JRE MMA Show #88 with Frankie Edgar

1. 0:01 – 0:40

   Frankie joins the show, plugs his podcast, and sets up the next career move

   1. JRJoe Rogan0:01

      Boom. What's up, Frankie? How are you, brother?

   2. FEFrankie Edgar0:02

      What's up, Joe?

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:02

      Good to see you, man.

   4. FEFrankie Edgar0:03

      Hey, good to be here and see Joe.

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:04

      Good to have you. We talked about this many times.

   6. FEFrankie Edgar0:06

      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.

   7. JRJoe Rogan0:18

      Hi, Chris.

   8. FEFrankie Edgar0:19

      (laughs)

   9. JRJoe Rogan0:19

      Um, so you got your own podcast now?

   10. FEFrankie Edgar0:21

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

   11. JRJoe Rogan0:27

       (laughs)

   12. FEFrankie Edgar0:27

       Uh, so we- the Champ and the Tramp.

   13. JRJoe Rogan0:29

       (laughs)

   14. FEFrankie Edgar0:29

       Champ and the Tramp, yeah.

   15. JRJoe Rogan0:30

       Is that what you guys are called? (laughs)

   16. FEFrankie Edgar0:30

       Yeah, Champ and the Tramp.

   17. JRJoe Rogan0:31

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

   18. FEFrankie Edgar0:38

       Yeah.

   19. JRJoe Rogan0:38

       And what's next? What are you up to?

2. 0:40 – 1:22

   Dropping to bantamweight: walk-around weight, weight cuts, and Marlon Moraes’ size

   1. FEFrankie Edgar0:40

      I'm gonna go down 35.

   2. JRJoe Rogan0:42

      Yeah?

   3. FEFrankie Edgar0:42

      You know, uh-

   4. JRJoe Rogan0:43

      How much do you walk around at?

   5. FEFrankie Edgar0:44

      I'm probably, like, 56 right now.

   6. JRJoe Rogan0:46

      Wow.

   7. FEFrankie Edgar0:46

      You know, so for (can opening) - for 45, or, well, for 55-

   8. JRJoe Rogan0:49

      Marlon's gotta be bigger than you, right?

   9. FEFrankie Edgar0:50

      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)

   10. JRJoe Rogan0:56

       Dude, that guy, I can't- I have a hard time believing he makes 35 sometimes.

   11. FEFrankie Edgar1:00

       Yeah.

   12. JRJoe Rogan1:00

       You look at him, he's so jacked.

   13. FEFrankie Edgar1:01

       He has such a small waist, though.

   14. JRJoe Rogan1:03

       Hmm.

   15. FEFrankie Edgar1:03

       But, I mean, he's so- his legs and shoulders are so big-

   16. JRJoe Rogan1:05

       Yeah.

   17. FEFrankie Edgar1:05

       ... but his waist is kinda small, so maybe that's how he carries it.

   18. JRJoe Rogan1:08

       So, have you done a cut like that before?

   19. FEFrankie Edgar1:10

       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.

3. 1:22 – 5:22

   Referees, stoppages, and the hidden reality of memory loss in wars

   1. JRJoe Rogan1:22

      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.

   2. FEFrankie Edgar1:39

      Yeah.

   3. JRJoe Rogan1:40

      Like, fucking A, man. Who, who reffed those fights?

   4. FEFrankie Edgar1:43

      Um, Yves Lavigne.

   5. JRJoe Rogan1:44

      Both of them?

   6. FEFrankie Edgar1:44

      No, the first one.

   7. JRJoe Rogan1:45

      The first one.

   8. FEFrankie Edgar1:46

      The second one, I think it was R- Josh Rosenthal.

   9. JRJoe Rogan1:48

      Well, b- shout out to both of those guys.

   10. FEFrankie Edgar1:50

       Yeah.

   11. JRJoe Rogan1:51

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

   12. FEFrankie Edgar1:56

       Now, I think nowadays, uh, someone might stop it.

   13. JRJoe Rogan1:59

       Yeah.

