Joe Rogan Experience #10025 — Michael Chandler Transcript

Transcript

0:00 four three two boom and we're live how are you brother i'm great man great to have you in here Oh, my gosh. I know he did what he had to do, but even that one bums me out. had temporary lapses of confidence and whatnot, whether it be my training or did this happen to me? Then had a back injury and then fought Will Brooks when I shouldn't have on At every gym I go to, I'm the hardest worker. I live life right. I do the right things.

2:56 My mom and dad both worked two jobs. but in my heart of hearts, I didn't truly believe it, you know? And I think, and I was, I mean, but it's also really difficult to cultivate. having loads of impact, having, having ridiculous amounts of success because until you actually wasn't exactly it didn't exactly mesh with how I truly saw myself you know I think it's and I think

5:59 Let's respect that for what it is, and let's use that as fuel for the future. And so it's really kind of helped me. didn't you didn't believe it and and it's not even, we're all – I think we're all victim to our subconscious sometimes too. Anderson, it seemed like he pushed the arm down real slow, and then all of a sudden he threw the leg over, and we're all like, what are you doing?

8:16 extremely successful, extremely wealthy, It will come with time. Why didn't you visualize? a lot of you know there's a lot of wisdom in his life experiences that you Who was the third loss? it was that time where I realized right. I was actually starting to change my kind of mental training and stuff. care of your body. You do all the right things. At the end of the day, somebody has to be the best.

11:57 I just I came up with work hard good things might happen but most likely it'll be mediocre you know There was a book called Mind Gym. And not that I wasn't supposed to beat him, but the manner in which I beat him, I almost majored him. You think that, okay, well, if I stop and I say, you know what? And I think that's what I always did. Exactly. You don't walk around like, you know.

15:09 him and someone's got to win. that can be added to a mental highlight reel, you know, like going, like having a really great hey, coach, you know, I'm talking to Henry or Evan or Kami the faint. And we worked that, we worked that yesterday as we were hitting mitts. And now a rebuilding confidence exercise, Do you know who wrote it? It's called How Champions Think.

18:23 we forget successes that we have. It takes, it takes me going to my Wikipedia page or me, From an outside perspective, it's so much easier to look at someone outside perspective You see it with a lot of those guys where they don't, instead of facing their demons, what they've done is create this delusional self-image. wondering if you really wanted to open up your phone and see all the negative

20:59 And I look at it and I say everybody's got losses. Yeah, you know, so it's tough. you know, you drop a ball, like you're back at it. Next day. The next day. Same thing with top five guy in the world, beat Eddie Alvarez. Then it was like, okay, now you have to perform. You're ranked in the top three, top five. So every single day I was trying to be perfect.

23:35 my coach who watched it. He said, no, you did. All right. You didn't lose horribly. But in my like, okay, this is what we need to work on. This is how I need to tighten this up and tight. the second round. They knew if they ran from me in the second fight, yeah, they ran from me and You know, so I think that's still relatively new with your fighting experience too, right?

26:14 So I needed to focus on these certain five elements to be successful and not a thousand felt like you were trying to mimic like Dominic's crazy movement? I think it's just, I mean, the That's all you need. when trying to analyze fighters' performances and their future That's your skill set. how-to manual for that, you know, but I also... What did you try to do different?

29:16 but it's very, very, very basic. But, I mean, the killers that I get to spar with and train with down in Florida can't be matched, in that second Eddie Alvarez fight. with the guy, we both So, I mean, me and Eddie have spoken a couple times. and it's kind of but you also get it's cool to get compared to a guy that you fought because i won the second second fight but it's a very close fight right i will say but but like i said

32:29 Yeah, me and DC. I mean, could you imagine if you had like an ultimate fighting championship, A lot of them in certain commissions come from boxing. But I think boxing is more straightforward. How many leg kicks has that guy eaten? i wouldn't want to i wouldn't want to say a worst one because there's been so many fucking terrible ones. And on your record, it goes to the law.

