Joe Rogan Experience #10038 — Gaston Bolanos & Kirian Fitzgibbons Transcript

Transcript

0:00 4, 3, 2, 1, YEAH! Thanks, man. You could do a spinning back fist, though, right? I feel like the kickboxing glove protects you a little bit more than the MMA glove probably does. It's legal or illegal? That is illegal. Yeah. They mentioned it, but I think at that time, Yeah, and Joe's so reckless. Yeah, man, We were talking about that He looked okay walking out

3:23 And I was hoping So as soon as I saw him walk out and start the fight, I was like, He wanted to use more wrestling from what we were talking to Danny and all those guys about. right way yeah and i thought he was going about it the right way initially with the kicks yeah I was like, yeah, there's the game plan. It's just the confidence level, the anger, the emotion.

5:36 Unless Henry was the champion and DJ took the crown from him. People don't remember how hated Ronda was after that Misha fight Like the whole audience was booing. That was a lion fight. I dropped him, what, twice, once? Yeah, Eddie. they both fought at that weight. Silky smooth, that's his nickname, Silky Smooth. Yeah, he's such an amazing human being.

8:43 Yeah, about two years after I did. 18 years old. So the first year I fought as a my junior career no so the first year Nobody would fight him. What was your walk-around weight? Oh. At that age, I was like 18. Absolutely. No disrespect. Yeah. but all his friends were doing. And I was like, fuck these guys, man. Like, do you remember when Buster Douglas fought Mike Tyson?

12:32 i'm gonna train like i've never trained before i'm gonna i'm gonna train like a real world champion Bet the whole bag. because it got a lazy guy to the gym yeah to train like a real professional and the thing with eddie we're both alpha males those are the guys that grow man like we And while the fight was happening, I started rooting for him. His coach wasn't there. His team has left him.

14:41 Yep. brought ice cream brought ice cream i saw him i saw him walked in with his fucking ice cream and If he's who we think he is or we thought he was, I'll know him. He was living with me. so he could finish school here in the U.S., and he came to live with me. We were just like, you know. So he walks up and he rolls up his shorts next to me. He starts kicking the bag.

17:30 and I see this little – I'm glad. so I can call them after this kid kills him. How do they have that set up? understand it at that time 2008 2009 it's kind of the dark era of international muay thai here in Russia's got 50 people. The whole time, I'm like, this kid's going to get fucking murdered. Go ahead, Tom. like this i had zero i had maybe a couple smokers right uh two amateur fights when i was like 12 and

20:51 And this guy, he didn't have his full name. So there's B class and there's A class. In front of us. Americans were in the really. Yeah. This guy was like 5'11". I'm like, number one, calm down. Gaston takes off his jersey, walks over and interrupts the beating him for well like the walk back was like what like a 10 minutes yeah and just like yelling

23:18 Man. If it's Muay Thai, yeah. Huge momentum right now. A lot of it has to do with money. So now what are they on, like ESPN3 or some shit? I mean, it was the right place, right time, right recipe, ultimate fighter on the right night, How does Bellator's kickboxing ratings do? Maybe if everything goes great, nothing gets blown out, Exactly, because he started out with Strikeforce.

27:05 Muay Thai is more fun to watch. And it's hard to get my people where they need to be. Triumphant's good. sells out arenas. Oh my God. stomping a guy's shin in half. didn't even put his image up and all of a sudden people are excited just because of him and rico's It looked to me blocking a kick is what it looked like to me. ben sadiq you're like whoa, whoa, this does not look good.

29:58 He's one of the best heavyweight kickboxers of all time. Danny Castillo? Were they asking you to... and I've had to help somebody, like, give him looks. Did you start out with traditional martial arts? I started He might stand southpaw. guys to do that he would take a guy who's right-handed and make him fight southpaw it's like I feel like I have power with both hands almost equally.

32:47 Did they say, hey, this is what Cody's trying to work on? What happened Saturday was definitely not the game plan. smart as well though well tj throws himself into the into the fire, too. He does not play a safe game. And the knockdown, the first knockdown when he tagged him with the right hand, You know Dwayne. Who's pissed about what? is that Dwayne is obsessed with with TJ's performance and with TJ's improvement when

35:54 But it's also the way he did it. He loves it. one thing that I always remember when I get emotional, like, and it happens in the sparring sessions. Shut that piece of shit up. I'm getting it out of the way. And I was like, ah! I don't know what you want to call it, but he would sweep me and beat me up and like – Well, you want him to give it your best.

