeah.

    3. JR

      There's a small handful of people.

    4. JS

      You know what ya, the weird thing is about our job? Really. And, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart. Um, everybody thinks they got a guy. It's, it's one of those jobs that everybody thinks they can do, that they, they really go, "We'll just throw a fighter in, and then he'll be able to do it." I've seen I don't know how many of them that, that want to do... You know, even locker room interviews. "I want to get the next fighter to do that." And it's a, it's a job. It's a skill.

    5. JR

      It's a job.

    6. JS

      It's really... I mean, it's one of those things where everybody thinks they can throw somebody in and do it. And I've seen s- I don't know how many try. And it's, it's tough. You really have to work at it or have a knack for it. It's, it's not the kind of thing that, you know... It's almost like coaching. I mean, how many times have you heard... I've heard of great, great jujitsu guys, like, "He's just not a great coach." He's naturally really good.

    7. JR

      Yeah.

    8. JS

      He's not that good at teaching it because to him it just works, and then you try and it doesn't work. You know, it's one of those things where a great fighter isn't a great coach.

    9. JR

      Right. Sometimes, yeah.

    10. JS

      A great, yeah, a great fighter isn't necessarily a great broadcaster. It just doesn't work that way, so...

    11. JR

      Yeah, some guys are just naturally good at it, though.

    12. JS

      Yeah.

    13. JR

      Like Cormier is naturally fun.

    14. JS

      Yeah.

    15. JR

      Like when Rousdan Namajunas knocked out, uh, Joanna Jędrczek.

    16. JS

      Yeah.

    17. JR

      He starts yelling, "Thug Rose!"

    18. JS

      (laughs)

    19. JR

      "Thug Rose!" Like, he, that's just pure personality.

    20. JS

      Yeah.

    21. JR

      Like you either have that in you or you don't. You can't fake yelling out "Thug Rose"-

    22. JS

      You can't.

    23. JR

      ... after Rousdan Namajunas KOs her.

    24. JS

      You, you can't fake enthusiasm.

    25. JR

      Right.

    26. JS

      And that's... I, I think the-

    27. JR

      Real enthusiasm-

    28. JS

      Real enthusiasm.

    29. JR

      ... is contagious, too.

    30. JS

      If you really care about the sport, there are two things that, that... Well, three things, uh, that we have to do is number one is educate people, because a lot of people just... Most Ameri- It's weird because most Americans didn't grow up wrestling. They didn't grow up doing Muay Thai. They didn't grow up doing jujitsu. So a lot of our sport is, at least partially, we're introducing them to it.

  3. 6:1710:52

    Weight cutting realities: huge cuts, IVs, and why the problem persists

    1. JR

      Bellator's Welterweight Division in particular is-

    2. JS

      (whistles)

    3. JR

      ... goddamn stacked right now.

    4. JS

      You, you know what's funny? There are certain fighters, and I was thinking about it as I was watching the Cyborg fight last Saturday. There are certain fighters you meet, and it's, like, stunning. Certain athletes. When you, when you meet LeBron James, you go, "Jesus Christ."

    5. JR

      Yeah.

    6. JS

      Like, I've seen him on TV.

    7. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    8. JS

      But when you see him in real life, you go, "Holy shit, that guy's big." Cyborg's one of those. Douglas Lima is one of those. Have you ever met him?

    9. JR

      Yeah.

    10. JS

      When you meet that guy, you go, "God, you make 170 pounds?"

    11. JR

      (laughs)

    12. JS

      He is huge.

    13. JR

      He is.

    14. JS

      He is massive.

    15. JR

      What do you think he walks around at?

    16. JS

      210.

    17. JR

      210.

    18. JS

      He told me.

    19. JR

      That's what he told you?

    20. JS

      When, uh, let me put it this-

    21. JR

      Jesus.

    22. JS

      All right, so-

    23. JR

      That's 40 pounds. (laughs)

    24. JS

      When, when King Mo fought Rampage, all right, M- King Mo was 218. He stepped on the scale at 218.

    25. JR

      Right.

    26. JS

      I ... So the night of the fight, I go, you know, Douglas Lima was there, and I walk up to him and I go, "You've walked at 218." And he goes, "Yeah." He's like, "Well, I don't wanna eat too much. I, like, I shouldn't, but I have." He has walked around at what King Mo walked around at. 'Cause King Mo just stepped on the scale. It really doesn't cut to make 220. I mean, he- ... 'cause the, the weight class was 220 when he fought Rampage. He walks around King Mo size. Like, they are the same size.