35:17 I mean, it could cost you tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. I could have in my pocket or would have won, you know? So it's, we've discussed this many times. in the world to judge fights and have ten of them, Yeah. at 155 um I mean I would always probably stay at 155 I would love some some cool matchups at 165 Yeah, I think so.

37:32 I mean, there's a lot of great experts. It's the body composition. Probably. I mean, I've seen so many talented guys careers ended because of injuries. Yeah. I had none, you know, I had a couple of sprains here and there. and you're jacking up little limbs and hands and feet and all that kind of stuff here and there Man, I love med ball stuff. Bench press isn't the greatest workout, but it's focusing on the punching power just three reps of something a

40:59 gets your heart rate up it's also just getting your body moving like crazy so i mean a lot of So I was pumped about that. You know, Monday morning is always a drill. Greg Jones or it's a one-on-one with a grappling coach or it's your strength conditioning and striking, but I really threw in an extra couple grappling sessions there, you know? But, I mean, yeah, they come in and they say, here's what we're going to do.

43:42 But I don't have to. is gigantic, but two is Having the ability to push through discomfort, which is just something that you cultivate in an amateur wrestling career. you don't just get mentally tough from, from working hard. You get mentally tough from working hard and losing and then winning and then losing, and then having coach riding your butt

45:25 have a great boxing coach and it's like, they expect after the first MIT session that they're done some great things in life. I still, I'm still a guppy in a lot of, a lot of aspects of life. You know, it's like a hard I'm pissed. guys sparring on on you know tuesday all of a sudden wednesday rolls around we're doing a No, you haven't. Or you haven't go push yourself to your puke. Have you ever puked? Have you ever passed out? No, you haven't, you know, or you haven't passed out. You know, I rarely puke. So

47:55 You need to say, okay, well, I have practice here, I have practice here, So you close your eyes when you do this? At least you're getting sleep. Um, but I think the biggest thing is, is, is seeing, seeing the lights. Yes. And that's what it is. Exactly. And I know exactly what that smell is. I mean, Joe, I hated fighting. I didn't really like it that much because I, I wasn't myself.

50:37 You don't know what that actually feels like. too is you sit down and maybe you're listening to this podcast and like, okay, I'm going to smell the smells of this. I don't really where it needs to be and how you are somehow confidently composed during that, during those fights, you know, because it used to be, I would, I heard his voice, and I turned around.

52:29 Do you know what happened did you get hit um what was it was with it was in the benson henderson fight going into the fifth round we were in that weird i i Right. Come on now. This was Benson's first fight in the UFC after Korshkov, right? And then I crunch myself. Boom., I always end up on top. So he's got kind of a choke and then I crunch myself.

53:56 There was, there's another one on that you can find on the internet that you can just where your leg gave out? that. or I would have just planted myself in the middle of the cage time i mean i got so you were wondering whether or not you had permanent nerve damage in your It was unfortunate. And it's one of those things too where I've talked to Big John about it.

56:28 And I wasn't taking damage. You know, like, of course. Once you've done that, the fight's over. I'm like, doc, I promise you just get out of here. I don't feel a thing. the fight because they they thought you couldn't stand and i said no i i hope not because that It was just a mistake? then finally I'm like, man, this is stupid. I'm going to go ahead and take a, take a fight against

58:59 Will forever be the most exciting guy on Bellator. What does he do full-time? I don't know. Paul Daly and, I mean and Lorenz Larkin. He's terrifying. where he knocked him out on his feet and he got kicked out of the UFC basically forever. where he's such a specialist. He's good. He's a beast. One of my favorite fights of his forever He just doesn't give you any break. I know.

1:01:55 me and Michael Johnson sparred numerous times where we're kind of like I'm 100% present. professional, like doing your best to execute your skill set in such an extreme circumstance. sudden this yeah and I've had a really relatively not easy road, I mean, him record wise. I'm not supposed to beat him in any other, any other universe besides right here

1:05:03 And there's still times where you got to cut you, you got to gut check, you know, and that's, that's a good of Fighting. One of the most interesting and intriguing contenders to enter into the UFC. He's a smart guy. And Justin is just hands up high, moving in on you, Yeah. And I think it goes back to when I look at him, it's not a knock on him or whatever.

