JRE MMA Show #86 with Josh Thomson

1. 0:00 – 15:00

   Three, two, one... Joshua!…

   1. JRJoe Rogan0:01

      Three, two, one... Joshua! What's happening, my man?

   2. JTJosh Thomson0:05

      (laughs) What's going on, man?

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:06

      Good to see you. So, uh, I looked at your Instagram yesterday, and you had that video of Stephen A. Smith-

   4. JTJosh Thomson0:11

      (laughs)

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:11

      ... and immediately I was like, "Oh, my goodness. This explains so much."

   6. JTJosh Thomson0:17

      (laughs)

   7. JRJoe Rogan0:17

      Play this. Play, play this, Jamie. Watch this, watch this. First of all, (glass breaking) someone needs to explain to me what's happening here. I don't know why he's punching a baby.

   8. JTJosh Thomson0:25

      Yeah. Well, it looks like a dick punch to the left. (laughs) What?

   9. JRJoe Rogan0:27

      I don't even think it's a dick, unless that guy's got a two-foot dick. Look how low he's punching.

   10. JTJosh Thomson0:33

       I... No idea, man. I-

   11. JRJoe Rogan0:34

       This guy should not be allowed to talk about fighting.

   12. JTJosh Thomson0:37

       Yeah, look, um...

   13. JRJoe Rogan0:38

       Just-

   14. JTJosh Thomson0:39

       I'm gonna cut him a little bit of slack. Only, I'm, I... Seriously, I... We have this... Here's the thing with Strikeforce. We had kind of a similar situation, not like this though, by the way, with Gus Johnson.

   15. JRJoe Rogan0:47

       I remember, yes.

   16. JTJosh Thomson0:48

       With Gus- was trying to talk, and, and I love Gus. When he's talking basketball-

   17. JRJoe Rogan0:51

       Yeah.

   18. JTJosh Thomson0:51

       ... I think he's got the energy and the voice that makes people like, oh, wow, they're gripped to the TV. This, I can understand with Stephen A., but this is not-

   19. JRJoe Rogan1:00

       (laughs)

   20. JTJosh Thomson1:00

       ... what you wanna release after you just called someone who's a pioneer in the sport, you basically call him a quitter.

   21. JRJoe Rogan1:06

       You call a guy a quitter. First of all, he had a broken orbital bone, okay? You're saying he was a quitter? He got his face smashed, okay?

   22. JTJosh Thomson1:13

       Yeah.

   23. JRJoe Rogan1:13

       He got cracked by one of the biggest punchers in the sport.

   24. JTJosh Thomson1:15

       Yeah.

   25. JRJoe Rogan1:15

       He, uh... He has the most wins in the sport. He has the most wins by finish. He has the most bonuses. I mean, come on.

   26. JTJosh Thomson1:23

       Yeah.

   27. JRJoe Rogan1:23

       He has the most fights. Come on. Y- you're calling that guy a quitter? He got cracked. That's what happens. Look, fighting is the only sport that you could end it early, right?

   28. JTJosh Thomson1:33

       Yeah.

   29. JRJoe Rogan1:33

       You can't end a football game in 40 seconds. Imagine, imagine if you just... Your front line was so strong, your fucking quarterback was so badass, you could storm a football game in 40 seconds, it'd be a different sport, right?

   30. JTJosh Thomson1:45

       Yeah, my concern with him, though, was that, like... Look, he's fine he just did the video. I get it. Like (laughs) it's 'cause you're trying to learn the sport.
2. 15:00 – 30:00

   Yeah, I'm gonna go…

   1. JRJoe Rogan15:00

      also do it on ESPN, I think it's just, it's just shortsighted and I think it's foolish.

   2. JTJosh Thomson15:04

      Yeah, I'm gonna go a little bit more hard in the paint on guys like DC, who are on my post right there, the one that we use-

   3. JRJoe Rogan15:09

      (laughs)

   4. JTJosh Thomson15:09

      ... defending him right now. That's what he's do-

   5. JRJoe Rogan15:11

      Is he defending him?

   6. JTJosh Thomson15:12

      He's defending, well, hey man, he's trying to learn this sport. He's trying-

   7. JRJoe Rogan15:15

      (laughs)

   8. JTJosh Thomson15:15

      I said, "D, quit trying to tow the company line, son."

   9. JRJoe Rogan15:18

      (laughs)

   10. JTJosh Thomson15:18

       That's what you're doing right now. And then, and then I got Kendall Grove that goes on there, too, saying, "Oh, you know what? I can respect the fact that he's trying to learn it." Look at, this is what he says right here.

   11. JRJoe Rogan15:27

       "I think it's fine he's trying to better understand our sport. It means he's a massive star who can talk from his perch and no one can touch him, yet he chooses to try and learn the game, so there's some weight to his opinion. You're a little off base, champ."

