The ‘New Mansa’, Joaquin Buckley was recently a guest on ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’. The two talked about UFC as a sport and fighting styles throughout the podcast. And while doing so, Joaquin Buckley expressed his admiration for Bruce Lee and talked about what makes the legendary martial artist stand out.

Buckley currently holds a 15-5-0 record in the UFC and has some of the most spectacular finishes under his belt. Having said that, it comes as a surprise that the 28-year-old didn’t receive any professional coaching in his early days and relied upon YouTube and other influences around him for training. Speaking of which, Bruce Lee had a major influence on him.

The 28-year-old discussed the value of having a feeling of individualism in one’s own fighting technique with Rogan. He explained his approach toward fighting and learning.

Joaquin Buckley and Joe Rogan discuss Bruce Lee

During the podcast, Joaquin Buckley and Joe Rogan discussed the former’s MMA journey and went into great depth on the topic. The ‘New Mansa’ talked about how he had to figure most things out on his own and create a technique for himself. The way Bruce Lee did.

Buckley stated, “It’s about people actually taking that information and applying it to their own life if they want to, you know. And that’s why I like Bruce Lee so much because like, that’s why you know, Jeet Kune Do is such an awesome style, because it was his own style.”

“It was his own form of fighting he took and he mastered. But he took it from other places.” Joe Rogan added a piece of information to the topic, too. “He did it back when that was taboo. That was very taboo.”, Rogan said.

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The UFC commentator even talked about his personal experience from his early martial arts days, where the system was rather rigid. “Even when I was doing taekwondo, you weren’t supposed to do other things. You were supposed to only concentrate on the art that you did.  And Bruce Lee was like, ‘That’s not smart’.”

Buckley learned Rogan’s famous sidekick

Discussing the influencers he looked up to, Joaquin Buckley revealed that Joe Rogan was one of them for him. The fighter said he learned sidekicks from watching Rogan’s videos.

Joe Rogan stated, “That’s hilarious”. Buckley reassured him that it is true, “It’s hilarious, but that’s the truth.” Rogan further went on saying, “I wish I was around to show you in real life and show you in real even better.” 

Their discussion around fighting styles and techniques went in great depth, and both of them had some great points to add to the conversation.

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It is always a treat when Joe Rogan is joined by another athlete. The conversation really picks up and delves into some fairly fascinating subjects.