JRE MMA Show #88 with Frankie Edgar

Joe Rogan 0:01 Boom. What's up, Frankie? How are you, brother?

Frankie Edgar 0:02 What's up, Joe?

Joe Rogan 0:02 Good to see you, man.

Frankie Edgar 0:03 Hey, good to be here and see Joe.

Joe Rogan 0:04 Good to have you. We talked about this many times.

Frankie Edgar 0:06 We have. Uh, you know, uh, my buddy, Chris Liguori, I gotta shout him out 'cause he got me listening to you, you know, years ago, and, uh, he's been telling me to come on this podcast for- forever. So, I'm fi- I'm glad to finally get it done, so shout out to Chris. I know he's listening.

Joe Rogan 0:18 Hi, Chris.

Frankie Edgar 0:19 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 0:19 Um, so you got your own podcast now?

Frankie Edgar 0:21 I do. Uh, me and Roger Mathews from, uh, Jersey Shore fame, he was the ex-husband of, of J- J-Woww.

Joe Rogan 0:27 (laughs)

Frankie Edgar 0:27 Uh, so we- the Champ and the Tramp.

Joe Rogan 0:29 (laughs)

Frankie Edgar 0:29 Champ and the Tramp, yeah.

Joe Rogan 0:30 Is that what you guys are called? (laughs)

Frankie Edgar 0:30 Yeah, Champ and the Tramp.

Joe Rogan 0:31 That's hilarious. That's hilarious. So, uh, what's happening, man? You, you just got off of the, um, Chan Sung Jung fight.

Frankie Edgar 0:38 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 0:38 And what's next? What are you up to?

Frankie Edgar 0:40 I'm gonna go down 35.

Joe Rogan 0:42 Yeah?

Frankie Edgar 0:42 You know, uh-

Joe Rogan 0:43 How much do you walk around at?

Frankie Edgar 0:44 I'm probably, like, 56 right now.

Joe Rogan 0:46 Wow.

Frankie Edgar 0:46 You know, so for (can opening) - for 45, or, well, for 55-

Joe Rogan 0:49 Marlon's gotta be bigger than you, right?

Frankie Edgar 0:50 Marlon is b- about a little bit bigger than me. Yeah, I think so. I think he walks around a little heavier. He's a little bit more of an eater than I am. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 0:56 Dude, that guy, I can't- I have a hard time believing he makes 35 sometimes.

Frankie Edgar 1:00 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:00 You look at him, he's so jacked.

Frankie Edgar 1:01 He has such a small waist, though.

Joe Rogan 1:03 Hmm.

Frankie Edgar 1:03 But, I mean, he's so- his legs and shoulders are so big-

Joe Rogan 1:05 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 1:05 ... but his waist is kinda small, so maybe that's how he carries it.

Joe Rogan 1:08 So, have you done a cut like that before?

Frankie Edgar 1:10 I haven't been, but, I mean, even my last fight, I think I, I was, you know, getting down to 45. I got down to, like, 44.5. I mean, that's only 8 1/2 over where I gotta be for it to make 36, and it was such an easy cut for this last time.

Joe Rogan 1:22 So, it's- you're, you're in an interesting situation, man, because, like, you won the title at 55 and you didn't cut any weight at all. And a lot of people were like, "Well, fuck, man. If Frankie Edgar could do it..." 'Cause you- the thing about you at 55 was you were so durable. Like, that was one of the craziest things about some of your fights, like, the Gray Maynard fights.

Frankie Edgar 1:39 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:40 Like, fucking A, man. Who, who reffed those fights?

Frankie Edgar 1:43 Um, Yves Lavigne.

Joe Rogan 1:44 Both of them?

Frankie Edgar 1:44 No, the first one.

Joe Rogan 1:45 The first one.

Frankie Edgar 1:46 The second one, I think it was R- Josh Rosenthal.

Joe Rogan 1:48 Well, b- shout out to both of those guys.

Frankie Edgar 1:50 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:51 Because, uh, a trigger-hungry referee who's got an itchy trigger finger, they would've stopped those fights.

Frankie Edgar 1:56 Now, I think nowadays, uh, someone might stop it.

Joe Rogan 1:59 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 1:59 You know?

Joe Rogan 1:59 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 1:59 Back then, I feel like they let it go a little more. I mean, it's o- of course, there's still some times they let it go a little, like, too long.

Joe Rogan 2:04 It all changes.

Frankie Edgar 2:04 Now, it- it depends, you know?

Joe Rogan 2:05 You never know. You never know. It all changes. It's such a weird thing, right? It's like the referee is trying to help the fighter. They're trying to make sure that the fighter doesn't take unnecessary damage. But, you know, more than once, you see fights stopped where you're like, "Oh, that guy wasn't done."

Frankie Edgar 2:19 Right.

Joe Rogan 2:19 He was, he was getting through a bad patch, and that's part of what a fight is about, is, like, trying to figure out how to survive.

Frankie Edgar 2:26 For sure. I, I always want the benefit of the doubt. I, you know-

Joe Rogan 2:28 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 2:29 ... I, I don't wanna get unnecessary punishment, of course. Um, but I'd r- I'd rather get the benefit of the doubt. I, I, I, I've never been turned off. Even with Ortega and Chan Sung Jung fight, I got ro- both those fights, uh, even though I got rocked in my other fights, these fights, I kinda was more coherent. Um, I'm not complaining about the stoppages or anything like that. You know, I could see why they stopped it. But, uh, in the Gray fights, even the Benson Henderson fight where I got up-kicked, I don't remember any of those fights. Uh, you know, I only remember, like, three, four rounds of those fights. They just-

Joe Rogan 2:58 Just 'cause it was so wild?

Frankie Edgar 2:59 Just-

Joe Rogan 2:59 Just 'cause of getting hit?

Frankie Edgar 3:00 Yeah, I think it's 'cause I got hit and I kept getting hit maybe, and may- maybe that's why I didn't remember.

Joe Rogan 3:03 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 3:03 Um, the, the Ortega fight, I got rocked pretty good, and I remember in my head saying, "All right, there's a short time left. Let's get through it. Let's get through it." Obviously, uh, I didn't make it to the end, and, uh, you know, but I did- I remembered being coherent. Even this last one with, with, uh, Korean Zombie, I remember the ref saying, you know, "You gotta do something down there. You gotta do something down there." And I was, you know, I was trying to do my best. My body maybe wasn't reacting the way I need it to be.

Joe Rogan 3:25 Mm.

Frankie Edgar 3:25 But, uh, yeah, you know, I never been turned off, you know? Uh, I, I don't know if that's a good thing or not, but, uh-

Joe Rogan 3:30 I don't know if it's a good thing either.

Frankie Edgar 3:32 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 3:32 It's like, w- some people say if you get turned off, it's better because then you, you're, you don't absorb as much punishment.

Frankie Edgar 3:38 Right.

Joe Rogan 3:38 I've heard that argument. But then, if you do get turned off, your body gets turned off easier next time. That's, that's pretty true.

Frankie Edgar 3:45 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 3:45 Or at least seems to be true.

Frankie Edgar 3:47 Well, it seems like, it seems like-

Joe Rogan 3:47 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 3:47 ... yeah, guys that get cracked, they k- kind of continually get cracked and they're gonna get rocked a little easier. Um, I'm hoping that's not the case for me. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 3:55 Well, it's- it's not- it's more of the actual knockout itself.

Frankie Edgar 3:58 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 3:58 Like, I-

Frankie Edgar 3:59 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 3:59 ... I think.

Frankie Edgar 3:59 I think a, uh, a bad, like a bad knockout.

Joe Rogan 4:01 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 4:01 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 4:01 It's crazy that you have had a bunch of fights where you don't remember most of the fight. Like, that, that's a thing that a lot of fighters don't necessarily talk about, but it's a reality of hard fights.

Frankie Edgar 4:13 Yeah. The- my, my second fight with Gray where, um, Yves Lavigne was the, the, the referee, I remember, uh, I think the fourth round, Mark, my coach Mark was, like, you know, telling me, uh, "We got one more round." And I'm- in my head, I'm like, "One more round? What happened to three and four?" I didn't remember at all.

Joe Rogan 4:28 Wow.

Frankie Edgar 4:28 And also, I, I, when I r- dropped me, I, I rolled my ankle really bad, probably a grade two sprain. And I remember in the fourth round coming to, uh, and my ankles hurting me. I'm like, "What happened to," I have no idea what happened to my ankle. And even go-

Joe Rogan 4:40 Wow.

Frankie Edgar 4:40 ... walking back, you know, I was d- that's kinda, you know, I don't know. Sometimes when you get rocked, you get depressed for some reason.

Joe Rogan 4:46 Oh, really?

Frankie Edgar 4:46 I notice that even in the gym. When I get, when I get rocked, I, I get a little bit of depression going on for some reason.

Joe Rogan 4:51 Like, what does it feel like? When you say depression, like, in what way?

Frankie Edgar 4:53 My God, I'm in a bull- you know, you're just down on yourself, you know?

Joe Rogan 4:57 Mm-hmm.

Frankie Edgar 4:58 I was emotional. I think I was crying after the Gray fight. In the, in the locker room, I think they, they have a camera back there and there's a video of me, like-

Joe Rogan 5:04 Even the second fight when you stopped him?

Frankie Edgar 5:05 Not the second fight, but the, the, the sec- well, th- that was the second fight.

Joe Rogan 5:08 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 5:08 Not the third fight.

Joe Rogan 5:09 The third fight you stopped him.

Frankie Edgar 5:10 The third fight I stopped him.

Joe Rogan 5:10 That's right, the second fight you won.

Frankie Edgar 5:12 Right.

Joe Rogan 5:12 The, the fucking fights that you had with Gray were so crazy, they were so cr- he was so big.

Frankie Edgar 5:18 Yeah. He was a big boy, man.

Joe Rogan 5:20 So big for 55, you know?

Frankie Edgar 5:22 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 5:22 And you were a guy who didn't cut any weight at all.

Frankie Edgar 5:24 Nothing. I was- I literally would eat breakfast on weighing day.

Joe Rogan 5:27 Wow. That's crazy.

Frankie Edgar 5:30 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 5:30 When y- did you ever think back then about dropping down?

Frankie Edgar 5:33 I-

Joe Rogan 5:33 Or were you just like, "Fuck it, I'm the champ. Why, why should I-"

Frankie Edgar 5:35 Yeah. Well, that's why. I was like-

Joe Rogan 5:36 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 5:36 ... "I'm the champ. Why should I go down?" I mean, I'm winning. I'm beating these guys.

Joe Rogan 5:39 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 5:40 Um, even the Benson Henderson fights, they were super close, you know? I could've winned either way. And, um, but I just felt, you know, let m- all right. I'll go down now. I lost two in a row here. What, you know, what, what more can I gain from here? Let me go down to 45. And that's, that's when I fought Aldo for, for the, uh, for the 45-pound belt.

Joe Rogan 5:54 When you think about it, like, if you had a chance to do it all over again, like, if you had to engineer your career all over again, would you do it exactly the same way? Would you fight at 55? Well, you definitely would against BJ, right?

Frankie Edgar 6:05 Yeah, I, I mean, I...... I can't... Y- y- you can't go back and change those things, you know?

Joe Rogan 6:09 Right, right, right.

Frankie Edgar 6:09 It all... It all worked out for me, you know? I- I got a world title. Um, I had a pr- um, you know, I'm continuing to have a pretty good career. Uh, there's always things you wish you could do differently, you know? You just... I can't be that guy that's gonna say, "Oh, I wish I did this, wish I did that." Things went the way they went.

Joe Rogan 6:24 Well, they went pretty fucking good. I mean-

Frankie Edgar 6:26 Yeah, I'm not complaining, you know? Um-

Joe Rogan 6:27 Especially the BJ Penn fight. I remember the first one in Abu Dhabi, uh, I was there for that one.

Frankie Edgar 6:32 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 6:32 I was like, "Holy shit."

Frankie Edgar 6:33 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 6:34 You know, that was... That was a big victory, man.

Frankie Edgar 6:35 Yeah, that was-

Joe Rogan 6:36 And the second one, too.

Frankie Edgar 6:36 That was big, yeah. The- the second one was probably even better just because I-

Joe Rogan 6:39 Yeah. Cemented it.

Frankie Edgar 6:39 ... you know, more definitively won, you know?

Joe Rogan 6:41 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 6:41 And, um, I felt like, too, like, you know, BJ had my back in the, uh, (clears throat) in that second fight. And, uh, you know, everybody thought, you know, B- BJ gets your back back then, you're in trouble.

Joe Rogan 6:50 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 6:50 And I was able to defend. I think I reversed him. So, I kind of showed a little bit of, uh, you know, of all my complete skills in that fight.

Joe Rogan 6:56 Out of all the guys that I've ever seen fight, I've never seen anybody who controls people with their legs the way BJ does. He's got the craziest dexterity in his legs.

Frankie Edgar 7:05 He does. He does. He does. I heard when he was younger, he could stand up and put his leg over his head standing up.

Joe Rogan 7:11 Jesus Christ.

Frankie Edgar 7:12 Yeah, I don't know if that's true, but-

Joe Rogan 7:13 Like, just lift it up and put it back there?

Frankie Edgar 7:15 Like, yeah, like just stand-

Joe Rogan 7:15 Like, not even grab it?

Frankie Edgar 7:16 Yeah, not even grab, put it over his head. I don't know if that's true. I've seen him jump out of the pool, too. That's pretty wild.

Joe Rogan 7:21 Yeah. No, he's an incredible athlete.

Frankie Edgar 7:23 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 7:23 And his- his physical talents were unusual, but he worked on it. Like, this is a thing that a lot of people don't realize. Like, there's some great videos of BJ stretching.

Frankie Edgar 7:31 Right.

Joe Rogan 7:31 And he would stretch with bands, so he has all this crazy... Like, he would grab his foot, like, put it on his chest. He's got bands and he's stretching the shit out of himself.

Frankie Edgar 7:39 Oh, wow. Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 7:39 So, it wasn't just natural ability.