   12. JTJosh Thomson15:38

       Oh. (laughs)

   13. JRJoe Rogan15:40

       Oh. DC's a wonderful person.

   14. JTJosh Thomson15:41

       Dude. Oh, he's just strung out. I said, I told him, I said, "Look, just because Stephen A. Smith might be good for business and the ESPN business for you later on," I said, "That doesn't mean you gotta tow that line, buddy."

   15. JRJoe Rogan15:52

       Yeah.

   16. JTJosh Thomson15:52

       I like to give him a hard time. But look, DC's one of my best friends, man, and he's absolutely hilarious and just fun. He likes to do this to stir the pot, because like you were just saying with Stephen A, he likes to do this type of stuff-

   17. JRJoe Rogan16:03

       Yes.

   18. JTJosh Thomson16:03

       ... so keep, people keep talking.

   19. JRJoe Rogan16:04

       Yes.

   20. JTJosh Thomson16:04

       DC likes to chime in on shit like this.

   21. JRJoe Rogan16:07

       (laughs)

   22. JTJosh Thomson16:07

       So w- like, so we're here right now-

   23. JRJoe Rogan16:09

       Yes.

   24. JTJosh Thomson16:09

       ... talking about DC and this whole situation.

   25. JRJoe Rogan16:11

       Yes.

   26. JTJosh Thomson16:11

       That's exactly what DC does. He's brilliant when it comes to this type of stuff.

   27. JRJoe Rogan16:14

       Yeah. And I t- I'm sure he really does love Stephen A. as a person.

   28. JTJosh Thomson16:18

       Yeah.

   29. JRJoe Rogan16:18

       Stephen A.'s a, he's a nice guy. Like I said, I've met him a couple times.

   30. JTJosh Thomson16:21

       Yep.
3. 30:00 – 45:00

   Yeah. …

   1. JRJoe Rogan30:00

      MMA. And, uh, that's the, the difference. There is a difference. And he's also a really young guy who's experienced some pretty high highs and pretty low lows very quickly. I think guys need to be managed better. And what I mean by that is, I mean, the same way boxing handles it. Boxing, you see guys get to 15, 16-0. When you see a guy like Khabib, who's 28-0, you go, "How the fuck? No one gets there."

   2. JTJosh Thomson30:21

      Yeah.

   3. JRJoe Rogan30:22

      You got Jon Jones who's w- uh, essentially undefeated.

   4. JTJosh Thomson30:25

      Mm-hmm.

   5. JRJoe Rogan30:25

      You know, the, the Matt Hamill fight-

   6. JTJosh Thomson30:26

      Yeah.

   7. JRJoe Rogan30:26

      ... in my mind he, he won that fight.

   8. JTJosh Thomson30:28

      Yes.

   9. JRJoe Rogan30:28

      He cr- he crushed him.

   10. JTJosh Thomson30:29

       Yeah.

   11. JRJoe Rogan30:29

       I mean, there was never n- a moment in that fight where he was in doubt. He just got disqualified. But... And I don't even agree with the disqualification. But he's a rarity. It's him and it's Khabib and may- maybe there's a f- couple other guys-

   12. JTJosh Thomson30:41

       Mm-hmm.

   13. JRJoe Rogan30:41

       ... that are, like, elite high-level guys that are undefeated.

   14. JTJosh Thomson30:44

       Yeah.

   15. JRJoe Rogan30:44

       They're the outliers. Most guys...... m- get thrown to the wolves, like, really quickly. But in boxing, you see that all the time 'cause managers slowly groom their fighters. They go, "Okay, Josh. You know what, Josh? You're a fucking great puncher but, you know, your- your- your inside game maybe should be tested. We got this tough Mexican dude who likes to fight inside, so we're gonna match you up with him. You should beat him, but it's gonna give you some seasoning." And they'll move you along that way.

   16. JTJosh Thomson31:11

       Yeah.

   17. JRJoe Rogan31:11

       "Okay, we're gonna try you against a long, lanky striker. Sometimes you have problems with the jab and this guy has got a significant reach advantage." Let's see, and then boxers- the boxing managers and coaches, they'll think about this shit for, uh, days and weeks before they commit to a fight. Whereas in the UFC, the UFC calls you up. "Hey, you wanna fight Khabib on three days notice?" You're like, "What?" And then all of a sudden, you're there.

   18. JTJosh Thomson31:34

       Well, because boxing managers are usually in cahoots with the promoter.

   19. JRJoe Rogan31:38

       Mm-hmm.

   20. JTJosh Thomson31:38

       So the two of them work together. That's not the case-

   21. JRJoe Rogan31:40

       Right.