   14. FEFrankie Edgar1:59

       You know?

   15. JRJoe Rogan1:59

       Yeah.

   16. FEFrankie Edgar1:59

       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.

   17. JRJoe Rogan2:04

       It all changes.

   18. FEFrankie Edgar2:04

       Now, it- it depends, you know?

   19. JRJoe Rogan2:05

       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."

   20. FEFrankie Edgar2:19

       Right.

   21. JRJoe Rogan2:19

       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.

   22. FEFrankie Edgar2:26

       For sure. I, I always want the benefit of the doubt. I, you know-

   23. JRJoe Rogan2:28

       Yeah.

   24. FEFrankie Edgar2:29

       ... 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-

   25. JRJoe Rogan2:58

       Just 'cause it was so wild?

   26. FEFrankie Edgar2:59

       Just-

   27. JRJoe Rogan2:59

       Just 'cause of getting hit?

   28. FEFrankie Edgar3:00

       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.

   29. JRJoe Rogan3:03

       Yeah.

   30. FEFrankie Edgar3:03

       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.
4. 5:22 – 8:19

   Champ at 155 without cutting: career hindsight and the BJ Penn rivalry

   1. JRJoe Rogan5:22

      And you were a guy who didn't cut any weight at all.

   2. FEFrankie Edgar5:24

      Nothing. I was- I literally would eat breakfast on weighing day.

   3. JRJoe Rogan5:27

      Wow. That's crazy.

   4. FEFrankie Edgar5:30

      Yeah.

   5. JRJoe Rogan5:30

      When y- did you ever think back then about dropping down?

   6. FEFrankie Edgar5:33

      I-

   7. JRJoe Rogan5:33

      Or were you just like, "Fuck it, I'm the champ. Why, why should I-"

   8. FEFrankie Edgar5:35

      Yeah. Well, that's why. I was like-

   9. JRJoe Rogan5:36

      Yeah.

   10. FEFrankie Edgar5:36

       ... "I'm the champ. Why should I go down?" I mean, I'm winning. I'm beating these guys.

   11. JRJoe Rogan5:39

       Yeah.

   12. FEFrankie Edgar5:40

       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.

   13. JRJoe Rogan5:54

       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?

   14. FEFrankie Edgar6:05

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

   15. JRJoe Rogan6:09

       Right, right, right.

   16. FEFrankie Edgar6:09

       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.

   17. JRJoe Rogan6:24

       Well, they went pretty fucking good. I mean-

   18. FEFrankie Edgar6:26

       Yeah, I'm not complaining, you know? Um-

   19. JRJoe Rogan6:27

       Especially the BJ Penn fight. I remember the first one in Abu Dhabi, uh, I was there for that one.

   20. FEFrankie Edgar6:32

       Yeah.

   21. JRJoe Rogan6:32

       I was like, "Holy shit."

   22. FEFrankie Edgar6:33

       Yeah.

   23. JRJoe Rogan6:34

       You know, that was... That was a big victory, man.

   24. FEFrankie Edgar6:35

       Yeah, that was-

   25. JRJoe Rogan6:36

       And the second one, too.

   26. FEFrankie Edgar6:36

       That was big, yeah. The- the second one was probably even better just because I-

   27. JRJoe Rogan6:39

       Yeah. Cemented it.

   28. FEFrankie Edgar6:39

       ... you know, more definitively won, you know?

   29. JRJoe Rogan6:41

       Yeah.

   30. FEFrankie Edgar6:41

       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.
5. 8:19 – 10:14

   Street fights, BJ’s Hawaii brawl, and why real-life violence is unpredictable

   1. JRJoe Rogan8:19

      Is, uh... Is he s-... Is he done fighting or what is he gonna do?

   2. FEFrankie Edgar8:24

      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-

   3. JRJoe Rogan8:29

      They had that crazy brawl in Hawaii, I mean.

   4. FEFrankie Edgar8:30

      Yeah, yeah.

   5. JRJoe Rogan8:31

      Outside of a bar.

   6. FEFrankie Edgar8:31

      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.

   7. JRJoe Rogan8:37

      (laughs)

   8. FEFrankie Edgar8:37

      Is it... Is it that surprising? (laughs) You know?

   9. JRJoe Rogan8:40

      It is a funny way to look at it, right? Like, if a singer gets in a fight.

   10. FEFrankie Edgar8:44

       Yeah, yeah. Right, right.

   11. JRJoe Rogan8:44

       Like, "What is he doing?" But a fighter fighting-

   12. FEFrankie Edgar8:46

       Yeah.

   13. JRJoe Rogan8:47

       ... is like a basketball player having a pickup game.

   14. FEFrankie Edgar8:48

       So, it depends. Yeah, exactly. So.

   15. JRJoe Rogan8:49

       (laughs)

   16. FEFrankie Edgar8:50

       Can't get mad at him for that.

   17. JRJoe Rogan8:51

       That is kind of weird when you stop and think about it, you know?

   18. FEFrankie Edgar8:55

       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.

   19. JRJoe Rogan9:00

       Yeah, they get down. Yeah, tough motherfuckers in Hawaii.

   20. FEFrankie Edgar9:02

       Yeah, for sure.

   21. JRJoe Rogan9:03

       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.

   22. FEFrankie Edgar9:09

       I know.

   23. JRJoe Rogan9:09

       I was like, "Fuck BJ."

   24. FEFrankie Edgar9:09

       Did he- did he say, "Hit me"? He said... Yeah, that was... He let him hit him.

   25. JRJoe Rogan9:12

       Yes, he let the guy hit him. And then-

   26. FEFrankie Edgar9:14

       But then he came back. He got... He, uh, he got mounted, yeah.

   27. JRJoe Rogan9:15

       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-

   28. FEFrankie Edgar9:24

       Smashing him, yeah.

   29. JRJoe Rogan9:25

       ... and smashing him. It's like, "Goddamn it."

   30. FEFrankie Edgar9:26

       Yeah, I mean, you gotta be care... You never know what could happen in the street fight, too, so you just gotta be careful.
6. 10:14 – 14:37

   Heavyweight “freaks”: Brock, Ngannou, and the rise of elite big-athlete skill

   1. FEFrankie Edgar10:14

      He's- he's an- an- another freak, man.

   2. JRJoe Rogan10:16

      Oh, he's the freakiest freak.

   3. FEFrankie Edgar10:17

      Yeah.

   4. JRJoe Rogan10:18

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

   5. FEFrankie Edgar10:24

      Yeah, has to be.

   6. JRJoe Rogan10:25

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

   7. FEFrankie Edgar10:27

      Oh, dude, I-

   8. JRJoe Rogan10:28

      Look at that freak in high school.

   9. FEFrankie Edgar10:29

      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?

   10. JRJoe Rogan10:40

       Yeah.

   11. FEFrankie Edgar10:40

       This looks like an action figure.

   12. JRJoe Rogan10:41

       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.

   13. FEFrankie Edgar10:50

       Yeah, yeah.

   14. JRJoe Rogan10:52

       You know what I mean?

   15. FEFrankie Edgar10:52

       A little bit taller, a little bit longer.

   16. JRJoe Rogan10:52

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

   17. FEFrankie Edgar11:00

       Yeah, just digging-

   18. JRJoe Rogan11:01

       You know?

   19. FEFrankie Edgar11:01

       ... salt mines or whatever.

   20. JRJoe Rogan11:02

       Yep.

   21. FEFrankie Edgar11:03

       Dirt mines.

   22. JRJoe Rogan11:03

       Sand.

   23. FEFrankie Edgar11:03

       Sand mines.

   24. JRJoe Rogan11:05

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

   25. FEFrankie Edgar11:09

       (laughs)

   26. JRJoe Rogan11:10

       (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.

   27. FEFrankie Edgar11:17

       That uppercut he landed on, uh, Alistair Overeem was-

   28. JRJoe Rogan11:19

       Jesus.

