August 20, 2025 • 15 mins
This recap episode unpacks Protect Ya Neck #169 from The Joe Rogan Experience. They analyse various fighter performances, strategies, and upcoming bouts, alongside commentary on the sport's business aspects, such as fighter pay, promotions, and the impact of streaming services like Paramount Plus on the UFC. Beyond MMA, the conversation briefly touches on broader cultural observations, including the societal impact of prohibition, pop culture references to comic book characters, and personal anecdotes about training, health, and family life, offering a conversational and wide-ranging overview of their interests and perspectives.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the Joe Rogan recap. Today we're doing something a
bit different, a real deep dive.We're immersing ourselves in
this broad, free flowing conversation from a bunch of
your sources. Our mission really is to guide
you through all sorts of topics,policy, health, free speech.
Yeah, even some surprising history.
(00:20):
Combat sports. It's all in.
There, exactly. We'll pull out the most
interesting bits, the surprisingfacts, just to give you a solid
understanding of everything discussed.
It's actually amazing how one conversation can just, you know,
branch out into so many different things.
All connected though, what really jumps out, I think, is
just the sheer range of subjects.
You get these new angles on stuff you thought you knew
(00:41):
inside out. We're going to try and connect
those docs for you, show what each piece kind of matters in
the bigger picture. OK, sounds good.
So let's start unpacking this. How about we kick off with
policy health, maybe some of those hidden agendas that might
be shaping things. There's been talk, for instance,
about former President Trump maybe legalizing marijuana.
Feels like that's been coming for a while for some people.
(01:02):
Oh, absolutely. And the arguments for it, well,
they're pretty compelling based on your sources.
You've got the obvious medical side.
There is an anecdote about natural stuff helping ulcerative
colitis, maybe better than drugsthat can hit the liver hard.
But then there's the economic angle, too.
The alcohol industry. Yeah, they clearly want
marijuana to stay illegal, right?
Yeah, lobbying against it, worried about their market, that
(01:24):
sort of thing. Exactly.
Driven by studies looking at that potential impact, they have
a definite interest. And connecting that dot, the
current situation where it's illegal, it doesn't just mean
miss taxes, it actually helps organized crime.
We heard about this guy John Norris, game warden, who wrote
Hidden War. He talked about cartel grow OPS
in national forests. Right.
(01:45):
Not just small patches either, like tactical teams and they're
using these super toxic pesticides, stuff that's been
outlawed for years. Which brings up the whole safety
thing. Legalization isn't just about,
you know, freedom to use it. It's about controlling it,
making it safer. Precisely.
It's about regulation. Think about alcohol prohibition,
right 13 years. It fueled organized crime, led
(02:08):
to dangerous bathtub gin moonshine.
So same idea here. Unregulated market means unsafe
products. Exactly, Legalization means
safety checks, quality control, and you know, your sources also
really hit on the influence of big pharma, especially during
COVID, suggesting that well, maybe financial incentives were
shaping decisions about treatments, even how deaths were
(02:29):
classified sometimes. It really makes you think about
how money flows and what we end up consuming or how we get
treated. And Speaking of consuming, let's
talk food, something basic like bread or pizza.
There was this mention of a specific pizza, the Sarah Slice,
praised for using good, simple ingredients.
Yeah. Grande mozzarella, Italian Sam
Rosano tomatoes, no added sugar and this Caputo flour from
(02:52):
Italy. Key thing no bromate, no
preservatives. OK, let's focus on that.
Potassium bromate. What's the deal there?
So it's this additive they use in the US to make dough
stronger, easier to work with. But here's the kicker.
It's banned. Like completely banned in
Europe, the UK, even China because of concerns it might
cause cancer. Studies linked it to kidney,
(03:12):
thyroid cancers in animals, plusgenotoxic effects, messing with
genes and nephrotoxic. So did you damage in animals and
humans? Wow.
