Joe Rogan Experience #826 — Justin Wren Transcript

Transcript

0:00 Two one and we're live Justin Wren. How are you sir? I'm great. What's going on brother? got back into fighting and only had a little bit of time to train but it was it was uh it was okay but how much time did you have before your first fight um i think actually whenever i there i found out they were moving the fight up on me three weeks um and so it cut my camp down to

2:13 Jesus. 103.2. is because their team whenever i got into congo they told me i had the flu in london um the doctor's there and that's don't have the flu you have malaria and i'm like but i i've been i've been in the states i just Then I went to Congo Yeah, it's nuts. Oh, my God. No, I'm pasty white and I get real sun sensitive. Yeah, it's just the medication.

6:43 I'm not giving it to my six-year-old. Tanzania has malaria as well, right? and you go, I don't know, same continent. Yeah. either sandy or the clayish um or silty soil that's real red in uganda man it just wreaks But whenever your whole foot or your whole heel or all the balls of your feet are just covered in... Strange, but man, the people are, are beautiful in their hearts.

9:20 without being there, I think, right? i said about the corruption. And I can't leave now. if you don't, you lose that five-year visa. And so whenever I left with my wife, literally, um, had to go for three weeks is what happened because i had like a week notice i just took off went it's You know, they're always right. So from the outside, when you're visiting them, do they think somehow or another that you're wealthy and that they can take advantage of you?

13:12 I probably shouldn't give that up on the internet. Um, And a lot of the NGOs are like they have quotas and everything else and they have just a huge budget and they got to spend it and they got to meet those quotas and everything else, and they have just a huge budget, and they've got to spend it, and they've got to meet those quotas. Yeah, really common.

14:41 So they told you to get malaria? Like you can feel your pulse. Yeah, you really do. It's scary. Yeah, for sure. it is because, uh, I was 13 years old and I had just gotten, so, well, two things. corsages or fake flowers that they put real big up top and then they are streamers with literal And, uh, how am I just hearing about this? Oh my God. And more than mum the bigger the mum the better

19:45 and so uh is there any other state find out if other states accept that i literally oklahoma Like a garter? Oh, God. That's so crazy. That is hilarious. homecoming game with me she She said yes to my surprise, her name's Jessica. puts her arm around his and he grabs the streamer that says uh justin and And I would say, you know, the thing that probably saved me was my parents didn't own a gun.

23:23 Dad's great too. me and she's the one wanting to push me out there um so i guess i don't even know what i was saying pictures with some of the kids afterwards and stuff and I walk out to leave and I'm in the and she was saying that he had never opened up with her and uh in the last two years but she And so, you know, as I say that in the first story, wasn't it?

26:10 I got to invite one of the real invitations in my hands and, on the invitation, 12 packs around the arms, legs, boots. I had, I had a chest plate, I had a sword out of a cardboard, cool enough to come to my party. And I was the only one that was dressed up. Everybody else had get to this like used video shop and it's got ufc vhs i think it was 2 through 10 or 10 2 through

29:06 But to have her say that to you, like, I can't believe you thought you were cool enough to come to my party. it. And I just was able to open it, sit there and just cried basically until, uh, someone came out affect you instead of just shrugging it off. I don't know. And then, I mean, I think that might've been what took me back the most because i was like man like this is if you're sitting by that this is what i try to tell some of the kiddos growing up now it's like

32:05 it was uh i think that's what hurt the most we'll see so there's two giant instances the one with But the bullying is what caused all these suicidal thoughts. And I just remember the looks on several people's faces, just so baffled. like no never hurt why would anyone if you hurt yourself you're only hurt like that's only hurting And the only thing that made it better was you going to the Congo and helping

35:50 Hospital and taking the grudge guys through there. And I think like Rashad and Dwayne and And then after they got to know me, I'm like, hey, can we do a team visit? but some of the other big major league sports, becomes enjoyment because you love it and you're passionate about it and so i mean whenever you're these religious people these different skin colors colors. And I forget how,

38:13 Did you, around downtown fort worth and he's like why don't we go out here whatever i'm like all right i'll go sense any feeling of remorse from them or did they just want to be friends with you one or two of really trippy. John Travolta She winds up killing everybody. been abused themselves they want to lash out they They're angry and hurt. But oftentimes it's just they find someone who's vulnerable.

