#2289 - Darryl Cooper

Joe Rogan (0:03)

The Joe Rogan Experience. Trained by day, Joe Rogan Podcast by night, all day.

The guys today, I think, are the highest level fighters of all time. Hey, Darryl, what's going on, man?

Darryl Cooper (0:18)

How's it going?

Joe Rogan (0:19)

We were just talking UFC. Yeah, I think we were talking about how exciting the Ankolyev and Pereira fight was, even though people didn't like it because it wasn't like some crazy result in a giant knockout like you get in most Pereira fights, but it was so technical. And Ankolyev just did a fantastic job of shutting down the scariest guy in the division.

Darryl Cooper (0:40)

Yeah, and the psychological aspect of it, he made him back up and second guess himself.

And you can't just do that by being aggressive. You really got to get in there and you got to hurt him a little bit and you just have to put that on him. And it was amazing to watch. I thought it was a great fight.

Joe Rogan (0:58)

Well, it was so interesting because the consequences of exchanging with Pereira are so high, but also Uncle Iov. Uncle Iov has knocked a lot of people out. We always look at Pereira's knockouts, but Uncle Iov has knocked out some of the best guys in the division. And he only lost one time. And that was, Paul Craig has the nastiest fucking triangle. It's so sneaky and so quick and you don't expect it. He's so high level off his back and he caught him, I think, with like one second to go in the third round, a fight that he was losing.

Darryl Cooper (1:27)

Yeah, he broke Jamal's arm or he dislocated his elbow too. He's one of those guys like Ryan Hall. It's like, you know, they're on the feet dancing around. It's like, you know, what are we really watching here? Kind of, but man, as soon as they hit the ground.

Joe Rogan (1:43)

Yeah, there's a giant disparity between his stand up, which is good, his good stand up, you know, and the Bo Nicol fight was entirely stand up. It was a good fight. You know, he looked good on the feet, but you would never say, you know, this is like an Israel Adesanya type character. He doesn't have that level of proficiency with striking. But God, when he gets on his back, you're in such danger. Like nobody else in the division. It's weird, because most guys, you're on their back, you're not really worried about it. With Paul Craig, it's like everything has to be tight.

Darryl Cooper (2:12)

Especially guys that size, you don't really see it as often.

Joe Rogan (2:15)

No, you don't.

Darryl Cooper (2:16)

Especially in an era when, you know, the off your back Jiu Jitsu is kind of, I don't want to say like, you know, they figured out the game on that yet, but, you know, it's not quite to that level. You still have your Craig's and Oliveras, people like that who really are dangerous off their back, but it's not as common anymore, you know.

Joe Rogan (2:32)

Well, it's really hard to do. And also, most people don't want to be on their back, so they don't even practice off their back. And the common thought amongst coaches is, when you're on your back, there's two minutes to go, you're probably not going to pull a submission off. You got to concentrate on getting back up to your feet, minimizing whatever scoring your opponent has done by taking you down and whatever shots they've landed, mitigate those as much as possible and get to the feet as quickly as possible. That's what everybody's trying to do now.

Darryl Cooper (2:58)

Especially in a three round fight. I mean, it's like, you let yourself get laid on for three minutes in the first round, nothing really happens, but you lost that round, you better win the second one.

Joe Rogan (3:06)

Well, look at like the Armand Sarukian fight.

If you think about that fight with Charles Oliveira, Charles Oliveira caught him multiple times in like deep submissions, which I think should count for a lot, which I thought, if I looked at who won that fight, I would say Oliveira won that fight. Oliveira had him in deep trouble, it was kind of a controversial opinion, but I think a tightly locked triangle or a Darce choke or anything along those lines should be considered winning. You're doing something very difficult to do, your opponent doesn't want it to happen, you've dominated a position to the point where you've secured a submission, and then this guy sneaks out with sweat and technique and fucking grit, but he was in fucking trouble.