And their immediate effects too.Yeah, if you ingest enough
acutely. Think nausea, vomiting,
abdominal pain, that kind of. Stuff.
And the craziest part, you said the FDA basically knew.
(03:32):
Since when? Since 1991, according to your
sources, they've apparently beentelling companies, hey, maybe
stop using this, but they never actually banned it.
No enforcement. That's wild, and it points to a
bigger problem with American bread, doesn't it?
It really does. There was this health expert
video mentioned, talked about what's done to the grain here
they strip out the bran and germ, that's the fiber, the
(03:53):
nutrients, just to make the flour last longer on the shelf.
So it's kind of nutritionally dead.
And then they enrich it. Right with folic acid.
But here's the thing. A huge chunk of the population
can't actually metabolize that form properly, which can lead to
fatigue, anxiety, inflammation. Oh, and the bleaching with
chlorine gas, just to make it look wider.
(04:13):
Yeah. And then there's glyphosate, you
know, the herbicide widely used to dry out the wheat before
harvest. And that's linked to what?
Endocrine disruption. Gut issues.
Exactly. Endocrine disruption, gut
damage, people experience bloating, brain fog, tiredness.
So the big take away the inside here is that maybe gluten is
(04:34):
just the scapegoat sometimes. You mean it's not the gluten
itself for everyone? Maybe not.
Maybe the real issue is this ultra processed, chemically
altered, bleached, bromated, fake vitamin filled wheat soaked
in glyphosate. That's quite a mouthful, but it
paints a picture. Which would explain why someone
might feel awful eating bread here even if they think they're
gluten free, but then go to Italy or Spain and feel totally
(04:57):
fine eating bread there. Precisely.
And places like that. Joey Rose's sandwich shop
mentioned importing flour, baking fresh daily, tossing the
old stuff. That's unfortunately pretty rare
here. It's a tough one.
Regulators knew. But maybe the scale of feeding
300 million people or, you know,profit, it creates this ethical
not how do you fix it without messing up the whole food
(05:18):
system? It's a massive challenge, no
easy answers. OK, let's shift gears.
Moving away from our food, let'stalk broader society.
Freedom of expression, for instance.
Yeah, some really stark examplescame up in your sources about
government maybe overreaching a bit.
Like in Canada, someone fined $28,000 just for walking in the
woods because of wildfire concerns.
(05:39):
Not even active fires nearby in Saskatchewan. 28 Grand Wow and
the UK examples. Even more concerning, maybe
thousands apparently jailed for social media posts.
One specific guy got 20 months. Why?
For encouraging violence quote UN quote against a hotel housing
migrants. But the broader point was UK
police arresting thousands like 4000 for posts deemed offensive.
(06:02):
Compare that to maybe 400 in Russia.
Apparently it makes you pause. It really does.
And connecting this to history, some wild stuff came up, like
powdered wigs. Yeah, turns out they were
popular in Europe partly to hidehair loss and sores from
syphilis. Syphilis.
Seriously. Yep.
Brought back from the Americas by Europeans around 1492 and
bigwig that term came from the richest people having the
(06:23):
biggest, most elaborate wigs to cover things up.
That's an origin story I didn't expect.
And syphilis wasn't the only thing brought over.
No Smallpox was devastating originally from 6th century
China, but Europeans brought it to North America and because
native populations had 0 immunity it wiped out maybe 90%
of them. Mayan civilization.
Amazonian groups just decimated 90.
(06:46):
Percent. It really forces you to look at
historical figures differently to like Columbus.
Right, First off, he landed in the Bahamas, not rain land
America as we know it. And there are accounts like from
a priest who traveled with him detailing just horrific things.
Cutting off arms, smashing babies heads on rocks of
indigenous people, didn't meet gold quotas.
It's brutal history. Definitely makes you rethink the
(07:07):
simplified versions we often get, which kind of leads into
modern society. This feeling of tribalism and
political burnout mentioned in the sources.
