JRE MMA Show #30 with Sean O'Malley & Tim Welch

Joe Rogan (0:09)

Three, two, one, and we're live.

Sugar Sean. And Tim Welch, your friend, that you brought with you here today.

Sean O'Malley (0:19)

Friend, teammate, coach, brother.

Joe Rogan (0:21)

From Montana. Montana people, it's a good place.

Tim Welch (0:25)

Yeah, it is, but for what we do, it's not the best place.

Joe Rogan (0:28)

Yeah, how much training can you get in Montana? It's not the best spot. When I was there two years ago, pheasant hunting with Anthony Bourdain, and that guy is such a maniac. He trains everywhere he goes, every day.

And he found some club, some local jujitsu club in Montana, in Bozeman, he was rolling with people.

Sean O'Malley (0:47)

Brian Dietz probably.

Tim Welch (0:47)

Yeah, Bozeman's probably one of the better places to train, but the one thing good about being from Montana is when we're in Phoenix, it's like a big process getting a fight. Sugar, how many amateur fights you have?

Sean O'Malley (0:57)

Yeah, I had 14 MMA fights, amateur MMA fights, four kickboxing, couple boxing, it was every weekend.

Joe Rogan (1:05)

In Montana?

Sean O'Malley (1:06)

Yeah.

Joe Rogan (1:06)

So Montana people are just angry, just want to fight.

Sean O'Malley (1:09)

We just like to fight.

Tim Welch (1:10)

You can sign up that week and fight, so you get a ton of fights. No commission.

Joe Rogan (1:15)

No commission, oh, that's good. So it's a manly place, that Montana.

Tim Welch (1:19)

Yeah, it is.

Joe Rogan (1:20)

It's quite manly. I mean, you guys have grizzly bears and shit, lots of elk, elk, grizzly bears, wolves. I was there two summers ago, I went, and just was like, man, I need to figure out a way, I spent more time here. I was in Bozeman.

Tim Welch (1:33)

Oh yeah, fuck.

Joe Rogan (1:34)

Fuck man, it's beautiful.

Sean O'Malley (1:35)

Hell yeah.

Joe Rogan (1:36)

It's fucking stunning.

Sean O'Malley (1:38)

Yeah, I definitely wanna, I enjoy being away from there right now, just because I grew up there.

Being in Phoenix is like, I don't want to be anywhere else. I love being in Phoenix. The training there is insane.

Tim Welch (1:48)

Yeah, where we're at, Phoenix is like the fucking mecca, man. We get to train with Augusto Mendez, Taquino every day, he beat Hoffa Mendez, he beat Cabrinho, he beat Ryan Hall, he beat all these people, and almost every mile there's a really good gym, boxing gym, jiu jitsu gym, wrestling gym, Henry Sugito has a club there, the MMA lab at John Crouch, like where we train, there's killers everywhere.

Joe Rogan (2:09)

Yeah, that's one of the best spots in the world for sure. Phoenix is, there's a few hotbeds for MMA, obviously LA's a big one, Miami's a big one, Phoenix is a fucking huge one too though.

Tim Welch (2:21)

Yeah, the lab, like, it's a different type of gym than a lot of other gyms. I haven't seen many gyms like stay together, and I think a big reason is because of John Crouch, he's like one of the best facilitators out there, he keeps everyone together.

If you don't show up to practice, he'll text you and say, hey, where are you at? We gotta get our priorities straight. And like, he really holds everyone accountable, and I think that's why it makes it a really good, strong place.

Joe Rogan (2:41)

Yeah, he's one of my favorite coaches. He's just a super no-nonsense guy, never blows his own horn, not looking for any attention, and absolutely knows his shit. Like, when you hear him in the corner, he knows his shit.

Tim Welch (2:54)

Yeah, he's good to have there in the corner, man. He just be the leader kind of of everything and look over everything. And he brought up Benson from when he was a small, like, just starting. So it's like, we're lucky to be able to learn after that. And then be around Benson in the room, like, he's got a work ethic like no other.

Joe Rogan (3:12)

Is Benson still joining the military? I heard he was thinking about joining the military.

Tim Welch (3:16)

I think he's too old now.

Sean O'Malley (3:18)

Is he?

Tim Welch (3:19)

Yeah.

Sean O'Malley (3:19)

I don't know.

Tim Welch (3:20)

He's 34

Sean O'Malley (3:21)

I've never heard about that too.

Joe Rogan (3:22)

How old, what is the limit? I thought you could join the military up to 36 or some shit.

Sean O'Malley (3:28)

I feel like once you get across a certain age, they have to make an exception for you. I'm sure he would make that exception.