I had a lot of fun hanging out at the UFC in Vegas with Joe Rogan and Shane Gillis.

Check out some recent podcasts:
- Joe Rogan: https://youtube.com/watch?v=gk4tEO4jDUM
- Duncan Trussell: https://youtube.com/watch?v=jdIyNMkusLE

Joe's links:
Joe's Instagram: https://instagram.com/joerogan/
Joe's Twitter: https://twitter.com/joerogan

OUTLINE:
00:00 - UFC backstage
02:54 - Weigh-Ins
05:44 - Pool hall
07:03 - Anthony Cumia
08:17 - UFC fights

How do you prepare For all the names you have to read off?

I have to get them written out phonetically.

When you look at these guys, do you see excitement?

I mean, you saw fear like when Anderson Silva was in his prime.

It was like when guys reach this unstoppable level, you see some fear.

But you don't generally just see anxiety and tension.

You see guys getting fired up for a fight.

Who is the most intense guy you've seen at the weigh-ins?

Potter gets pretty fucking intense, but so does Khabib.

It all depends on whether or not they have, like, real animosity towards each other.

Nate Diaz is probably somebody that gets pretty intense.

Just, I don't know how they're gonna separate him from Hamza and him from everyone else, because...

If shit gets wild, I'm not getting in this crap.

You're going to watch me look like a coward.

Also here with Shane Gillis, you're going to step up if shit goes down?

I might have to get in and get knocked out by a 120-pounder.

You ever lose your voice with these things?

Because of doing comedy, my voice is pretty strong.

This is like such a surreal moment in human history, the war of combat.

Like more innovation has happened in combat in the past 20 years than

Before big fights, before big fights, it's always like goosebumps.

Yeah, yeah, like before Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usamano, it's like, whoo, here we go.

You know, you're just like, your whole body just tingles, like all your skin tingles.

And then the shock might happen like it did in that fight.

when something crazy happens your whole body just jolts it's so it's so wild you know I can see people standing up and screaming oh my god behind you

Yeah I'm a meme often but the last 1 when Leon Edwards knocked out Kamaru you see me and DC freaking out behind us.

Thank you for giving us a behind-the-scenes look.

We had a lot of changes in this car, but I think it's even better!

180 pounds, Hottin' John Chamiah is Kevin Holland!

In the welterweight division, Nate Diaz versus Tony Ferguson.

It was, it's gonna be 1 of those cards where it's like no 1 prepared for that opponent.

So you have 3 fights that have been completely reworked.

And so these guys have to adjust and you know there's very different opponents.

Okay well what happened was Hamzat Shumayev didn't make weight and he missed weight by 8 and a half pounds which is so crazy but they wouldn't let them fight each other so they had to move that so now you have Li Jinglian versus Daniel Rodriguez.

Rodriguez was supposed to be fighting Kevin Holland.

And then Hamza was supposed to be fighting Nate Diaz, misweighed by a ton.

But honestly, Tony Ferguson versus Nate Diaz is a much better fight, much more competitive fight.

And Hamza versus Kevin Holland is a real test for Hamza.

Kevin Holland is a big guy he fought at 185 pounds before he was very successful knocked people out including Joaquin Buckley at

It's chaos, it's a surprise, it's a totally different kind of fight.

Well, I don't like the fact that he missed weight.

He missed weight because he didn't prepare properly, which usually indicates either that he was sick or injured, or he didn't want to make the weight.

You know, maybe he was like so worked up by all this Nate Diaz stuff that he didn't want to get in the

You'd have to get friends with him where he could confide in you and he'd tell you

It was amazing to see you do this in person and amazing to see the fighters in person.

So like this shot right here, this is a perfect example.

This seems like an easy shot, but you know what's not an easy shot?

So that ball, when the ball's down there like that, like kind of in the middle, but not in front of

There's only 2 places to be on that hole.

to be on the right side of the ball or the left side of the ball.

Now, when you have something like this, that's right

hole, it seems like, well, that's an easy shot.

But you have to make sure that you have the right speed to hit this here and then it's got to go

It's got to bounce on this 1, that 1, and all

And then a little like a tap on the other 1.

So it looks like that's easy, but that's not easy at all.

That's like 1 of the harder shots, is to get yourself where you're in a perfect position to make the next move.

I was in bands with my brother and I would write song parodies about everything that was happening in the news.

And the OJ thing, you might've heard of that, happened and I wrote a song parody about it.

Opie played it on his show, WBAB on Long Island.