1:08:05 And then, and how he strings together his punches with his kicks and blah, blah, blah. and he's the same Justin Gaethje in those sparring rounds as he is in the cage. He likes breaking people. I mean, people still right now, they see this, like, cyborg robot step into the cage like that's what they think they don't even Just crazy that he started striking so late.

1:10:06 You know, like that's what I did. You slid in and dropped that right hand on him. Anybody in the lightweight division is lying when they're not a little bit shaken. You know he's strong. Use a little more movement. Just touch a leg. Yes. Even the Eddie Alvarez fight. Well, Eddie's got that boxing stance, and he gets low, and he puts a lot of weight on his legs,

1:12:34 Yeah. And he was just throwing that flurry. That's the sport. and I love it. Beat Gilbert. He would pull up his record. His leg was chewed up. Okay. And Gilbert, of course, from the Strikeforce fights, and how many killers And he's the 145-pound champion, which is just... He did look really good. What kind of fucking contract do you have in Bellator?

1:15:30 It happens. Well, we're trying to figure everything out right now. Shout out to Powerful Warrior. But if you look at his fight with Tyron Woodley, And just people don't know because for whatever reason, Bellator just has not been able to capture the public's imagination the same way the UFC has. I mean, I fought – my first fight was on ESPN Deportes that was on –

1:17:29 the growth I mean I will forever probably be in the biggest fights or the the most exciting fights so there is an argument And I tried very hard to try to figure out a way The UFC was like, get the fuck out of here. opportunity to bring him over here and that was you know it was a different time it was when fedor I'm enjoying the process. I mean, we're

1:19:46 that goes by that I don't get... that it doesn't get And then I've said that also, too, between the two organizations. and now all of a sudden a lot of these Strikeforce guys are UFC champions as well. it's a big difference in the way people look at it like the average public the people don't give a if you're the wba champion in boxing or the wbc champion they don't give a they just

1:21:55 like the NFL. It has that name They're like, what the fuck is a Bellator? They like it. He said that you stole the name from me. How much do you think they gave him? A million? Let's see how much they got. I don't know. Stefan Bonner, Forrest Griffin. Holla at me, Spike. Via Greenback. I don't know. He tripped a referee? I think he's saying it because he sits courtside.

1:24:48 trip a referee yeah you know whereas like you know football you're pretty far back yeah 20 feet 50 no barriers. Well, yeah, because I think that it makes takedowns much more difficult when there's not a cage because you know all the time off the gauge and I'm like, man, I'm a division one wrestler. Why am I getting taken I don't really spar in a cage anymore but now i don't i don't really spar

1:27:10 So the cage wall just to work on wall walks and things like that. Your head. way yeah you know it'd be cool it'd be cool if there was just just a a single art davy yeah when they started talking about the all the ideas where they were talking about putting Yeah, yeah, yeah. and kicking each other and guys were throwing arm bars. don't ever throw that kick again.

1:29:48 Oh, no. Look at how crazy that but it's entertaining. I would watch it. I guess. I would watch it. Look at this. That dude's... But it's entertaining. If that was on tonight, I'm watching it, 100%. You should just like run and start dragging him around. What was that? Do you have to have a commission for this? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which would be cool because you couldn't really climb out.

1:31:34 Yeah, they're doing that now where they take real high-level karate guys and they wear Yeah. You're allowed to punch on the ground for five seconds. Yeah. I love kickboxing. Well, and that's why you've seen all these organizations come and go It's flashy. He's fighting 170, right? That was October. But Paul Daly was just saying something. Who is he fighting?

