Joe Rogan Experience #10012 — Ben Askren Transcript

Transcript

0:00 Yeah, my oldest one's super... But, yeah, I never really got to fight those top guys. I really genuinely don't. I didn't get hit once in 2017. Obviously, my contract with Bellator came up in 2013. I'm undefeated. And they don't hear what I say. And they both got taken care of pretty well. And they've never met any type of threshold. So, you know, they say it matches, but it

3:02 Right. that happens. Get rid of your Correct, yeah. Well, that's not true at all. So, finally, and all this Full, full, you're released. that afternoon, there's Now I finally produced So was there a reason given? So that was Friday that happens. I said, fuck that. I'm going a plane ticket to Vegas for Monday. So that was Friday that happens. And they offered me a Zufa contract, but it would be confidential.

5:56 I don't know. Andrei Lavsky gets dropped from the UFC, goes to World Series, Anthony Johnson, boom, all these people. And about six hours later, I got a phone call that says that deal is no longer available. Number one, he didn't really like me. It's just expensive. But that was, you know, when Dana is wrong in an argument, and he's got this huge army that follows him,

7:46 consistently, always been on you and that style He took tremendous punches in that fight. Then once he got Ngannou to the ground, Ngannou didn't have any answers. Fighting is not what's exciting for people to watch. Yeah, absolutely. I was coaching for Arizona State University. So my whole goal was, how do I not get hit? and it added a lot of longevity to my career where I wasn't taking damage

10:40 How to get our mind right. I grab him and I'm like, oh my, everywhere. a lot of other martial arts don't have that And so you have so many top flight guys that are incredibly mentally strong feeding off Yeah. that wasn't even the case. You'd travel around the country, do camps, make money, do anything now. So you're saying they just do it from – so where are they getting the money?

13:09 Sure. Yeah, awful. It's a crazy story of Dave and Mark Schultz and this millionaire, billionaire crazy guy which was abolished. So, yeah, it was a really bad thing. and these guys are using it to steal money from young athletes. Yeah, well, especially when you look at the football teams that are getting literally billions and billions of dollars every year.

15:33 Tons of money. And they make nothing. Yeah, and Yeah, it's crazy. And there was a wrestler from the University of Minnesota. But that kind of success, like figuring out a way to make some money off of your name, I think it's fucking disgusting. So Bellator has released you. Number two, my style, not great. I mean, yeah. I'm sure we have. I didn't remember this when they're going on,

18:41 I've never got, you know, number five is I think he got the idea that I would never be a yes man, You know, especially the really good ones. John Jones started having trouble with Dana, right, but didn't have it until he was- Jon's crazy, you know? And have him drive you permanently. The hit and run was after that one. It's one of the reasons why he's so good.

20:55 Listen, you're preaching to the choir. Wherever you want to go. We got fun. But you can't babysit everybody. time you step out on the job. But I think there's this, I call it the hypocritical elite athlete. They do everything right, right? But at the same time, when, when something goes wrong or their toe hurts or whatever, they can just say, well, it doesn't really matter.

23:13 Yeah, the namesake of my argument. to how to manage your mind. This is nothing. traveling so much. That was 2007-8 when I And so actually every Monday, there's actually this company And they're starting to... And so like when I was 14, I was at this big national tournament and I was obsessing about And so ever since age 15, I've always taught myself and trained myself

25:58 by six hours before and I haven't Because it keeps me really calm. Right. And if the manager is like poorly formed and the structure is all out of whack And, you know, I think one interesting thing, which I don't know if it's going to happen in MMA or not. uh, well, if you're a minute late, like a college wrestling team would be. They're the one paying your paycheck.

29:01 And I think everybody's got their own way of doing it. Right. and what coach is doing it wrong. Jay Heron fight, yeah. two years into my fighting career. I literally did not do one wrestling practice. My brother's also an NCAA champ. just to keep my skills sharp. all you have to do is take some time off and everything degrades? is I was doing, and this is what I think,

32:21 They don't like it. Crazy. He's going to fight a Division I wrestler. But you've got to train it. But these strikers, they want to do one wrestling practice a week, I would consider for someone high level. I completely agree. And I think that and you have to figure out what that recipe is. But I'm saying take three months. And then after that, it might be once a week, twice a week, three times a week.