So he goes, hey, can you come in and do it live?

And me and my brother are like, yeah, came in, did it live.

I was coming from the news, and Opie goes, dude, that was really good.

We got an offer to go to Boston, and I never looked back.

I threw my sheet metal worker tools out on 95 on my way up to Boston.

It's all about knowing like the cue ball speed and knowing how a ball is gonna come off the ball when it contacts it at an angle.

And it's, you get completely obsessive because it's so hard to predict.

And then the more you do it, the more you get like muscle memory and the more you kind of understand where the ball's going.

So you're not even thinking too much, you're using intuition.

There's a lot of thinking and a lot of intuition.

It's like both things are happening at the same time.


Speaker 0: Is that

Speaker 1: a camera? Yeah. That's incredible.

Speaker 2: DJI, look at it.

Speaker 1: Is that better than your phone? Yeah. Maybe because you don't have

Speaker 2: a knife? It's incredible quality. Yeah. Here with Joe Rogan at the weigh-ins.

Speaker 0: Oh, hi.

Speaker 2: You get nervous before these things?

Speaker 1: No, I get excited, though.

Speaker 2: How do you prepare For all the names you have to read off?

Speaker 1: I have to get them written out phonetically.

Speaker 2: When you look at these guys, do you see excitement? Do you see fear? What do you usually see? The fighters? Yeah, when they stay us.

Speaker 1: You never see fear. I mean, you saw fear like when Anderson Silva was in his prime. You saw some fear. It was like when guys reach this unstoppable level, you see some fear. But you don't generally just see anxiety and tension.

You see guys getting fired up for a fight. Intensity? Intensity, for sure.

Speaker 2: Who is the most intense guy you've seen at the weigh-ins?

Speaker 1: Ever? Potter gets pretty fucking intense, but so does Khabib. It all depends on whether or not they have, like, real animosity towards each other.

Speaker 2: Nate Diaz is probably somebody that gets pretty intense.

Speaker 1: Oh, yeah, he's gonna get intense. That's gonna be a good 1. Just, I don't know how they're gonna separate him from Hamza and him from everyone else, because...

Speaker 0: You

Speaker 2: think it's gonna get crazy today?

Speaker 1: It could get crazy.

Speaker 0: Yeah, it

Speaker 1: could get crazy.

Speaker 0: And what

Speaker 2: are you going to do? Are you going to be all right?

Speaker 1: I'm going to get the fuck out of there. If shit gets wild, I'm not getting in this crap. You're going to watch me look like a coward.

Speaker 2: Also here with Shane Gillis, you're going to step up if shit goes down?

Speaker 3: I'll get in there. I might have to get in and get knocked out by a 120-pounder.

Speaker 2: You ever lose your voice with these things?

Speaker 1: No. No, I yell all the time. You get it. Because of doing comedy, my voice is pretty strong.

Speaker 2: This is like such a surreal moment in human history, the war of combat. Like more innovation has happened in combat in the past 20 years than

Speaker 1: yeah, ever in human history. Oh, ever. And you're

Speaker 2: at the center of it. Yeah. When you did that hit you. At which point does that hit you?

Speaker 1: Before big fights, before big fights, it's always like goosebumps.

Speaker 2: It starts building up.

Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, like before Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usamano, it's like, whoo, here we go. You know, you're just like, your whole body just tingles, like all your skin tingles.

Speaker 2: And then the shock might happen like it did in that fight.

Speaker 1: Oh yeah yeah yeah

Speaker 2: yeah just like

Speaker 1: when something crazy happens your whole body just jolts it's so it's so wild you know I can see people standing up and screaming oh my god behind you

Speaker 2: and then you become a meme.

Speaker 1: Yeah I'm a meme often but the last 1 when Leon Edwards knocked out Kamaru you see me and DC freaking out behind us. Tony Hinchcliffe goes,

Speaker 0: Oh, my God!

Speaker 1: That's amazing. It was amazing.

Speaker 2: All right, brother. Thank you for giving us a behind-the-scenes look.

Speaker 1: My pleasure.

Speaker 0: Give it up for Hunter! Sean Shelby and Nick Maynard! Last night was extraordinary! We had a lot of changes in this car, but I think it's even better! 180 pounds, Hottin' John Chamiah is Kevin Holland!

And his opponent, Hamza Shafaei! Official weight, 178.5! In the welterweight division, Nate Diaz versus Tony Ferguson. And his opponent, Nate Diaz. Thank you all for coming out.

We'll see you all tomorrow night.