    27. JR

      That is so insane.

    28. JS

      And he makes 170. He, he has the worst cut in terms of pounds I've ever seen. He, he deals with it well, um, but he has one of the biggest cuts I've ever seen.

    29. JR

      Now-

    30. JS

      And he's, he's really good with it. Which is weird.

  4. 10:5214:39

    Possible solutions: ONE’s hydration tests and adding weight classes

    1. JR

      Uh, ONE FC though is instituting some interesting new rule changes. And ONE FC is, uh, doing hydration tests.

    2. JS

      Yeah.

    3. JR

      And they, they're-

    4. JS

      They're doing high schools now for wrestling.

    5. JR

      Yeah.

    6. JS

      They didn't do that beforehand.

    7. JR

      They should.

    8. JS

      Yeah.

    9. JR

      They should. And, uh, oh God, who d- I'm trying to remember who told me that this weekend. But they're essentially saying they're gonna be able to ban weight cutting. They're just gonna be able to institute the ... No one's-

    10. JS

      Mm.

    11. JR

      ... gonna be able to cut weight. You just, if you, if you pass the hydration test, you're not gonna be able to cut weight. So you have to pass this hydration test at every for-n, at every turn. You can't just get on the scale and you weigh 170 pounds. "Oh, congratulations." No. No, no, no. You weigh 170 pounds, but you're in danger. Like, look at your body. Look at your hydration levels.

    12. JS

      But at what point are they, are they testing?

    13. JR

      Apparently, they're doing it in three separate-

    14. JS

      'Cause if you don't want the card falling apart, of course.

    15. JR

      They step, ba-bam.

    16. JS

      Yeah.

    17. JR

      Not you, not you. And then half the card falls apart.

    18. JS

      Yeah.

    19. JR

      I know. What they did to, to-

    20. JS

      So, when would they is my, that's my question.

    21. JR

      Well, they'd have to do it early and blow all the weight classes up.

    22. JS

      Yeah. 100%.

    23. JR

      Yeah, if that's what we're ... We were having this conversation-

    24. JS

      You have to shift everybody one, at least.

    25. JR

      Yeah. Yeah. Or if you don't even shift them one, you find out like, "What, what weight are you really?"You know, I mean, you could be like a Luke Rockhold dude who's a giant 185er. I mean, Luke easily looks like he could be a heavyweight when you're-

    26. JS

      Easy.

    27. JR

      ... walking around him.

    28. JS

      Easy.

    29. JR

      He l- he's like 220 or 230 or something like that, and then he gets to... I'm... Maybe he's mad at me right now. I don't really-

    30. JS

      (laughs) Of lean muscle, bro.

  5. 14:3919:41

    Khabib vs. Barboza: inevitability, mental breaking points, and 10-8 scoring

    1. JS

      Unbelievable. That was... it, it's really weird sometimes w- when you... in any sport, I don't care what it is, when you see somebody... you know, Jordan in his prime, you just, you just can't cover the guy. It's almost like he's the only one on the court.

    2. JR

      Yeah.

    3. JS

      Nurmagomedov, it was like he was the only one in the cage. It was crazy.

    4. JR

      It was like everything was inevitable.

    5. JS

      Yeah.

    6. JR

      Everything was inevitable.

    7. JS

      Yeah, it's unbelievable.

    8. JR

      The takedown was inevitable. The beatings were inevitable. You know, even if you hit him, congratulations, now you're on your ass. Y- y- getting punched in the face over and over again. You can't get up. You're getting mauled, like immediately.

    9. JS

      And against an excellent fighter.

    10. JR

      Excellent, yeah.

    11. JS

      And people forget Barboza, Barboza is amazing.

    12. JR

      Amazing.

    13. JS

      And he made him look like he's j-... and, uh, the look on his face when he got up when Barboza was like, "Hey, you were better than me." I...

    14. JR

      Yeah.

    15. JS

      It was almost like a-

    16. JR

      Yeah.

    17. JS

      ... like a shrug, wasn't even mad. It was just when you see somebody that much better, it's, it's back to the drawing board in some-

    18. JR

      Well, I was super impressed with Barboza being able to make it to the final bell. I mean, that was amazing. Just being able to do that, that shows you what a dominant performance it was-

    19. JS

      Yeah.

    20. JR

      ... by a guy like Khabib. But you also realize like what, what a world class fighter Barboza is, that he did... keeps throwing wheel kicks in the third round, and even landed one of them. He just didn't have much on him anymore.