Frankie Edgar 7:41 Just natural, yeah.

Joe Rogan 7:41 It was also like he realized-

Frankie Edgar 7:43 Putting the work into it.

Joe Rogan 7:43 Well, he realized that his legs were like other arms. Like, he could... 'Cause he... When you were in his guard, he would just r-... Those legs would come up and just pinch you down. And- and h- his mount, he would cross his legs underneath dudes.

Frankie Edgar 7:54 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 7:54 And his back mount was incredible.

Frankie Edgar 7:56 Yeah, he was, uh, one of a kind, I think, you know, uh, o- on the ground. And (clears throat) just as a fighter, I mean, I looked up to him coming up, you know? He was the man, licking, licking blood off his, off his hands with it.

Joe Rogan 8:07 (laughs)

Frankie Edgar 8:07 You know? I mean, it's, uh... I was actually with him. We were at... Did the UFC gym, uh, 10-year anniversary party.

Joe Rogan 8:12 Oh, just now?

Frankie Edgar 8:12 Up in, uh, uh, Concord.

Joe Rogan 8:14 Oh, okay.

Frankie Edgar 8:14 Dana was there and BJ was there, so I was hanging out with BJ. BJ's a good dude, man. We get along really well.

Joe Rogan 8:19 Is, uh... Is he s-... Is he done fighting or what is he gonna do?

Frankie Edgar 8:24 Um, I don't know. I think he wants to fight. Uh, I don't think Dana wants him to fight, but, uh, I'm pretty s-

Joe Rogan 8:29 They had that crazy brawl in Hawaii, I mean.

Frankie Edgar 8:30 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 8:31 Outside of a bar.

Frankie Edgar 8:31 I mean, people are all so like, "Oh, don't get beat." You're getting mad at a fighter for fighting? I- I... You know? Oh, come on.

Joe Rogan 8:37 (laughs)

Frankie Edgar 8:37 Is it... Is it that surprising? (laughs) You know?

Joe Rogan 8:40 It is a funny way to look at it, right? Like, if a singer gets in a fight.

Frankie Edgar 8:44 Yeah, yeah. Right, right.

Joe Rogan 8:44 Like, "What is he doing?" But a fighter fighting-

Frankie Edgar 8:46 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 8:47 ... is like a basketball player having a pickup game.

Frankie Edgar 8:48 So, it depends. Yeah, exactly. So.

Joe Rogan 8:49 (laughs)

Frankie Edgar 8:50 Can't get mad at him for that.

Joe Rogan 8:51 That is kind of weird when you stop and think about it, you know?

Frankie Edgar 8:55 I mean, it's... And that's the nature down in Hawaii, I- I think. A lot of people get down. That's how they get down out there.

Joe Rogan 9:00 Yeah, they get down. Yeah, tough motherfuckers in Hawaii.

Frankie Edgar 9:02 Yeah, for sure.

Joe Rogan 9:03 You know, that fight though was so sad to watch. Like, that dude clipped him with a left hook and dropped him and bounced his head off the concrete.

Frankie Edgar 9:09 I know.

Joe Rogan 9:09 I was like, "Fuck BJ."

Frankie Edgar 9:09 Did he- did he say, "Hit me"? He said... Yeah, that was... He let him hit him.

Joe Rogan 9:12 Yes, he let the guy hit him. And then-

Frankie Edgar 9:14 But then he came back. He got... He, uh, he got mounted, yeah.

Joe Rogan 9:15 He went out. He flashed out and- and went down. And then I don't know if the video was continuous or what, but later is a video of him having the guy's back-

Frankie Edgar 9:24 Smashing him, yeah.

Joe Rogan 9:25 ... and smashing him. It's like, "Goddamn it."

Frankie Edgar 9:26 Yeah, I mean, you gotta be care... You never know what could happen in the street fight, too, so you just gotta be careful.

Joe Rogan 9:30 Oh, yeah. Guys go home, open the trunk, come right back.

Frankie Edgar 9:32 Yeah, that or-

Joe Rogan 9:33 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 9:33 I mean, shit, throw something on their head and they, they don't wake up, you know?

Joe Rogan 9:35 Yeah, that's a big one.

Frankie Edgar 9:36 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 9:37 You know, um, that happened to a buddy of mine in Long Island. Kevin James, actually, the- the comedian.

Frankie Edgar 9:41 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 9:42 His- his buddy, w- he... They were working together as- as bouncers, and he was working with this guy. And this guy got in a fight with a patron, punched the guy, knocked him out. The guy fell, banged his head off the ground, died.

Frankie Edgar 9:52 Wow.

Joe Rogan 9:53 Dude wound up doing jail time.

Frankie Edgar 9:54 Wow.

Joe Rogan 9:55 I mean, that happens.

Frankie Edgar 9:56 I heard a story of some wrestler, kind of the same thing. Got into a fight, picked the guy up, slammed him on his head and ended up in jail.

Joe Rogan 10:01 Oh, my God. Can you imagine a wrestler-

Frankie Edgar 10:03 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 10:03 ... like a Yoel Romero-

Frankie Edgar 10:04 Oh, God.

Joe Rogan 10:04 ... fucking suplexing you on the street?

Frankie Edgar 10:06 He ain't getting-

Joe Rogan 10:06 Like, what in the fuck?

Frankie Edgar 10:08 ... enough from that one. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 10:08 That's... It's over forever.

Frankie Edgar 10:09 Absolutely.

Joe Rogan 10:10 Yeah, he'll flatten the top of your head.

Frankie Edgar 10:11 (laughs) Yeah.

Joe Rogan 10:12 You know?

Frankie Edgar 10:12 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 10:13 I'm like, "Oh, God."

Frankie Edgar 10:14 He's- he's an- an- another freak, man.

Joe Rogan 10:16 Oh, he's the freakiest freak.

Frankie Edgar 10:17 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 10:18 Out of all the freaks, you got like Brock Lesnar, who's like s-... got some freaky Viking genes, like, for sure.

Frankie Edgar 10:24 Yeah, has to be.

Joe Rogan 10:25 That dude don't make any sense, you see... You ever see photos of him when he was in high school?

Frankie Edgar 10:27 Oh, dude, I-

Joe Rogan 10:28 Look at that freak in high school.

Frankie Edgar 10:29 Well, yeah, I- I... We... He wrest... He was a senior when I was a freshman, and, uh, we were at wrestling nationals together. And I remember just looking n-... being next to him like, "Damn, how the fuck is this guy even real?" You know?

Joe Rogan 10:40 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 10:40 This looks like an action figure.

Joe Rogan 10:41 Yeah, he was... He was the biggest physical freak I think I've ever seen. But then you've got Ngannou, who I think is- is more of a physical freak.

Frankie Edgar 10:50 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 10:52 You know what I mean?

Frankie Edgar 10:52 A little bit taller, a little bit longer.

Joe Rogan 10:52 Ngannou, 265 pu-... See, because I'm 100% positive Ngannou is on the natch. That guy is all natural.

Frankie Edgar 11:00 Yeah, just digging-

Joe Rogan 11:01 You know?

Frankie Edgar 11:01 ... salt mines or whatever.

Joe Rogan 11:02 Yep.

Frankie Edgar 11:03 Dirt mines.

Joe Rogan 11:03 Sand.

Frankie Edgar 11:03 Sand mines.

Joe Rogan 11:05 Yeah. Yeah, he's got a photo on his Instagram today of him chopping wood. Everything he does terrifies me.

Frankie Edgar 11:09 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 11:10 (laughs) He's so fucking powerful, man. That guy, out of all the guys I've ever seen in the heavyweight division, he is for sure the most powerful.

Frankie Edgar 11:17 That uppercut he landed on, uh, Alistair Overeem was-

Joe Rogan 11:19 Jesus.

Frankie Edgar 11:20 ... incredible, man. I thought he decapitated him.

Joe Rogan 11:22 Yeah, it's like his head flew... It's like the back of his head touched his back, like there as-

Frankie Edgar 11:25 Yeah. Oh, man, look at this dude.

Joe Rogan 11:27 Oh, what is he... He's breaking rocks, I guess. What- what the fuck is he doing?

Frankie Edgar 11:30 Oh, he's hit... He's hitting a stake into the ground. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 11:33 That motherfucker has power.

Frankie Edgar 11:37 Yeah. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 11:37 He has like the most ridiculous punching power.

Frankie Edgar 11:41 He has to, right?

Joe Rogan 11:42 Oh, yeah, man. Well, he's a natural 270 plus. And apparently he's been lifting, so he's even above 265 right now. He's gonna have to cut weight.

Frankie Edgar 11:49 So, if he cuts weight, yeah, that's wild.

Joe Rogan 11:51 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 11:51 This guy's fighting next, uh, Ro- Rosenstruich.

Joe Rogan 11:52 Rosenstruich is badass. That's a really good fight.

Frankie Edgar 11:56 Is he a K1 guy?

Joe Rogan 11:58 I don't know where he did his kickboxing career. Pull up, uh, uh, Jairzinho Rosenstruich. Try spelling that, good luck.

Frankie Edgar 12:06 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 12:07 You got it? Really? Damn.

Frankie Edgar 12:08 This dude's the man. Come on. He knows.

Joe Rogan 12:11 (laughs) I don't know how you fucking spelled that correctly. But Rozenstruik, the thing that's, scared me about him when he was fighting Alistair was, like, he was walking right through Alistair's shots-

Frankie Edgar 12:20 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 12:20 ... which is the craziest.

Frankie Edgar 12:21 And Alistair's no joke. I mean-

Joe Rogan 12:22 No.

Frankie Edgar 12:22 He takes people out left and right.

Joe Rogan 12:24 He's a beast.

Frankie Edgar 12:25 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 12:25 Dude, when he was on the sauce, and he fought Brock, that, when he was Ubering-

Frankie Edgar 12:30 Whoo.

Joe Rogan 12:30 ... woo, here it goes.

Frankie Edgar 12:31 Oh, body kicks.

Joe Rogan 12:31 So he fought in a bunch of different organizations, Danger Zone, um, yeah, does it... So, so SLAM.

Frankie Edgar 12:42 Wh- where is he from, Rozenstruik?

Joe Rogan 12:45 Um-

Frankie Edgar 12:45 Rozenstruik.

Joe Rogan 12:45 ... let's see. It says, what's his name?

Frankie Edgar 12:49 Oh, surname.

Joe Rogan 12:49 Suriname.

Frankie Edgar 12:50 Sura- isn't that where-

Joe Rogan 12:51 Isn't that how you say it? Tyron Spong.

Frankie Edgar 12:52 Yeah, yeah, Tyron Spong-

Joe Rogan 12:53 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 12:53 ... is from there, yeah.

Joe Rogan 12:54 Yeah. Yeah, Spong was supposed to fight Usyk, uh, in a heavyweight fight when Usyk moved up to heavyweight. In boxing, you know, Tyron Spong is all-

Frankie Edgar 13:05 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 13:05 He's all boxing now.

Frankie Edgar 13:06 Is he? Oh, he's doing-

Joe Rogan 13:07 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 13:07 ... only boxing, yeah.

Joe Rogan 13:08 Did you see his last kickboxing fight?

Frankie Edgar 13:09 Well, he was supposed to... No, he was sup- he was supposed to fight, uh... I don't know. I'm thinking of Big Baby Miller was supposed to fight, um, Johnson.

Joe Rogan 13:17 That's right.

Frankie Edgar 13:17 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 13:18 Joshua, right?

Frankie Edgar 13:19 Joshua, that's right, Joshua.

Joe Rogan 13:19 But he's tested positive.

Frankie Edgar 13:21 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 13:21 Yeah. Yeah, um, Tyron tested positive too. Tyron-

Frankie Edgar 13:24 Yeah, that's what I was thinking of maybe.

Joe Rogan 13:26 Tyron tested positive before he was supposed to fight Usyk, but he said it's bullshit. And then he, I get... I think he was actually cleared of it, but it was too late. They'd already set up this other fight-

Frankie Edgar 13:33 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 13:33 ... for Usyk. He's a dangerous guy. I think there's a lot of people that are gonna avoid Tyron Spong because-

Frankie Edgar 13:38 Yeah. He is hard, man.

Joe Rogan 13:39 He hits fucking hard.

Frankie Edgar 13:40 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 13:40 And he's a savage.

Frankie Edgar 13:41 He is.

Joe Rogan 13:42 He's, you know... His last... Did you ever see his last kickboxing fight? He broke his leg.

Frankie Edgar 13:46 The one where he broke his leg. Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 13:47 Yeah, against, um, uh, Turkish Tyson.

Frankie Edgar 13:49 Right, uh, Go- uh, what was his name? Turkish Tyson, right?

Joe Rogan 13:54 Oh, Jesus, why can't I remember his name?

Frankie Edgar 13:56 He's in the UFC now, right?

Joe Rogan 13:57 Yeah, you made me forget his name. What happened? How did you do that?

Frankie Edgar 13:59 Goghan Sok- Goghan.

Joe Rogan 14:01 Goghan. Goghan Sakhi.

Frankie Edgar 14:01 Goghan Sakhi. There you go.

Joe Rogan 14:01 Jesus Christ. It's early.

Frankie Edgar 14:05 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 14:05 I got to wake up.

Frankie Edgar 14:06 More coffee.

Joe Rogan 14:07 Sakhi, um, he's had a tough transition to MMA, but he's still a bad motherfucker.

Frankie Edgar 14:12 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 14:12 And in fighting and kickboxing, man, he was one of my favorite guys ever to watch. Sakhi had the nastiest left hand. He would throw, like, left hook, left hook, left hook, you know, like left hook-

Frankie Edgar 14:20 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 14:20 ... to the body, left hook to the head, left hook to the body, like bang, bang, bang, you know? Like, fast as fuck for a... and for a heavyweight, ridiculous hand speed.

Frankie Edgar 14:28 Yeah, every... I mean, I feel like all these athletes are just getting better and better as it goes, right?

Joe Rogan 14:33 Oh, yeah.

Frankie Edgar 14:33 You know?

Joe Rogan 14:33 For sure.

Frankie Edgar 14:34 It's kind of crazy. These big guys-

Joe Rogan 14:35 Yeah, when you-

Frankie Edgar 14:35 ... are athletic as hell too.

Joe Rogan 14:37 When you stop back and think about your first fights in the UFC, when you first got started, like, what, what stands out as being, like, real different about seeing the younger guys coming up today?

Frankie Edgar 14:48 The younger guys are just more complete.

Joe Rogan 14:50 Mmm.

Frankie Edgar 14:50 And they're, they're more athletic. I think, back when I first started, we were just guys that wanted to fight. We were tough guys. You know, the wrestlers always did well 'cause we were... you know, competed our whole lives, um, but now these kids are polished right away, you know?

Joe Rogan 15:03 Yeah, I'm seeing, like, 20-year-old kids with crazy skills.

Frankie Edgar 15:05 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 15:06 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 15:06 They're polished. They've been doing it for five years already.

Joe Rogan 15:08 You see that kid, uh, Edmen Shabazyan?

Frankie Edgar 15:11 Yes.

Joe Rogan 15:11 You seen him?

Frankie Edgar 15:11 Yes.

Joe Rogan 15:12 Fucking incredible.

Frankie Edgar 15:13 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 15:13 He's, like, I think he's 21 now.

Frankie Edgar 15:15 Right.

Joe Rogan 15:15 And he is just a fucking murderer, man.

Frankie Edgar 15:18 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 15:18 It's crazy.

Frankie Edgar 15:19 He's, it's, it's amazing that, um, 18 years older than some of these kids (laughs) , you know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 15:23 That is crazy. When do you think you're gonna not do this anymore?

Frankie Edgar 15:28 I don't know. You know, I, I always say I have three, three rules is, uh, as long as I'm enjoying it and I want to do it, as long as I'm competitive. I don't want to lose fights to guys I think I should be able to beat, and, uh, as long as my body holds up, so...

Joe Rogan 15:43 And how old are you now?

Frankie Edgar 15:44 38.

Joe Rogan 15:45 So for the lighter weight divisions, that's older.

Frankie Edgar 15:47 That's older. Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 15:49 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 15:49 I, I mean, I, I feel good. My body feels good. I mean, always, always little injuries here and there.

Joe Rogan 15:53 Mm-hmm.

Frankie Edgar 15:54 Um, but, uh, I, I enjoy it. It's still fun. You know, my last couple of fights didn't go the way I wanted them to, you know, what, what... Holloway, obviously, I thought he gave me a pretty good run, um, it was very-

Joe Rogan 16:05 That was very good fight.

Frankie Edgar 16:06 He's big dude. It was tough to, to kind of close that range, and I was in on some of his sh- some of his legs, I just couldn't really move him. He just felt like he was part of the, part of the... like a tree, you know? And then, uh, you know, took that fight with Crane Zambian, obviously didn't go as I expected, but, uh, you know, I got to bounce back from this one.

Joe Rogan 16:24 Wh- when you think about your preparation, like, between when you first started to now, like, as you get older, is there anything that you do differently?

Frankie Edgar 16:31 I, I don't spar as much, I think. Uh, I, I would spar three days a week always, um, five rounds, you know, for five-round fights, six rounds sometimes. Now I kind of do two days a week, to have a little push, push and pull for me and Mark. Mark wants us always sparring a lot.

Joe Rogan 16:45 Oh, really?

Frankie Edgar 16:45 He's big into sparring, and I, I kind of am too. I feel like the best way to get in shape for a fight is, is by fighting, you know?

Joe Rogan 16:51 Right.

Frankie Edgar 16:51 And, and we have good sparring partners, we're not trying to kill each other.

Joe Rogan 16:54 Right.

Frankie Edgar 16:54 Um, you know, but our team, when I first started, it was me and a couple guys that really weren't in the UFC. Now it's just, you know, just a bunch of hammers, you know?

Joe Rogan 17:03 Oh, you guys-

Frankie Edgar 17:04 Nonstop.

Joe Rogan 17:04 ... that Mark Henry camp is insane. I mean-

Frankie Edgar 17:07 Yeah, he's a special guy, man.

Joe Rogan 17:08 He has so many, like, top flight guys come to him from all around the world.

Frankie Edgar 17:12 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 17:12 You know, like Zabit?

Frankie Edgar 17:13 Zabit is-

Joe Rogan 17:14 I mean, how do you get from Dagestan to Jersey?

Frankie Edgar 17:16 Yeah-

Joe Rogan 17:16 You know?

Frankie Edgar 17:16 They, they all, they all go-

Joe Rogan 17:17 (coughs)

Frankie Edgar 17:18 They all, they all do this. They say they're coming, they all fly to Moscow, they stay at Moscow for a couple of days, then they go to Brooklyn, stay at Brooklyn for a couple of days, and they come down. So if they say they're coming the next day, it's usually three days later 'cause they... that's the rounds they make.

Joe Rogan 17:30 Why, why do they go to Brooklyn first?

Frankie Edgar 17:31 I don't know. There's a big Dagestan community up there, I guess. They get... I don't know if they take them shopping or something, but... (laughs)

Joe Rogan 17:37 I never knew Dagestan was a place till I heard of Khabib.

Frankie Edgar 17:40 Yeah, I mean, I-

Joe Rogan 17:41 I mean, I maybe heard about it, but I didn't... It didn't, it didn't feature in my mind as, like, a prominent martial arts spot.

Frankie Edgar 17:46 Yeah. Well, I knew, uh, Sataev, the wrestler. He's from Chechnya.

Joe Rogan 17:52 Oh, okay.

Frankie Edgar 17:52 It's like right there. And he was a s- I remember watching him when I was in high school, and this guy was just unbelievable. I think he won I don't know how many world championships. Like, 10... He was in 10 straight world championships with Olympics and worlds. And he's a Ch- a Chechen fighter, and that's that area. This past world championship, Ossetia, Chechnya and Dagestan, which is, like, the size of Georgia the state-... won the world ch- The, the, just people from that area would have won the world championship in wrestling.

Joe Rogan 18:18 Wow.

Frankie Edgar 18:18 I just can't fathom that.

Joe Rogan 18:20 Well, they're just hard people, man.

Frankie Edgar 18:21 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 18:22 You see that basketball game that they play? You know, you see-

Frankie Edgar 18:24 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 18:24 ... Will Harris's films?

Frankie Edgar 18:26 Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 18:26 Will Harris Productions, shout out to Will.

Frankie Edgar 18:28 Yeah, Will's the man.

Joe Rogan 18:28 Will's the man, I love that guy. He's, he's a cool dude, isn't he?

Frankie Edgar 18:31 He's a great guy.

Joe Rogan 18:31 And he gets embedded.

Frankie Edgar 18:33 He does.

Joe Rogan 18:33 I mean, he goes to Dagestan, he hangs out with them, he eats with them, he plays that crazy (laughs) basketball game with them.

Frankie Edgar 18:40 Yeah, yeah. And he's like a, he's a semi-professional ball player, too.

Joe Rogan 18:42 Yes. Yeah, he's a huge guy, I mean he, he could-

Frankie Edgar 18:44 He's a big dude.

Joe Rogan 18:44 ... he could have been a, like a real... I mean, he had a bad knee injury when he was in college-

Frankie Edgar 18:48 Right.

Joe Rogan 18:48 But, uh, it's hilarious watching them play that basketball game, where they grab ahold of each other and drag each other to the mat and submit each other.

Frankie Edgar 18:55 Yeah. I used to think I, I fouled bad, you know?

Joe Rogan 18:58 (laughs)

Frankie Edgar 18:58 But at least I dribbled the ball, (laughs) you know?

Joe Rogan 19:00 It's a- it's like rugby/basketball/ MMA.

Frankie Edgar 19:05 Yeah. Hey, that, that's probably my only way to, to get, to score some buckets, though. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 19:08 It's weird, though. Like, it seems like they might have invented it, right? It doesn't s-

Frankie Edgar 19:12 Oh, it has to be. Has to be.

Joe Rogan 19:13 Do you think, like, uh, I mean, I wonder if it's prominent in Dagestan, or if it's just that camp that they figured out how to do it?

Frankie Edgar 19:19 Like, in wrestling, wrestling, they play handball, they call it handball, or we used to call it gator ball, where we have, like, soccer nets or, like, uh, field hockey nets, and it was kind of the same thing. We, you had three steps, you pass, you could pass the ball, n- no dribbling, and then, you know, it's a bunch of wrestlers playing, so we're all tackling each other and everything.

Joe Rogan 19:34 (laughs)

Frankie Edgar 19:34 So we kind of always just did that, but we never did it with basketball hoops, so I guess that's, that's a little different.

Joe Rogan 19:38 Well, Will said that that's how they warm up. They just get out there, and, like, for one hour, they'll play this crazy basketball game.

Frankie Edgar 19:45 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 19:45 And, and then they go train.

Frankie Edgar 19:47 And that's what we had. We used to do that with the handball, or gator ball, we used to call it.

Joe Rogan 19:50 It kind of makes sense that that would be a good way to warm up, right? Because it's competitive, you're running around a lot. It's a lot-

Frankie Edgar 19:55 Yeah, it's fun.

Joe Rogan 19:56 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 19:56 Kind of fun, instead of just-

Joe Rogan 19:57 It's fun.

Frankie Edgar 19:57 ... doing the same old routine.

Joe Rogan 19:59 But it's interesting that even him, even Khabib, with that crazy camp and all those monsters that he trains with, makes his way down to AKA to train-

Frankie Edgar 20:07 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 20:07 ... in America.

Frankie Edgar 20:08 That, that, that is something I always wonder. Even the guys that come to us, I'm like-

Joe Rogan 20:10 Mm-hmm.

Frankie Edgar 20:12 ... these guys are all so good, why don't they just (laughs) train with each other at home? But I think they like the, the fact that they're locked in when they get here.

Joe Rogan 20:19 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 20:19 You know? They have no distractions. And, and the co- I think they come here for the coaching.

Joe Rogan 20:23 Yeah, I'm sure. The, the, I, I think, uh, just a different look, a different perspective, is probably beneficial. But just the fact that, you know, so many elite fighters from all over the world still wanna do their camps either at ATT, or with you guys, or AKA, or, you know, there's just so many different places that they travel to. Have you ever gone somewhere for a camp, or have you just locked yourself down?

Frankie Edgar 20:45 Um, no. I've always did all my camps in Jersey. Early in my career, though, before, uh, I mean, Mark, we had Mark, even before I started training Ricardo, um, and Renzo and those guys, I, uh, I went out to AKA actually, with Thompson. I, I stayed with Charles Thompson.

Joe Rogan 20:58 Oh, okay.

Frankie Edgar 20:58 Charles was, is the man, but hey-

Joe Rogan 20:59 I love that dude.

Frankie Edgar 20:59 Yeah. He was-

Joe Rogan 21:00 He was just here last week.

Frankie Edgar 21:01 I know, I, uh, I heard, I, I was listening to him, um, a little bit. Um, yeah he opened his house, I stayed at his house for a little bit, man.

Joe Rogan 21:07 Oh, that's cool.

Frankie Edgar 21:07 He was, uh, he's a super good dude. He was kind of a veteran at the time when I ga- came in, so he helped me out a little bit. Um, I stayed a couple, couple weeks there, hanging out, uh, at AKA, and, uh, I just, I just wanted to be home. I knew I wanted to be, stay in Jersey.

Joe Rogan 21:20 S- yeah. Well, with your family and everything like that.

Frankie Edgar 21:23 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 21:23 I, I get it. But I, I think there is probably a benefit for a fight... Like, a, a lot of great boxers used to go to the Catskills, right? And they would do their training up there.

Frankie Edgar 21:31 Right.

Joe Rogan 21:31 And then, like, a lot of guys today, they go to Big Bear.

Frankie Edgar 21:34 Right.

Joe Rogan 21:34 You know, like, Triple G goes up there, and a lot of other fighters have their camps up there. De La Hoya always did his camps up in Big Bear. There's, like, something about a camp that's very attractive to someone thinking about, "Oh, he's locked down in camp."

Frankie Edgar 21:46 Right, right. Yeah, you s-

Joe Rogan 21:46 Like, you like it.

Frankie Edgar 21:47 Yeah, you're tunnel visioned and all that.

Joe Rogan 21:49 Yeah. Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 21:50 Yeah, I, I, uh, I j- I need, I need my family around me. I need my friends around me, you know?

Joe Rogan 21:55 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 21:55 I feel good in Jersey. And, uh, I kinda, I feel like I built, I built it, I built it up, you know?

Joe Rogan 22:00 Right.

Frankie Edgar 22:00 That, that's why people come, come to me now, you know? And not, not only me, obviously for Mark and Ricardo, probably more so for those guys. But, uh, I showed them that it could be done here.

Joe Rogan 22:08 Right.

Frankie Edgar 22:08 And that's why, you know, we have the, the, you know, the atmosphere that we do, I think.

Joe Rogan 22:12 That is true. I mean, you definitely were one of the most successful pioneers of MMA coming out of there.

Frankie Edgar 22:16 Yeah, yeah. So, uh, you know, it's cool to, to see all these young guys come and train with us. And, and we have a pretty good team now. Plus, Eddie Alvarez is there, and he's, you know, been, he's a pioneer as well, so...

Joe Rogan 22:26 When you see Eddie go over to ONE FC, does that, any of that ever look attractive to you?

Frankie Edgar 22:31 I mean, for sure. The, the, you know, if, uh... I actually, I only have one fight left on my contract now, um...

Joe Rogan 22:36 Oh, yeah?

Frankie Edgar 22:37 You know, but I've been in the UFC, it'll be, it'll be 13 years I've been in the UFC coming in February.

Joe Rogan 22:42 Well, you see Mighty Mouse went over there.

Frankie Edgar 22:43 Yeah, Mighty Mouse, you know? I mean, money talks, (laughs) you know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 22:47 Yeah. Well, especially at this point in your career, right?

Frankie Edgar 22:49 Yeah. Exactly, exactly.

Joe Rogan 22:50 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 22:50 But, I mean, honestly, if I, if I was being straight up, I'd... Where do I wanna finish my career? Uh, I- I do wanna finish in the UFC, you know?

Joe Rogan 22:56 Hmm.

Frankie Edgar 22:56 I mean, I felt like I, I got in the UFC at 5 and 0, you know?

Joe Rogan 23:00 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 23:00 I pretty much grew up here.

Joe Rogan 23:01 That's crazy.

Frankie Edgar 23:02 So, uh, it'd be nice to finish it here. But, you know, everything has to make sense.

Joe Rogan 23:06 Well, you know, you're still near the top of the heap, right? I mean, you just fought Max Holloway. How long ago was that?

Frankie Edgar 23:11 In July.

Joe Rogan 23:12 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 23:12 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 23:12 It's not that long ago, man.

Frankie Edgar 23:13 Not too long ago.

Joe Rogan 23:14 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 23:14 And it was close, you know. Obviously, the fight with Korean Zombie, I mean, I, I feel like I didn't get a chance to get going. He got me with a good shot, um...

Joe Rogan 23:20 Motherfucker hits hard.

Frankie Edgar 23:21 He m- he does hit hard, you know? And, uh, and, you know, I was really down on myself. That was tough, that was a tough one. Um, I was really down on myself for a while. I, I, you know, nobody takes losses well.

Joe Rogan 23:30 Right.

Frankie Edgar 23:30 Um...

Joe Rogan 23:31 No one competitive.

Frankie Edgar 23:31 Yeah, no one competitive.

Joe Rogan 23:32 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 23:32 And, uh, I definitely took it pretty bad. And, and Christmas was right here. And, and in my head, like, I, I took the fight on short notice, but in my head... And I, I never once took a fight and didn't think I was gonna win.

Joe Rogan 23:43 How many, how m- many weeks notice did you take it on?

Frankie Edgar 23:45 Two weeks.

Joe Rogan 23:46 Hmm.

Frankie Edgar 23:46 Two weeks notice. I was in shape, I was training, you know. Not like I was training for a fight, but I was training pretty good. Um, and I just bel- I believe in myself. I thought I was gonna go there, you know, put this dude away, and come home and enjoy Christmas. But it turned out to be the opposite, you know? And a little depressing during Christmastime. You try to be nice with your family, and, and, you know, loving with your family. But, you know, what's weighing over my head is I just got fucking TKO'd.

Joe Rogan 24:10 Yeah. Yeah, that's, uh...... the, the emotional side of fighting, like the emotional side of losses, like when you see guys just weeping in their locker room. And like, remember ... (clears throat) The, the hardest one for me was Aldo after McGregor knocked him out.

Frankie Edgar 24:24 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 24:25 And he was just in his locker room just weeping, like, "Goddamn, that dude."

Frankie Edgar 24:29 That's a tough one too-

Joe Rogan 24:30 It was.

Frankie Edgar 24:30 ... because you know that's, (sighs) that's gonna stay like in infamy, you know what I mean? Like, and, and-

Joe Rogan 24:34 Yeah, forever and always.

Frankie Edgar 24:35 Conor's probably the worst guy 'cause he's gonna tell everybody about it and everybody's gonna wanna cover it, and that's just the way it goes.

Joe Rogan 24:41 Well, it was such a picture-perfect punch too.

Frankie Edgar 24:43 Yeah, I mean-

Joe Rogan 24:44 When he slides back, boom, drops that left hand in there.

Frankie Edgar 24:46 I was in the crowd, and I was ... (sighs) I was told I was getting the winner of that fight. And then when it went down like that, I just knew that wasn't gonna happen. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 24:55 Really?

Frankie Edgar 24:55 Yeah, I just felt it like, "Ah." I thought, I thought Aldo was gonna win. Back then, we didn't know much-

Joe Rogan 24:59 Did you really?

Frankie Edgar 25:00 We didn't know much about Conor, I feel like, at that point, you know?

Joe Rogan 25:02 Mm-hmm.

Frankie Edgar 25:02 Um, so I thought Aldo was gonna win and I was gonna get a rematch with him, and then when, when my, when Conor did that and you hear him talking about going to go up to 55, I'm like, "Damn, there goes my chance."

Joe Rogan 25:12 Hmm.

Frankie Edgar 25:13 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 25:13 Yeah, that ... The, uh, the Aldo fight was crazy because I think that was the first time that anybody ever r- really disrespected Aldo.

Frankie Edgar 25:21 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 25:21 Because Aldo was the fucking man for so long. I mean, he d- and the crazy thing about Aldo is he's still only 32 years old.

Frankie Edgar 25:29 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 25:29 Like we were talking about that with the Marlon fight.

Frankie Edgar 25:31 Right.

Joe Rogan 25:32 Which wa-

Frankie Edgar 25:32 Is he though? Is he really?

Joe Rogan 25:33 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 25:33 No, you know ... Yeah, no. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 25:34 Oh, you think? (laughs)

Frankie Edgar 25:36 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 25:36 Well, they've been following him since the WEC.

Frankie Edgar 25:38 Yeah, that ... I, I get it.

Joe Rogan 25:38 I mean, he was like 20 then, so he kinda has to be-

Frankie Edgar 25:41 Yeah. No, yeah. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 25:41 ... 32.

Frankie Edgar 25:42 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 25:42 I mean, he was WEC champion a long-

Frankie Edgar 25:44 He was. He was.

Joe Rogan 25:45 ... fucking time ago, man.

Frankie Edgar 25:46 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 25:47 You know? I mean, when you go back and think about when he knocked out Cub Swanson with that flying knee, that was a long time ago.

Frankie Edgar 25:52 It was like a double knee, right?

Joe Rogan 25:54 Yes.

Frankie Edgar 25:54 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 25:54 Ba-boom, yeah. Dude, he was so fucking athletic.

Frankie Edgar 25:58 I mean, explosive, and the leg-

Joe Rogan 25:59 Woo.

Frankie Edgar 25:59 Like, I don't know. Wh- when did he stop doing leg kicks?

Joe Rogan 26:01 I don't know, man.

Frankie Edgar 26:02 I still-

Joe Rogan 26:02 I wonder ... I would like to ask him. I wonder if like he's got injuries or something like that, maybe his shins are fucked up.

Frankie Edgar 26:06 I know when we fought the first time, he threw a leg kick, and then I took him down on it on the second one, and then he sto- that's the last time he threw a leg kick in both our fights.

Joe Rogan 26:14 It's crazy because if you watch his early career, like watch the Urijah Faber fight. It is one of the most horrific displays of destroying someone's leg you've ever seen in a fight.

Frankie Edgar 26:24 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 26:24 And so fast, dude.

Frankie Edgar 26:25 Oh, man.

Joe Rogan 26:26 Just pop. Just-

Frankie Edgar 26:27 No loading, just whack.

Joe Rogan 26:27 No.

Frankie Edgar 26:28 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 26:28 Yeah, that's the thing. No loading. He would just, just whip those hips and like-

Frankie Edgar 26:32 Right.

Joe Rogan 26:32 Well, you know he was a soccer player, like a really good soccer player.

Frankie Edgar 26:35 Right.

Joe Rogan 26:35 You ever see videos of him playing soccer?

Frankie Edgar 26:37 I see him juggle the ball and, um, whatnot.

Joe Rogan 26:39 Dude, he's like a pro. Like-

Frankie Edgar 26:40 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 26:40 Like he could've been a professional soccer player.

Frankie Edgar 26:42 Right, that's what I heard, yeah.

Joe Rogan 26:42 And I think soccer players, first of all, their legs are so conditioned 'cause they're doing all the ... They're basically sprinting all the time. They're running up and running back.

Frankie Edgar 26:50 They run, like six miles a game I heard or something.

Joe Rogan 26:51 Yeah, and they're going left and right and left and right. They're always side to side like ... They apparently have the highest instances of ACL blowouts.

Frankie Edgar 26:57 Yeah, yeah, that makes sense.

Joe Rogan 26:59 Oh, yeah. But because of those legs, you know, Aldo just ... He was like a whip. Those legs would just crack.

Frankie Edgar 27:06 That's what I thought when him and Marlon were gonna fight, I'm like, "Oh, we're gonna see some-"

Joe Rogan 27:09 I know.

Frankie Edgar 27:09 "... crazy leg kicks." But neither of them really, you know, got him off.

Joe Rogan 27:12 I wonder. I wonder why Aldo stopped throwing leg kicks. I really wonder. Like wonder ... I mean, he's had some really good success with his hands.

Frankie Edgar 27:18 It's gotta be something. It's gotta be something, right, you know?

Joe Rogan 27:19 Some injury.

Frankie Edgar 27:20 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 27:20 Maybe a hip injury, you know?

Frankie Edgar 27:21 Yeah, could be.

Joe Rogan 27:22 A lot of those kickboxer guys, as they get older, their hips start falling apart, you know. It's, uh, it seems to be a big issue with some guys. Like John Wayne Parr needs a hip replacement.

Frankie Edgar 27:31 Right.

Joe Rogan 27:32 Yeah, I mean, he just had his last fight. He won in a boxing match.

Frankie Edgar 27:35 Yeah, I saw that.

Joe Rogan 27:35 Which is great.

Frankie Edgar 27:36 I saw that, yeah.

Joe Rogan 27:36 Huge for him.

Frankie Edgar 27:37 He's the man, dude.

Joe Rogan 27:37 I love that guy.

Frankie Edgar 27:37 He's, he's such a good guy to follow.

Joe Rogan 27:39 Yeah, he's awesome.

Frankie Edgar 27:39 He's such good energy, good ... Yeah. Such a positive dude.

Joe Rogan 27:42 And so is his, his whole family. He's just like ... He's just like a great, happy dude.

Frankie Edgar 27:45 Oh yeah, his daughters have got like 30 fights already or something.

Joe Rogan 27:47 His daughter's a beast.

Frankie Edgar 27:48 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 27:48 She's a beast, man. I think she's like 14 now.

Frankie Edgar 27:51 It's crazy.

Joe Rogan 27:51 She's a beast.

Frankie Edgar 27:52 It's crazy.

Joe Rogan 27:52 Yeah, he's, he's something special, but that poor guy, he's been fighting over the last year or two with a really fucked up hip.

Frankie Edgar 27:59 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 27:59 Like, I mean, it's falling apart, man. They're like, "You gotta have a hip replacement." The whole inside's just torn apart.

Frankie Edgar 28:04 All right, so I'm not looking forward to the future, man. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 28:07 I'm just ... You know what I'm looking forward to? The future with regenerative medicine.

Frankie Edgar 28:11 Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Well, you had stem cells. I had s- I had some stem cells in my shoulder.

Joe Rogan 28:14 Yeah, we talked about that-

Frankie Edgar 28:15 And, and, but yeah.

Joe Rogan 28:15 ... in Jersey when I saw you.

Frankie Edgar 28:16 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 28:16 You won't ... You don't give it enough time. (laughs)

Frankie Edgar 28:18 No, I know, I know.

Joe Rogan 28:19 You think ... The thing about the stem cells is it really takes like four or five months before it actually kicks in-

Frankie Edgar 28:25 Right, right.

Joe Rogan 28:25 ... and starts healing things. And a lot of guys like yourself, I mean, you, you don't, you don't gather any dust.

Frankie Edgar 28:31 No. Uh-uh.

Joe Rogan 28:32 You ain't waiting for shit.

Frankie Edgar 28:32 I keep chomping at the bit, man. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 28:35 (laughs)

Frankie Edgar 28:35 But yeah.

Joe Rogan 28:35 But that's the problem.

Frankie Edgar 28:36 But the one in my shoulder, it did help.

Joe Rogan 28:37 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 28:37 It helped a lot, and I, I beat, you know, early onset arthritis.

Joe Rogan 28:40 Mm-hmm.

Frankie Edgar 28:40 And, uh, they did the Wharton jelly.

Joe Rogan 28:42 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 28:42 And I got that, and it ... Like six weeks later, you know, it's ... I, I don't know. I want another round, I feel like.

Joe Rogan 28:48 Mm-hmm.

Frankie Edgar 28:48 I don't know if it works like that.

Joe Rogan 28:50 Yeah, another round would definitely help.

Frankie Edgar 28:51 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 28:52 But I think, uh, really Panama is the place for you.

Frankie Edgar 28:54 It's right here, yeah.

Joe Rogan 28:55 Go down there and get that-

Frankie Edgar 28:56 It's right here.

Joe Rogan 28:56 ... super sauce.

Frankie Edgar 28:57 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 28:57 (laughs)

Frankie Edgar 28:57 My neck's jacked up too a little bit, so I wonder if they got ... I wonder if they help that stuff, you know.

Joe Rogan 29:00 What is up with your neck?

Frankie Edgar 29:02 I got, uh, a, I guess stenosis of the neck.

Joe Rogan 29:04 Oh, okay.

Frankie Edgar 29:04 So like-

Joe Rogan 29:04 So your, your discs are shrinking. Yeah, I have that too.

Frankie Edgar 29:07 Yeah, yeah. My discs and-

Joe Rogan 29:08 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 29:08 ... uh, the holes where the nerves run through-

Joe Rogan 29:10 Mm-hmm.

Frankie Edgar 29:10 ... is kinda ... So I got-

Joe Rogan 29:11 Mm-hmm. It's tightening.

Frankie Edgar 29:12 This is, uh ... Actually it was kinda like a little bit before Holloway, m- more and more so after. I got an epidural in my neck, and I was getting the tingles down my arm.

Joe Rogan 29:20 Hmm.

Frankie Edgar 29:20 Weakness in my hand a little bit.

Joe Rogan 29:21 Godamn.

Frankie Edgar 29:22 And the epidural really didn't even work, but I just did therapy, and it, it, it got better. But it still bugs me a little bit.

Joe Rogan 29:28 There's a, a place. They ... I think they have an office in Dallas, they have one here in Santa Monica, and then there's a place in Germany. It's called Lifespan Medicine.

Frankie Edgar 29:35 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 29:35 And they do this pro- procedure called Regenakene.

Frankie Edgar 29:37 Right, right.

Joe Rogan 29:37 And Regenakene is what ... You've heard of it?

Frankie Edgar 29:39 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 29:40 Uh, Kobe Bryant, rest in peace.

Frankie Edgar 29:41 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 29:42 He, he went to, uh, Germany to get it back in his day, and, uh, so did, um, Peyton Manning went out there.

Frankie Edgar 29:47 Right, right, yeah.

Joe Rogan 29:48 Bunch of other athletes.

Frankie Edgar 29:49 Did he?

Joe Rogan 29:49 And Dana. Dana actually went out there.

Frankie Edgar 29:50 They do it in, in US now?

Joe Rogan 29:52 They do it in the US now.

Frankie Edgar 29:53 Oh, okay.

Joe Rogan 29:53 I've had it a bunch of times.

Frankie Edgar 29:53 Oh yeah?

Joe Rogan 29:54 I, I had it done on my neck when I had a bulging disc that was doing the same thing. My hands were going numb, that kinda shit.

Frankie Edgar 29:58 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 29:59 And it fixed it.

Frankie Edgar 30:00 Oh.

Joe Rogan 30:00 I also had it recently on my lower back 'cause I was getting, um-... uh, sciatica. Same shit. That fixed it. It- it's- it's basically a more potent version of platelet-rich plasma.

Frankie Edgar 30:12 Okay.

Joe Rogan 30:12 Like, they heat the blood and they- they add something to it, and it's just a radical anti-inflammatory.

Frankie Edgar 30:18 Right.

Joe Rogan 30:18 And it's, you know, it's good 'cause it's also, it's your own blood, you know? They take your own blood out, spin it, and do this procedure to it.

Frankie Edgar 30:25 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 30:25 And then it takes like 12 hours, I think, 10 or 12 hours for the- it to become this ... They- it looks like this yellow serum.

Frankie Edgar 30:33 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 30:33 And then this yellow serum, they inject into all your discs. I'm telling you, I had my friend, Dean Delraigo, down there. Dean had a real fucked up neck from a car accident. Some lady, he- he rides a motorcycle, some lady fucking clipped him and he went flying and it fucked his neck up to the point where we were ha- he's a comedian, we were hanging around The Comedy Store, and he gets nervous if anybody comes near him. Like, he's worried someone's gonna accidentally bump into him, and he was going, "Ah!"

Frankie Edgar 30:54 And just be like, yeah.

Joe Rogan 30:55 'Cause he was in so much pain.

Frankie Edgar 30:56 Oh, man.

Joe Rogan 30:56 'Cause he was like real stiff. And so I sent him to that, uh, Lifespan Medicine place, and dude, he was (snaps fingers) fixed up. Like within a- a week or two, he was back.

Frankie Edgar 31:04 Wow. Yeah, I- I would love to just be like a pin cushion, but they'd probably get me everywhere. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 31:08 Well, they can do crazy shit now, but it's a lot of money, you know?

Frankie Edgar 31:11 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 31:11 And if you wanna travel to all these different spots.

Frankie Edgar 31:13 Right.

Joe Rogan 31:13 It's, but it's- there's real benefit in this. My hope is that it's like cell phones. Remember when fucking cell phones were giant and they cost a billion dollars?

Frankie Edgar 31:22 Right, right.

Joe Rogan 31:22 They were so expensive. And now you can get a cheap phone. Like, I saw a flip phone the other day at Best Buy for 50 bucks.

Frankie Edgar 31:28 Wow, yeah.

Joe Rogan 31:29 I was like, "You can get a phone for 50 bucks."

Frankie Edgar 31:31 (laughs) It's not bad.

Joe Rogan 31:31 That's amazing.

Frankie Edgar 31:32 Yeah, so hopefully stem cells goes that route. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 31:34 That's what I'm hoping. And I'm hoping that ... See, see the problem is like healthcare providers, like if you have insurance. Like insurance doesn't wanna cover any of that shit.

Frankie Edgar 31:42 No, no, it doesn't make sense.

Joe Rogan 31:44 It's expensive.

Frankie Edgar 31:44 They wanna cover a surgery? But the surgery is 30 grand.

Joe Rogan 31:47 (sighs) I always wonder, like what's the politics behind that? Is there-

Frankie Edgar 31:50 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 31:50 ... have they ...

Frankie Edgar 31:51 I'm sure there's some.

Joe Rogan 31:52 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 31:52 Someone's gotta make money, you know?

Joe Rogan 31:54 Worked out some deals, yeah.

Frankie Edgar 31:54 It always goes.

Joe Rogan 31:56 Like the hospitals deal with the insurance companies.

Frankie Edgar 31:59 Right.

Joe Rogan 31:59 And everybody's working together.

Frankie Edgar 32:00 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 32:00 And they're all making money. But they don't wanna cover these things because they're treating stem cells like it's a drug. And so they're- they're- they're- they're treating it like what you're doing is you're taking a drug, so these drugs have to go through-

Frankie Edgar 32:14 That, yeah, right, yeah.

Joe Rogan 32:14 ... the same evaluations that the FDA has. But if they do that, it's gonna literally cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Frankie Edgar 32:21 Bro, but the FDA, didn't they just say CBD's no good? (sighs)

Joe Rogan 32:24 They're so crazy.

Frankie Edgar 32:25 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 32:25 Those people are awful.

Frankie Edgar 32:26 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 32:27 If they said that, anybody who said CBD's no good, you're awful.

Frankie Edgar 32:30 Yeah, for sure.

Joe Rogan 32:31 That shit is so good for you.

Frankie Edgar 32:32 Yeah, that Oxycontin I think is FDA approved. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 32:35 (laughs)

Frankie Edgar 32:35 You know what I mean? Like, come on, what are we doing here?

Joe Rogan 32:37 Well, I think that it's the same thing. They think of CBD as, uh, an untested drug.

Frankie Edgar 32:42 Right.

Joe Rogan 32:43 Reg- regardless of how many people have positive effects from it and positive benefits from it. The way they look at it is like, this stuff is in competition probably with like non-steroidal anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen-

Frankie Edgar 32:54 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 32:54 ... and things along those lines.

Frankie Edgar 32:55 Right.

Joe Rogan 32:56 But CBD's so much better than all those things.

Frankie Edgar 32:59 Yeah. I imagine. I mean, it's natural too. Like ... (sighs)

Joe Rogan 33:01 Yeah. Do you do it? Do you take it?

Frankie Edgar 33:02 I have, yeah. I- I take it, yep, yeah.

Joe Rogan 33:04 How much do you take?

Frankie Edgar 33:05 I- I mean, I'm- I'm- I need to be a little more consistent with it, you know? I'm- I'm just like, uh, you know, my wife, I'll go get stuff done, stem cell, "How do you feel?" I'm like, "I feel pretty good." I don't know how, I always feel pretty good. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 33:17 (laughs)

Frankie Edgar 33:17 So I'm like such a bad gauge on that stuff.

Joe Rogan 33:19 There's a problem with really mentally tough guys. 'Cause mentally tough guys don't even think about what things feel like.

Frankie Edgar 33:24 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 33:24 They just go, "Fuck it, I'm good."

Frankie Edgar 33:25 I'm just gonna go.

Joe Rogan 33:26 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 33:26 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 33:26 Like, look at Cain. Like Cain literally destroyed his body because he was so mentally tough.

Frankie Edgar 33:32 Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Joe Rogan 33:33 'Cause he's such a fucking savage that he like, he had everything blow out on him.

Frankie Edgar 33:37 He did.

Joe Rogan 33:38 His knees, his shoulders, his back, his neck, everything's fucked up.

Frankie Edgar 33:41 When I was, went to AKA, this is before he was in the UFC, you know, I went out there and I seen him sparring with I think Paul Buentello, some other like UFC guys, and they were just rotating on this- and he was just putting these dudes away, and they were just ro- going, rotating off. I'm like, "Who is this kid?" Dude.

Joe Rogan 33:56 Before he came to the UFC, there was so much hype around him. Everybody was like, "This motherfucker doesn't get tired."

Frankie Edgar 34:04 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 34:05 Like, "He's the future."

Frankie Edgar 34:05 As- as a heavyweight, you don't see that.

Joe Rogan 34:07 Not like him.

Frankie Edgar 34:08 Mm-mm.

Joe Rogan 34:08 His cardio was insane. I remember when he fought Big Ben Rothwell, he- he would put it on guys and they would have that 100 yard stare.

Frankie Edgar 34:15 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 34:16 Where they're like, "What the fuck?"

Frankie Edgar 34:18 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 34:18 Like, "What is happening to me? How is this guy not tired?" He didn't make sense. He was like a lightweight.

Frankie Edgar 34:23 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 34:24 But 240 pounds.

Frankie Edgar 34:25 240 pounds, and uh, great wrestling, great jujitsu.

Joe Rogan 34:29 Great everything, yeah.

Frankie Edgar 34:30 His boxing's second to none, man.

Joe Rogan 34:32 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 34:32 For- for, you know.

Joe Rogan 34:33 And just surprised you with his body, right? 'Cause he didn't look-

Frankie Edgar 34:37 He didn't look the part, no, yeah.

Joe Rogan 34:37 ... ripped and cut, looked like a guy who eats a lot of burritos.

Frankie Edgar 34:40 Right, yeah. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 34:40 (laughs)

Frankie Edgar 34:40 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 34:41 Dude, to this day, I think in his prime, I think he was ... I mean, there's like, the argument is him and Fedor, those are the two arguments, and then Stipe for his accomplishments, right? I mean, I would've loved to see Stipe versus, um, Cain when Stipe wouldn't- if Cain was in his prime.

Frankie Edgar 34:55 Yeah, that would've been great.

Joe Rogan 34:56 That would've been amazing. But, you know, it's like this- that- that model of the heavyweight, this- the Cain Velasquez model, I don't know if anybody else could do that. Like, I don't know, I think his- his cardio was almost like supernatural.

Frankie Edgar 35:13 I think, you know, people always ask, 'cause people say, "I've got c- good cardio and, you know, I could push always." And they're like, "You know, what- what is it from?" I think it's all mental more than anything. I- I don't know, maybe some people are born that way. Like, I feel like even the summertime when I wrestled in the summer, I wasn't like in wrestling season shape, I was gonna be the guy who was in better shape just 'cause-

Joe Rogan 35:31 Just your mind.

Frankie Edgar 35:32 ... just my mind, yeah. I think it's- Most of it's mind. E- everybody's like, "Do you get tired?" I'm like, "Fuck yeah, I get tired. I just keep going." And I think everyone gets tired.

Joe Rogan 35:39 Mm-hmm.

Frankie Edgar 35:40 'Cause then you see some guys that, you know, are really, really good and they're just scared they get tired, so they're scared to push themselves.

Joe Rogan 35:47 Right.

Frankie Edgar 35:47 I've seen that in wrestling a lot. You kinda see it in MMA, you know, some guys where they're just scared they get tired so they don't push it too hard.

Joe Rogan 35:53 Yeah, that's real, right?

Frankie Edgar 35:53 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 35:55 Yeah. Yeah, there's a mind game going on where you don't wanna drain the battery, right? You don't wanna ... Like it seemed like Marlon against Aldo, there was a little bit of that, like-

Frankie Edgar 36:04 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 36:05 ... just easing off the gas a little.

Frankie Edgar 36:06 Right.

Joe Rogan 36:06 Especially after the Cejudo fight.

Frankie Edgar 36:08 After the Cejudo fight, yeah. You know, I was in- I was in the corner for Marlon and, um ...It was going great that first round. I'm like, "Man, this is great. The pace is, like, w- how Marlon likes it." You know, it wasn't too crazy.

Joe Rogan 36:18 Mm-hmm.

Frankie Edgar 36:18 And then Cejudo turned it on, and I just seen the look in, in Marlon's face. I'm like, "Ugh." In the second round, he got up and looked at me, and I was like... You know, I'm trying to pump him up, be like, "Dude, come on. Let's go." But I just seen it in his eyes.

Joe Rogan 36:29 Dude, the first round looked like Marlon was gonna establish himself as the best pound for pound fighter in the world.

Frankie Edgar 36:35 Yeah, I mean, he looked amazing.

Joe Rogan 36:36 He looked so good.

Frankie Edgar 36:37 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 36:37 He was... His kickboxing was off the charts. That fucking left leg switch kick that he has to the head is like a whip.

Frankie Edgar 36:44 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 36:44 It's crazy the way he does it.

Frankie Edgar 36:45 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 36:45 It's so light and effortless. He just swings it up there.

Frankie Edgar 36:49 Yeah, he's, uh, he... They're... It was, uh, when Marlon, Edson came into camp, my legs hurt for, (laughs) for, like-

Joe Rogan 36:55 (laughs)

Frankie Edgar 36:55 ... a good, good couple of months trying to deal with them.

Joe Rogan 36:57 I'm sure.

Frankie Edgar 36:58 You know?

Joe Rogan 36:58 No, Edson's terrifying.

Frankie Edgar 36:59 Oh, yeah.

Joe Rogan 36:59 He, his switch kick's the fastest shit I've ever seen in my life.

Frankie Edgar 37:01 Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

Joe Rogan 37:02 It doesn't even make sense.

Frankie Edgar 37:03 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 37:03 I don't even know how he moves that quick.

Frankie Edgar 37:05 Yeah, he's, uh, he's a freak. He's, like, he's super tight too. I'm sure that's why. He, he's like a rubber band, you know what I mean? He lets... Snaps 'cause he goes fast. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 37:12 Super tight, like, in what way?

Frankie Edgar 37:13 Like, super... And just, like, he's not, he's not very flexible.

Joe Rogan 37:15 Really?

Frankie Edgar 37:16 Yeah. I mean, he, he could d- wheel kick and do all that stuff, 'cause I think it's just, he was... He's been doing it since he was a kid-

Joe Rogan 37:21 Right.

Frankie Edgar 37:21 ... so his body's made for that. But as far as being, like, a flexible guy, he's not very flexible. I mean-

Joe Rogan 37:25 That's-

Frankie Edgar 37:25 ... I'm not very flexible either, but I'm not kicking like him. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 37:28 That's interesting. I woulda thought that guy would be real flexible.

Frankie Edgar 37:31 Yeah, no. It-

Joe Rogan 37:32 What about Marlon?

Frankie Edgar 37:33 Marlon's pr- probably a little bit more flexible. He's still, he's still not very flexible either.

Joe Rogan 37:37 That's crazy.

Frankie Edgar 37:38 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 37:38 How's he throw that switch kick to the head like that?

Frankie Edgar 37:40 I just think their bodies, from doing it forever, they're, like, made to do that. I don't know.

Joe Rogan 37:43 Wow.

Frankie Edgar 37:44 Yeah. And they're, they're... Wheel kicks like crazy.

Joe Rogan 37:46 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 37:47 But as far as, like, touching their toes, you know, we'd go to yoga together and you hear Marlon, "Ooh, oh, ooh." (laughs)

Joe Rogan 37:54 (laughs)

Frankie Edgar 37:54 Yeah. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 37:54 How often do you do yoga?

Frankie Edgar 37:55 I try, I try to do it once a week when I'm not in camp. When I'm in camp, I don't do it as much 'cause that kinda takes away from something else.

Joe Rogan 38:01 Right.

Frankie Edgar 38:01 But I try to do it once a week.

Joe Rogan 38:02 Hot yoga?

Frankie Edgar 38:03 Hot. Yeah, I do hot.

Joe Rogan 38:04 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 38:04 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 38:04 Dude, I love it.

Frankie Edgar 38:05 I l- d- I, I love it. And everyone that's never done it, they need to fucking do it, 'cause everyone's like, "Oh, yoga, yoga." I'm like, "Bro, it's hard as shit."

Joe Rogan 38:10 Hard as shit.

Frankie Edgar 38:11 There's no... No bullshit. I've been in some yoga classes that if my boy wasn't in there, I might have walked out 'cause I'm-

Joe Rogan 38:16 (laughs)

Frankie Edgar 38:17 ... I'm tired. I was like, "I can't let this guy see me walk out." (laughs)

Joe Rogan 38:19 The place I go to, they don't let you leave.

Frankie Edgar 38:21 Yeah. Oh, really?

Joe Rogan 38:22 They're like-

Frankie Edgar 38:22 Wow.

Joe Rogan 38:22 ... "You can't leave. You just made a commitment when you're here."

Frankie Edgar 38:24 (sighs) That's great.

Joe Rogan 38:24 "If you can't take it, just sit down."

Frankie Edgar 38:26 Sit down, yeah.

Joe Rogan 38:27 And re- and, and try to rest it off. You know, try to take a couple poses off.

Frankie Edgar 38:31 Right.

Joe Rogan 38:31 Try to get your heart rate back down. But it's hot as fuck.

Frankie Edgar 38:34 I've done some yoga. Me and my wife went and did a yoga class once, just me and her, and it was so hot. And the, the lady's like, "How you... You guys feel the heat?" And I'm like, "P- pl- please, Renee, say, say it's too hot. Say it's too hot." (laughs)

Joe Rogan 38:49 (laughs)

Frankie Edgar 38:49 Oh, man.

Joe Rogan 38:49 It's one of the most underrated difficult exercises, because you think of it as, like, housewives or moms.

Frankie Edgar 38:55 Right. Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 38:56 You know, like, a bunch of gals, bunch of hot girls in yoga pants.

Frankie Edgar 38:58 Yeah, I'm o- normally the only dude in there sometimes. So, yeah.

Joe Rogan 39:00 Yeah. Me too, sometimes.

Frankie Edgar 39:01 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 39:01 More... Well, there's more guys in my place now. Or, like, it's starting to see that... Sometimes it's actually half and half, which is kinda interesting.

Frankie Edgar 39:07 Yeah. I mean-

Joe Rogan 39:08 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 39:08 ... it's, it's... I think it's great for you.

Joe Rogan 39:09 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 39:10 And some, I, I... Too. Like, when I say I'm done fighting, I'm sure that's something I'll, I'll do more often.

Joe Rogan 39:14 Well, for me too, it's like a 90-minute meditation session too.

Frankie Edgar 39:17 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 39:17 Because all you're thinking about is those poses. All I'm thinking about is concentrating on keeping a ma- maintaining a steady breath and then holding the positions as long as possible.

Frankie Edgar 39:26 Yeah. Yeah, I... A- and I like just... It's like, you know, the instructor or yogi is giving you, uh, positive affirmations. I mean-

Joe Rogan 39:33 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 39:33 ... some of it's a little, little wonky, but, you know.

Joe Rogan 39:35 (laughs)

Frankie Edgar 39:35 It's always, like, a good, a good message.

Joe Rogan 39:37 Yeah, sometimes.

Frankie Edgar 39:39 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 39:39 Some of 'em go, go a little bit crazy. Some of 'em try to give you life lessons, like-

Frankie Edgar 39:42 Yeah. Well, yeah. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 39:43 ... "Listen. Settle down."

Frankie Edgar 39:44 Well, and then also, like, "Oh, this is... Your, your, your lower intestines is getting pinched."

Joe Rogan 39:48 No, it's not.

Frankie Edgar 39:48 I'm like, "What do you mean?"

Joe Rogan 39:49 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 39:49 "I'm bending over."

Joe Rogan 39:50 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 39:50 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 39:50 Yeah. "It's massaging your descending colon."

Frankie Edgar 39:53 Yeah. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 39:53 "No, it's definitely not. It's definitely not. You're just stretching. Stop."

Frankie Edgar 39:57 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 39:58 (laughs)

Frankie Edgar 39:58 But I, I sweat like a maniac in there.

Joe Rogan 40:00 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 40:00 It's, it's great. It's definitely good for you.

Joe Rogan 40:02 Oh, my God. You can lose amazing amounts of weight in there. But I just think, like, for maintaining strength in your joints and strength in... It, it always feels to me, and maybe this is just my head, but, like, it's helping all the connections, like shoulders and hips and knees, and, like, all the other stuff that doesn't necessarily get the same kinda workout when you're just doing regular stuff, like-

Frankie Edgar 40:24 Right.

Joe Rogan 40:24 ... weight training or kettlebells-

Frankie Edgar 40:25 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 40:25 ... or kickboxing or whatever. You, you're working out, like, s- holding your leg in one certain position and, like, leaning forward and just maintaining-

Frankie Edgar 40:35 Right, it's like static.

Joe Rogan 40:35 ... that pose.

Frankie Edgar 40:35 Static holds, yeah. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 40:36 Yeah. I feel like it tightens all your connections up. And it also increases your range of motion, and it-

Frankie Edgar 40:43 It does.

Joe Rogan 40:43 ... opens you up, you know?

Frankie Edgar 40:45 I just feel so much better when I'm, when I'm doing yoga. And I would like to do it more often, to be honest with you. I just, uh... I don't wanna miss hitting pads or jujitsu-

Joe Rogan 40:53 Of course.

Frankie Edgar 40:53 ... and all that stuff.

Joe Rogan 40:54 That's the thing, right? It's like, for a mixed martial artist, there are so many skills to, to concentrate on. There's so much. If you're a boxer, what do you gotta do? You gotta run and you gotta box.

Frankie Edgar 41:05 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 41:05 That's it.

Frankie Edgar 41:06 Right. Right.

Joe Rogan 41:07 You know? When you're a mixed martial artist, God damn-

Frankie Edgar 41:09 So many-

Joe Rogan 41:09 ... you gotta think about everything.

Frankie Edgar 41:11 And you don't wanna overdo one and under-do another, you know? It's, it's tough.

Joe Rogan 41:14 How do you know what to do?

Frankie Edgar 41:16 (sighs) I, you know, I, I came up with a, a formula and it seems to work. That's the way it is.

Joe Rogan 41:21 What's your formula?

Frankie Edgar 41:22 I got, you know, uh... Just, my schedule is I do jujitsu Monday, Friday. I spar either... Well, it used to be Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. I'll wrestle, uh, Wednesday and Friday. And then strength and conditioning between all that.

Joe Rogan 41:37 Jesus.

Frankie Edgar 41:38 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 41:39 Just hearing that makes me tired. But, like, what i- when is your strength and conditioning schedule?

Frankie Edgar 41:44 I do that Monday and Wednesdays. Two days a week.

Joe Rogan 41:45 Monday and Wednesdays.

Frankie Edgar 41:47 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 41:47 And when you do it, do you do it before MMA training? Like-

Frankie Edgar 41:51 I usually do, uh, grappling or wrestling before, and then do that after.

Joe Rogan 41:55 Really?

Frankie Edgar 41:56 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 41:56 Why do you do that?

Frankie Edgar 41:57 That's just the way it kinda worked out for me.

Joe Rogan 42:00 So, do you do it the same day?

Frankie Edgar 42:02 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 42:02 I mean, I mean, um, the same time of day, like, at noon? Like, you'll do your, your-

Frankie Edgar 42:05 No, I'll just do it in the morning, I'll do jujitsu and wrestling.

Joe Rogan 42:08 Oh, okay.

Frankie Edgar 42:08 And then at th- at the afternoon, I'll, I'll, uh, do strength and conditioning.

Joe Rogan 42:11 Oh, okay. So you give yourself a chance to recover?

Frankie Edgar 42:12 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 42:13 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 42:13 Yup.... although it's, like, uh, it's, like, 10 and two, so it's quick. It's quick.

Joe Rogan 42:17 Just enough to eat.

Frankie Edgar 42:18 Yeah, just enough to eat and drive. You know, New Jersey's a commuter state, so I drive everywhere, man.

Joe Rogan 42:22 Hmm.

Frankie Edgar 42:22 I never, I, there's only, I don't think any, n- none of the places I train are in Toms River, in my town, so-

Joe Rogan 42:28 Right.

Frankie Edgar 42:28 ... I'm always on the move.

Joe Rogan 42:29 How, what, New Jersey's got a lot of fucking traffic too.

Frankie Edgar 42:32 It does, but it's like, uh, predictable-

Joe Rogan 42:34 Not like here.

Frankie Edgar 42:34 Yeah, predictable traffic.

Joe Rogan 42:35 Right.

Frankie Edgar 42:36 You know what I mean? You know if you miss the rush hour, you're good. Here, you never know what, what you're getting into.

Joe Rogan 42:40 Dude, I've been coming home from a comedy club at 2:00 in the morning and hit bumper to bumper traffic out here.

Frankie Edgar 42:44 Man, that's crazy.

Joe Rogan 42:45 It's just too many of us.

Frankie Edgar 42:46 I was actually s- I didn't even realize, I stayed right across the street from The Comedy Store.

Joe Rogan 42:50 Oh, which place?

Frankie Edgar 42:50 Uh, the-

Joe Rogan 42:50 Where you at?

Frankie Edgar 42:51 ... Mon- Mondarin? Mandarin?

Joe Rogan 42:52 Oh, the Mandarin.

Frankie Edgar 42:53 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 42:53 Mondarin?

Frankie Edgar 42:54 Mondarin.

Joe Rogan 42:54 What is it? What is it? Mondrian. Mondrian.

Frankie Edgar 42:56 Mondrian.

Joe Rogan 42:56 Right, Mondrian.

Frankie Edgar 42:57 Mondrian, yeah.

Joe Rogan 42:58 Yes. Why couldn't I s- see, th- that, when someone says something wrong sometimes, you go, "How do you say it right?" (laughs) The Mondrian. Yeah, that is right across the street.

Frankie Edgar 43:05 Yeah, I didn't realize 'til I woke up the next day, I'm like, "Oh, shit-"

Joe Rogan 43:08 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 43:08 "... I should've went there th- uh, last night."

Joe Rogan 43:09 Yeah, it's anytime you wanna go there, f- even if I'm not there, just let me know.

Frankie Edgar 43:13 All right, cool. Yeah. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 43:13 I'll set it up. Um, so when you are in Toms River, like, what is a typical day for you? When you, when you leave your house, like, like, o- on a Monday morning, like, what, what time do you get going? What time do you eat?

Frankie Edgar 43:26 Yeah, I get up, like, uh, 8:00, I guess. I'm not a early guy. Um, I get up at 8:00, I'll eat something, I'm out of the house by 8:30, 8:45. Get to Ricardo's for, like, 10:00 AM practice, 9:30 practice. Practice for two hours, drive back home, which is, like, about 45 to an hour.

Joe Rogan 43:43 And when you're practicing, you practicing with the gi?

Frankie Edgar 43:45 No, no gi.

Joe Rogan 43:46 Never?

Frankie Edgar 43:47 N- not in a l- long time.

Joe Rogan 43:49 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 43:49 Ricardo actually, believe it or not, told us not to. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 43:52 Really?

Frankie Edgar 43:52 Yeah. He said, he said the-

Joe Rogan 43:54 I- I do believe it.

Frankie Edgar 43:54 ... he said, "The gi will always be there." He said, "You always go back to the gi when you're done." He's like, "Right now, it's just inunapplicable for MMA."

Joe Rogan 43:59 (laughs) I'm so glad he said that.

Frankie Edgar 44:01 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 44:02 Man, that is-

Frankie Edgar 44:03 I don't know, hopefully he doesn't get mad at me for saying that. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 44:05 (laughs) Well, that was a giant problem with, like, so many Brazilians were so connected to the gi that they would be offended if you didn't-

Frankie Edgar 44:12 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 44:12 ... train with the gi.

Frankie Edgar 44:13 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 44:13 They'd get really mad at you.

Frankie Edgar 44:15 That's what I thought when I first went to him, like, "Oh, man, I have to do a lot of gi stuff now," you know? And he-

Joe Rogan 44:18 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 44:19 Yeah, we did a little bit, you know. Um, mess with it. It's, it is good for you. It's good, it, it slowly-

Joe Rogan 44:24 Great for defense.

