Kevin Lee's Thoughts on RDA Loss | Joe Rogan

Yeah, yeah, you know, uh, gotta give you some thanks for even doing it. Before the fight happened, I had kind of already had in my mind, I'm like, okay, it's been a year since we last kind of did this. And it was right after the Barbosa fight. And I was like, okay, I'm gonna get through the fight and then I'm gonna do this. The result wasn't exactly what I wanted, you know what I mean? And it made me hesitant about doing it, but I was like, this is the story, you know what I mean? And this is, as I said, kind of like was upsetting myself for a few days. Eventually, I just kind of got over and I'm like, you know what, I said I was gonna do it before. I'm not about to be no sore ass loser and yeah. Well, like I said, I love you, whether you win or lose. I'm just, you know, it's, it's a giant part of the game. Yeah, half the game is losing. Someone has to win, someone has to lose. If you watch a fight, someone's losing. Yeah. Unless it's a draw. And I figure it's all about how you approach it and how you take it into the next fight. And really, when you look at it, I mean, it sucks. It really does. And I hate it. Like, and it's something that boils up inside of me. Like, I go over, I replayed a fight a million times in my head and I just hate losing and I hate that feeling. But it's just the reality. And it's like, it's just real life. And it's just real life. It's nothing you can do. There's nothing you do once it's over. Yeah. The only thing you can do is learn and grow. Exactly. And the guy you fought is a stud. I mean, you thought, you fought Rafael dos Andros. He's a fucking legitimate world champion fighter. Yeah. When, when I was approached with the fight and kind of start really diving into it and really looking at him, like, I always liked a really big challenge. And that one was definitely one, you know, he had already had a lot of fights that went five rounds. He had fought, he's fought pretty much everybody. You know, Kamara Usman was the last fight. Kobe Covington, he had fought Khabib. He had already fought like a lot of top, top guys and for five rounds. So I knew what type of challenge it was. It's just, I hold myself at a high esteem. So I was like, you know, I'm, I'm just ready to do it. You know what I mean? Mm hmm. Yeah. The fight itself was good, but either way, I'm going to learn from it and grow from it. I still got a whole long, long road ahead of me. So you do have a long road ahead of you. But, you know, as we were talking about that long road could sneak up on you real quick. And before you know it, you know, you're 37 years old trying to figure out if you still want to fight. Yeah. That's that's how it happens to guys. I've seen it happen to guys. Yeah. So I feel like if you approach a smart, you know what I mean? It could still get done, which is what I'm trying to do. Right. I kind of already knew that I needed to make some changes and do some things different before this fight and before my last one, too. But you know, I just was like, OK, I'm gonna just get through this one and then I'll do it and I'm gonna get through this one. Then I'll do it. But you know, that's kind of a big wake up call to just like, all right, it's time to get outside of the comfort zone and kind of do something different and and kind of do what I already know I got to do. What did you think was going to happen in the fight? And what was surprising? I didn't think that he would be able to keep the pace for sure. But what surprised me was how smart he was and how he beat me tactically more than anything is, you know, when I was going, he wasn't doing, you know, and he kind of he controlled the pace better than I thought he was going to. You know, I thought once I set that pace that he was going to be right there with me. But then as it got going, I started to realize, oh, he's not really expending much energy. He's kind of just letting me burn out my energy. And then he took his moment when I made the last mistake. And really, when it boiled down to it, I lost one position at the end there where I went for a takedown. And, you know, nine times out of 10, when I go and club back, the guy hits his knees. But he just stayed on his feet and stepped out. And when I hit my knees, it's like, lost that position. And against a guy like that, so dangerous, a black belt in his is so good. I knew one slip up was going to be all the need. And I think he knew that, too. And he was just kind of waiting, buying his time and hoping that I slip up. It seemed like you expended a lot of energy early on. And it seemed like by the time he got the submission, you were fairly tired. Yeah, I mean, follows you always used to tell me this. And it was always there's tired and can and tired and can't, you know, it's a fight. It's you're going to be tired. But I still do think I have my legs underneath me and still could. It's just I could have played it better, tactically. I could have had had, you know, more time when I wasn't just going, going, like you said, especially in that first round, if I would had a little