Joe Rogan and The Rock discuss whether MMA pioneers could still be champions in the modern era

Joe Rogan and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson recently weighed in on whether they believe MMA pioneers would've been champions in the modern era of the sport, which has been an ongoing topic of discussion in the MMA community.

During episode #2063 of The Joe Rogan Experience, The Rock raised the question on whether legendary MMA pioneers could achieve the same level of success if they were competing today. The WWE superstar-turned-actor mentioned that he believes their mentality set them apart from their competition and that proper coaching would be the difference-maker.

He said:

"I don't wanna say they were ahead of their time because they were all founding fathers; pioneers. Even with the insane mindset that those guys had, right? I feel like with a different type of coaching, how they were coached back then, I feel like they would still dominate." [2:15:14 - 2:15:35]

Joe Rogan responded by noting that despite MMA evolving throughout the years, fighters from the early years of MMA would seek out ways to improve in all areas. He mentioned that he believes the championship mindset they developed during their careers would result in them ensuring they are complete fighters:

"Champions rise to the level of competition that's around them and I think guys like Frank Shamrock or Ken Shamrock or Royce Gracie, they would rise today. They would all rise today cause they're champions, there's a mindset. They would just have to do things differently." [2:16:18 - 2:16:36]

Joe Rogan and The Rock agreed that champions from the early years of the sport could have still been successful in the modern era because their mindset is what separated them from their peers.

Check out the full episode:

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The Rock credits UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock for encouraging him to continue with pro wrestling

The Rock recently credited Ken Shamrock for encouraging him to continue his path in WWE rather than attempting a transition into MMA.

During the aforementioned episode, the 'The People's Champion' brought up that he was looking to earn more money and was contemplating pursuing an MMA career with Pride. The Rock mentioned that the UFC Hall of Famer encouraged him to continue with pro wrestling because he believed he had the makings of being a star:

"I got a chance to get to know him [Ken Shamrock] very well and work out with him. He was just like, 'Just stick with this [WWE career] first. There's a real shot here. You got something here, stick with this.' And if you remember, he started in pro wrestling and then went over [to MMA]." [2:12:54 - 2:13:10]