The Joe Rogan Experience

Podbit · The Joe Rogan Experience

JRE MMA Show #183 with Rico Verhoeven

Explore episode Aug 4, 2026
TV & Film
Acting as the Fighter's Second Life

JRE MMA Show #183 with Rico Verhoeven · Aug 4, 2026 TV & Film

Rico has already appeared in Den of Thieves, Den of Thieves 2, and Roadhouse alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and Dave Bautista. Jason Statham is developing a specific role for him. Working alongside elite actors taught Rico something about himself: the emotional suppression that makes him a great fighter is exactly the material that makes great acting — if he learns to stop pushing it away.

Where this was said

Acting Career, Dave Bautista, and Life After Fighting

At 2:05:50 · chapter starts 2:04:00

Having found his next passion, Rico talks through his acting experience with genuine excitement. He's appeared in Den of Thieves and its sequel, plus Roadhouse with Jake Gyllenhaal. He's developing a project with Jason Statham who, as a former world-class diver turned action star, has a clear vision for the right kind of role for Rico. Dave Bautista is cited as the gold standard of the athlete-to-actor transition — genuinely good, not just a large body playing a brute. The key insight: the actors taught Rico that emotional suppression — his greatest fighter's tool — is actually premium acting material, if you learn to access it rather than bury it. His grief, his losses, his joys, all that pressure he converts to physical fuel could instead be channeled into authentic performance. He's excited. He's not just doing it as something to do after fighting — he genuinely loves it.

Sports
Turki Alasheikh: The Man Making Impossible Fights Happen

JRE MMA Show #183 with Rico Verhoeven · Aug 4, 2026 Sports

Rogan and Rico credit His Excellency Turki Alasheikh with making fights that promoters couldn't or wouldn't: Usyk vs. Verhoeven, Ngannou vs. Fury, Crawford vs. Canelo, even a fight on Times Square. His edge: when people say it's impossible, that's his signal to make it happen — and an unlimited checkbook doesn't hurt.

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