JRE MMA Show #24 with Kevin Lee

Joe Rogan (0:04)

Boom, and we're live. Kevin Lee.

Kevin Lee (0:07)

Yes, sir.

Joe Rogan (0:07)

This is about as fresh off of a fight as you can get, man.

Kevin Lee (0:09)

Yeah, just about.

Yeah, barely slept. Straight here.

Joe Rogan (0:14)

It must have been a crazy, first of all, after a fight, you're probably so wired and can't believe it's over. What is it like?

Kevin Lee (0:22)

It takes you a minute for it to hit you, really.

I didn't sleep at all after the fight. I just laid there for a little bit, mind kind of racing, didn't really settle down, I just ended up just getting up, getting some breakfast, and then right on the plane over here, didn't sleep all night on the plane, came over here, 3 a.m. I've been up all morning.

Joe Rogan (0:42)

What are you like, 25?

Kevin Lee (0:45)

You can keep going. Rockstar lifestyle, baby.

I got to live it.

Joe Rogan (0:48)

25, you can do that for like two days in a row before it really starts to settle in.

Kevin Lee (0:52)

Yeah, no, I'll be good for a minute, I mean, besides getting kicked in the head, I'm all good, other than that.

Joe Rogan (0:57)

Dude, that was, first of all, it was a very, very, very impressive performance. I mean, Edson Barboza is no fucking joke and notoriously difficult to take down. Even Khabib struggled getting him down the early parts of the first round, but you got him down quick.

Kevin Lee (1:11)

Yeah, I think a lot of people underestimate that, especially how technical my wrestling can get. I just feel like Edson was really strong. He was probably the strongest guy that I've ever faced.

His body moved a little bit different, but technically, I just had the aspect there. When you add those two things up, I'm equally as strong. I'm just going to blow him off the water.

Joe Rogan (1:36)

Well, he's just a bundle of fast-twitch muscle fiber, man.

That dude, people, they'll see the Khabib fight and they'll see this fight with you. They might not understand how good that guy really is. He's very, very good.

Kevin Lee (1:48)

He's a beast and he's going to come back and he's going to knock some people out. He's only going to get better from here, I think.

It's just the styles make the fights too. And me, I feel like I can fight any style. That was my number one goal when I got into this sport, just to be the most well-rounded, complete fighter that there is. And I feel like I can take advantage of some of his things that he's not getting good at, but he's going to get better at him. He's going to be back. He's a beast.

Joe Rogan (2:15)

Well, that focus and that mindset of being well-rounded was very obvious in that fight. I was very impressed by the fact you fight just as good southpaw as you do orthodox. You switch up easily.

Kevin Lee (2:26)

I've only been going southpaw for maybe the past year, year and a half or so, and just kind of getting the filler forward down. But I feel like that could be one of the... When you listen to a lot of the great fighters in the past, they talk about a right-handed southpaw. There's so many advantages that can be there.

And it's just always great to be able to switch up and change timers, especially when you've got a guy that's trying to time you like Edson.

Joe Rogan (2:50)

Yeah, they say that... I'm sorry, but they say that if you work on the opposite side, it actually makes the other side better.

Kevin Lee (2:55)

Yeah, it makes it a little bit easier when you switch back. And I've noticed that. I mean, there's still some kinks and twists that I want to kind of get out of there. You know, you see, I study a lot of people. I study a lot of the switch fighters, especially in MMA.

Recently, I want to say about the last two years, guys have been doing it more often, but some guys do it better than others. I try to get the perfect mix, you know?

Joe Rogan (3:17)

Well, some guys do it, but there's a twist, right? Like, Wonder Boy does it, but when Wonder Boy does it, you know that the front leg is coming. And then he's, you know, he can fight any style. I mean, he could fight left or right. But when he switches, when he goes right, you know that front leg side kick's coming, that front leg roundhouse kick is coming. And then when he stands orthodox, he's much more likely to throw a punch or, you know, maybe even spin.