JRE MMA Show #171 with Brendan Allen
Joe Rogan interviews UFC fighter Brendan Allen, discussing his journey from starting jiu-jitsu at age 13 to becoming an elite middleweight contender. The conversation covers Allen's recent victories, training philosophy, recovery methods, weight-cutting strategies in MMA, and personal anecdotes about discipline, mentorship, and avoiding street violence.
Key takeaways
- • Starting martial arts young provides significant advantages in developing flexibility and technical foundation, even if you don't realize your potential as a fighter until later.
- • Weight cutting through hydration manipulation—drinking water before sweating it out rather than cutting truly—is more common and potentially more unhealthy than traditional weight cuts, though fighters claim it's standard practice at the highest levels.
- • Reasonable sparring where partners preserve each other is far more effective for long-term development than ego-driven hard sparring that causes repeated concussions and injuries, though finding partners willing to do this is difficult.
- • A primary head coach who understands the full scope of your game and knows when to push versus back off is critical for elite performance; coaching yourself across multiple specialties leaves dangerous gaps in decision-making.
- • Recovery tools like hyperbaric chambers show measurable benefits through wearable tracking, and supplementation with creatine monohydrate provides cognitive and physical recovery benefits that were long misunderstood due to old myths.
- • Avoiding street conflicts and ego-driven confrontations becomes more valuable as you mature and have dependents, even if you're capable of fighting—the legal and life consequences far outweigh any validation from proving yourself.
Recommendations (15)
"Passion of the Christ was really good, too, man."
Joe Rogan · ▶ 2:12:40
"It's great. It's really amazing. If you get in hyperbaric chamber, that'll help your memory as well."
Joe Rogan · ▶ 38:14
"I think the deal that Thorne made with UFC really helped me because I started using theirs and what really helped was creatine."
Brendan Allen · ▶ 38:42
"I can really feel how different my body recovers, how more energized in a way, you know. I wake up and when I go to lift and stuff I feel way better."
Brendan Allen · ▶ 39:02
"I have a silicone one that I use all the time that I can work out with it. I could do anything with it."
Joe Rogan · ▶ 1:08:08
"It's called the train. It's called Training Lab on Instagram. T R E I G N lab. Everybody that I know that's trained with him is like, 'Bro, this guy puts you through hell.'"
Joe Rogan · ▶ 1:28:01
"You could read Meditations by Marcus Aurelius and literally learn how to live a better life."
Joe Rogan · ▶ 2:01:39
"It's called How Sports Psychology Can Help You Do Your Best When It Means the Most by Rob Gilbert. I would read it before every fight."
Brendan Allen · ▶ 2:06:00
"It's called How Sports Psychology Can Help You Do Your Best When It Means the Most. Rob Gilbert, PhD, Montclair State University. It's pretty cool. I'll ask you to send me that afterwards."
Joe Rogan · ▶ 2:05:53
"Think I'm crazy, but uh I think it's What Women Want. You ever seen that one? Bro, that is freaking hilarious. It's amazing."
Brendan Allen · ▶ 2:12:49
"Did you ever see Apocalypto? I fucking love that movie. One of my favorites. Such a good movie."
Joe Rogan · ▶ 2:12:16
"He was great in that conspiracy theory movie. It's pretty good. It was called Conspiracy Theory."
Joe Rogan · ▶ 2:13:46
Mentioned (7)
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