1:34:08 That's a terrible fight for him, though. I want to say, was six months ago plus, right? I mean, I think it's like you said, Bellator thinks I'm a fool, blah, blah, blah. Bellator. I thought, finally a fight that makes sense, Daly said, in case you couldn't tell. I love how they bull expletive. The John Fitch fight's a good fight because striking-wise, obviously, he has a giant advantage.

1:36:00 Or was that when it was last? Paul Harris will do that, man. of them were ticked off having more pumped like what's going on you're seeing the leg locks now that first fight against Marcian Held. Do you train defense? Not a lock submissions? Do you train defense? No, not – I mean, it's hard to find good leg lock guys. I actually got caught in a leg lock by Mario Sperry

1:38:23 A real pioneer of jiu-jitsu and MMA. You ain't getting out of nothing. Because that's especially like heel, not a heel hook, but when they take the ankle, like just like bend it. I got caught in a knee bar, got out of the knee bar, and then he switched to the toe hold, felt my ankle, pop, pop, pop. of which, of course, he should, I guess. I mean, there's all kinds of silly stuff.

1:40:07 what inspires you to call a guy like that out? and talking about getting people to talk. And Kevin Lee was a big one that people kept talking about. it's it's tough whenever the one thing that you've always been used to I mean, at certain times he looks unbeatable. You're inside of a cage. and they face a guy who does, there's moments in the fight where you see that,

1:42:50 stylistic matchups so when something like that happens and a guy like khabib has a fight where Kamaru Usman has got to be going fucking crazy right now seeing Colby Covington getting a shot at the interim title. I mean, you watch him spar or you watch him hit mitts or you watch his composure and his confidence while he's sparring and doing all that kind of stuff.

1:44:14 fucking tough guy. criticizing him for not being able to finish meek but i'm like you're you're crazy yeah that guy is Especially for a guy like you, if you do have something like an ankle injury, like that one fight, and then you've got to stay offline for a few weeks. They start poking you. I mean, in all of my strength and conditioning work, a lot of it is very, very hard, very, very tough, very, very violent. And then some of, some of my stuff is

1:46:20 that's fine yeah right yeah I mean people like that hot shit yeah we had getting that sweat out. So how often you work on your flexibility? Do you work on The blue ones? Supernova. I'll show it to you after the thing. That seems like the smaller one, right? to get your your psoas worked on you just kind of wobble and wiggle until it hits it and then

1:48:51 had horrible horrible problems with my psoas and every single kind of chink in He uses it to loosen up your pecs. Your diaphragm, all of that just continues to get crunched and crunched and crunched and you can't breathe. Yeah. I love broccoli. They're not seeing the results that they want to see. And then, yeah, I mean, when it comes to supplementation, I do protein and aminos every single day.

1:51:34 you're throwing up no i don't throw up i don't i try to get myself to throw up but i don't um So something in the way it breaks down or, you know, I don't know exactly all the specifics of it. Turmeric, honestly, I mean, with the amount of inflammation I have. massage or a sports massage um kind of rolfing art almost every week i mean like i was saying i'm on

1:53:44 I'm hunched over and stuff. I mean, other than football, I guess, in terms of the amount of abuse your body takes. And I could not walk. of knowledge on all that kind of stuff whereas instead of resting it get in there right away working on, you know, maybe I'm doing a massage and chiropractic during one camp. You know, it's, It's awesome, man. I'm very active on social media.

1:57:09 So, you know. they're, they're looking for a change or they're looking to, to whether it's get stronger, get Yeah. camp. We were living in San Diego together and wanted to just move back closer to the Midwest. I just, I love it there, man. It's great. went other places i said you know what i want to go to nashville and i'm going to make it the Right next to that we have 3,000 square foot of mat space

2:00:31 Dunaway at Cairo Strength. So he's a chiropractor, ART, and corrective exercise guy. Plus we're even with your nutrition stuff, it's like, oh man, I gotta go, you know, gotta go get, at night balls to the wall. And then in between, then I'm like, okay, pass out, wake up, do it all One day. Michael Chandler, ladies and gentlemen.