    21. JS

      He didn't have the juice on him left. Yeah.

    22. JR

      But fuck, man. He was still trying to win after a horrendous mauling for eight plus minutes.

    23. JS

      You know when I really look at fighters, when I really, when I really focus on them, especially the face, in between rounds, I look for that breaking moment of like-

    24. JR

      Yeah.

    25. JS

      ... uh, you know. Uh, Vitor Belfort, Randy Couture and he's sitting on the ground just-

    26. JR

      Yeah.

    27. JS

      ... like-

    28. JR

      Yeah.

    29. JS

      ... didn't even sit on a stool.

    30. JR

      Yeah.

  6. 19:4121:59

    Evolving performance levels: RDA at 170, calf kicks, and fight adjustments

    1. JR

      Well, it seems to me that everything right now is, is next level in comparison to a year and a half, two years ago. Like, Dos Anjos beat, uh, Robbie Lawler recently in just a fucking tour de force, de force performance. Watch that fight, I was like, this is as good as Dos Anjos has ever looked, if not better.

    2. JS

      Real sharp.

    3. JR

      Fucking amazing at 170, but more importantly like the, the output, the f- the, the, the amount of shots that he landed, the amount of shots that he fired, the, the endurance that he's showing. Everybody is on this complete different performance level right now.

    4. JS

      What I loved about that performance is one thing that generally doesn't change weight classes well when you move up is power. Meaning, Robbie Lawler, if you remember at 170 he was knocking everybody out, 185 he was like so-so. The shot that knocked somebody out at 70 when he, when he was at Strikeforce at 185 isn't gonna knock out Jacare, it's not gonna knock out Babaloo, it's not gonna r- knock out these big 185ers. So a lot of power punchers have trouble changing weight classes because the power shot just doesn't go with them. Dos Anjos looked like he knew that and when I got a volume guy at 170, I'm not gonna knock anybody out with one shot at, at 50, uh, like I did at 55. I have to throw more at 70, I have to be more accurate at 70, I have to slice them up with elbows a little more. So I like all the adjustments he made for the new weight class. He didn't try to fight like he did at 55. He's like, "I gotta throw more against these guys. I can't go one punch for one punch with Robbie Lawler."

    5. JR

      Yeah.

    6. JS

      That guy's a huge 170. So I liked the way his style modified with, with the weight class change.

    7. JR

      Yeah.

    8. JS

      A lot of guys don't do that.

    9. JR

      I agree and I also think the use of leg kicks is critical. You gotta slow Robbie down.

    10. JS

      Yeah.

    11. JR

      Robbie's a big heavy guy and he immediately started chopping. That, it is crazy to me also that that low calf kick is becoming such a giant factor in MMA. That kick is just dominant now.

    12. JS

      Everybody's using it.

    13. JR

      Remember, remember what Manoff did to him after he knocked him out and couldn't walk?

    14. JS

      Woo.

    15. JR

      Like he knocks him out- Yeah.

    16. JS

      ... and was like limping over to his corner going, "I, you know, one more and I c- I'm done."

    17. JR

      That was one of the greatest-

    18. JS

      It's crazy.

    19. JR

      ... comeback from behind knockouts ever.

    20. JS

      Yeah.

    21. JR

      And he's, he's eating all those leg kicks and M- Melvin is just coming after. Boom, boom, boom.

    22. JS

      If you haven't seen that fight folks, see it, 'cause it's, it's awesome and Melvin's just owning that leg.

    23. JR

      Yeah.

    24. JS

      Got a little aggressive as, as Melvin Manoff does and got clipped, man.

    25. JR

      Got clipped with the haymaker of all haymakers.

    26. JS

      Haymaker. Hail Mary, man.

    27. JR

      (laughs)

    28. JS

      Incredible.

    29. JR

      And then one on the way down too.

    30. JS

      Yeah.

  7. 21:5946:00

    Matchmaking ‘what-ifs’: Diaz rematches, GSP’s cherry-on-top, and Conor’s next move

    1. JR

      Yeah, Robbie was a brutal, brutal knockout artist. I always wanted to see a rematch between him and Nick Diaz.

    2. JS

      I think everybody wants to see that. That would be awesome.

    3. JR

      How's that, how is it possible that that didn't take place?

    4. JS

      It's wei- there're certain matches that, that you wonder, "Man, how did that never..." You know, uh, the, the run Wanderlei was on, right? Wanderlei Detour 2.