Yeah, this perception that maybeyounger generations are feeling
disconnected, saying F America, that kind of sentiment and this
intense tribalization where you don't just disagree with the
other side, you hate everything about them, which leads people
(07:29):
to justify stuff that's, well, ideological or maybe even
immoral. And algorithms just feed into
that right, pushing more and more divisive content.
Absolutely. They amplify it, and you see
this pushback, people just wanting entertainment to be
entertainment again without heavy-handed political messages
like critiques of woke stuff in Star Wars or how characters like
(07:53):
the Hulk or Silver Surfer are being portrayed now.
There's also the strong feeling,though, that the Founding
Fathers with the Constitution, they really nailed it on
freedom, maybe because they'd lived under a monarchy.
That's the idea presented. They knew what the alternative
looked like. But freedom is an absolute
right. There's talk of repercussions,
like the Will Smith slap at the Oscars.
Yeah, citing his career basically hitting the brakes
(08:14):
after that as an example. Actions have consequences.
Even famous people aren't totally immune.
It's fascinating how these themes, freedom, consequences,
history weave together and it leads us nicely into another
arena where those things play out constantly.
Combat sports. Let's switch over to the UFC
fights, the business side, the legends.
(08:35):
OK, yeah, big fight discussed Kamzat Shmayev versus Drakis
Duplessi DDP. Your sources point out Kamzat
super aggressive style but also interestingly moments where he
just stand still like against Oozman or Gilbert Burns.
Right, contrasted with DDP, who's apparently got incredible
discipline, amazing cardio. Compared him to Marab
(08:57):
Devolishvili even. High praise.
But Kemsat isn't just a striker,right?
He started judo at 5, wrestling at 12.
He's got serious grappling jobs.And the training aspect is
interesting too. Kemsat apparently had
overtraining problems. Yeah, but now he's working with
a new conditioning coach, Sam Calvita, training guys like TJ
Dillashaw, Aaron Pico, using scientific methods supposedly
from Cyclin, focused heavily on recovery to avoid that burnout.
(09:19):
Meanwhile, DDPS got that hit by a car power and he seems
confident even if he gets taken down.
So the big question is, can Kamzad, who seems like a
splinter, keep that pace up for five rounds if DDP drags him
into deep water? And how good is his guard going
to need to be? Definitely a lot to watch there.
What about other fighters? Mentioned Marab.
Devala. Schili came up again.
(09:41):
Oh man, Marab built different was the phrase used apparently.
Fought once with a serious staphinfection on antibiotics and
still just outworked his opponent.
Plus his whole story, you know, immigrant, learned English,
became this sort of funny personality.
It's a Great American Dream typenarrative.
Then you have someone like Sean Strickland punching a fan that
(10:01):
came up. Yeah, stirred up controversy,
and it was framed as part of this broader discussion about
maybe a lack of repercussions for certain behaviors these
days. Speaking of repercussions,
though, Matt Sarah's story was hilarious.
Oh. Right about his daughter Maria,
who does jiu jitsu. Apparently some kid made fun of
Matt's height in an interview clip.
So Maria found the kid and choked him out a bit at a jiu
(10:24):
jitsu class. Got some clicks online.
Sarah called it repercussions. All in good fun, supposedly.
Classic but jiu jitsu it does take a toll right?
Especially as you get older for sure.
Sources mentioned guys in their 40s, fifties, knees, shoulders,
always something which leads to talk about TRT stem cells trying
to recover and keep training. And legends like Jose Aldo still
(10:48):
going. All those a thing Monster even
passes Prime known for those legkicks.
Unbelievable takedown defense. Even Marab couldn't get him down
apparently, and he dropped a weight class later in his career
and still performed at a super high level.
Just incredible. Then there's Pantoja, the
slyweight champ. Yeah, described as a killer.
Deserves more attention. Hard worker too, apparently.
