"One of the smartest guys I've ever talked to" - When Joe Rogan hailed GSP's coach Firas Zahabi as a "genius"

During an episode of JRE, UFC commentator Joe Rogan told former UFC lightweight Kevin Lee that Firas Zahabi would be a good coach for him. Rogan stated that he was recommending Zahabi because the Canadian has a "special mind" for MMA:

"The reason why I recommended Firas Zahabi is first of all he one of the smartest guys I've ever talked to. Firas is a fu***ng genius, legitimate genius, knows everything about MMA. I mean there's not a stone unturned... I think he's got a special mind."

Watch Joe Rogan talk about Firas Zahabi below:

The UFC color commentator added that because GSP and Lee had a similar style mixing up wrestling and striking, Zahabi would be a perfect match for Lee as he was for St-Pierre:

"He coached GSP and I feel like your style and GSP's style are very similar and you're both very good wrestlers and you're both very good at mixing up the wrestling and the striking... And I think that his experience and coaching one of the greatest of all time in Georges St-Pierre would just slide right into coaching someone like you. I really believe that."

Watch a clip of Zahabi training with GSP below:

Lee responded to Rogan, saying that he had been contemplating a move to Montreal for some time. Joe Rogan agreed with Lee's decision by saying that Montreal would've been his option, too, if he were a young fighter.

---

Firas Zahabi tells Joe Rogan how he trained Georges St-Pierre

While speaking on an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience, legendary MMA coach Firas Zahabi said that he designed GPS's training sessions with just the right amount of intensity.

The Canadian explained that too high or too low an intensity level would not help a fighter. Zahabi further added that he made his fighter go through high-intensity training levels only periodically throughout the year:

"It [training] has to be challenging but manageable. If I'm make it too challenging, I'm redlining him, he is going to break, his knee is going to pop, he is going to be unmotivated. If it's too easy, he's going to be bored. I have to find the right amount of stimulus."

Zahabi added:

"In the practice room, if I see Georges is just mauling guys and destroying them, I have to scale it - the work out - so its harder. But I don't want to scale it so high that I injure him and break him.We reach those high intensity levels periodically throughout the year."

However, Zahabi admitted that he sometimes asks GSP's training partners to go hard on the fighter to find deficiencies in his game.

Watch the full JRE clip below: