Joe Rogan and David Goggins talk about the most influential family in martial arts history

Joe Rogan praised the legendary Gracie family for their accomplishments and for being the most influential family in martial arts history.

Rogan was joined by David Goggins on episode #1906 of his JRE podcast, where the topic came up about the Gracies in martial arts, especially jiu-jitsu. While speaking about the Gracie family, the UFC commentator mentioned that the whole family were elite-level martial artists, saying:

"That Gracie family, man, never been a family like it in martial arts. You just have a army of killers."

The Gracie family were not just influential in jiu-jitsu, but they were also influential in the success of the early days of the UFC. Rogan also brought up Rickson Gracie and his intense training methods and highlighted his training routine. He referenced a documentary called Choke, which followed him during his prime, saying:

"One of the things he does in that documentary, he gets in a frozen glacial river and he just sits down and he's meditating in this river up to his neck of this f***g 30 degree water just washing over him and he's like, 'Thank you my lord!' And he's just taking it all in. It's beyond talent."

Goggins chimed in and noted that Gracie exemplified a high level of mental discipline during his training, saying:

"What's crazy is that so many people would never understand that kind of discipline or that kind of human being that wants to go to the stratusphere, they'll always be misunderstood, man."

Check out the full clip:

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Joe Rogan says Rickson Gracie was the greatest of all time during his prime

During the conversation, Rogan spoke about Rickson Gracie being viewed as the greatest of all time during his prime. MMA fans might be more familiar with his younger brother Royce, which is understandable considering his UFC success, but the UFC commentator noted that Rickson was undoubtedly the best, saying:

"Back then when Rickson was in his prime...you ask any black-belt anywhere in the world, they're like, 'Rickson's the man.' And he was a yogi, he had all this crazy breath work that he would do. He figured out the physical as well as the mental far beyond where everybody else was ready to travel."

Despite his brother Royce fighting in the UFC and having a Hall of Fame career, Rickson Gracie never fought in the promotion and instead competed in Vale Tudo and Pride. He has only competed in MMA on 9 occasions and retired in 2000 after defeating Masakatsu Funaki to remain unbeaten.