Did Uber Eats while fighting in the USC just to make ends meet
(11:10):
early on? It is weird how flyweight
sometimes don't get the same love, isn't it?
It's. Strange.
Maybe size perception? Who knows?
And the big names like John Jones?
Rumors about a massive payday. Yeah, $30 million number was
thrown around for a potential fight with Tom Aspinall, maybe
Saudi Arabia involved, Then he kind of retired, then unretired.
(11:31):
It highlights that struggle fighters face mentally and
physically, knowing when it's time to actually hang them up.
It's got to be incredibly hard. Which ties into the business
side of things, right? The money in combat sports.
Definitely. And there's a huge difference
pointed out between boxing moneyand MMA money.
Boxing. See these astronomical paydays?
U-6 supposedly getting $114 million for one fight.
(11:54):
Crawford and Spence getting $25 million each.
Compared to the UFC where the pay structure is generally seen
as more spread out, maybe less top heavy for individual fights.
Exactly though the US CS overallbusiness is massive.
Look at that Paramount Plus dealmentioned a billion dollars a
year for seven years offering free UFC content.
That's. Huge supposedly going to bring
(12:16):
millions of new subscribers to Paramount Plus M buy.
Yeah, and apparently Netflix wasinterested too.
But one of those big arena crowds, not just the Apex
events. Makes you wonder if boxing might
move towards more of a league model like the UFC.
Something to build undercards, Maybe make individual losses
less financially devastating forpromoters.
Could be structure could help boxing.
(12:36):
And Speaking of boxing versus MMA, remember Ray Mercer
knocking out Tim Sylvia? Oh yeah, the one punch KO.
But there was a story behind that, right?
Supposedly they had a no kickingagreement because Mercer was the
boxer. Sylvia kicked him, Mercer got
mad, and boom, one punch Shows how tricky those crossover
fights are. And finally, training
philosophy. Eliot Topuria's approach sounded
(12:59):
interesting. Really interesting, instead of
just mixing everything in a standard MMA camp, he trains
each discipline, jiu jitsu, wrestling, boxing separately
with top specialists in each oneand.
Puts it all together later. Exactly, sort of mastering each
component individually first contrast with the traditional
way and seems to be working incredibly well for him.
Yeah, lots happening in the fight world, constant evolution.
(13:21):
OK, so beyond the fights, beyondpolicy, there was some personal
reflections too on just like thehuman condition.
Yeah, reflecting on how tough life used to be, crossing oceans
and wooden boats, daily life andwarrior cultures.
Just the sheer hardship makes you think about modern society
maybe getting a bit soft. The whole TikTok culture thing
mentioned even this push againstmen being strong, it's a
(13:42):
contrast. But also finding connection and
basic things like sharing food, especially if you haunted it
yourself. Right, the sources talked about
bow hunting specifically. Less about efficiency like rifle
hunting, more like a spiritual journey.
That deep satisfaction from connecting with your food
source, preparing it well, makesyou think, how connected are you
to where your food actually comes from day-to-day?
(14:03):
That's a good question for everyone listening.
And then there's the reality of aging injuries.
Yeah, personal stories came up, Chronic stuff, back, knee,
biceps from years of intense activity, the struggle with
natural healing versus surgery, the long recovery times.
It really grounds the discussion, especially thinking
about pro fighters. The wear and tear they go
through is immense. Staying at the top as you age,
(14:26):
it's a monumental challenge. Absolutely.
Well, we've definitely covered ahuge amount of ground in this
deep dive, haven't we? From chemicals hidden in our
bread to the history of pandemics.
The strategy in combat sports. Yeah, it really shows that being
informed isn't just knowing headlines, it's about seeing how
all this stuff connects, you know?
(14:46):
Totally understanding the interconnectedness of it all.
And I think this whole deep divereally hammers home how
important critical thinking is, especially now with information
coming at us from everywhere. It leaves you with a big
question, really. How much are you actually aware
of those invisible forces, the ones in your food affecting your
freedom, shaping your entertainment?