   29. FEFrankie Edgar11:20

       ... incredible, man. I thought he decapitated him.

   30. JRJoe Rogan11:22

       Yeah, it's like his head flew... It's like the back of his head touched his back, like there as-
7. 14:37 – 17:04

   Today’s fighters are more complete: retirement criteria and adjusting training with age

   1. JRJoe Rogan14:37

      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?

   2. FEFrankie Edgar14:48

      The younger guys are just more complete.

   3. JRJoe Rogan14:50

      Mmm.

   4. FEFrankie Edgar14:50

      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?

   5. JRJoe Rogan15:03

      Yeah, I'm seeing, like, 20-year-old kids with crazy skills.

   6. FEFrankie Edgar15:05

      Yeah.

   7. JRJoe Rogan15:06

      Yeah.

   8. FEFrankie Edgar15:06

      They're polished. They've been doing it for five years already.

   9. JRJoe Rogan15:08

      You see that kid, uh, Edmen Shabazyan?

   10. FEFrankie Edgar15:11

       Yes.

   11. JRJoe Rogan15:11

       You seen him?

   12. FEFrankie Edgar15:11

       Yes.

   13. JRJoe Rogan15:12

       Fucking incredible.

   14. FEFrankie Edgar15:13

       Yeah.

   15. JRJoe Rogan15:13

       He's, like, I think he's 21 now.

   16. FEFrankie Edgar15:15

       Right.

   17. JRJoe Rogan15:15

       And he is just a fucking murderer, man.

   18. FEFrankie Edgar15:18

       Yeah.

   19. JRJoe Rogan15:18

       It's crazy.

   20. FEFrankie Edgar15:19

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

   21. JRJoe Rogan15:23

       That is crazy. When do you think you're gonna not do this anymore?

   22. FEFrankie Edgar15:28

       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...

   23. JRJoe Rogan15:43

       And how old are you now?

   24. FEFrankie Edgar15:44

       38.

   25. JRJoe Rogan15:45

       So for the lighter weight divisions, that's older.

   26. FEFrankie Edgar15:47

       That's older. Yeah, yeah.

   27. JRJoe Rogan15:49

       Yeah.

   28. FEFrankie Edgar15:49

       I, I mean, I, I feel good. My body feels good. I mean, always, always little injuries here and there.

   29. JRJoe Rogan15:53

       Mm-hmm.

   30. FEFrankie Edgar15:54

       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-
8. 17:04 – 22:26

   Building a Jersey powerhouse: Mark Henry’s camp, Dagestan visitors, and why teams travel

   1. JRJoe Rogan17:04

      ... that Mark Henry camp is insane. I mean-

   2. FEFrankie Edgar17:07

      Yeah, he's a special guy, man.

   3. JRJoe Rogan17:08

      He has so many, like, top flight guys come to him from all around the world.

   4. FEFrankie Edgar17:12

      Yeah.

   5. JRJoe Rogan17:12

      You know, like Zabit?

   6. FEFrankie Edgar17:13

      Zabit is-

   7. JRJoe Rogan17:14

      I mean, how do you get from Dagestan to Jersey?

   8. FEFrankie Edgar17:16

      Yeah-

   9. JRJoe Rogan17:16

      You know?

   10. FEFrankie Edgar17:16

       They, they all, they all go-

   11. JRJoe Rogan17:17

       (coughs)

   12. FEFrankie Edgar17:18

       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.

   13. JRJoe Rogan17:30

       Why, why do they go to Brooklyn first?

   14. FEFrankie Edgar17:31

       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)

   15. JRJoe Rogan17:37

       I never knew Dagestan was a place till I heard of Khabib.

   16. FEFrankie Edgar17:40

       Yeah, I mean, I-

   17. JRJoe Rogan17:41

       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.

   18. FEFrankie Edgar17:46

       Yeah. Well, I knew, uh, Sataev, the wrestler. He's from Chechnya.