   22. JTJosh Thomson31:40

       ... with any promotion in MMA. Like, the- the mana- the promoter is the promoter, and the manager is the manager. And you take what we give you, and if you don't, then okay, we'll put you on the shelf for six months.

   23. JRJoe Rogan31:50

       Yup.

   24. JTJosh Thomson31:50

       'Kay, 'cause that's- that- those type of things have been presented to me a couple times, you know. And, uh, w- Joe was the- the manager at the ti- or the, uh, trying to match make me when I was supposed to fight, uh, Anthony Pettis for the title. And he called and said, "Hey, Pettis is out." He's like, "Yeah, we want you to fight some tough Russian guy," uh, you know, that I've never heard of. And I was like, "I just knocked out Nate. I'm not g-" And I was supposed to fight for the title. I'm not gonna fight some tough Russian (laughs) guy from Dagestan I've never heard of. No, thanks.

   25. JRJoe Rogan32:15

       Yeah.

   26. JTJosh Thomson32:15

       He's like, "Fine, I'm gonna shelf you for six months." And I just told him, I said, "Hey, man, I'm pretty good with my money. I'll wait." So he just said okay, so the week later, I got the Benson fight. You know?

   27. JRJoe Rogan32:23

       That's such a fucked up thing to even say to someone.

   28. JTJosh Thomson32:25

       It is.

   29. JRJoe Rogan32:25

       "I'm gonna shelf you."

   30. JTJosh Thomson32:26

       Yeah, it is though.
4. 45:00 – 1:00:00

   Mm-hmm. …

   1. JTJosh Thomson45:00

      like guys like Jon Fitch were able to just grind and grind and grind. But guys like Usman and Colby, they don't... They grind on you, sure. But with Jon when he fought him the last time, he just was, he just... Jon's in a different stage in his career where he's not letting go of the leg for anything. Usman and Colby will make space to throw punches, which could get them in trouble-

   2. JRJoe Rogan45:17

      Mm-hmm.

   3. JTJosh Thomson45:18

      ... against somebody like him.

   4. JRJoe Rogan45:19

      Right.

   5. JTJosh Thomson45:19

      'Cause his power in his left hand is fucking nasty.

   6. JRJoe Rogan45:22

      Fucking ridiculous.

   7. JTJosh Thomson45:23

      Like if you pull up the, if you, you see the fight with him when he kno- when he dr- when he wobbled or dropped, uh, Nick Diaz.

   8. JRJoe Rogan45:28

      Yeah.

   9. JTJosh Thomson45:28

      Nick Diaz don't get dropped to shit like that. (laughs)

   10. JRJoe Rogan45:30

       I know.

   11. JTJosh Thomson45:30

       Like that.

   12. JRJoe Rogan45:31

       But how crazy is Nick Diaz? Nick Diaz forced him into a dog fight.

   13. JTJosh Thomson45:33

       That's just-

   14. JRJoe Rogan45:34

       Forced him into a dog fight.

   15. JTJosh Thomson45:35

       And just ge- and that was one of the most freakish, weirdest knockouts I've-

   16. JRJoe Rogan45:38

       It was amazing.

   17. JTJosh Thomson45:39

       But thing is, that was when UFC had first taken over Strikeforce.

   18. JRJoe Rogan45:42

       Mm-hmm.

   19. JTJosh Thomson45:42

       And I was sitting there cage side and I'm thinking to myself, "This is hands down the greatest MMA one round fight I've ever seen in my life." Ever.

   20. JRJoe Rogan45:49

       It was amazing.

   21. JTJosh Thomson45:49

       Ever.

   22. JRJoe Rogan45:50

       It was amazing. He, he just wore him out.

   23. JTJosh Thomson45:52

       Yeah.

   24. JRJoe Rogan45:53

       Put- he just put that fucking Nick Diaz pace on him-

   25. JTJosh Thomson45:56

       (laughs)

   26. JRJoe Rogan45:56

       ... and wore him out. But when he clipped him and rocked him and, and dropped him, I was like, "Oh my God-

   27. JTJosh Thomson46:00

       Yeah.

   28. JRJoe Rogan46:00

       "... Paul Daley's gonna stop Nick Diaz? This is crazy."

   29. JTJosh Thomson46:02

       This is nuts. This is nuts, yeah.

   30. JRJoe Rogan46:03

       But just the fact that Nick fought him that way.
5. 1:00:00 – 1:00:15

   Right. …

   1. JTJosh Thomson1:00:00

      keep going to the gym wasting two, you know, five, four or five hours a day at the gym and still try to start another career.

   2. JRJoe Rogan1:00:06

      Right.

   3. JTJosh Thomson1:00:06

      You've gotta leave that behind. Whatever it is you're doing, like, to, in fighting, if you're gonna move and do something else, then you need to leave it behind. Move on to doing-

Episode duration: 2:52:31