bit better experience, maybe or something. I, you know, I don't know. I'll figure that out. But I could have played it a little smarter like he did. Do you have a person that's giving you strategy or you sort of making your strategy up on the fly? That's one of the things that that's kind of the main thing that that Robert Fallis was that guy for me until he passed. And then I kind of just picked up the ball and, you know, I understand fighting. But yeah, it's mostly me doing the strategy. And right now that that's where I'm in the limbo of trying to find somebody who already has that experience and has already been there and done it to tell me a little better strategy. Yeah, I think it's so critical, man. I really do. And we had this conversation over the phone about it. I think that a young fighter with a lot of potential like yourself, there's a reason why fighters have trainers. There's a reason why fighters have head coaches. It's not because they want to give up all their money. It's because it helps and you can delegate those that that thought process to a master, someone who's a master of martial arts, who understands positions, who understand strategies, seeing guys tired, seeing guys good, seeing you in the gym, seeing you grind, understands your skill set, understands how you are when you come in perfect, understands how you are when you come in tired. That is just giant. And having someone who understands you psychologically as well, and also having someone that you respect and that you want to impress, all those things are huge. Yeah, it's a big one, especially like you said, being able to talk to you too and being able to understand you. I think that's what Rob did really well. Yes. And he was so good. He kind of like reeled me in a little bit. I'm the type, I'm just kind of go, go, go, and I kind of think higher to myself than maybe even I am, but that's just how I am. So that's how you have confidence. Yeah. But he was the type to kind of reel me in. And he used to even tell me like, hey, you don't got to get hit so much. And you know, I'll stand in front of a guy and just like, especially when I was younger, he was a little even worse. And you know, because that's just how I'd be feeling. Right. But you know, he was kind of the type to reel me in more than anything. It's not like he would tell me one specific techniques or, or it was even about his style or anything like that. It was just a way that he was able to, to kind of get through to me and kind of make me understand what it is that I'm trying to do. Yeah. And you guys, you guys had such a good relationship too. He was such a good guy, man. Such a good dude. I mean, just, just losing him. I mean, it was devastating for the whole mixed martial arts world, but losing him for you had to be a real, just a giant change in your career. Yeah. It's a... Which fight did he die before? He died right after the Tony fight, which is a whole another piece of it. You know, I know he had a whole lot of things going on early in his life, especially, you know, with his family. And when we went to his memorial and people were kind of explaining, you know, what it's like growing up in a, he grew up Jehovah Witness. So he's like explaining what it's like to grow up like that and, you know, to try and get away from that and having your family disown you and how like that can... I understand, I understand the importance of family so I can get that. But then even I'm like, man, you know, they would tell us we were more so keeping him alive longer than anything. So I'm like, man, if I would have won that fight with Tony, it's like, fuck, would he still be here? You know what I mean? Wow. Those are the type of like, like, did I do it to myself almost? But I already know I'm already at the point where I kind of got over it a little bit and I kind of understand that I'm not going to be able to replace him by any means. But I am going to have to get that person who can still speak to me in that same light. You know, the only way that I'm going to make it right is to win that title and do it for him. I kind of saw that for me and he was kind of the one to give me that confidence to say because he's already coached multiple UFC champions. So when he told me that he could see me being a champ, that really like, I was like, oh, okay. Like, I didn't really like, I kind of got it a little bit, but I didn't really know it until like he gave me that kind of confidence. So the only thing that's going to make it right is to go out there and win that title. And that's, that's if I got it, well, no matter what I got to do, I'm not stopping till I do it. You're going to be 100% committed to 170 now? Yeah, I think so. I think it's, I think it's, I think it's right. You look like you're about 190 now, right? Yeah, I'm just about, I'm about 185, 186, which is normally what I would be about getting ready for a 55 pound fight too. Actually, when I stepped into the cage, I was lighter going into this fight than I was for some of my, my 55 pound fights. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.