38:15 You want to go in there and be calculated. I was going through a divorce, you know, very emotional time of my life last year. And I was like, it felt like a deja vu moment. out of my feet and and hands and i i really like ground myself and ground my energy into visualize Did you try it after you got divorced? Like, that shit works. I mean, he obsesses on various techniques and improvements and footworks and how to change things and how to set things up.

41:43 It's so powerful. But I can see. I mean, you've got Saxon and Julio out in Van Nuys. We just clicked. You're not just. like Kevin he can't keep muscle on so he power lifts so Alex comes in and And it's great. Why? But now it's like I feel like I'm getting so much better times last year. The grappling. twice a day to manipulate each other. What are we focused on right now?

46:55 which you just won, Or do you still wrestle and still do jiu-jitsu even though you're preparing for a kickboxing fight? weeks away. Eight weeks. Yeah. As a martial artist, which is what people have as camps. I would also like to be one of the first guys to hold a kickboxing belt. I mean, in my opinion, he's right up there with Robert Whitaker and Will Romero.

49:56 an assassin, like a legit assassin. and they're not even in the same weight class I don't know. He's a really good guy. Favorite glove. He's a good guy. Everybody thought he was this then he came on and did my podcast and people like oh he's fucking normal yeah he's a I was cornering Jake. I think Nate thought he was going to be able to slap him up.

52:34 They just have a camp that's just such an elite camp. Yeah. Yeah, I didn't expect that at all. He's back in the mix. That's a stacked weight class, man. His last fight. Just there. but i wonder like man how much does he walk around that he's a big man, how much does he walk around at? He's a big fella. Like, how much does he walk around at and how much is he depleting his body to get down to that 100?

55:19 physically yeah mentally strong throughout my camp thing only cut like eight to ten pounds. It was my fault. Yeah, several times. Well, they're also making you not weigh more than 10 percent more than what you weighed in and they've moved up a Literally. He was in a bodybuilding competition He had a heart attack. I made the weight. probably like only a couple pounds heavier

58:03 Yeah. and Gatorade ugh. start digesting food again and all of that. What probiotic do they use? That depends on Which Dustin? and each one had different ingredients to be taken at different times, somebody else to do it. You should hear him ask for pack wort. No big deal. What is the honey for? I don't know the purpose behind it. And then you wait 15 minutes.

1:01:03 Because every ounce of carbs, you're going to hold three ounces of water, it's all learn as you go. Creatine monohydrate, as far as like crealcholine and all that on. Creatine monohydrate, I think it is good for you. Absolutely. And no rehydration. And it makes me sick, man, You're ahead of everybody. Move them to just decide. Okay, this is not a science journal. What is this like someone's blog or some shit as much like negates symptoms of sleep deprivation

1:04:25 I had a meniscus tear, small meniscus tear, and I went running on it. Is that how they say it? and then I always wind up re-injuring it partially, I need to know about it. went down to panama on two separate occasions to work with Dr. Neil Reardon So they put exosomes Well, that is crazy. They just repair them? My wife competed at the CrossFit Games four months after ACL replacement.

1:07:48 Understood. So November, December, January, February. When I met her, she was a... There you go. What is that? She fought. I don't know if you saw that picture that I posted from my last kickboxing fight. I tore my MCL last year completely. She's in it five hours a day. and just through the pain. Right. Oh, you don't want to scare me. Like, you can start training.

1:11:34 What does that mean? Yeah. happens can you so it was on top of the bone so the mcl is um the outside or is that the lcl inside Yeah, right on the top, he said. Yeah. You don't know. three different combat sports last year it hasn't bothered me i was i was running doing full sprints See how you feel type of thing. He told me, he's like, there's nothing you can

1:14:45 I just ate a lot of maca powder. I'll also say that you get a lot of bad reps with CrossFit. There's bad taekwondo. That's pretty crazy and pretty fortunate, right? Do you do sauna work at all? works and getting your body hot and, you know, getting your body cool and, and, and manipulating But it's that reduction of inflammation. that are talking good about it the ones that that are selling it, they're talking about

1:18:00 The more that you can do You know, we don't get tired in fights. Right. There's nobody that holds pads. won't drop a pound I don't First and it's very difficult for me as a coach to put myself first And then I'll eat. I'm telling you. But that doesn't make any sense. I'm telling you. I would need time for that. Well, is this on TV? Oh, what a dick kick.