Frankie Edgar 44:24 I think it's good for people like myself, where I use a lot of wrestling and athleticism for my jujitsu, 'cause it kinda takes that away and makes you-

Joe Rogan 44:31 Yes.

Frankie Edgar 44:31 ... you know, pay attention to technique.

Joe Rogan 44:33 Yeah, it makes you concentrate on defense, 'cause you can't just muscle out of things.

Frankie Edgar 44:37 Right.

Joe Rogan 44:37 (coughs) And with a lot of fighters, you know, especially, like, real explosive guys, they get used to just yanking out of-

Frankie Edgar 44:43 Right, right.

Joe Rogan 44:44 ... things.

Frankie Edgar 44:44 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 44:44 And, uh, you know, when someone's got collars and, and grips on your sleeves, you can't re- yank out 'em much.

Frankie Edgar 44:49 Yeah, you gotta systematically think about what you're doing.

Joe Rogan 44:50 Mm-hmm. Yeah, you gotta apply pressure, you gotta have good position, you gotta, you gotta be patient too.

Frankie Edgar 44:55 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 44:55 You can't expose yourself 'cause you're impatient and you just wanna get out of a spot.

Frankie Edgar 44:58 Right. Right.

Joe Rogan 44:59 Yeah, that is, tha- that's the positive aspect of the gi. The negative aspect of the gi is when guys go from the gi to MMA and they're looking for those handles, and the handles aren't there.

Frankie Edgar 45:08 Handles are not there, yeah.

Joe Rogan 45:09 Yeah. But Eddie always told us, "Just do the gi, but don't use collars. Don't use collars and sleeves." So my gi game was really just no gi-

Frankie Edgar 45:19 No gi.

Joe Rogan 45:19 ... in a gi.

Frankie Edgar 45:19 In a, in a gi.

Joe Rogan 45:20 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 45:20 That's kind of, I, I honestly probably, when I did the gi, I was mul- probably didn't grab as much as someone-

Joe Rogan 45:25 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 45:25 ... so I wasn't used to it.

Joe Rogan 45:26 In desperado times, I'll grab the gi.

Frankie Edgar 45:28 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 45:28 But for the-

Frankie Edgar 45:29 Right, right. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 45:29 ... (laughs) you know-

Frankie Edgar 45:30 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 45:30 ... gettin' fucked up. But for the most point, I think it's, you're better off just using overhooks and underhooks and cable grips and just working your s- your, your same positions that we do in no gi. So then, then you're doing the same game always.

Frankie Edgar 45:41 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 45:42 But I th- I'm glad Ricardo said that, because to have such a, an accomplished Brazilian jujitsu artist like him, who's got this gigantic school and who was a accomplished fighter himself and now is a judge-

Frankie Edgar 45:53 Right.

Joe Rogan 45:53 ... to have him say that, like, yes.

Frankie Edgar 45:55 Yes.

Joe Rogan 45:56 For a long time, people got so connected to this idea that you need to do the gi in order to be good w- in MMA, which is no gi.

Frankie Edgar 46:03 Yeah, it's just-

Joe Rogan 46:03 It's slippery.

Frankie Edgar 46:04 ... yeah. I mean, you know, even, like, Garry Tonon and Gordon Ryan-

Joe Rogan 46:07 Mm-hmm.

Frankie Edgar 46:08 ... I don't think those guys are in the gi very often, uh, uh, either.

Joe Rogan 46:10 Very rarely.

Frankie Edgar 46:11 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 46:11 Yeah. I think, wow, to think that Gordon Ryan has done some matches recently in the gi. Maybe Garry Tonon too. I mean, they know how to use it.

Frankie Edgar 46:18 Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Joe Rogan 46:19 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 46:19 Oh, yeah.

Joe Rogan 46:19 But it's, uh, you know, it just makes everything more s- you know, it's just there's so much more friction, so much r- there's so many things you can do in the gi you cannot do in an MMA fight.

Frankie Edgar 46:29 No, not at all.

Joe Rogan 46:30 Or in a no gi contest.

Frankie Edgar 46:31 Right. Yeah, it's just really just inunapplicable at all, so... That's g- we don't, I, I, I, when I'm, I figure when I'm old, I'll put the gi on, (laughs) you know?

Joe Rogan 46:39 Yeah. Yeah, well, it's, you could, I mean, there's guys in my jujitsu class they're in their 60s-

Frankie Edgar 46:44 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 46:44 ... and they're still rocking the free world.

Frankie Edgar 46:44 Yeah, that's what's great, you know, nice and slow.

Joe Rogan 46:47 Mm-hmm.

Frankie Edgar 46:47 I- it's, uh, it's something I'll definitely do in the future.

Joe Rogan 46:51 So, you go there, you do that class. And, like, how far, you're driving a lot to all these different spots?

Frankie Edgar 46:55 Yeah. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 46:55 How much time are you in your car?

Frankie Edgar 46:57 Whew. Couple hours a day.

Joe Rogan 46:58 Oh, shit.

Frankie Edgar 46:59 Yeah. I mean, not always, but-

Joe Rogan 47:00 So you have to have a reliable fucking car.

Frankie Edgar 47:01 Yeah, yeah. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 47:03 (laughs)

Frankie Edgar 47:03 Yeah, I do. I got Pine Belt sponsorship, so I get to drive a nice, uh, Ram or, or Silverado.

Joe Rogan 47:08 Oh, you got a deal with, uh-

Frankie Edgar 47:09 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 47:10 ... the Dodge dealership?

Frankie Edgar 47:11 I drive it for the, I drive it for the demo-

Joe Rogan 47:12 Oh, that's awesome.

Frankie Edgar 47:12 ... and then I turn it in for the thing. But I, I also got a-

Joe Rogan 47:14 Oh, that's great.

Frankie Edgar 47:15 ... I got a Cadillac CTS-V too. I know you're into cars.

Joe Rogan 47:17 Dude, I love CTS-Vs.

Frankie Edgar 47:19 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 47:19 Those things are beasts.

Frankie Edgar 47:20 Yeah, it's fun. I got a little stage two tune on it and stuff.

Joe Rogan 47:22 Oh, really?

Frankie Edgar 47:22 Yeah, yeah. It can move. It moves.

Joe Rogan 47:24 That's a fast car.

Frankie Edgar 47:25 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 47:25 That's a good Italian guy in Jersey car too.

Frankie Edgar 47:26 Yeah, it's perfect. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 47:29 (laughs) It is perfect. So, uh, y- so how far, have you ever thought about living somewhere where everything i- you just so connected to Toms River you would never move?

Frankie Edgar 47:38 Yeah, I mean, well now Nick Catone is in Brick too, and he has a huge facility in Brick, so it's where we do a lot of our sparring. That's only-

Joe Rogan 47:43 How far is that?

Frankie Edgar 47:43 ... that's only 20 minutes away, so that- that's, uh-

Joe Rogan 47:46 Oh, okay.

Frankie Edgar 47:46 ... you know, he's been there, he's been there for now a couple years, and, um, he has like a 30,000 square foot gym.

Joe Rogan 47:50 Oh, really?

Frankie Edgar 47:50 Two full cages, bunch of mat space, a-

Joe Rogan 47:53 Oh, wow.

Frankie Edgar 47:53 ... a boxing ring. Yeah, it's a, it's a phenomenal facility.

Joe Rogan 47:55 What's it called?

Frankie Edgar 47:56 Uh, Nick Catone's Mixed Martial Arts Academy.

Joe Rogan 47:58 Oh, okay.

Frankie Edgar 47:58 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 47:58 Cool. That's awesome. Man, it's amazing that these gyms are, they're so good now. It's like, it was so hard in the beginning to find one facility that had this kind of place.

Frankie Edgar 48:08 Right.

Joe Rogan 48:08 E- e- even the country, there's only a couple gyms, whether it was an AKA or a Jackson's or-

Frankie Edgar 48:13 When I first started, uh-I graduated college and it was, like, in May. I graduated college, I, I, I wanted to... You know, Ultimate Fighter, it was the first season of Ultimate Fighter was on. I think it was, uh, they had the finale in May. I watched it with my teammates and I'm like, "Dude, I'm giving this a try." You know? Koscheck was a, was on the, on the season. He wrestled for Edinburgh, he wrestled for Clarion. We're in the same conference. So, I see him, I'm like, "Oh, man, look, he's doing pretty well. I'm gonna give this a shot." So I found a place to train and, uh, Kurt Pellegrino actually had a gym in, uh, in, in m- near my town, so I called him up. I knew him through wrestling. He's like, he's like, "I'm actually moving to Florida." He's like, "But you can come train here for a couple of days before I go." I'm like, "All right." So I came there and a new guy was taking his gym over and so that's where I ended up staying. And this gym was no bigger than this room here.

Joe Rogan 48:56 Wow.

Frankie Edgar 48:56 You know, and, uh, you see all these young kids have this 30,000 square facility. I'm like, "Dude, you guys are fucking spoiled, man." (laughs)

Joe Rogan 49:02 (laughs) Yeah, it's a different world now. I mean, it's... N- there's only... There's no other sport like MMA, where if you go back to, like, the '90s and then you look at it today, it's unrecognizable.

Frankie Edgar 49:13 Oh, yeah. It is. It's, it's... Pff. Just martial arts has, has changed... Like you say it all the time, you know? How, how quickly UFC or MMA changed martial arts.

Joe Rogan 49:24 Forever.

Frankie Edgar 49:25 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 49:25 I mean, we'll never look at it the same way again.

Frankie Edgar 49:27 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 49:27 Like, all... Martial arts have evolved more over the last 20 years than they have over the last 20,000 years.

Frankie Edgar 49:32 Yeah, and that's just... Pff. I don't think... Is there anything th- that's done that? (laughs) You know?

Joe Rogan 49:36 No. Go back and watch UFC 1 and then go wa- go watch UFC 246.

Frankie Edgar 49:39 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 49:39 It's like, "What the fuck, man?"

Frankie Edgar 49:41 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 49:41 Like, everyone is so evolved now. And even, you know, across weight classes. It's just, it's just such an interesting thing that we figured out how to do it right.

Frankie Edgar 49:51 Yeah. I mean, shit, even when I... I started 2005 to now (laughs) , it's changed a whole bunch.

Joe Rogan 49:56 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 49:57 You know?

Joe Rogan 49:57 No, for sure. Yeah. I r- I mean, 2005 was when The Ultimate Fighter was on, right?

Frankie Edgar 50:00 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 50:01 Dude, how crazy is it that Diego Sanchez is still out there throwing?

Frankie Edgar 50:04 Yeah, that's amazing. That's amazing.

Joe Rogan 50:06 He's the last of the Mohicans.

Frankie Edgar 50:08 It really is, right? He's the last one on that show?

Joe Rogan 50:10 Yes.

Frankie Edgar 50:10 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 50:11 Oh, for sure. Yeah. I mean, Stephen Bonner's long gone.

Frankie Edgar 50:15 Right.

Joe Rogan 50:15 Forrest Griffin's long gone. He's working for the UFC now. And fucking Diego Sanchez.

Frankie Edgar 50:21 He's still, he's still coming.

Joe Rogan 50:22 Still screaming "yes" and-

Frankie Edgar 50:23 Yeah. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 50:23 ... doing cartwheels.

Frankie Edgar 50:24 He's a special dude, man.

Joe Rogan 50:26 God, he's crazy.

Frankie Edgar 50:26 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 50:27 He's a wild motherfucker, man.

Frankie Edgar 50:29 He is. He is, uh... Just his outlook... I mean, he was kinda strange on the show. I don't wanna call him strange-

Joe Rogan 50:34 Oh, yeah.

Frankie Edgar 50:34 ... but just, like, uh-

Joe Rogan 50:35 He's strange.

Frankie Edgar 50:36 ... definitely a different, different personality.

Joe Rogan 50:38 He's weird.

Frankie Edgar 50:38 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 50:39 Definitely weird, but he's also got a mind like a fucking bank vault.

Frankie Edgar 50:43 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 50:43 He's intense.

Frankie Edgar 50:44 He is.

Joe Rogan 50:44 I mean, his, his will is unbreakable. That guy does not quit. He's lost before, he's been stopped before, but you ain't getting him to quit.

Frankie Edgar 50:51 I remember when he fought BJ, he just kept coming.

Joe Rogan 50:53 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 50:53 I mean, the guy's head split open with the head kick.

Joe Rogan 50:55 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 50:55 I was like-

Joe Rogan 50:56 Crazy.

Frankie Edgar 50:56 ... "Damn, this guy's nuts."

Joe Rogan 50:57 Yeah. No, I mean, in all of his fights. I mean, he's, he's an animal. I mean, Die- and he's such an entertaining guy. I mean, you think about some of his fights that he fought, even at 170 against guys like Jake Ellenberger or Mar- Marv-

Frankie Edgar 51:09 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 51:10 ... Kampman. Kampman had his face hanging off.

Frankie Edgar 51:13 Pff.

Joe Rogan 51:13 I mean, he had giant cuts all over Diego's face. And in the third round, Diego's chasing him.

Frankie Edgar 51:18 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 51:18 Just chasing him down.

Frankie Edgar 51:19 Don't care.

Joe Rogan 51:19 I'm like, "Goddamn, he's tough."

Frankie Edgar 51:21 His willpower is second to none, I think, you know?

Joe Rogan 51:23 It's insane. It's insane. And he's still out there.

Frankie Edgar 51:27 He is.

Joe Rogan 51:27 Still out there throwing.

Frankie Edgar 51:28 He is, yeah. It's, uh, it's impressive. I mean, these guys are setting the bar high, you know? (laughs)

Joe Rogan 51:33 Yeah, real high. Yeah. And it's interesting, like, Diego, I've always thought was, like, a guy who could've benefited from a 165-pound class. I feel like the UFC... (sighs) I've been saying this forever, I'm a broken record, but I think they should reorganize the weight classes.

Frankie Edgar 51:47 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 51:47 And put weight classes every 10 pounds.

Frankie Edgar 51:49 Every 10, yeah.