How much do they influence your daily life without you even
(15:09):
realizing it? That's definitely something to
chew on. What stands out most to you from
everything we talked about today?
Think about that as you go aboutyour day.
Welcome to the Joe Rogan recap. Today we're doing something a
bit different, a real deep dive.We're immersing ourselves in
this broad, free flowing conversation from a bunch of
your sources. Our mission really is to guide
you through all sorts of topics,policy, health, free speech.
Yeah, even some surprising history.
(00:20):
Combat sports. It's all in.
There, exactly. We'll pull out the most
interesting bits, the surprisingfacts, just to give you a solid
understanding of everything discussed.
It's actually amazing how one conversation can just, you know,
branch out into so many different things.
All connected though, what really jumps out, I think, is
just the sheer range of subjects.
You get these new angles on stuff you thought you knew
(00:41):
inside out. We're going to try and connect
those docs for you, show what each piece kind of matters in
the bigger picture. OK, sounds good.
So let's start unpacking this. How about we kick off with
policy health, maybe some of those hidden agendas that might
be shaping things. There's been talk, for instance,
about former President Trump maybe legalizing marijuana.
Feels like that's been coming for a while for some people.
(01:02):
Oh, absolutely. And the arguments for it, well,
they're pretty compelling based on your sources.
You've got the obvious medical side.
There is an anecdote about natural stuff helping ulcerative
colitis, maybe better than drugsthat can hit the liver hard.
But then there's the economic angle, too.
The alcohol industry. Yeah, they clearly want
marijuana to stay illegal, right?
Yeah, lobbying against it, worried about their market, that
(01:24):
sort of thing. Exactly.
Driven by studies looking at that potential impact, they have
a definite interest. And connecting that dot, the
current situation where it's illegal, it doesn't just mean
miss taxes, it actually helps organized crime.
We heard about this guy John Norris, game warden, who wrote
Hidden War. He talked about cartel grow OPS
in national forests. Right.
(01:45):
Not just small patches either, like tactical teams and they're
using these super toxic pesticides, stuff that's been
outlawed for years. Which brings up the whole safety
thing. Legalization isn't just about,
you know, freedom to use it. It's about controlling it,
making it safer. Precisely.
It's about regulation. Think about alcohol prohibition,
right 13 years. It fueled organized crime, led
(02:08):
to dangerous bathtub gin moonshine.
So same idea here. Unregulated market means unsafe
products. Exactly, Legalization means
safety checks, quality control, and you know, your sources also
really hit on the influence of big pharma, especially during
COVID, suggesting that well, maybe financial incentives were
shaping decisions about treatments, even how deaths were
(02:29):
classified sometimes. It really makes you think about
how money flows and what we end up consuming or how we get
treated. And Speaking of consuming, let's
talk food, something basic like bread or pizza.
There was this mention of a specific pizza, the Sarah Slice,
praised for using good, simple ingredients.
Yeah. Grande mozzarella, Italian Sam
Rosano tomatoes, no added sugar and this Caputo flour from
(02:52):
Italy. Key thing no bromate, no
preservatives. OK, let's focus on that.
Potassium bromate. What's the deal there?
So it's this additive they use in the US to make dough
stronger, easier to work with. But here's the kicker.
It's banned. Like completely banned in
Europe, the UK, even China because of concerns it might
cause cancer. Studies linked it to kidney,
(03:12):
thyroid cancers in animals, plusgenotoxic effects, messing with
genes and nephrotoxic. So did you damage in animals and
humans? Wow.
And their immediate effects too.Yeah, if you ingest enough
acutely. Think nausea, vomiting,
abdominal pain, that kind of. Stuff.
And the craziest part, you said the FDA basically knew.
(03:32):
Since when? Since 1991, according to your
sources, they've apparently beentelling companies, hey, maybe
stop using this, but they never actually banned it.