   19. JRJoe Rogan17:52

       Oh, okay.

   20. FEFrankie Edgar17:52

       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.

   21. JRJoe Rogan18:18

       Wow.

   22. FEFrankie Edgar18:18

       I just can't fathom that.

   23. JRJoe Rogan18:20

       Well, they're just hard people, man.

   24. FEFrankie Edgar18:21

       Yeah.

   25. JRJoe Rogan18:22

       You see that basketball game that they play? You know, you see-

   26. FEFrankie Edgar18:24

       Yeah.

   27. JRJoe Rogan18:24

       ... Will Harris's films?

   28. FEFrankie Edgar18:26

       Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

   29. JRJoe Rogan18:26

       Will Harris Productions, shout out to Will.

   30. FEFrankie Edgar18:28

       Yeah, Will's the man.
9. 22:26 – 24:10

   Contracts, finishing in the UFC, and the business pull of ONE/other promotions

   1. JRJoe Rogan22:26

      When you see Eddie go over to ONE FC, does that, any of that ever look attractive to you?

   2. FEFrankie Edgar22:31

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

   3. JRJoe Rogan22:36

      Oh, yeah?

   4. FEFrankie Edgar22:37

      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.

   5. JRJoe Rogan22:42

      Well, you see Mighty Mouse went over there.

   6. FEFrankie Edgar22:43

      Yeah, Mighty Mouse, you know? I mean, money talks, (laughs) you know what I mean?

   7. JRJoe Rogan22:47

      Yeah. Well, especially at this point in your career, right?

   8. FEFrankie Edgar22:49

      Yeah. Exactly, exactly.

   9. JRJoe Rogan22:50

      Yeah.

   10. FEFrankie Edgar22:50

       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?

   11. JRJoe Rogan22:56

       Hmm.

   12. FEFrankie Edgar22:56

       I mean, I felt like I, I got in the UFC at 5 and 0, you know?

   13. JRJoe Rogan23:00

       Yeah.

   14. FEFrankie Edgar23:00

       I pretty much grew up here.

   15. JRJoe Rogan23:01

       That's crazy.

   16. FEFrankie Edgar23:02

       So, uh, it'd be nice to finish it here. But, you know, everything has to make sense.

   17. JRJoe Rogan23:06

       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?

   18. FEFrankie Edgar23:11

       In July.

   19. JRJoe Rogan23:12

       Yeah.

   20. FEFrankie Edgar23:12

       Yeah.

   21. JRJoe Rogan23:12

       It's not that long ago, man.

   22. FEFrankie Edgar23:13

       Not too long ago.

   23. JRJoe Rogan23:14

       Yeah.

   24. FEFrankie Edgar23:14

       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...

   25. JRJoe Rogan23:20

       Motherfucker hits hard.

   26. FEFrankie Edgar23:21

       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.

   27. JRJoe Rogan23:30

       Right.

   28. FEFrankie Edgar23:30

       Um...

   29. JRJoe Rogan23:31

       No one competitive.

   30. FEFrankie Edgar23:31

       Yeah, no one competitive.
10. 24:10 – 28:07

    Aldo, leg kicks, and how styles (and bodies) change over time

    1. JRJoe Rogan24:10

       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.

    2. FEFrankie Edgar24:24

       Mm-hmm.

    3. JRJoe Rogan24:25

       And he was just in his locker room just weeping, like, "Goddamn, that dude."

    4. FEFrankie Edgar24:29

       That's a tough one too-

    5. JRJoe Rogan24:30

       It was.

    6. FEFrankie Edgar24:30

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

    7. JRJoe Rogan24:34

       Yeah, forever and always.

    8. FEFrankie Edgar24:35

       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.

    9. JRJoe Rogan24:41

       Well, it was such a picture-perfect punch too.

    10. FEFrankie Edgar24:43

        Yeah, I mean-

    11. JRJoe Rogan24:44

        When he slides back, boom, drops that left hand in there.

    12. FEFrankie Edgar24:46

        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)

    13. JRJoe Rogan24:55

        Really?