Joe Rogan 51:50 Yeah. There's too many big gaps, like the 85 to 205-pound gap. That's crazy.

Frankie Edgar 51:53 Yeah, no, that's, it is not-

Joe Rogan 51:54 That's so big.

Frankie Edgar 51:55 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 51:56 I mean, if they have time... Look, they have plenty of fighters, right? And there's plenty... Th- They just should move some of these weight classes around. I think they should do it.

Frankie Edgar 52:06 Even, uh, dos Anjos too, him and Chiesa, you know?

Joe Rogan 52:10 Mm-hmm.

Frankie Edgar 52:10 I think dos Anjos is probably a 65-pounder.

Joe Rogan 52:12 Probably.

Frankie Edgar 52:12 He looks so much smaller than Chiesa.

Joe Rogan 52:14 Dude, Chiesa, how the fuck did he ever make 55?

Frankie Edgar 52:16 I don't get it, man. I, I seen him, you know, after he made it, I'm like, "Dude, we just... You were always a 70-pounder."

Joe Rogan 52:22 Yeah, always. I just was really impressed with how he was able to control Rafael dos Anjos. I mean, that was-

Frankie Edgar 52:28 I didn't get to see that, the fight. I was actually flying down here, um, but, yeah, I seen, you know, the highlights. I mean, I think he took him down five or six times.

Joe Rogan 52:36 Yeah, man. He's a fucking... He, his arms are so long. They were in positions where a lot of guys would have to kinda, like, hold on, but he could reach all the way-

Frankie Edgar 52:45 Oh, yeah.

Joe Rogan 52:45 ... the fuck around-

Frankie Edgar 52:46 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 52:46 ... and clamp his hands together. You're like, "Oh, what an advantage that is." And-

Frankie Edgar 52:49 It's like, uh, when I train with Zabib. (laughs) That's how I feel.

Joe Rogan 52:52 Oh, right.

Frankie Edgar 52:52 'Cause, you know, he's like 6'2". Yeah.

Joe Rogan 52:55 At 145.

Frankie Edgar 52:55 So it's like he can cover my head and my toes, and he's only... (laughs) You know, it's only half of him.

Joe Rogan 53:00 He's got the weirdest style, man, because his style is like, you know, he does, like, scissor takedowns, but he's got, like, a lot of wheel kicks-

Frankie Edgar 53:08 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 53:08 ... and 360 roundhouse kicks.

Frankie Edgar 53:10 Kung Fu, right?

Joe Rogan 53:11 It is Kung Fu, right?

Frankie Edgar 53:12 Yeah, it's a real Kung Fu.

Joe Rogan 53:13 But also with wrestling-

Frankie Edgar 53:14 I think Wing, Wing Chun or something.

Joe Rogan 53:15 Sanda?

Frankie Edgar 53:15 Oh, isn't it Sanda?

Joe Rogan 53:16 Sand- yeah, Sanda?

Frankie Edgar 53:17 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 53:17 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 53:17 But I think it's, it's, it's a form of Kung Fu.

Joe Rogan 53:19 Oh, yeah.

Frankie Edgar 53:19 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 53:19 It's Kung Fu, yeah.

Frankie Edgar 53:21 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 53:21 Yeah. He's, he's one of the more unusual guys in the, in the sport.

Frankie Edgar 53:25 Yeah, he is. He's got a quiet demeanor too, you know?

Joe Rogan 53:29 Well, he looks like Abraham Lincoln.

Frankie Edgar 53:30 He does. (laughs) He does. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 53:31 Exactly like him.

Frankie Edgar 53:32 Uh, yeah, as soon as we ev- eh, as soon as he walked in, that's what everyone said. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 53:35 Well, everybody says too that you haven't even seen what he can do. Like, in the gym, you see what he can do. And, like, uh, I was talking to Mark about him, and it's, he's like, "Dude..." This was, like, back before Zabib had, had really n- made a name for himself. And he's like, "That fucking guy." He goes, "That guy's-"

Frankie Edgar 53:48 It's the real deal.

Joe Rogan 53:50 "... super-

Frankie Edgar 53:50 It's the real deal.

Joe Rogan 53:50 "... super talented."

Frankie Edgar 53:50 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 53:51 I was really impressed with Calvin Katter, though, in their last fight.

Frankie Edgar 53:54 Yeah, you know, um, (clears throat) that third round...

Joe Rogan 53:57 Ooh.

Frankie Edgar 53:57 It seemed like, uh, Zabib kinda lost some steam.

Joe Rogan 53:59 Yeah, well-

Frankie Edgar 54:00 And Calvin started coming on a little bit.

Joe Rogan 54:01 Calvin was digging to the body a lot too.

Frankie Edgar 54:03 He's got great hands, Calvin.

Joe Rogan 54:05 (sighs) As good as anybody.

Frankie Edgar 54:05 Great jab. That jab is probably, might be one of the best jabs in, in UFC.

Joe Rogan 54:08 His fucking right hand too. The right hand that he-

Frankie Edgar 54:10 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 54:10 He knocked out Lamas with. Dude.

Frankie Edgar 54:12 Oh, man. Yeah. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 54:13 Cal- Calvin, he's on another level with his striking, w- w- particularly with his hands. Like, he does a lot of training with boxers.

Frankie Edgar 54:20 Boxers, yeah.

Joe Rogan 54:20 So-

Frankie Edgar 54:20 Right here.

Joe Rogan 54:21 Dude.

Frankie Edgar 54:22 He's a Boston guy, right? Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 54:23 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 54:23 And only getting better, you know? He's only-

Joe Rogan 54:25 He is going too, yeah.

Frankie Edgar 54:26 He's- he's- he's just beginning to get into the top tier of guys.

Joe Rogan 54:30 Right.

Frankie Edgar 54:30 You know? I mean, he beat Shane Burgos with a beautiful knockout. And, uh, the Ricardo Lamas knockout was just spectacular.

Joe Rogan 54:37 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 54:37 So Lamas had, you know, fought for the title. Lamas was a top guy.

Joe Rogan 54:41 Right.

Frankie Edgar 54:41 And then the Zabit fight when Zabit is, like, right there at the very top of the heap at 145. And who knows what the fuck would happen if that was a five rounder.

Joe Rogan 54:49 Yeah, I know, I know.

Frankie Edgar 54:49 'Cause Calvin was putting it on him.

Joe Rogan 54:51 He was at that point.

Frankie Edgar 54:52 And when Zabit took him down in the third, he basically just hung on in the end.

Joe Rogan 54:55 Yeah. He found a way-

Frankie Edgar 54:56 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 54:57 ... just to make it through.

Frankie Edgar 54:58 Just hung on. Yeah. Calvin's dangerous. He's dangerous and- and getting better. And he's ... Boy, what a fucking division, man. Your division-

Joe Rogan 55:05 I finally found fights that-

Frankie Edgar 55:06 That you're leaving.

Joe Rogan 55:06 ... now I'm leaving.

Frankie Edgar 55:06 The division that you're leaving.

Joe Rogan 55:07 Yeah. Good.

Frankie Edgar 55:08 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 55:09 (laughs)

Frankie Edgar 55:09 35 is no fucking sweeter, let's be real. You know? (laughs)

Joe Rogan 55:12 Oh, there's a lot of killers there too, but-

Frankie Edgar 55:13 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 55:13 ... you'll be a bigger guy.

Frankie Edgar 55:15 Yeah, I mean, I- I just don't- don't think I'll be the biggest guy either at- at 35. Um, but I'll definitely be, you know, much more, uh, comparable to the rest of them.

Joe Rogan 55:24 Well, it was interesting because even when you were fighting at 55, a lot of people were saying that you should be 35.

Frankie Edgar 55:28 Yeah. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 55:29 And I was like, "You bi- Hmm, might be right." Like, if he weighs 55, a lot of the guys that weigh 55 compete at 35.

Frankie Edgar 55:36 At 35, yeah.

Joe Rogan 55:36 Yeah.

Frankie Edgar 55:37 Uh, well, uh ... Shit, what's his ... Oh, my God. Uh, Lockhart, George Lockhart was on.

Joe Rogan 55:43 Oh, yeah.

Frankie Edgar 55:44 And he said (laughs) , on here, and he said I can make 25. So slow down, George.

Joe Rogan 55:48 Jesus Christ.

Frankie Edgar 55:48 I don't know about 25 (laughs) . I don't know about 25.

Joe Rogan 55:50 Yeah, you- you look like TJ Dillashaw.

Frankie Edgar 55:52 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 55:52 That was a mistake.

Frankie Edgar 55:53 Yeah, no. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that was a good round.

Joe Rogan 55:54 That ... Out- out of all the ... There's only two ... Well, he- his was real bad all the way up until the weigh-in. TJ, the way he looked. You know, he looked like a- like he was starving to death. That's what he looked like.

Frankie Edgar 56:07 He did. He didn't look good.

Joe Rogan 56:08 I mean, his- his cheeks were sucked in, his face was sucked in.

Frankie Edgar 56:11 That was really bad decision though, even... 'cause he had to, you know, take that stuff-

Joe Rogan 56:15 Take- take EPO to try to train.

Frankie Edgar 56:17 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 56:17 Yeah. It was just terrible. You know, 35, he was the fucking champ, and, like, a really good fighter at 35.

Frankie Edgar 56:24 Yeah, he was.

Joe Rogan 56:24 And to take that stuff, I don't know. You know, Cody- Cody- Cody Garbrandt was accusing him of taking it even before then.

Frankie Edgar 56:32 Yeah, that's what I heard too, yeah.

Joe Rogan 56:33 I don't- I don't know if that's true. He said he didn't.

Frankie Edgar 56:35 Cody's actually, uh, training with us now too.

Joe Rogan 56:37 Oh, is he?

Frankie Edgar 56:37 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 56:38 Oh, that's a good move for him.

Frankie Edgar 56:40 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 56:40 That's a very good move for him.

Frankie Edgar 56:41 Him and Mark been working together. He was out, he was out for a week, he went back. He's still ch- you know, he's still at, uh, Alpha Male 2.

Joe Rogan 56:47 Oh, that's right. You know, he was talking to me about that. Mark was, like, giving him some real good pointers on some of the things that he does or exposes himself-

Frankie Edgar 56:54 Right.

Joe Rogan 56:55 ... and how to m- make sure he's more protected and make sure he's more, uh, more elusive, more difficult to read.

Frankie Edgar 57:01 Right.

Joe Rogan 57:02 Do- do some different kind of things.

Frankie Edgar 57:04 But, uh, yeah, he- he's been with us for a little bit now. He went back to Alpha Male, but he's coming back and finish the camp with us, so, uh ...

Joe Rogan 57:10 He's got sick hands.

Frankie Edgar 57:11 He's got some of the-

Joe Rogan 57:11 That dude's got sick hands.

Frankie Edgar 57:12 I got, you know ... I train, you know, see Marlon, see all these guys, but Cody's hands are so fast, man.

Joe Rogan 57:17 Yeah. He's fast as fuck.

Frankie Edgar 57:18 He is.

Joe Rogan 57:18 And he can... There it is. He can come back, man.

Frankie Edgar 57:21 There you go.

Joe Rogan 57:21 He can come back. He just ... You know, he had that fight with, uh, TJ, lost, lost in the rematch, and then lost again to Pedro Munoz. So you're like, "Goddamn. Like, he's just so game." He- he's-

Frankie Edgar 57:34 But all three of those fights, I mean, he was, he was in them. He had-

Joe Rogan 57:37 Oh, yeah.

Frankie Edgar 57:37 He had those guys rocked, I think-

Joe Rogan 57:39 He did.

Frankie Edgar 57:39 ... you know? And ...

Joe Rogan 57:40 That Pedro Munoz guy has a chin made out of fucking steel.

Frankie Edgar 57:43 Yeah, he must. He must.

Joe Rogan 57:43 Steel. And, you know, and he knows it too. He's like, he's like, "I'll stand in front of anybody."

Frankie Edgar 57:48 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 57:48 He- he has that belief in himself. And one of the nastiest guillotines in the game.

Frankie Edgar 57:52 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 57:53 That guy's got a fucking sick clamp. He gets ahold of your neck, woo.

Frankie Edgar 57:56 Yeah, you'd be in trouble.

Joe Rogan 57:57 Yeah. It's, um, it's a ... Fucking, that division, that whole division that you're about to drop down into-

Frankie Edgar 58:03 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 58:04 ... that's just as scary as the division you're in now. (laughs)

Frankie Edgar 58:06 Yeah. I mean, it, I feel like you can't go anywhere nowadays, you know? (laughs)

Joe Rogan 58:09 (laughs) Yeah, there's no picnics. There's no, uh, there's no easy spot.

Frankie Edgar 58:12 No, nothing easy.

Joe Rogan 58:13 Even for the ladies. There's no, there's no easy-

Frankie Edgar 58:15 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 58:15 ... ladies divisions either.

Frankie Edgar 58:16 It just, they just ... Every weight class is getting deeper and deeper. And that's just the- the progression of the sport, you know? I mean, it's just ... You know, even when I first started, it wasn't at- you know, maybe the top five, top 10. Now you got top 20 are, you know, some- some good, some dogs, you know?

Joe Rogan 58:30 Yeah. What do you think you're gonna do when you retire?

Frankie Edgar 58:35 I don't know (laughs) . I don't know. I- I- I have, uh ... I'm involved with UFC Gym. I have, uh, one in North Brunswick, New Jersey, one in Riverdale, you know, kind of partnered up with a couple guys. Uh, I'll definitely stay involved in this sport.

Joe Rogan 58:45 How does that work? Does the UFC contact you and say, "Hey, Frankie, you want to be involved in one of these gyms?"

Frankie Edgar 58:49 Um, I think we sought them out, they sought me out type thing. You know? But, uh, that process took- took a while to get to where we're at now. I started, like, uh, inquiring about the UFC Gym back in 2014, 2015.

Joe Rogan 59:02 They- they must be popular as fuck though, right?

Frankie Edgar 59:04 They're all over.

Joe Rogan 59:05 Everybody