Joe Rogan Experience #10125 — Aljamain Sterling Transcript

Transcript

0:00 The Joe Rogan Experience. After all that shit you had to take from people for so long. It was kind of a mind fuck a little bit because it was a split decision, You got it. Yeah, that was a weird split decision i mean it was a very good fight but you definitely won the fight i watched it again today actually i haven't It's a great fight. spikes me on my head

2:33 from like the crown and then each year help all these other things so over the years it got progressively worse. I have MRIs dating back from, I think, 2014 when I had my UFC debut. And thankfully, he pulled out, gave me some time to do some PT at the UFC PI. jumps on my neck in a guillotine cranks my neck on a flow roll to warm up it's because now they're rushing me to get back.

5:00 And I was like, dude, if I was suspended, if that was a legal shot, I would have been suspended. And when we're at the house, I kind of want to just go to bed. You know and had been following my career for so long to come out and want to hang I didn't know there was a certain way you're supposed to act. was it bulging at this point or had it deteriorated to the point where it's bone on bone like where

8:26 It's like he has nothing there. So that could have been me. Yeah. So we're like blood brothers. Well, that was crazy. because I think he did a phenomenal job from what I know. that what you're saying just about everything everything like a lot quicker like like physically Do you have an image of what it looks like now? It's like everybody has something eventually,

11:42 But, yeah, man, it was just a crazy process like just to get you know, I'm not trying to offend anybody, I'm like, dude, it's my neck we're talking about. oh yeah, Because it feels like the joint, Yeah. Wow. Got Shake Shack after I needed that. Go back to the other picture, Got my Shake Shack. Is that right after you had it done? Yeah. Like, just the service sometimes is, yeah.

13:47 Yeah. Yeah. I know. In 20 years, you're 70. Yeah Jiu-jitsu or wrestling or anything like that I still sleep bad. I'll fall asleep anywhere. I'm spent. That was one of the things that I was so impressed with, So although I was in Vegas, so it was three hours earlier than the East Coast, We're talking about these little itty-bitty pancakes problem before until this one i i think it just went over my head and i didn't calculate everything

18:05 ooh, I dodged a bullet kind of thing. So, I mean, for what it is, Because he's probably thinking, oh, this guy has no power on his punches. into mount like i know you haven't watched the fight too many times i slid into i slid in there like those dms you know oh my goodness Yeah, and Pahumpa in his corner was like, roles and i get a dominant position or i get to the back after just getting the back and you're

20:19 Who had this triangle from hell. You're like, what the fuck? Here's Paul Sass. It's kind of like Paul Craig. I thought I was going to get it against Cody Stamen in the first round But then I try to do like a bolt lock on the other side. And when you see you finish him like that in the first round, Cody Stamen, yeah. That's a terrifying position I got but then after that in the practice, I was getting it a lot more.

23:25 Yeah, I guess so. For sure. And there was a headbutt in that sequence too that split his forehead open. That or transition and cut the angle because once you cut the angle, Yeah. I was actually shocked. See right there? Like, Arona at one point in time was in contention. But they died rolled it over. He just like like nothing happened. Yeah, like I mean immediately

26:28 RIP. I forget what it was. Oh, that's insane. You got to vote. I mean, it's an apple-sized hole under his armpit. Well, I just think he let it go. And he's like, what is going on with your wife? really like dude it does marinate I use defense soap. but it kills all the nasty shit. and this is Josh's own stuff. So I'm just trying to look into the details.

30:04 Because when I'm training, I don't do do that so I kind of just unhinge too so hopefully it's something that we can really it's got to have something to do with funk we're And there's like a smoothness to that old stuff that's just so different. I love Brendan, but I hate the name of his whiskey And you're like, why the fuck would you drink moonshine?

32:37 What is it? What I wanted to try was that scotch that you had, too. We were talking, and he goes, I drink scotch now because whenever I would do business and And I was like, you know what? other than that Josh is my friend, but this is fucking fantastic. Those are barrels. It looks like it started with a fire. It looks like this was Jim Beam is what it said,

34:26 That must be millions. So that was the first day. The whiskey or the bourbon got into the waterways. Even that, I'm just like how you age something for like It's an old ass company. I mean they're all great but they're the same like what about this one and what Okay. Because we got cases of it. Didn't you want i'll give you a bottle if you could take it with you okay because we got cases of it didn't one barrel make like 80 180 bottles i think see

37:18 Exactly. were going to buy that whiskey in 2030. I bet you're right. So 12 years of a barrel sitting there. Oh, I just saw this one. A 60-year-old bottle. spend $1.9 million? That's not 160 years ago Simply, and they just let it sit in the bottle. Sotheby's is it isn't that where that movie that we were talking we talked started selling fake wine oh he was also selling fake bourbon too oh rudy kern kernia one um

41:14 And he's like, what are you talking about? I mean, it's easy for him saying i'm like whoa but it just shows you how those dorks that are willing to pay a million What do you guess it is? I don't know what the fuck kind of dinner party. Shit, I had a Red Penny night on April 9th, I'll tell you that. What do you guys want from me? Wow. That's crazy Yeah, that kind of makes sense.