41:15 it's constantly so i could at least escape it from i don't know eight to three eight to three over the edge in a way no excuse they should not ever do anything like that but um for me it's like man they they it was never fucked up if you were involved with the wrong people at that time and someone had a gun and sudden they're bringing out uh what are those the big big black cats or those m80s or something like

43:51 and just light it with it in it's mouth when that happened i was like okay i need to i need to change the that was a group of like five it's one of the worst aspects of human beings that they could plan something like that and do that and just try to ruin someone's life just for sport, like i look at it and it's it was loretta while we're writing the book she's like do you not see

45:46 he's selling eggs he make you know nothing but he'll never be able to go to school probably and The kid this is an adult understands that this kind of thing and um i don't even know a woman that except for i mean i just love somebody you feel more loved. Like pecking order with chickens. the video cut it down to like three minutes it's like 12 but i think it's called the battle at

49:24 standing by like you're encouraging it or if you're standing by like you're encouraging it or the bully you address the person that's getting bullied so it seems like the people that are realized what a cape buffalo could actually do to them man that's so terrible you know cape buffalo let's take it back and so we put that in the back of the truck all of a sudden we're driving and uh

52:11 Yeah, they can kill them where it's, a lot of times it's literally the life in prison sentence for certain ones. They just went and killed them all. the rhino thing is insane and Cialis and all these different like the same substance as like a fingernail or toenail yeah it is exactly that's exactly what it I was reading that even though it might not necessarily be real or really work but it's such an uh ancient

55:32 Maybe it does something. Your fingernails doesn't. Is it from China's Google? first, but just a long article a good good little tip i just learned yeah if you're not really this isn't life dependent this Tomography? by the sun and typical rhino activities bashing horns with other animals rubbing on the ground Like we do with chickens and stuff. strange reason it's just you know well it's like it's like uh it's like kind of with the trees um you know we we're getting

59:13 But then the people in the country, they're starting to, to, to learn and get educated yeah it's all just because of deforestation all chopping down for logging yeah fuck man i was in get that they have a cycle i get that was way taller than i was i look like a midget next to it or fuck man so yeah it's pretty crazy But a little bit better. I'm not getting burned not getting burned yeah so especially yeah you're really pale right

1:02:40 And then also the people that live in these areas where if they resist the loggers Maybe sort of my chance at kind of redemption or just not being the kid that I grew up being. You have this amazing pygmy family. Well, you're very humble. I don't even know. You're like, oh, you lost me. That's how they talk? So what are you saying when you're saying that?

1:05:25 Or we're just checking. When you're saying hikes, like, you're talking like recreational hikes? They think of some recreational activity with one of those little camel things, the little water things. word? Nalgene? Nalgene. Nalgene. How do you say it? I think it's Nalgene. What is that? Is this two times i went which was like uh about a month each and uh you switch to water bottles yeah and

1:07:29 Post it, Jimmy. they break pretty quick. Cause I don't know if they, So I'm filtering that stuff. but it's, Um, Yeah. Is this it right here? his name his buddy my name matt uh he was the director of implementation now he's like the something. And then all of a sudden they are looking at it, drinking it. It tastes good. I got a picture sent to me than I could be because I mean, maybe we have different resources where I get to, you know,

1:12:17 i mean those crowds those huge crowds are 30 40 50 100 000 different stuff and that little crowd of 100 120 like to me it drowns out the And what is, do you have an ultimate goal or would you just like to continue? all the other things that we argue or bicker about they're all it's all nonsense yeah absolutely to take care of yourself so you can take care of someone else like i get that right um i just think

1:15:45 a bow and arrow and I'm actually bringing that to you. It was under our crawl space and I lost it. There's a lot of people that listen to this that have gotten this far that want to figure out how they can help. man. uh, And so we've seen that they're so bought in that whenever we presented an idea of, what if we could start a sustainable solutions appropriate technology center

1:18:06 we want to have a little conference room where we can train people up on the wash program because Yeah. if there's any batteries different stuff like that in it um and so yeah we make sure and this is what's nuts so uh one of my last trips i went and we're here's someone else filling up and in between that i'm i'm at the toilets at the other side that water is really not safe.

1:21:05 It's not. A lot of people don't know like don't hear about ebola anymore it's like it's over it's like they moved on to zika zika zika Remember that when people were worried about that with HIV? fine. You got liver kicked? seeing that and being able to tell you that last time i was here 20 water wells or 25, but regardless we've, we've done 20 or 25 more.

1:24:45 their floor. I want them to, to go farther than I can go because then that means that I actually get this materialistic thing and get this different chick because she didn't make me Yeah. celebrate life, celebrate each other, celebrate, guess what? Our kids aren't gonna be sick anymore. Um, or just compare ourselves to people that are just like us.

1:27:46 But I mean, I started thinking and now I think it sounds cliche, but I'll say it anyways, where, man, like they've given me more of a gift than I can. And actually, if you could pull up a picture, it's called Kaptula. It's extremely emaciated. What's the root cause of tuberculosis? Hmm. Jesus Christ. Is that it? i i have many times slept in the huts whenever the fire's going but it just fills up with smoke

1:31:30 Of course. You know what a Kamado is? Yeah. So Bellator has embraced this narrative. this, I, it's you know the VCRs the VHS is still moving and the the I don't know the screen still lit up And it's like, oh, my goodness, like these guys. You know, watching it and seeing how everything, that had heavy hands lay down and maybe I could bribe I don't know. I mean, Dan's one of the few guys that have sort of developed it.

1:35:46 Crazy knockout brawler. It's what people rarely see big country. You never see him submit anybody Well, it's almost like when you, what is that called in wrestling? When you have so many points, it's a technical. The big country's got very good submissions. I think Jake Shields submitted Paul Daly. Yeah, man. I mean, how could you imagine that? And, um.

1:38:46 And, um, He got to actually come from Congo for my second fight. I couldn't even tell it's you. Yeah. that had wi-fi and uh they were able to skype with me the day of my first fight back and uh Yeah. do it in a circle, and supposedly they're earthquake-proof, tornado-proof, i went there because uh they call it quetzalcoatl that's an aztec god right

1:42:48 Yeah, to where it just kept coming through. i was like man that's something culturally sound yeah that is something that they would want to I think it's literally something like howt to drill your own well.org or something and it's this guy i stand and uh if if it's got the right mixture which i'm forgetting right now um it can be just as The only thing that we are is we try to be really protective of the pygmies.

1:46:10 and yeah, and you just do that enough for random people. I mean, you're certainly spreading it. called young men drillers and there are these guys that were you've heard of the lra and joseph help matt comes in to train us and to continue training with them and then they were going to he's waking up in night terrors where he is just screaming. in a different country in congo so they came and lived with the pygmies for three years or three

1:49:15 to the pygmies in Congo. No, they didn't the cab driver cab driver did and he bailed he was from Congo There's gold mines on both sides of them. were right one of our guys was thrown from the vehicle the car went rolled um and running away They, What else did they have? actually helping people in their country like people know him when he's walking around because

1:52:14 And was, oh, one of them, they opened up that solar pump. are named uh willie and turbo those are their their names from cameroon and uh actually that to rwanda to kenya to cameroon to um i think rwanda uganda and training up these other teams And so he pulled me away. And then when we came back later, I couldn't even bend my body like I think not funny.

1:55:39 well, he did something pretty incredible. me a little bit in mma at the beginning but then for my comeback fight and this last one he was in but it was, uh, they, it's an incredible stat. It's so 87 or 83 percent didn't know their goals 13 or 17 15% of the applicants. In the 1960s traditional definitions. They have an blah, Makes sense. for a few years um because now I found something that I could

1:58:49 I put it above my bed, about it, but see these guys obtaining their goals, their dreams, um, and writing them down. championship was with move on the right um and it was, it was nuts to see how all that works out. And looking back on this book and seeing like, man, you gotta write down and I need to update that strengths that our team has has had uh the 18, the 18 employees we have. Um, and at water for,

2:01:25 how we're going to get it done and man my my first time to write things down was one water well on incredible commitment well thanks it it's been a yeah it's been an awesome watch even even like garden and farm and all that stuff yeah especially at the university because they have a whole of watching him grow up. what am I looking at? all the moss to jamie this photo that's what i i had and then it all lost um on the uh

2:04:35 And then all of a sudden, it just, I lost the PowerPoint and it went back to. He'd been away from the sport for years. Wren handled it extremely well. What's easy to forget with Justin Wren's story, with him helping out the Pygmies, and what it does for their career. Could you go back to 127 real quick and pause it? But dude, I won I didn't train like I really should have yeah, I'm sure that had a big factor

2:08:16 look out at my wife see her and grace which she came to congo with us too and uh i see them and which is kind of nuts, um remember who uh you fight for and why you fight and so there's a lot of pressure Team Takedown dissolved? Yes takedown dissolved sort of yeah yeah when Johnny Hendricks left is that what I was not on And then when you won. Yeah, I think most every team takedown guy was.

2:11:03 A year? And then I think internally there was some butting of heads have a fight lined up for you? Maybe, And I know that now, Heavyweight's 10 to mature later in life. time. Are you thinking about going to the UFC? So are you thinking about going over there? because I'm pretty disappointed in my first two. is it difficult for you to balance the two worlds because you know you have one that demands

2:14:36 And that's what left a pretty sour taste in my mouth after these last two fights. They're still got sick. But it's the adult form of the chicken pox. But then while we're out there and stuff like a rebel group actually came like I believe it was three miles from us and only about a mile away from our truck. for the fences make the biggest impact possible but at the same time like we're restructuring

2:17:46 on further than it would if i didn't realistically to try to attain that sort of a goal like it's Yeah, they're all focused on me and them and the story to Penn state. Um, but, uh, talking with, uh, and I have access there at the Olympic training center There was a point when I started getting in a little bit of trouble And the point is, this is a guy you're working with or something?

2:20:44 So we're all jumping, doing squat jumps, row by row up these bleachers. guess what I was trying to allude to is man I feel like how water forest around me was such I mean, when you're looking at the competition you faced in Bellator, But fight for the forgotten is more important in a way. I mean, there's a lot going on here besides just your involvement.

2:23:04 wants to be humble and everything else say, I don't think I, and it's just cause they don't know they've been incredibly supportive. through that, it's going to free me up to really go to all the right places, get up to grudge for fightfortheforgotten.org, fightfortheforgotten.com. Some of the people have been so generous. You really are, man. and I'm honored to be able to help you tell your story.