JRE MMA Show #117 with Marlon "Chito" Vera
Marlon "Chito" Vera (guest), Joe Rogan (host), Young Jamie (guest), Marlon "Chito" Vera (guest), Narrator
In this episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, featuring Marlon "Chito" Vera and Joe Rogan, JRE MMA Show #117 with Marlon "Chito" Vera explores chito Vera Details Gritty Rise From Ecuador Streets To UFC Stardom Marlon “Chito” Vera sits down with Joe Rogan to trace his journey from chaotic street fights in Ecuador and makeshift gyms to becoming a top UFC bantamweight contender. They dive into his early hardships, manipulative first coach, and the pivotal move to U.S. super‑camps like Jackson-Wink and his current team with Jason Parillo and the Mendes brothers. Vera breaks down his training philosophy—constant year-round work, running, sauna, recovery, clean nutrition, and mental toughness—as well as the dark side of MMA: brutal weight cuts, bad judging, cheating, and sketchy coaching/management. The conversation also explores psychedelics, hunting, tattoos, hip‑hop, and how staying grounded as a family man and immigrant fuels his ambitions to become UFC champion.
Chito Vera Details Gritty Rise From Ecuador Streets To UFC Stardom
Marlon “Chito” Vera sits down with Joe Rogan to trace his journey from chaotic street fights in Ecuador and makeshift gyms to becoming a top UFC bantamweight contender. They dive into his early hardships, manipulative first coach, and the pivotal move to U.S. super‑camps like Jackson-Wink and his current team with Jason Parillo and the Mendes brothers. Vera breaks down his training philosophy—constant year-round work, running, sauna, recovery, clean nutrition, and mental toughness—as well as the dark side of MMA: brutal weight cuts, bad judging, cheating, and sketchy coaching/management. The conversation also explores psychedelics, hunting, tattoos, hip‑hop, and how staying grounded as a family man and immigrant fuels his ambitions to become UFC champion.
Key Takeaways
Relentless persistence can overcome terrible circumstances and late starts.
Vera began in living-room gyms in Ecuador with almost no structure, got manipulated by an early coach and even paid 50% of a fight purse, yet refused to quit, showed up daily, and forced his way to The Ultimate Fighter and the UFC.
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The right coach and environment radically accelerate development.
At Jackson-Wink he was getting dominated everywhere but learned to endure and adapt; later, working with elite specialists like Jason Parillo (striking) and the Mendes brothers (BJJ) turned him from a one‑trick triangle guy into a fully rounded contender.
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Treat fighting as a 24/7 lifestyle, not a seasonal job.
Vera trains year‑round—running long distances, sparring, lifting, sauna, hyperbaric, clean eating—so camps are about sharpening, not getting in shape, which he believes is essential in a sport with no real off‑season.
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Mental framing often decides fights more than pure skill.
He and Rogan repeatedly note examples (e. ...
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Weight cutting is widespread sanctioned cheating that harms performance.
Both argue that extreme cuts deplete fighters physically and cognitively, propose more weight classes and eliminating drastic cuts, and describe how even “good” rehydrations still leave you at 85–90% on fight night.
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Protect your career by avoiding toxic coaches, managers, and social media noise.
Vera warns about coaches who demand control and huge percentages, describes cutting ties despite emotional bonds, and says he stopped reading comments entirely to stay focused on genuine self‑improvement.
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Psychedelics and microdosing can be tools for perspective and mental clarity.
They discuss mushrooms, DMT and the ‘Stoned Ape’ theory; Vera uses microdoses and intentional trips to sharpen thinking, calm anxiety, and re‑prioritize what matters outside of fame and online opinion.
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Notable Quotes
““I call it the immigrant mentality. All fucking day, seven days a week. There’s no season.””
— Marlon “Chito” Vera
““I’d rather lose a hundred fights than win one by cheating.””
— Marlon “Chito” Vera
““This is not even a sport. I don’t think this is a sport, this is fighting.””
— Marlon “Chito” Vera
““If you get mad before the fight, in my opinion, you don’t deserve to win.””
— Marlon “Chito” Vera
““You can’t take in too much external opinions. You have to be able to know whether you’re fucking up and how to get better.””
— Joe Rogan
Questions Answered in This Episode
How many promising fighters never reach their potential because they’re trapped under the wrong coach or manager like Chito was early on?
Marlon “Chito” Vera sits down with Joe Rogan to trace his journey from chaotic street fights in Ecuador and makeshift gyms to becoming a top UFC bantamweight contender. ...
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What would MMA look like if promotions truly eliminated drastic weight cutting and forced everyone to fight at natural walking weights?
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How much better could elite fighters become if they all adopted Chito’s ‘no off‑season’ approach to conditioning and recovery?
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In what ways might psychedelics like psilocybin and DMT positively or negatively affect a fighter’s mindset, resilience, and career longevity?
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Given the subjectivity and inconsistency in judging and fouls, what practical reforms would most improve fairness in high‑stakes MMA fights?
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Transcript Preview
(drum roll) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out. The Joe Rogan Experience.
Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (rock music plays) He saw ... Yeah. There's, uh, a few guys in LA that are like legit LA legends, legends of tattooing. He's one of the biggest.
Yeah. We did one set and that was painful.
(laughs)
That, that kicked my ass. (laughs)
Is the back more painful than the arms?
Oh, yeah.
Really?
The arms are easy.
Yeah. The arms are pretty easy.
I basically ... Uh, you feel it, but you're not crying. On my back-
You were crying?
... there, there was ... Not crying, but about to.
(laughs)
There were points that my arm were shaking-
Really?
... with- without me moving it.
Wow. See, that's, it's weird what parts hurt, 'cause, um, uh, the elbow hurts a lot, like the inside of the elbow.
Yeah.
That shit hurts a lot. I was like, "I thought that was numb." Because like you think about how many times you hit things with your elbows, it doesn't hurt at all.
I crack heads with elbows, but the-
(laughs)
... the, the little ink it will make you pay. It's crazy.
It's weird. Yeah.
I have my full leg, a dragon.
Yeah?
Like top to bottom, my leg. That's also awful.
Really? Leg is awful?
And like some parts, like some parts in the thigh where the sun don't goes-
Hmm.
... that's where it's the most.
Where the sun doesn't go. (laughs)
You know, it, it ... (laughs) You know what's funny about my, my leg tattoo? When this guy was tattooing my inner thigh, he was pushing my balls aside-
(laughs)
... so he can ink.
Right?
And I was like-
He's touching your balls.
Kind of. He was pushing them away.
Well, he's touching them.
A little bit, yeah. (laughs)
(laughs)
And this is, do you know what's the, the crazy part? When I was there, I was just like ... Because I normally get a tattoo right after a fight because that's my rest time. And I was just thinking, "This is painful. This is awkward." I was just like thinking about like what's worse, the guy grabbing, pushing my dick away or the pain right there? Because it was so painful that I was like, "Wow, I'm hurt."
Well, the guy t- pushing your dick away is just weird.
No, but he-
That's not painful, right?
It's not painful, but it's very weird.
(laughs)
It's painful in a way, you know, whatever.
It's weird if weirdness feels good. You're like, "Damn, this is enjoyable."
Yeah, it's ... And you start going like, "Ooh."
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