Speaker 2: How do you feel after that?

Speaker 1: It was exciting. Very intense. It was, it's gonna be 1 of those cards where it's like no 1 prepared for that opponent. So you have 3 fights that have been completely reworked. And so these guys have to adjust and you know there's very different opponents.

Okay well what happened was Hamzat Shumayev didn't make weight and he missed weight by 8 and a half pounds which is so crazy but they wouldn't let them fight each other so they had to move that so now you have Li Jinglian versus Daniel Rodriguez. Rodriguez was supposed to be fighting Kevin Holland.

Speaker 2: That's right.

Speaker 1: And then Hamza was supposed to be fighting Nate Diaz, misweighed by a ton. But honestly, Tony Ferguson versus Nate Diaz is a much better fight, much more competitive fight. And Hamza versus Kevin Holland is a real test for Hamza. Kevin Holland is a big guy he fought at 185 pounds before he was very successful knocked people out including Joaquin Buckley at

Speaker 0: 185.

Speaker 1: You think Holland is ready

Speaker 2: for the fight? It's chaos, it's a surprise, it's a totally different kind of fight.

Speaker 1: He's a chaos kind of guy though. I mean, I think it's an exciting fight. I'm excited about it. You think Hamza is ready? Well, I don't like the fact that he missed weight.

That's a lot to miss weight by. So there's like 2 things could happen. He missed weight because he didn't prepare properly, which usually indicates either that he was sick or injured, or he didn't want to make the weight. You know, maybe he was like so worked up by all this Nate Diaz stuff that he didn't want to get in the

Speaker 2: sauna, He didn't want to cut the weight. Who knows what's going on.

Speaker 1: We don't know. We really don't know. You'd have to get friends with him where he could confide in you and he'd tell you

Speaker 2: the truth. It was amazing to see you do this in person and amazing to see the fighters in person. It's intense.

Speaker 1: Tomorrow's going

Speaker 0: to be even crazier.

Speaker 1: So you have to know what the angles are. So like this shot right here, this is a perfect example. This seems like an easy shot, but you know what's not an easy shot? It's getting to that ball down there. So that ball, when the ball's down there like that, like kind of in the middle, but not in front of

Speaker 0: that hole or that hole.

Speaker 1: There's only 2 places to be on that hole.

Speaker 0: You have

Speaker 1: to be on the right side of the ball or the left side of the ball. Now, when you have something like this, that's right

Speaker 0: in front of the

Speaker 1: hole, it seems like, well, that's an easy shot. But you have to make sure that you have the right speed to hit this here and then it's got to go

Speaker 0: like this and then all

Speaker 1: the way down to here.

Speaker 2: Oh, so 2 walls. It's got to bounce on this 1, that 1, and all

Speaker 1: right. Basically 3 rails maybe.

Speaker 2: 3 rails.

Speaker 1: 1, 2, and I

Speaker 2: might hit the bottom. And then a little like a tap on the other 1.

Speaker 1: But it's all like a gentle touch.

Speaker 2: Yeah. Got it. Bam. Wow, that's strong. That's strong.

Speaker 1: See the difference? Yep. So it looks like that's easy, but that's not easy at all. That's like 1 of the harder shots, is to get yourself where you're in a perfect position to make the next move.

Speaker 2: How'd you get into opi and Anthony?

Speaker 3: I was in bands with my brother and I would write song parodies about everything that was happening in the news. And the OJ thing, you might've heard of that, happened and I wrote a song parody about it. Opie played it on his show, WBAB on Long Island. And people loved it. So he goes, hey, can you come in and do it live?

And me and my brother are like, yeah, came in, did it live. And I thought this was my shot. I just poured everything out. I started doing impressions. I was coming from the news, and Opie goes, dude, that was really good.

Why don't you come in next week again? And it just snowballed from there. We got an offer to go to Boston, and I never looked back. I threw my sheet metal worker tools out on 95 on my way up to Boston.

Speaker 1: It's all about knowing like the cue ball speed and knowing how a ball is gonna come off the ball when it contacts it at an angle. And it's, you get completely obsessive because it's so hard to predict. And then the more you do it, the more you get like muscle memory and the more you kind of understand where the ball's going.

Speaker 2: So you're not even thinking too much, you're using intuition.

Speaker 1: There's a lot of thinking and a lot of intuition. It's like both things are happening at the same time. It's super complicated.

Speaker 2: It's fascinating.

See all Lex Fridman transcripts on Youtube

Joe Rogan and Lex Fridman at UFC 279