#937 - Justin Wren

Joe Rogan (0:01)

Five, four, three, two, one.

Boom, Justin Wren straight out of the jungle. Lookie, you got coconut water, you ready to party?

Justin Wren (0:12)

Oh, absolutely.

Joe Rogan (0:14)

You got two of them, just in case. Oh, I live off of that stuff. So first of all, congratulations on your Bellator fight, man. You looked outstanding.

Justin Wren (0:21)

Thank you. Thanks a lot.

Joe Rogan (0:22)

It was really like clicking, man. It's really coming together, huh?

Justin Wren (0:24)

Yeah, finally the muscle memory is back, and I'm at a new camp that's great for my style, training with Rafael Lovato Jr. maybe the best American grappler for BJJ, most accomplished maybe.

Joe Rogan (0:35)

He's fantastic.

So you're in Oklahoma? Is that where he's at?

Justin Wren (0:38)

Yeah, Oklahoma. Just moved there.

Joe Rogan (0:40)

So you moved there to train?

Justin Wren (0:42)

Yeah, moved there to train.

Joe Rogan (0:43)

Interesting.

Justin Wren (0:43)

Trained alongside him, and that's also where Water 4 is headquartered out of, is Oklahoma City.

Joe Rogan (0:47)

How fucking convenient.

Justin Wren (0:49)

Absolutely. So now I have the best of both worlds, my two passions right there.

Joe Rogan (0:52)

Oh, that's amazing. That's amazing. He's really good, man. Yeah. And Rafael Lovato has that pressure style, too, that Salo-Hibero smashing style. Very fun to watch that guy.

Justin Wren (1:03)

The only guy I've ever felt claustrophobic underneath, without a doubt. He's just...

I can't explain it. You just cannot get away. That smash pass, that pressure pass, he just melts into you, and there's no escape. It's like he's melting in. He's like glue.

Joe Rogan (1:17)

Yeah. Salo, Zhang Ji, that whole family, that style of Jiu Jitsu, so powerful, man.

Justin Wren (1:23)

Yeah. I've gotten to meet both of them now, train with Salo, and then Zhang Ji was there in our corner, so it was pretty awesome for a Bellator fight, having those guys there.

Joe Rogan (1:32)

I was kind of bummed out at Rafael Lovato's last fight, because he stopped him with strikes. I was like, God damn it.

Justin Wren (1:38)

Yeah, I kicked him in the head, 13 seconds.

Joe Rogan (1:40)

Yeah, it was crazy. I mean, it's great to see him succeed and do well, but I wanted to see his Jiu Jitsu.

Justin Wren (1:45)

Oh yeah, absolutely. I think people will, but he's an animal. Honestly, he's one of those guys that is so well-rounded, and you think he's just one to one dimensional because of everything he's done in Jiu Jitsu. But he grew up kickboxing.

Joe Rogan (1:57)

Did he really?

Justin Wren (1:58)

Yeah, his dad's been a lifelong martial artist, a senior. He's an incredible guy, and he's been taking Rafael all around the world since he was a little boy, having him train mixed martial arts, not just Jiu Jitsu his whole life.

Joe Rogan (2:10)

And he's fighting Bellator as well, right?

Justin Wren (2:12)

Yeah, that was his first fight, so we fought back to back. He fought right before me. I fought right after him.

Joe Rogan (2:16)

Oh, that's nice, man. Bellator's making some moves, man. You know, they're doing Mitrione versus Fedor, and they're going to... Lorenz Larkin just signed with them.

Roy McDonald signed with them. That's a stable now. They have a legit stable. Especially their 170-pound division is super legit.

Lima.

Justin Wren (2:35)

Yeah, Lima.

Joe Rogan (2:36)

Korshkov. Yeah. That's a serious division, man. And now Fedor.

Very interesting. What did you think about the Fedor-Mitrione thing, where they had to pull out, like Mitrione had to pull out because it was kidney stone, and then they're going to schedule it again, apparently.

Justin Wren (2:51)

Yeah, that's Madison Square Gardens.

SPEAKER_3 (2:53)

Yeah.

Joe Rogan (2:53)

That's a pay-per-view, right?

Justin Wren (2:55)

Pay-per-view, first one for Bellator.

Joe Rogan (2:56)

Pay-per-view is tough, man. It's tough to get people to buy something they've been getting for free.

Justin Wren (3:00)

Right. But I think this card, they're stacking it pretty heavily.

Joe Rogan (3:04)

Chael Sonnen versus Vanderlei.

Justin Wren (3:07)

That's where Rafael has been going down into, I forget how to say it, but Curitiba, Brazil. Down there and was sparring with Vanderlei before his fight.

Joe Rogan (3:16)

Sparring with Vanderlei is a fight, apparently. Apparently, you're fighting.

Justin Wren (3:20)

Yes. He sent me a meme of something like, let's train easy.

And Vanderlei's saying like, yeah, train easy, but it's that picture of him in Pride or something, or maybe training where he's jumping in the air and he's just coming down with a big hammer fist and going to land on you with his feet.