    14. FEFrankie Edgar24:55

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

    15. JRJoe Rogan24:59

        Did you really?

    16. FEFrankie Edgar25:00

        We didn't know much about Conor, I feel like, at that point, you know?

    17. JRJoe Rogan25:02

        Mm-hmm.

    18. FEFrankie Edgar25:02

        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."

    19. JRJoe Rogan25:12

        Hmm.

    20. FEFrankie Edgar25:13

        (laughs)

    21. JRJoe Rogan25:13

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

    22. FEFrankie Edgar25:21

        Yeah.

    23. JRJoe Rogan25:21

        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.

    24. FEFrankie Edgar25:29

        Yeah.

    25. JRJoe Rogan25:29

        Like we were talking about that with the Marlon fight.

    26. FEFrankie Edgar25:31

        Right.

    27. JRJoe Rogan25:32

        Which wa-

    28. FEFrankie Edgar25:32

        Is he though? Is he really?

    29. JRJoe Rogan25:33

        Yeah.

    30. FEFrankie Edgar25:33

        No, you know ... Yeah, no. (laughs)
11. 28:07 – 37:54

    Regenerative medicine, stem cells, neck stenosis, and why insurance resists innovation

    1. JRJoe Rogan28:07

       I'm just ... You know what I'm looking forward to? The future with regenerative medicine.

    2. FEFrankie Edgar28:11

       Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Well, you had stem cells. I had s- I had some stem cells in my shoulder.

    3. JRJoe Rogan28:14

       Yeah, we talked about that-

    4. FEFrankie Edgar28:15

       And, and, but yeah.

    5. JRJoe Rogan28:15

       ... in Jersey when I saw you.

    6. FEFrankie Edgar28:16

       Yeah, yeah.

    7. JRJoe Rogan28:16

       You won't ... You don't give it enough time. (laughs)

    8. FEFrankie Edgar28:18

       No, I know, I know.

    9. JRJoe Rogan28:19

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

    10. FEFrankie Edgar28:25

        Right, right.

    11. JRJoe Rogan28:25

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

    12. FEFrankie Edgar28:31

        No. Uh-uh.

    13. JRJoe Rogan28:32

        You ain't waiting for shit.

    14. FEFrankie Edgar28:32

        I keep chomping at the bit, man. (laughs)

    15. JRJoe Rogan28:35

        (laughs)

    16. FEFrankie Edgar28:35

        But yeah.

    17. JRJoe Rogan28:35

        But that's the problem.

    18. FEFrankie Edgar28:36

        But the one in my shoulder, it did help.

    19. JRJoe Rogan28:37

        Yeah.

    20. FEFrankie Edgar28:37

        It helped a lot, and I, I beat, you know, early onset arthritis.

    21. JRJoe Rogan28:40

        Mm-hmm.

    22. FEFrankie Edgar28:40

        And, uh, they did the Wharton jelly.

    23. JRJoe Rogan28:42

        Yeah.

    24. FEFrankie Edgar28:42

        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.

    25. JRJoe Rogan28:48

        Mm-hmm.

    26. FEFrankie Edgar28:48

        I don't know if it works like that.

    27. JRJoe Rogan28:50

        Yeah, another round would definitely help.

    28. FEFrankie Edgar28:51

        Yeah.

    29. JRJoe Rogan28:52

        But I think, uh, really Panama is the place for you.

    30. FEFrankie Edgar28:54

        It's right here, yeah.
12. 37:54 – 48:13

    Yoga, MMA scheduling, and why no-gi matters for fighters

    1. JRJoe Rogan37:54

       How often do you do yoga?

    2. FEFrankie Edgar37:55

       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.

    3. JRJoe Rogan38:01

       Right.

    4. FEFrankie Edgar38:01

       But I try to do it once a week.

    5. JRJoe Rogan38:02

       Hot yoga?

    6. FEFrankie Edgar38:03

       Hot. Yeah, I do hot.

    7. JRJoe Rogan38:04

       Yeah.