No enforcement. That's wild, and it points to a
bigger problem with American bread, doesn't it?
It really does. There was this health expert
video mentioned, talked about what's done to the grain here
they strip out the bran and germ, that's the fiber, the
(03:53):
nutrients, just to make the flour last longer on the shelf.
So it's kind of nutritionally dead.
And then they enrich it. Right with folic acid.
But here's the thing. A huge chunk of the population
can't actually metabolize that form properly, which can lead to
fatigue, anxiety, inflammation. Oh, and the bleaching with
chlorine gas, just to make it look wider.
(04:13):
Yeah. And then there's glyphosate, you
know, the herbicide widely used to dry out the wheat before
harvest. And that's linked to what?
Endocrine disruption. Gut issues.
Exactly. Endocrine disruption, gut
damage, people experience bloating, brain fog, tiredness.
So the big take away the inside here is that maybe gluten is
(04:34):
just the scapegoat sometimes. You mean it's not the gluten
itself for everyone? Maybe not.
Maybe the real issue is this ultra processed, chemically
altered, bleached, bromated, fake vitamin filled wheat soaked
in glyphosate. That's quite a mouthful, but it
paints a picture. Which would explain why someone
might feel awful eating bread here even if they think they're
gluten free, but then go to Italy or Spain and feel totally
(04:57):
fine eating bread there. Precisely.
And places like that. Joey Rose's sandwich shop
mentioned importing flour, baking fresh daily, tossing the
old stuff. That's unfortunately pretty rare
here. It's a tough one.
Regulators knew. But maybe the scale of feeding
300 million people or, you know,profit, it creates this ethical
not how do you fix it without messing up the whole food
(05:18):
system? It's a massive challenge, no
easy answers. OK, let's shift gears.
Moving away from our food, let'stalk broader society.
Freedom of expression, for instance.
Yeah, some really stark examplescame up in your sources about
government maybe overreaching a bit.
Like in Canada, someone fined $28,000 just for walking in the
woods because of wildfire concerns.
(05:39):
Not even active fires nearby in Saskatchewan. 28 Grand Wow and
the UK examples. Even more concerning, maybe
thousands apparently jailed for social media posts.
One specific guy got 20 months. Why?
For encouraging violence quote UN quote against a hotel housing
migrants. But the broader point was UK
police arresting thousands like 4000 for posts deemed offensive.
(06:02):
Compare that to maybe 400 in Russia.
Apparently it makes you pause. It really does.
And connecting this to history, some wild stuff came up, like
powdered wigs. Yeah, turns out they were
popular in Europe partly to hidehair loss and sores from
syphilis. Syphilis.
Seriously. Yep.
Brought back from the Americas by Europeans around 1492 and
bigwig that term came from the richest people having the
(06:23):
biggest, most elaborate wigs to cover things up.
That's an origin story I didn't expect.
And syphilis wasn't the only thing brought over.
No Smallpox was devastating originally from 6th century
China, but Europeans brought it to North America and because
native populations had 0 immunity it wiped out maybe 90%
of them. Mayan civilization.
Amazonian groups just decimated 90.
(06:46):
Percent. It really forces you to look at
historical figures differently to like Columbus.
Right, First off, he landed in the Bahamas, not rain land
America as we know it. And there are accounts like from
a priest who traveled with him detailing just horrific things.
Cutting off arms, smashing babies heads on rocks of
indigenous people, didn't meet gold quotas.
It's brutal history. Definitely makes you rethink the
(07:07):
simplified versions we often get, which kind of leads into
modern society. This feeling of tribalism and
political burnout mentioned in the sources.
Yeah, this perception that maybeyounger generations are feeling
disconnected, saying F America, that kind of sentiment and this
intense tribalization where you don't just disagree with the
other side, you hate everything about them, which leads people
(07:29):
to justify stuff that's, well, ideological or maybe even
immoral. And algorithms just feed into
that right, pushing more and more divisive content.