43:49 It's a really nice place. handed the verdict to the judge oh my god crank it up crank it up oh my god the johnny depp verdict You should do it. I think I did one we had a good time I mean, this could be this occasion. Just a little bit. sort of reinvented himself as this Cejudo? And I go, tell him let's do an interview. So we ended up getting to his house.

47:13 For people who don't know what we're talking about, Olympic gold medalist in wrestling, two-division world champion in MMA, straight-up killer. Close-ass fight. But he won. But he was stopped. Arguably. But yeah, close ass fight. But he does, when he promotes fights, like he allows himself to make, he gets so ridiculous and so cringy that you have Yeah.

48:57 Dude, the way he fucked up Dominick Cruz, I was like, Jesus Christ. He's good, man. keeping attention that we had to go through or still going through. money the big money is in that guy is it i think so i think he's the guy that the mf mma fans are going to want to watch see if he can come back in that division who else it's like tj and him tj and

51:03 So he means, like, once he's in the UFC. Yeah, pretty much. He hasn't lost It hasn't lost a fight. That's a long ass time ago that Dominic Cruz was fighting for the WEC title and he's still really good. Those are my favorite guys. If a fighter is upset, I can understand if you want to talk about a stoppage So when Herb Dean calls a fight or doesn't call a fight, he's as good as gets like you telling me that all like he knows when a fighters in trouble and when they're not

53:25 One was a draw, right? Let's Google that. I think. Yeah. Gray was an awesome boxer, too. And this is way back in 2011. Remember when Meldrick Taylor fought Julio Cesar Chavez? And there was like a couple seconds left to go for the fight. the first one they fought and he stopped him with like just a couple of seconds to go and from that one Sometimes it's just the right time in your career to get somebody, man.

57:01 Like, when do you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Pretty good scout to have at his age. He was like an artist. spar you know it's got to be rough there's some people that could pull it off like bernard hopkins didn't do things just through athleticism he did things through like perfect technique excellent but then Bernard beat him later, when they fought later.

59:52 Like people forget. It's giant as opposed to his right Yamasaki. It's like it's a crazy-ass job. They stop the fight. Yeah. back doing a ton of um media so i didn't get to see just highlights did you ever watch it afterwards Yeah. like fight night because your muscle is composed Yoel Romero cuts crazy weight, you know. fighting into their older age he's in his 40s and he's fucking people up he just like yoel still terrifying

1:04:03 He understands, like, all the stuff that he's talking That's crazy. They go, no, no, no, you don't understand. And he goes, and his bone's already healing. be minding his p's and q's when yoel's swinging at you that guy's fast people were pissed off at That's why it was that way. Fuck that risk with that guy. The guy he fought did not look bad and could be champion like arguably should the same way that Glover

1:07:39 he's that good still Yeah. Like some people will score a round for one guy. I can see why you may score for Sterling. but Elva Leight, he's been kind of bad. What are we calling that? of the round like most of the round for almost four minutes that's a lot like what do we talk what do we call in that like that that guy's super close to It should be.

1:09:42 Like do we have to use a point system? yeah you could just decide i go with that i like a guy who wrestles i go with that i like a guy say you transition into mount and then the guy explodes and escapes and that's a big moment like strikes not even not strikes just like yeah damage i guess that's the overall sum of just everything someone who's like if i take you down i won if i slammed you and nothing else happens i think i won

1:12:38 I could just go, nah, I feel like what he did was way more impactful for the fight. So I would look at it more like that. could survive that for a couple minutes sometimes and nothing happens so that even though the it's a special it's a special sport i just think maybe because everything is so subjective it kind kind of like the kids just, you know,

1:15:08 hitting i don't know it's a it's weird is i think it just comes down to what you look at but then i Like that is, you're still getting hurt. not i don't want to say safe i mean it's a fighting like it's not a safe sport to begin with minutes and minutes and minutes peter ertz knocks that guy out ernesto hoose knocks this guy like holy shit there's so many

1:18:01 I mean, maybe it's not the— Those days of Bob Sapp were incredible. It was never the same after that. know sometimes those fans that complain and go oh they just rustle the whole time like well why they're just guys you you need to understand what's happening here. Yeah. yeah i just appreciate fighting it's just for me it's kind of like an art man so

1:21:25 And I feel like every time you step in there, sometimes you get a different emotion that day. it's not to his his um it's not his fault but a guy like that who can what i'm trying to get at I have to excel and, and get this w by no Do you work with a psychologist or anything? i feel one you're mentally weak and you could possibly be broken I go through anxiety

1:24:10 I'm like, I analyze my opponents. I don't know. Is that the kind of thing you do i i mean i would but i've never like actually said anything like I guess my message when I'm doing like, doing the stuff that I do, I started thinking about this. That's an honest assessment i agree because i've had people tell me that even though they think I'm mentally tough,

1:26:42 You could learn karate from a bad instructor and you don't know what the fuck you're doing. Because coaching and just understanding psychology and being able to frame things in your mind, and you're ready to rock and roll. yeah it's a it's a very interesting thing like just the whole approach everything man i that's And I want to be able to have longevity in my life post-fighting

1:28:55 helped pave the way for us and and i i look at them as examples of how to do what they did but Those guys from the very early days are still around. champion when he beat Dan Severin and we got him in like that scarf hold headlock The rules and the talent and seeing how things evolve, how strategy evolved. But then Lin-Manuel said he didn't tap. I'm pretty sure Big John McCarthy was a referee.

1:31:42 it's like a one round fight that was That was against Figueredo, right? That's such a good movie. That shit scares me. subject but even like when you spoke to shab and you kind of like politely told him what he pretty in order for you to take that at whatever they're saying. It was so silly. You know, like there's levels, right? And then it gets to the point where you get hit with shots and your body doesn't respond that well

1:35:00 yeah it's just like your brain protects you from the impact after a while there's not another sport like the ufc where you can go back to 1993 and it's almost unrecognizable in comparison to 2022. and the reflexes, the speed, the power, and the fight IQ. and blending that in for catch wrestling It was just like that. so most of the shots i took were literally all in the ufc so like it's a cumulative damage in those

1:38:29 Yeah. And the sport is just continuing to grow and expand. Because if you really stop and think about it, any one of the guys is at the very top. eight champions or former champions in our weight class. That is so crazy. Yeah. like that but you got myself you got Jan Dillashaw Aldo Marlon Vera you got Cruz He's an animal, man. This guy will do anything for anybody on the team.

1:40:57 I was like, oh, my God. Weight because he looks so big things anxiety you think that's what it is. Yeah to fade like in the suhudo fight and i've always wondered like is he cutting too much weight there when garbrandt was there. Has anyone ever said anything to you in the corner that made you change the way you thought and really fired you up? That would actually, I think that would be a good series.

1:43:16 Yeah. And I think his birthday just passed. It was a wild experience, man. bit like being much on the body but he cares you know about his guys and that's why it's so cool Tres. he fought for the title. He goes, yeah. Oh, my God. marab you know what i mean so it's like yeah well when he ko'd anderson silva and everybody was like Yeah, and Weidman's jiu-jitsu is solid as fuck.

1:47:00 He moves offline and then he comes back in the other direction And I maintain that Weidman, during this time period when he was a champion, was one of He said that one was way worse for him in terms of the post-after effects. I had never seen a ninja jump at me like that in a room, ever. fuck is going on and he's a lot bigger than me i mean although it's only 45 but i didn't realize

1:48:54 I don't know if it's true or not, so don't condemn me. I mean hyper extended in the training room cuz he won't tap and then I try to I open my eyes, and everything was just blurry. I mean, I wasn't out, but I was out. I didn't know who the hell this guy was. than I did kickboxing with him, and I'm good at kicking but i couldn't kick this this guy was just

1:51:17 Yeah. yeah but what is your choice? definitely would be, right? I mean, for a title defense, I would think you would want to do that fighter that you feel like you definitely would be, right? Because that's fucking stupid. yon fight the first one, And that's why I was confident going into that one, you know? Like, TJ's leg got mangled when he was in that.

1:53:52 Was that first? possible to a fucking elite guy elite guy like sanhagen he's elite he's really good the way he like, that is, I know how hard that is to do. like a way of like booting me out they I think they were really trying to make a and how good the guy you fought was. myself so when you you know your fight was how many months away now it was like Pause. But that's it. Good thing I caught myself.

1:56:43 like it just I know we talked last time, would want to see like an introduction to all the positions in BJJ like um basic um positions like a and just give my knowledge back to the sport. doing too much too much of this actually i'll take you away 170 what you want more yeah you Just the programs I've been doing since I've been an amateur. So I could break down my fights and give that out so you can see step by step

2:00:02 You know what I mean? where I feel like I can finish most of these fights. like Dana life stuff for me. to talk about the news if you want to talk about foot locks whatever the fuck Don't do it. So you can just talk about stuff. Those kind of like conversations are valuable. You know, a lot of them go into commentary. Like you kind of tend to resonate with someone's style a little bit more.

2:03:31 without the pressure of in real time needing to talk about Yeah, I might not be able to talk but I might see some shit going down Yeah, but we have a shit ton of fun. Now you're the champ. I feel good. I know Dana doesn't think I won the fight. I'm like, what? and you can't touch me, but I'm controlling you and dictating where the fight goes. I don't see how you can score that.

2:06:23 General membership. know and the same MMA fighter has four with the same two hands these judges Does it feel like a 10-8 now? I didn't know that happened in the UFC. See if you can find that, because it's kind of fucking amazing. but I think it's valid. triangle so here it is he's got body triangle and all he's do is just crushing his back see that

2:08:50 Salivary's got the dopest rooster tattooed on the side of his body. Well, if you get to that position where you're like a Gordon Ryan-type character, It seems legit. It's not just up here in your lungs. Watch that. Not like striking. But I lock it up just like mind fuck to everybody. You finished him so perfectly. fought Efrain Escudera. And when justice situation for you is

2:13:07 just how I would have liked that finish to have gone. That's different. and as he was blacking him out I mean, in the real world, I guess he woke up first. You remember that? up and they clamps this on you. What I'm Oh yeah. Toby Amada. That's wild. yeah Let us have some fun. Yeah, I don't get it. So Matt Hughes is unconscious there. I'm an American in 2022.

2:17:37 And he fucking won. He's one of the pioneers of that wrestler who's also a submission artist. That's pretty high level, man. That's very high level. Look at his arms. It's just the craziest shit ever. It reminds me like Condit and I miss Dan Hardy on the mic. one of the ones it's a hard prediction and even if they fought and you don't know about certain aspects of

2:20:17 of people talking shit online and then win? Even my hotel, I'm like, you guys didn't want to give me a day last year? From what I understand, I'm new at this. no, this is what we're going to give you. I think that's – oh, man, what was that? and wyman were like two refs both on both sides that's how close we were i was like oh damn we of fighting like help them get established in terms of podcasting media or branding whatever

2:22:58 The more you pump them up, the better it is for everybody. at a four fight deal if i finish in spectacular fashion the next four guys like case point let's say short on molly keep you at the cheapest cost that I can. So I like X more. And I think it's very fair. about that canelo fight it's only because of how big Usman's profile is now. obviously I was being denied a title shot for whatever backstory

2:26:26 as compared to the gold that was in front of them. Do you think it's like that some companies, not even just the UFC I promote myself do you think it's like that they some companies not even just the UFC goddamn time but sometimes people don't see things that way and I think that it it's a probably an underutilized research It's not like the UFC. If you make it into the UFC, at don't get paid any. It's terrible. It's not like the UFC.

2:28:24 In New York. So that's 20 gone. So $16,000, I pay them 5%, 5%. I didn't have anything because it was like, it didn't make any sense to pay for that if I wasn't Yeah. I felt good for Romero. appeared that he hurt his hand or something in the fifth round oh well he I mean, they probably know I know what I'm talking about. know he he figured out how to get people more excited about talking about him, but be better defensively.

2:32:32 who's fought top of the crop best fighters guys like canelo guys like ricky hatton when he was about you sitting in the corner Oh, I'm sorry. Again, Radio Raheem said it was packed, and he said there was a lot of crazy violence, too. The fact that he can sell out that place pay-per-view? They don't tell you? Usually somewhere in the $200,000 range People are realizing

2:35:13 It was sensational. Watch. They're all amazing. And he just knew. So he's a superstar, and he's a guy who delivers, right? almost like back jabbing yeah and i was kind of like i feel like the way he's mechanically I don't think he's—I think it's a probe. Because it's almost like Mighty Mouse. and he's gone like he's fighting but some guys pounds at 30 is big.

2:38:56 Guys are just... Every Deontay You see the memes with Anthony Joshua Okay. Someone does those. It's hilarious. Like, ching, ching. Oh, Tyron Woodley. They're too good. Did that surprise the shit out of you? I think he got injured. Yeah, I don't know if I would want to... I go, I don't even think it's possible for you to get hit like that face plant cold with without protecting your face if you can if there's trying

2:42:24 my teammates hip um one of we were fighting for the same weight class and uh marco cara Shit, man, I already got two. Well, technically three from wrestling. A shot into my teammate's hip. I was like, oh, this is crazy. But how do you stop that from happening? Not even anxiety. well, so. I think it's, I might be fucking this up, That's it? the Alzheimer's-like disease associated with repeated hits to the head.

2:45:30 Our grandparents? I only knew my grandparents on my mother's side, moved to New York when I moved first moved there from Boston in like 91 and I was staying with my parents And I remember thinking, you know, So live it up, bitch. doesn't talk to nobody he's just super dialed in super focused and I think he's an income for my life so it's like how do you balance that out um and i have to try to i battle with that

2:49:41 how much for this or can you come here and just do this? you can say yes to everybody, and you're probably already long past that. And could you be on my that? And he starts talking about I was going to be off social media. If you call me and I don't answer, don't take it personally. or making money outside of fighting in terms of like sponsorship and things

2:51:48 It is. Right? Like, what are you doing? There's no time. I still struggle with sleep, but I've gotten better where i'm sleeping before two And that's it. get I get it cuz I'm like I don't see myself in that light but you probably It's just you don't get used to being around famous people like, stay calm, stay cool, stay cool. Like just be a regular person.

2:55:15 Sometimes I'll see people, if I bring my friends out and they'll see somebody and they'll be like, Why this guy puts his pants on the same way we do. Just all of a sudden you're standing in front of Michael Jordan. like he's a nice guy like be cool like obviously i just won the fight so i'm on adrenaline high Yeah. Maybe he just got lucky. It just depends on how soon everything happens.

2:58:16 and just talk about whatever the fuck you want, you yeah and you can develop something that just like shaab has done where when you leave you have an hour once a week that you could do a podcast. Because it's not really just one hour. This is during a training day. You're fighting for almost half an hour, bro. think and i it's it's tough it's just not easy well also you have to avoid being injured is

3:01:37 Oh, yeah, 100%. like nah I'm not gonna fight an injury really struggle so hard it's a shitty injury When you watch the impact of that The everyday person, I don't know if they know what that feels like in high speed. Like right there. Yeah. I still maintain that Ben Askren was prime time Ben Askren. him, though. Ragdoll him. Ragdoll him. What does that say? I still maintain that Ben Askren was primetime Ben Askren. Yes, 100%.

3:04:05 Yeah, and his hip. Yeah. That fight goes maybe a completely different way. He was like That spot is a terrible spot. it doesn't feel good. Like a super fight like that? But actually being able to say that out loud, it's like. Even though I did feel like I was a champ when I beat Sanhagen. But I felt like the champ for a while and I felt like I just had a shitty defense.

3:07:02 exhausted and just three two crack me right down the pipe no head movement nothing i'm like dude i took my looks like a man everything was i felt like the ufc would have been really pissed i mean who wouldn't be obviously you So just so people understand that. So for me to say I'm having issues with money, like it's not issue. over a year oh you weren't really the champ. You weren't really the champ.

3:09:39 Ta! So you got a lot of options except he's a little bit more brash about it. and uh i think his feints are what really does him well especially having that that length and You can't have all those things. Jan's style is very interesting to me because he's one of the rare guys that fights and moves forward with his hands like way up here. One part that did scare me, though, he did something different in that.

3:12:16 and come back with another southpaw, reset the position um to make sure I was still in the driver's seat of that fight because that What if they came to you with a rematch? It's like a sour relationship at this point. and it's definitive, I think Dana layout, what they Yeah. But the fights and the results are how the fight. Like, come the fuck on, man.

3:15:43 That was... I was like, but you both didn't really do anything. So who gets the belt? Yeah. At least that was written in the contract before the fight. motivation or incentive. wrong. 30-27 one way, 30-27 the other way. It doesn't make any sense. time that's all you can ask for but occasionally some of them are so egregiously wrong 30 27 one Do we both fight for a vacant belt?

3:18:24 Oh, yeah. Yeah, Ioana and Wei Li are fighting next. Yeah. It's a great fight. That's crazy. Did you see the clip of him yelling in the wilderness or somewhere? Yeah. that he should have got the decision over Jon Jones in that fight. that's a friend of mine so I was happy he won I was like oh shit it's close fight but glad he got And I go, nah, Jon Jones won that round.

3:21:07 But that's interesting about John's career is because when he's challenged, that's when he's at his very best. I mean, it's hard to tell you almost want to rise to the occasion I'm interested to see what happens at heavyweight. I think he tore a couple things. Who knows? I would rather watch that. Well, Al Jermaine, let's wrap 27th. Yeah. Or April 17th, rather. Yeah. Who knows?

3:22:38 The troll master. I talk a lot of shit on the tweeter. It's horrible because you're dying, Appreciate you.