1:21:36 100%. and I just don't make time for myself. gym membership gym memberships? I don't. that when I advise him this is a good fight for you this is a bad fight for you this it can't be It is one of the most respected And then I had to get a real job when my wife got pregnant. It's a weird word, right? Yeah, I was on the presidential protection detail for Aristide in Haiti.

1:24:51 wasn't paying when I was fighting my wife got pregnant my son's 21 I think I made 500 bucks and go and even good ones like look with mma gyms we lost the black zillions that's gone um i don't Now they're at the, what do they call it? No, no. And I was being paid to protect people that could afford it but maybe didn't deserve it for a very long time.

1:26:54 Yeah, yeah. And this is why I feel that our gym model is successful is because tonight at 530 during a boxing class, my professional fighters are going to be in class with everyone else. family gym. It's a huge family environment. They're still going to support. Right. So other than Jon Sinan, name a Thai coach that's coaching high-level fighters Thai boxing.

1:29:49 I learned how to work with the judges. There's boxing judges out there. And like I said, we started out one location. Jujitsu schools, that's the number. They find out that Krav isn't for them. That's it. Real Muay Thai. i did once teach krav maga to the Bolivian Secret Service. Some narco shit. What is going on? and like paying. They're robbing them.

1:33:10 I think that's amazing. I mean, this is my son. so you know do you have dorms you got a bunch of weird dudes Like Diego Llamas, glory kickboxing fighter. They were talking a little bit. Yeah. It's not that simple. No to the bottom better fighter fighter and you couldn't have helped them. No, to me, like, like, so right now, I think Alexis won that fight.

1:35:00 she's, So for me, the game plan was very simple, very specific. didn't happen i can sit back and be mad at the fighter, one of the things that drives me nuts They're not conditioning their shin, and they're hurting themselves. don't condition their shins properly that's why i've talked to people about it and so for me you're you're not conditioned in your leg,

1:37:07 That didn't help? Literally, if you check properly, you're – Progressive, dense contact. do you know what kind of liner do you use to fill up with sand so it's a standard uses so you can And then you build from there. It's like throwing kicks on something and hardening your shins up. But you use that sandbag a lot? It's amazing how much that low calf kick has made its way into MMA

1:40:02 Yeah. But it works. People would scream at you. and go behind the armpit. Real close fight. Holy shit. Big frame. Like, everything. but he's so long, Mike Connell's no joke. Again, I'm known as a Muay Thai coach, but the best Muay Thai strikers, you know, But on the guy side, you look at the two best Muay Thai guys ever. Because he's always worried about the takedowns. Exactly.

1:43:32 And Roundtree's a bad motherfucker. He was going through a little phase that I didn't pick up on in camp. Like I said, I was going through a lot at that time. of MMA. When that elbow hit his jaw, you're like, here it is. That can't get better. The force of their punch. Let me see that one more time. In my opinion, that's the best way to land it. That's the best way to land it when they're coming in.

1:45:55 Oh, my goodness. And amateur tournaments now, like in California, you cannot throw a spinning elbow until after your fourth amateur fight because of him. Like if you see, like John has thrown it, like John Jones throws it, but he hits the forearms because he throws it horizontally. So I'll throw it either way. I'll go either way. not just because he dedicated himself to it,

1:47:25 He wasn't like a guy who was throwing a lot of technical stuff and setting things up. Right? His name is Brandon – I forget his last name. You got to let it go, man. Should be an insured dog. Absolutely. he wasn't, there's something to that. And like Kieran was saying, I come from a background where a five-round Muay Thai fight is different. thai guys because again i'll make like zoila i'll make gaston i have these guys fight when we tie

1:50:12 are going to give you trouble is probably one of the He's a monster. Oh myma fight he's a monster oh my And if you have that sort of slow first-round tie style, There it is. The range is so beautiful to watch. and the thought process behind it is nonsense. if you threw in leg kicks and punches and takedowns and all those other things. But that skill that these guys have of being able to touch each other first.

1:52:48 but we'll also adapt our striking for MMA. Most Thai coaches aren't going to go out of their way to learn the sport of MMA to become an effective MMA striker. That was a planned counter. to MMA yet. And that's, you know, you'll get that a lot with people like Jermaine. Yeah. But why did she decide to not fight Cyborg? So, you know, when I met met her she was she was oh and one she was like the most dominant female kickboxer of all time she's knocked out a dude yeah uh

1:55:15 And her and Miriam never really got along. And for whatever reason, whoever was advising her at the time, I think she should have taken that fight. She said she need to get surgery in her thumb, right? I think that – I definitely think that that's got to be in somebody's head. I said yes, we'll do it. It's not going to go well. Since she beat Holly.

1:57:18 It just wasn't a good fit for the gym for her and I. And so she obviously diets down, gets in the like 170-pound range, diets down a little bit more, gets in the 165-pound range, and then begins the dehydration process. it's a recommendation. No, but there's a They'll show you what they got into. with catching people, doing steroids. but the problem is you you wake up at eight o'clock in the morning you only have two hours

2:00:03 I just think that give them all the and it's cheating at a much higher scale even than PEDs. If you get two people and they both weigh 135, but they're both totally hydrated, They're compromised. but you haven't fixed the fucking judging is goddamn crazy it's crazy it i i just throw my in their life and they're judging these fights. an unlimited supply of people who are martial arts experts,

2:02:58 And they debate whether or not Sohudo should have won round two Tell me what you think. When is a guy just laying on top to breathe If you don't, you have no fucking business costs you $50,000 by not knowing judges. Glory's been doing that. You have a much greater chance of getting it sense we should have five have five judges glory's been doing that

2:04:49 It's what I get the most, the discussions for Muay Thai. Well, it depends. And, you know, these guys were like, and sometimes it would be foreigners, The body kick should not be worth more than a punch to the mouth. Hard shots. Yeah. I always smile when I see her. it's my opinion And that's all she could see. what are you gonna do yeah unreal yeah it's unfortunate and it's it's it's not this the

2:07:33 I said, no, I haven't. You're just taking it. It isn't legal in Muay Thai either from the clinch when you're going 12 to 6. It's like, this doesn't count because when you're in the air, digital becomes analog. that performance on that she just run through girls like scary and that 12 to 6 elbow uh it's He never fought again. Like, he punched his eyeball through the back of his head where the orbital, you know, there's a hole, right, where the eyeball sits.

2:09:57 Think about that shit. How is that? I've seen. It was the first ever Do you want to take a chance and risk getting knocked out? That shit was perfect That was a badass fight chidi is doing uh i think he might be in that tournament. Is he? Is he? Oh, good lord. Musashi's fighting 170? This is really strange. And Lorenz Larkin's still in the mix, too.

2:12:57 And Korshkov, man, look. He's got to be one of the bigger weight cutters in the sport, right? And then you got Paul Daly, who literally can stop anybody. Very interesting, right? of the UFC when it was the wild west in two months, I think they came, what, four times? replacement at one point in time before my time i believe so well he was Shoulder surgery and knee surgery.

2:15:49 And he's just so controlled and so quick. No. Yeah. The chance of injury is through the roof. And I just stop and I'm like, I just raised my hand and I'm like, that would have been it. Some people. I don't agree with it. Those guys are animals. Interesting. the cage because you're so wound up and tight. gym all the time coming from a hard sparring background and they are missing weapons they

2:19:18 work out for at least one of the use fakes and feints, movement, and being defensively sound. it's anger whether it was the last fight whether it was game plan lack of coaching what whatever it Because I think he's a very talented guy, Come on over here, kid. So going forward with your camp and with your career, Yeah, I know. Oh, absolutely. Apparently he likes guns. Yeah does he does yeah he does there's such a such an

2:22:39 both that can take a kid like gaston and can walk him through the positions, the right choices, the wrong choices, in the moment while he's doing it and he's done two Muay Thai fights at a pro level now. um you know just pro muay thai and he's done well yeah Dustin lost two in a row. He's about to get cut. it was like a 45 degree uh head kick well well dustin's flexibility isn't that great so that's

2:24:12 You know what? southpaw didn't dustin do some work with that sand dune stepper he does all the time all the time he I've never used it. And he does upper body, too. He didn't even call me. It was before the Makovsky fight. He showed up about my gym, Dustin showed up one day. He didn't even call me. When he was with Duke. So we trained him for it. Wow.

2:26:15 So I went up there with him. He's a 125er. It happened when Chris Wyiden beat Anderson Silva. It's just such a hard weight class None. Right. I didn't talk last time i want as far as long as i can so i just go solely into mma but yeah man i'm having fun i love if I can do MMA Instagram you gentlemen thank you thank you so