Absolutely. They amplify it, and you see
this pushback, people just wanting entertainment to be
entertainment again without heavy-handed political messages
like critiques of woke stuff in Star Wars or how characters like
(07:53):
the Hulk or Silver Surfer are being portrayed now.
There's also the strong feeling,though, that the Founding
Fathers with the Constitution, they really nailed it on
freedom, maybe because they'd lived under a monarchy.
That's the idea presented. They knew what the alternative
looked like. But freedom is an absolute
right. There's talk of repercussions,
like the Will Smith slap at the Oscars.
Yeah, citing his career basically hitting the brakes
(08:14):
after that as an example. Actions have consequences.
Even famous people aren't totally immune.
It's fascinating how these themes, freedom, consequences,
history weave together and it leads us nicely into another
arena where those things play out constantly.
Combat sports. Let's switch over to the UFC
fights, the business side, the legends.
(08:35):
OK, yeah, big fight discussed Kamzat Shmayev versus Drakis
Duplessi DDP. Your sources point out Kamzat
super aggressive style but also interestingly moments where he
just stand still like against Oozman or Gilbert Burns.
Right, contrasted with DDP, who's apparently got incredible
discipline, amazing cardio. Compared him to Marab
(08:57):
Devolishvili even. High praise.
But Kemsat isn't just a striker,right?
He started judo at 5, wrestling at 12.
He's got serious grappling jobs.And the training aspect is
interesting too. Kemsat apparently had
overtraining problems. Yeah, but now he's working with
a new conditioning coach, Sam Calvita, training guys like TJ
Dillashaw, Aaron Pico, using scientific methods supposedly
from Cyclin, focused heavily on recovery to avoid that burnout.
(09:19):
Meanwhile, DDPS got that hit by a car power and he seems
confident even if he gets taken down.
So the big question is, can Kamzad, who seems like a
splinter, keep that pace up for five rounds if DDP drags him
into deep water? And how good is his guard going
to need to be? Definitely a lot to watch there.
What about other fighters? Mentioned Marab.
Devala. Schili came up again.
(09:41):
Oh man, Marab built different was the phrase used apparently.
Fought once with a serious staphinfection on antibiotics and
still just outworked his opponent.
Plus his whole story, you know, immigrant, learned English,
became this sort of funny personality.
It's a Great American Dream typenarrative.
Then you have someone like Sean Strickland punching a fan that
(10:01):
came up. Yeah, stirred up controversy,
and it was framed as part of this broader discussion about
maybe a lack of repercussions for certain behaviors these
days. Speaking of repercussions,
though, Matt Sarah's story was hilarious.
Oh. Right about his daughter Maria,
who does jiu jitsu. Apparently some kid made fun of
Matt's height in an interview clip.
So Maria found the kid and choked him out a bit at a jiu
(10:24):
jitsu class. Got some clicks online.
Sarah called it repercussions. All in good fun, supposedly.
Classic but jiu jitsu it does take a toll right?
Especially as you get older for sure.
Sources mentioned guys in their 40s, fifties, knees, shoulders,
always something which leads to talk about TRT stem cells trying
to recover and keep training. And legends like Jose Aldo still
(10:48):
going. All those a thing Monster even
passes Prime known for those legkicks.
Unbelievable takedown defense. Even Marab couldn't get him down
apparently, and he dropped a weight class later in his career
and still performed at a super high level.
Just incredible. Then there's Pantoja, the
slyweight champ. Yeah, described as a killer.
Deserves more attention. Hard worker too, apparently.
Did Uber Eats while fighting in the USC just to make ends meet
(11:10):
early on? It is weird how flyweight
sometimes don't get the same love, isn't it?
It's. Strange.
Maybe size perception? Who knows?
And the big names like John Jones?
