JRE MMA Show #131 with Mighty Mouse

(drumming music) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.

The Joe Rogan Experience.

Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (rock music) What's happening, my friend? Good to see you.

What's happening? Good to see you too.

Good to see you.

Good to see you.

Good to see you thriving out there in the world.

Just trying to do my best.

Dude, you're killing it.

(laughs)

It's beautiful, beautiful. That comeback win was fucking fantastic.

Thanks, man.

It was, it was great to see.

Thank you.

How the fuck are you still so good? You haven't slipped at all.

Uh, honestly, I think it's just the training, um, my mindset, uh, the team around me, and just honestly trying to get better every single time I step in the cage.

The lighter weight classes though, I've always felt like there's a short window of excellence.

Yeah.

You know? Like, even in boxing it seems like it's, like, nine, 10 years at peak form, but you defy that.

(laughs)

You know, you really do, man.

Yeah.

You're still, like, as good as ever.

It could be because I'm Black, could be my genetics. I, I have no idea. Um, I, I, I-

It's, uh, it can't just be that-

(laughs)

... 'cause there's a lot of people that are also Black that haven't been able to do that.

Yeah, that's true.

I think it's, I think what you're saying is that it's also technique, your technique has always been paramount, you know, it's always like the, the forefront of everything.

I honestly believe it's probably just the, my upbringing in mixed martial arts, right? And e- even, you know, I was talking to people the other day and they said, I started when I was 18, like, in m- martial arts. If, if you count, some people don't count wrestling as a m- uh, as a martial arts.

Oh, you should.

Right? Uh, I do. Right?

Yeah, you do. You have to.

S- so I started in middle school, and then once I got out of high school, I didn't go to college to wrestle, I jumped right into mixed martial arts. So I think, you know, Matt, he made me do one, one fight at MMA, then the next fight was, uh, boxing, mixed martial arts, then kickboxing, back to MMA, shoot boxing, and then he was like, "Okay, you got to do this grappling tournament and you need to submit everybody. Don't come back if you don't." Right?

(laughs)

So (laughs) like, you know, I was just-

He's a hard man.

Yeah. A- and, you know, at, at the time when he was doing that, I didn't know what he was prepping me for, right? I, I honestly didn't. Like, I was working full-time and I was still an amateur, but I would do these, these things he told me to do. And then now, when I get in, into my fights or when I do things, I'm able to, you know, go back to my beginning and be like, okay, I, I've, I've faced this before and I'm able to just keep, keep getting better. I, my foundation is so solid that that's what's been able to keep me on top for so long.