    8. FEFrankie Edgar38:04

       Yeah.

    9. JRJoe Rogan38:04

       Dude, I love it.

    10. FEFrankie Edgar38:05

        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."

    11. JRJoe Rogan38:10

        Hard as shit.

    12. FEFrankie Edgar38:11

        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-

    13. JRJoe Rogan38:16

        (laughs)

    14. FEFrankie Edgar38:17

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

    15. JRJoe Rogan38:19

        The place I go to, they don't let you leave.

    16. FEFrankie Edgar38:21

        Yeah. Oh, really?

    17. JRJoe Rogan38:22

        They're like-

    18. FEFrankie Edgar38:22

        Wow.

    19. JRJoe Rogan38:22

        ... "You can't leave. You just made a commitment when you're here."

    20. FEFrankie Edgar38:24

        (sighs) That's great.

    21. JRJoe Rogan38:24

        "If you can't take it, just sit down."

    22. FEFrankie Edgar38:26

        Sit down, yeah.

    23. JRJoe Rogan38:27

        And re- and, and try to rest it off. You know, try to take a couple poses off.

    24. FEFrankie Edgar38:31

        Right.

    25. JRJoe Rogan38:31

        Try to get your heart rate back down. But it's hot as fuck.

    26. FEFrankie Edgar38:34

        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)

    27. JRJoe Rogan38:49

        (laughs)

    28. FEFrankie Edgar38:49

        Oh, man.

    29. JRJoe Rogan38:49

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

    30. FEFrankie Edgar38:55

        Right. Yeah, yeah.
13. 48:13 – 1:01:54

    Early MMA days: tiny gyms, learning to strike, and New Jersey fight culture

    1. FEFrankie Edgar48:13

       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.

    2. JRJoe Rogan48:56

       Wow.

    3. FEFrankie Edgar48:56

       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)

    4. JRJoe Rogan49:02

       (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.

    5. FEFrankie Edgar49:13

       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.

    6. JRJoe Rogan49:24

       Forever.

    7. FEFrankie Edgar49:25

       Yeah.

    8. JRJoe Rogan49:25

       I mean, we'll never look at it the same way again.

    9. FEFrankie Edgar49:27

       Yeah.

    10. JRJoe Rogan49:27

        Like, all... Martial arts have evolved more over the last 20 years than they have over the last 20,000 years.

    11. FEFrankie Edgar49:32

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

    12. JRJoe Rogan49:36

        No. Go back and watch UFC 1 and then go wa- go watch UFC 246.

    13. FEFrankie Edgar49:39

        Yeah.

    14. JRJoe Rogan49:39

        It's like, "What the fuck, man?"

    15. FEFrankie Edgar49:41

        Yeah.

    16. JRJoe Rogan49:41

        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.

    17. FEFrankie Edgar49:51

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

    18. JRJoe Rogan49:56

        Yeah.

    19. FEFrankie Edgar49:57

        You know?

    20. JRJoe Rogan49:57

        No, for sure. Yeah. I r- I mean, 2005 was when The Ultimate Fighter was on, right?

    21. FEFrankie Edgar50:00

        Yeah.

    22. JRJoe Rogan50:01

        Dude, how crazy is it that Diego Sanchez is still out there throwing?

    23. FEFrankie Edgar50:04

        Yeah, that's amazing. That's amazing.

    24. JRJoe Rogan50:06

        He's the last of the Mohicans.

    25. FEFrankie Edgar50:08

        It really is, right? He's the last one on that show?

    26. JRJoe Rogan50:10

        Yes.

    27. FEFrankie Edgar50:10

        Yeah, yeah.

    28. JRJoe Rogan50:11

        Oh, for sure. Yeah. I mean, Stephen Bonner's long gone.

    29. FEFrankie Edgar50:15

        Right.

    30. JRJoe Rogan50:15

        Forrest Griffin's long gone. He's working for the UFC now. And fucking Diego Sanchez.

Episode duration: 2:11:07