    5. JR

      Yeah.

    6. JS

      Never, never happened.

    7. JR

      Yeah.

    8. JS

      I mean, there're certain ones you go, "Man, I can't believe that fight ever happened again." That's certainly one of them. Still could.

    9. JR

      Definitely.

    10. JS

      Still could hypothetically, I mean, would still sell like crazy, you know.

    11. JR

      I mean, I wonder if Nick Diaz if he wanted to come back would only want to come back for a title fight. I wonder if he's like that kind of money fight guy where it's like, yeah, obviously he's got some money and obviously-

    12. JS

      Yeah.

    13. JR

      ... he's not beating down on anybody's door to fight.

    14. JS

      No.

    15. JR

      He's not, you know, he's doing whatever the fuck he wants to do. But if you could get him back for a big money fight, I wonder if it would only be like a title fight?

    16. JS

      That's increasingly what's happening these days. I mean-

    17. JR

      Yeah.

    18. JS

      ... guys are like, "Ah, I'm not getting paid."

    19. JR

      Like GSP. Yeah.

    20. JS

      Yeah. He came back for a huge money fight and that's it, you know.

    21. JR

      It's funny, Dana White said something crazy like, uh, "Yeah, he's just gonna pack up his money and f- head back to Canada."

    22. JS

      (laughs)

    23. JR

      Get a big check.

    24. JS

      Uh, I need three suitcases to hold all of it.

    25. JR

      I mean.

    26. JS

      Yeah.

    27. JR

      He did.

    28. JS

      Big money fight stuff.

    29. JR

      Came back, won the title and then retired.

    30. JS

      Yeah.

  8. 46:0059:03

    Behind the mic: angry fighters, interviews, production constraints, and online criticism

    1. JS

      Right. That, yeah, let's do it. So, all right, I gotta ask. Commentator to commentator.

    2. JR

      All right.

    3. JS

      What's the, what's the, what's the, the maddest a fighter's ever been at you for what?

    4. JR

      Man, I don't know.

    5. JS

      'Cause we all have these stories.

    6. JR

      Mmm.

    7. JS

      Not many of them. Mo- usually, I get along with just about everybody, but there are a couple stories.

    8. JR

      I get along with just about everybody too. And if there was ever ... Oh, Rampage was mad at once.

    9. JS

      I remember that. Yeah.

    10. JR

      'Cause I was, I was saying that he needed to throw more leg kicks or something like that. But it's just 'cause I wanted him to be successful. And when he does, he's ... I just think that guys get a little too knockout heavy sometimes, and I like to see people be more technical and mix it up.

    11. JS

      It's an addiction, man.

    12. JR

      And you're never gonna get away from the power that Rampage had and has. He's always gonna have that power. My thought was like, what I would like to see as a person who's a fan, I'd like to see him mix it up more.

    13. JS

      Yeah.

    14. JR

      You know, and become more technical. He's always gonna have that ridiculous chin. He's always gonna have that unbelievable power. Those, those things are not going away.

    15. JS

      It was the first guy I ever grappled with.

    16. JR

      Rampage?

    17. JS

      It was Quentin Rampage Jackson.

    18. JR

      That's hilarious.

    19. JS

      He was the first, first guy I ever grappled with.

    20. JR

      Really? At a legit studio.

    21. JS

      Yeah.

    22. JR

      I grappled with him once. We were doing something for some television show, some inside ... That's right, that inside the UFC thing that I used to do like way back in the day. That was like, uh, when Spike first had the UFC, we did some stuff. And he was getting ready to fight Chuck, and we did some stuff together. He, he, like a lot of people didn't know who he was. He came over. We drove around LA in his, uh, monster truck. He had some crazy monster truck. It was like jacked three feet up in the air. He was-

    23. JS

      If you weren't into Pride, you didn't know who he was.

    24. JR

      No, nobody knew who he was.

    25. JS

      Not at that point, not at that point, of course.

    26. JR

      We ran into one of the Wu-Tang Clan-

    27. JS

      Beat Marvin Eastman before that?

    28. JR

      I was with Rampage. We ran into one of the Wu-Tang Clan in a weird section of LA on Hollywood Boulevard. The Wu-Tang-

    29. JS

      That's one of those.

    30. JR

      ... dude was coming out of a check cashing place. (coughs) I forget which guy it was. We were having a good fucking time, though. That was before anybody knew who Rampage was.

Episode duration: 2:07:26

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