35:04 I said, shit, that's scary. Well, there was a recent study that came out just a few days ago that said that it's repeated subconcussive hits that are causing CTE, not concussions. And it's like, well, F, I can't live my life in a bubble. Come on. Or is it the diet? Yeah. I mean, you watch football. And these guys are 250, 300 pounds. Probably, yeah.

37:56 extensively. And the more studies that I've read on it, the more I've gotten really disturbed. right, that were, so now if they're dying, they're probably played in the 60s, 70s, 80s, Then you're doing some cocaine. Especially the pills. My wife and I were talking about how sad that was. I would have to assume. And she said the doctor immediately tried to prescribe Oxycontin for her.

40:23 one of the things they put Tom Petty on was fentanyl. And fentanyl is that shit that's fucking killing everybody it's with meth right Seriously. And weed is still illegal. It's just maybe, I don't know. So right after surgery, they're trying to get your blood moving. I got it for that brief moment. I was like, So now, like, okay, I think MMA is a terrible career path,

43:13 They are. But I think some people, it's their destiny. Did you ever read – there was that book called something, Chasing Superman, or – do you remember what I'm talking about? But for him, I mean, he's a retired Navy SEAL and this is just another level of psychotic I go skiing with them. Don't get hurt, don't get hurt. Could have been, right? Vasyl Lomachenko,

45:44 How are they going to ban BMX? The I don't think they can. Really? How could they ban? They're not banning it because they're trying to save us. and the guy got to the top of the ramp and didn't Decoding Superman. And, oh. I'm obsessed with the original X Games stuff there Wasn't there the movie about Tony Hawk was like the first one to do the 720 or something?

47:42 Find it. It's such a strange time. And it's, well, I'm more libertarian than anything. If you're pretending someone's racist when you know they're not, or if you're pretending ground is by discussing it. you say? They're trying to label you and then get the upper hand i mean all all of his weird issues that came up and his book deal falling apart a lot of that had

50:15 on who he is that is Part of their persona— on the articles or their videos or whatever. Well, he's as progressive as it gets. He finds them some places. And then people were telling him that his son wasn't killed And it becomes a real problem because it muddies up the water. you have bodies, autopsy reports. Vegas shooting is complicated I don't think they've said that.

53:10 the Las Vegas shootings timeline, right? But you would think that people would want answers on it. I mean, that's the largest mass shooting in He had a note in his in his hotel room that had all the ballistics calculations. So he knew like bullet drop from X amount of yards. So you don't, there's a, whenever there's a mass shooting or anything that's crazy,

54:54 I met people in Vegas that got shot there. There's a shooter in Monte Carlo. you can't just take what CBS tells you to be complete fact, right? And then so Vegas, right? Imagine if someone was saying that that was fake. You're a part of the Illuminati. Right. And that's, that's how I do it. rather than how much of it is a part of the chaos of these moments,

57:56 people don't handle chaotic events I'm going to run fast. I mean, sure. Sorry, James. and I don't know how numbers of instructions? Yeah. and I called Calvin Cater Chris Cater after he won, how you can only keep so many people in your brain. You only have so much room in your hard drive space. Now all of a sudden you have to keep track of many, Is it that you have to just know their names and faces

1:00:45 like especially if you think about new guys come in, old guys go away. Yeah. keep up with you. It's, dude, super track of all three. He can't keep track He's constantly traveling. So does he do like it probably wouldn't even and now they have a 10th Planet program city-state, right? It's 6 million people And there will be a class there that's full with Muay Thai or jiu-jitsu, whatever.

1:03:30 Yeah, there's hundreds. Hundreds and hundreds of students. Yeah. Pretty much everyone that lives there has a decent amount of wealth. But, you know, a lot of those countries are not doing super well economically. So they can spend – this is fascinating. They spend their money on three things. It we would pay taxes, right? A bunch of money comes out of the check. So they can spend it.

1:05:19 and it comes out of your fund, right? and the cheaper it gets, the more subsidized it gets. Yeah. Way too much government. Why? and you talk about the pharmaceuticals with weed, You can't freaking do it. And it wasn't really the same as MMA now. 97. the given explanation, Now, what was the other report they came out with right away? Not totally. people start looking for all these different correlating factors, right?

