JRE MMA Show #68 with Will Harris
Joe Rogan (host), Will Harris (guest), Guest (unidentified third person in studio) (guest), Guest (very brief interjection) (guest), Guest (very brief interjection) (guest), Guest/producer (brief comment, likely Jamie Vernon) (guest)
In this episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, featuring Joe Rogan and Will Harris, JRE MMA Show #68 with Will Harris explores from Homeless Gypsy to MMA’s Premier Storyteller: Will Harris’ Journey Will Harris, creator of the YouTube series *Anatomy of a Fighter*, recounts his unconventional path from college basketball standout and near-homeless drifter to one of MMA’s most respected independent filmmakers. He explains how a cheap camera, years of unpaid work, and relentless hustling in weddings, music videos, and micro-docs eventually led him into elite fight gyms like the Blackzilians and Hard Knocks 365. Harris details capturing seminal moments—especially his now-famous footage of Conor McGregor’s dolly attack on Khabib Nurmagomedov’s bus—and how he embedded himself with fighters such as Khabib, Kamaru Usman, Henry Cejudo, and many others. Throughout, he and Joe Rogan discuss fighter pay, weight-cutting, combat sports evolution, and the cultural immersion Harris experienced documenting Khabib in Dagestan and athletes across the globe.
From Homeless Gypsy to MMA’s Premier Storyteller: Will Harris’ Journey
Will Harris, creator of the YouTube series *Anatomy of a Fighter*, recounts his unconventional path from college basketball standout and near-homeless drifter to one of MMA’s most respected independent filmmakers. He explains how a cheap camera, years of unpaid work, and relentless hustling in weddings, music videos, and micro-docs eventually led him into elite fight gyms like the Blackzilians and Hard Knocks 365. Harris details capturing seminal moments—especially his now-famous footage of Conor McGregor’s dolly attack on Khabib Nurmagomedov’s bus—and how he embedded himself with fighters such as Khabib, Kamaru Usman, Henry Cejudo, and many others. Throughout, he and Joe Rogan discuss fighter pay, weight-cutting, combat sports evolution, and the cultural immersion Harris experienced documenting Khabib in Dagestan and athletes across the globe.
Key Takeaways
Relentless practice and unpaid work can build elite skill before money arrives.
Harris spent years shooting weddings, $50–$100 rap videos, and passion projects like homeless and LGBTQ+ mini-docs, using that time to master shooting, editing, and storytelling long before *Anatomy of a Fighter* paid him.
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Independence plus access can create unique, irreplaceable content.
Because Harris isn’t tied to a promotion, he can live with fighters, capture raw gym and home life, and shape long-form narratives that official shoulder programming rarely shows—giving his series its distinct voice.
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One ‘big break’ rarely pays off without business awareness.
His viral footage of McGregor’s dolly throw was used repeatedly by UFC and mainstream news, but Harris gave it away for Embedded without negotiating compensation, realizing only later how valuable exclusive footage can be.
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Personal adversity can become a creative asset, not just a setback.
Experiences with homelessness, shady jobs, and extreme uncertainty gave Harris empathy for fighters and a feel for real struggle, which informs how he frames their stories and why audiences connect to his work.
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Immersing in a subject’s culture deepens the story and earns trust.
In Dagestan, Harris fasted during Ramadan, respected local norms about filming women, and traveled to Khabib’s mountain village; that cultural respect helped him capture unique, intimate footage fans had never seen.
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Ignore online trolls; focus on long-term craft and value.
Harris describes how negative comments about fighters and his work can be distracting, but he and Rogan emphasize that the loudest critics are usually a tiny, unhappy minority—and that reading comments can derail creators.
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Combat sports are evolving toward deeper rosters and safer structures.
They discuss how organizations like ONE FC handle weight cuts differently, how new generations of fighters are more complete technically, and why additional weight classes and better judging could improve MMA’s future.
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Notable Quotes
““I was homeless once… If you ain't got an address, you can't pay bills, you're homeless.””
— Will Harris
““Don’t try to be *Anatomy of a Fighter*. If I’m filming one fighter, there’s a thousand other fighters out there.””
— Will Harris
““I never in my fucking life thought it was gonna be MMA.””
— Will Harris
““What I like about your story is that people can relate to someone struggling and then figuring it out.””
— Joe Rogan
““Instagram is fake. Documentaries won’t lie.””
— Will Harris
Questions Answered in This Episode
How would *Anatomy of a Fighter* change if Will Harris accepted a full-time role with a big promotion like the UFC or ONE—would he lose the independence that makes it special?
Will Harris, creator of the YouTube series *Anatomy of a Fighter*, recounts his unconventional path from college basketball standout and near-homeless drifter to one of MMA’s most respected independent filmmakers. ...
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What ethical responsibilities do promotions have when using independent creators’ footage for major storylines, as in the McGregor dolly incident?
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How might MMA look if all organizations adopted ONE FC–style hydration and weight-cut rules—who would rise or fall under that system?
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In what ways can creators who’ve experienced homelessness or severe instability leverage that perspective in their storytelling without being defined by trauma?
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What would a cross-promotion era (UFC vs. ONE vs. Bellator vs. Glory) do to fighter pay, matchmaking, and the global growth of combat sports?
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Transcript Preview
And (claps) Will Harris, you're live.
Man, this is crazy.
(laughs) You're on the other side of the camera now.
Yeah. (laughs)
Bef- let me give you an introduct- introduction.
Okay.
For people who don't know, Will is the man behind Anatomy of the Fighter. If you ever seen any of those videos, like, particularly the most famous one was when Conor McGregor threw that dolly at the bus with Khabib Nurmagomedov was on it, and it became a huge part of the promotion, which w- I thought was weird that it was this, uh, shameful act, right? That he did that.
Yeah.
I mean, really awful. C- cut a bunch of innocent people that were on the bus, but they used it over and over and over again. That was your footage.
Yes. A lot of-
A lot of people didn't even know, including me.
No one did. Um, you know, I was telling a friend the other day what's funny. No one has ever heard this, but when it happened, uh, (laughs) I, I showed Khabib at the back of the bus 'cause he was- had a smile on his face, and I showed him and everybody else on the bus that I actually caught Conor doing it 'cause they didn't really know it was Conor.
Right.
So, I remember Khabib looked at the footage, I was holding the camera, and he was like, "Brother, you could get paid from this." He's like, "Bro, this is worth $100,000." He looked at his manager, Ali, a shout out to Ali, and he was like, "Get this, get him, give him some money. He deserves this." And then I gave it to the UFC to use for Embedded, and, um, I thought it wa- that was just it, and they promoted the fight with it, and I was like, "Damn, I shoulda just leaned my head to the right and got hit by the dolly so I could-"
(laughs)
"... not have to be doing it, uh, you know, Go Fund Me's and shit."
Well, what you shoulda done is ask for money for it. That video footage was a- it turned out it was very valuable-
Yeah.
... because it set up the fight, which also set up the post-fight brawl. I mean, there was, there was so much that was involved in him throwing that dolly, and you caught that video, and they played that shit over-
I know.
... and over and over. I was actually kinda shocked that they did that because at the time, we were like, "Whoa, Conor might go to jail." Like that was, that was, like, legitimate assault.
They used it the next day.
I know.
Like, I was like, "Damn." Like...
WME is merciless.
When I saw it on like, um, when I saw it on, uh, Fox News and CNN, I was just like, "That's my footage."
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