Rumors about a massive payday. Yeah, $30 million number was
thrown around for a potential fight with Tom Aspinall, maybe
Saudi Arabia involved, Then he kind of retired, then unretired.
(11:31):
It highlights that struggle fighters face mentally and
physically, knowing when it's time to actually hang them up.
It's got to be incredibly hard. Which ties into the business
side of things, right? The money in combat sports.
Definitely. And there's a huge difference
pointed out between boxing moneyand MMA money.
Boxing. See these astronomical paydays?
U-6 supposedly getting $114 million for one fight.
(11:54):
Crawford and Spence getting $25 million each.
Compared to the UFC where the pay structure is generally seen
as more spread out, maybe less top heavy for individual fights.
Exactly though the US CS overallbusiness is massive.
Look at that Paramount Plus dealmentioned a billion dollars a
year for seven years offering free UFC content.
That's. Huge supposedly going to bring
(12:16):
millions of new subscribers to Paramount Plus M buy.
Yeah, and apparently Netflix wasinterested too.
But one of those big arena crowds, not just the Apex
events. Makes you wonder if boxing might
move towards more of a league model like the UFC.
Something to build undercards, Maybe make individual losses
less financially devastating forpromoters.
Could be structure could help boxing.
(12:36):
And Speaking of boxing versus MMA, remember Ray Mercer
knocking out Tim Sylvia? Oh yeah, the one punch KO.
But there was a story behind that, right?
Supposedly they had a no kickingagreement because Mercer was the
boxer. Sylvia kicked him, Mercer got
mad, and boom, one punch Shows how tricky those crossover
fights are. And finally, training
philosophy. Eliot Topuria's approach sounded
(12:59):
interesting. Really interesting, instead of
just mixing everything in a standard MMA camp, he trains
each discipline, jiu jitsu, wrestling, boxing separately
with top specialists in each oneand.
Puts it all together later. Exactly, sort of mastering each
component individually first contrast with the traditional
way and seems to be working incredibly well for him.
Yeah, lots happening in the fight world, constant evolution.
(13:21):
OK, so beyond the fights, beyondpolicy, there was some personal
reflections too on just like thehuman condition.
Yeah, reflecting on how tough life used to be, crossing oceans
and wooden boats, daily life andwarrior cultures.
Just the sheer hardship makes you think about modern society
maybe getting a bit soft. The whole TikTok culture thing
mentioned even this push againstmen being strong, it's a
(13:42):
contrast. But also finding connection and
basic things like sharing food, especially if you haunted it
yourself. Right, the sources talked about
bow hunting specifically. Less about efficiency like rifle
hunting, more like a spiritual journey.
That deep satisfaction from connecting with your food
source, preparing it well, makesyou think, how connected are you
to where your food actually comes from day-to-day?
(14:03):
That's a good question for everyone listening.
And then there's the reality of aging injuries.
Yeah, personal stories came up, Chronic stuff, back, knee,
biceps from years of intense activity, the struggle with
natural healing versus surgery, the long recovery times.
It really grounds the discussion, especially thinking
about pro fighters. The wear and tear they go
through is immense. Staying at the top as you age,
(14:26):
it's a monumental challenge. Absolutely.
Well, we've definitely covered ahuge amount of ground in this
deep dive, haven't we? From chemicals hidden in our
bread to the history of pandemics.
The strategy in combat sports. Yeah, it really shows that being
informed isn't just knowing headlines, it's about seeing how
all this stuff connects, you know?
(14:46):
Totally understanding the interconnectedness of it all.
And I think this whole deep divereally hammers home how
important critical thinking is, especially now with information
coming at us from everywhere. It leaves you with a big
question, really. How much are you actually aware
of those invisible forces, the ones in your food affecting your
freedom, shaping your entertainment?
How much do they influence your daily life without you even
(15:09):
realizing it? That's definitely something to
chew on. What stands out most to you from
everything we talked about today?
Think about that as you go aboutyour day.
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