1:09:31 And a lot of times, these warnings get thwarted. Now, when they don't catch it and it goes through, then people start thinking, oh, there not an airplane. Really? but what they did have is all sorts But then obviously, I know that you don't believe that everything we're told is the truth right away, right? and executed. And these conspiracies have greatly affected the American people.

1:11:45 do this in order to get people to be excited about a war with Cuba. I don't believe that. one far end of the spectrum. for years. I was completely convinced. Apollo 13 was the one that they didn't apparently make it, and they had to come back. Yeah, no. and anything that would have killed them instantly, Why have we never gone back? Surely our technology is far superior to what's kind of goofy, right? Well, it's weird. It's a weird one. Why have we never gone back?

1:14:36 We're talking about manned missions to Mars now, which may or may not take place by 2030. The rovers. Yeah. in space. See if you can find that. I mean, Bezos is trying to do it. Or Branson. Does that mean that we never went? would prosecute him for crimes against humanity. where when we I mean, well, I don't know. we never went to the moon because i really don't know what the fuck i'm talking about

1:18:37 It's based mostly on ignorance, speculation, and the excited feeling that comes with trying to uncover a conspiracy. We're talking about like Gulf of Tonkin, right? because it's incredibly difficult to film You'd have to take your suit off, and then you would die. They did all that remotely. that they faked the whole thing it's fun it's fun to think they faked the whole thing that everybody

1:21:08 So what if he was given it away? this would give you a rock-hard boner. There are great ideas undiscovered. yo, I went to the moon, bitch. The press conference from 1969 when they returned from the moon is one of the most cryptic, weird things you'll ever see. They might have done it. The United States government did Yeah, but even more so then because it was unchecked.

1:24:00 You watch that and you go, what in the fuck is happening there? Have you seen it? It's like they're on some sort of wire. And these guys were fucking cowboys yeah I had a debate like the fact that Like, the wires one is weird. Look at this. Okay, so you realize you're in one-sixth Earth's gravity. Yeah, watch this again. Okay, maybe a break dancer.

1:26:31 Yeah, he's got no bass. But the thing falls down right afterwards, so it wasn't in reverse. You can't stand up like that. he could have been on wires. It could have been video of them on the moon. Sure. Yeah. those but those guys are like you can box too. He can do a lot of other things too. You don't go back to your base because you expose your back.

1:29:04 So in the Lima fight, Rory wins the first two rounds. He kicked so hard. I think he wins the third round, in my opinion. I mean, he can barely walk. the fight's likely over. Right. Yeah. I don't know. And then you're also, if you're in half guard, you're gonna be trying to work and you're is no longer a great solution. is the next genesis in MMA It's like you did all that work to get the guy on the ground and now you just let him

1:32:37 It's hard to say, hey, do what he does, because no one's built like that guy. Like, where's the weight going? Because you know that Corellon. and then he's 6 foot whether it's Oh, you had that guy on here. likely cheating, you know, but then as someone How does 1FC handle that? Get the fuck out of here. So, but I know you've talked a couple times, I've heard you about their weigh-in program

1:35:12 So you can't cut water weight out, right? but you know, it's essentially welterweight. there's the day of the fight, the day before the fight, two days before the fight. Because when they first instituted it, I said, well, how is someone going to cheat on this? So, yeah, so it's fantastic because like fight week then, instead of making this, and so when I would fight 170, I would be 183 to 185 to start my water weight cut.

1:36:53 the same as in America, if you miss what you're fined. and then whatever you weigh there is what you weigh. So you want to be below. The first two days were actually just testing to see where you were at. It's fucking insane. Yes. And it affects your performance the next day. Right? but that makes me feel good about it. I think it makes media obligations a lot easier.

1:40:02 I believe it was 36 to 48 hours after. Man, And then when I was fighting at 170, So I'm the same exact person every single And so I think a lot of guys, and I don't know if you've ever cut weight, Joe, but I know, That's what I think about it. So they have the system, and people are starting... weigh-in. So if your dual meet the discomfort thing. Part of that is that, you know, when you go to a college wrestling program, again, it's very structured.

1:43:13 Like, you know, and Chael Sutton talks about it a lot that, hey, and I always talk to my Yeah, I think that aspect of wrestling is one of the biggest tools that they take into the octagon, You find out who the best are. Yeah. I'll go to jiu-jitsu classes I love studying people who are the best in their field at whatever they do. I start on the high crotch.

1:46:01 revert to whatever they do best right and then just do it over and over and over and over again over. And maybe the next day it's single legs. And then maybe But saying go for five minutes every single day is very much not the most effective way to do it. practice. I went to the Olympics. Every once in a while. But most of the time, you're here. I've seen many other people achieve those things.

1:47:47 I can't give one of my kids a shout out, not all of them. he tunes me out. And then we go to you want to go hard, but you need to also You might still be successful, but you're not going to reach the pinnacle because you're not When you come into practice, you need to have a beginner's mind. Interesting thing that Dominic Cruz said thinking, oh, I don't know, I need to ask, right?

1:50:03 You know how to wrestle. fairly similar to the kids in practice but I also think it's a lot you know I You're doing this wrong. I can say, remember that time in that match when you got put wrestle the rest of this match, right? So there could be all these, there's all these So I think this competition provides a lot of teachable moments for athletes to see,

1:52:24 You don't consider it? No, I don't really. Just help a few buddies.? Okay, I help a couple buddies, but I don't. You don't consider it? I know, especially with the older kids, I recommend they do some on their own. You know, for a college And I recommend kids do it on their own. I can't remember what he said. Right? But we don't have that luxury. And it wouldn't be,

1:55:08 And now when I go back to college programs, besides the heavyweights, the in-season stuff you know, do sled pushes, do this, do that, do that, do that. Six, fifth grade? Yeah, and I was having some success because when you're fatter, being able to make, like, see the future and make decisions on what you want to do at that young age. I haven't eaten fast food in 20 years.

1:57:01 Nothing. Why am I going to go take that? Wow. And we're eating healthy food at my house, you know, but I'm not measuring the grams of this or grams of that. And so I think if I worry about all this other stuff, It's kind of ironic, though, that you were an anti-drug crusader and you went to the they don't have huge high GDPs, right? it was a tainted supplement.

1:59:44 That's so crazy. Yeah, that one Russian EPO. EPO, that type of stuff, because Yeah. when USADA started and then how some of these people fell down straight down. All of a sudden, he can't make weight. And they turned the match down. how are you going to get tired? I got the same offer right out of college. You know, like, it would be like hedging your bet against yourself, and I don't ever bet against myself.

2:02:15 Yeah. That's pretty proven. you probably thought he was going to be a little better. So you expect him, hey, he'll probably go challenge for a UFC title. Some have a style that would readily translate to MMA. For a while, yeah. They got taken down too easily. I've got to add striking. I mean, when you see the crossover, like, John Jones was a wrestler.

2:05:35 teach me how to strike. Jose Aldo would be like, he He's fantastic. It's the most important foundation You have no hope. it's like it's the trump card. who fights so well off his back. Benson Harrison, Benson Harrison hates getting body kicked Yeah. anything else I've made, is bad strategy. what his damn name is. in the second round. You're down two rounds and nothing.

2:08:47 What do you think's going to happen down there? Really? you saw once he realized he was going to survive, fight back. Yeah. Right? And so he started fighting You see the look in his eyes. Apparently, they're going to do that now. He's pretty damn solid wrestling, high-level jiu-jitsu. And then all this damage is going to just accumulate and accumulate and accumulate.

2:11:13 fight, pulled out of the car. I thought that But it was the same thing happened during the weigh-in. He missed weight one time. yeah I mean a world interim title Or interim title. Interim title. Fuck it. I want to fight GSP. No. I've never trained. What do you feel like if you do wind up retiring? That's obviously always an option. You know? But then obviously if you go work for an institution like that, there's going to be a lot of bureaucracy.

2:14:31 Awesome. It's the what? Tommy Rollins is two-time NCAA champ So it's not like a job for us. So that's on iTunes. into Instagram. It's just pictures. I'll hold my pee.