Podbit · Modern Wisdom
Ben Askren walked through the brutal economics of MMA: even after 7 flawless years of progression, a UFC fighter in their first year might gross $80,000 and take home as little as $27,000 after gym fees, management, and taxes. He only ever recommended it to two people — and only because they genuinely wanted to fight.
Where this was said
At 40:40 · chapter starts 37:26
Ben runs wrestling academies, so he acknowledges potential bias — but he makes a compelling structural argument regardless. Wrestling uniquely enforces humility because there is nowhere to hide. In team sports, a weaker player can sit the bench while better teammates carry the load. In wrestling, if someone is better than you, they will demonstrate it physically. You either adapt or you get ground into the mat. The sport is also an exercise in radical self-reliance: there is no teammate to bail you out in the third period of a hard match. You are entirely alone with your preparation and your character. [1] — Ben Askren "Ben Askren argues wrestling is the greatest character-building activity on earth. There's no bench to hide on — if someone's better than yo…" 37:22 Ben contrasts this with MMA gyms, where he observed a very different parental expectation — not 'I want my kid to learn discipline' but 'my kid is scrappy, he's going to be a star.' That mismatch between expectation and reality, he says, accounts for a lot of the bitterness that follows people out of combat sports.
Thomas's wife deferred her CrossFit career — she's in the global top 1% of athletes — to put him through law school debt-free. He wants her to chase the dream now; she wants the emergency fund and house down payment first. On a $200K lawyer income with no debt, the opportunity cost is just a few months of slower saving.
Underground calisthenics battles are exactly like UFC meets a rap battle — 150 people crowded around a circle, fighters walking out with masks and chains, nicknames like 'Extra Money' vs 'Calisthenics the Prince,' and people throwing money and betting. The battle set: 100 burpees, 50 muscle-ups, 75 dips, 75 squats with a 65-pound dumbbell. This is the next big spectator sport.
Rico Verhoeven controlled the undisputed heavyweight boxing champion for approximately 10 rounds — and had his appeal upheld when officials admitted the fight was stopped after the bell. The result was never overturned. Rogan calls it either incompetence or corruption, and argues the money behind Usyk made an upset politically inconvenient.
Rogan lays out a blunt case: boxing's 3-judge system is structurally broken, and the judges know who the promoter wants to win. Glory's 5-judge format is the right model. Corruption doesn't have to be conscious — just knowing Usyk is the cash cow is enough to tilt the scales.
With the Usyk-Wilder fight stalling and Fury-Joshua coming too late, the real fight the world wants is the rematch. Rico is a free agent. Usyk vacated his belts. The story is unfinished and both Rogan and Rico know it. His Excellency Turki Alasheikh already called for it ringside — the question is money.
Rico texted Jason Statham during the Canelo-Crawford fight. Statham showed Rico's highlight videos to promoters. Two days later, Rico was on a call about fighting Anthony Joshua. When Joshua pulled out, Rico pitched Usyk himself — Undisputed vs. Undisputed. Usyk said yes in two weeks. The whole thing started with one text.
Every heavyweight who faced Usyk tried to move to the right — straight into his power hand. Rico and Peter Fury identified the obvious solution: move left, away from the left hand, and smother him with size. It sounds simple. Nobody had done it. That one adjustment was the foundation of 10 dominant rounds.
MMA fans boo when fights go to the ground. They love stand-up. Kickboxing is pure stand-up. Yet it barely exists in America while boxing and MMA are enormous. Rogan's diagnosis: no promotion machine. If the UFC got behind kickboxing the way they've built MMA, it would explode. The talent is there — the storytelling machine is not.
A nation of 17 million people gave the world Ramon Deckers, Peter Aerts, Badr Hari, Melvin Manhoef, Rob Kamen, Ernesto Hoost, and Rico Verhoeven. Rico's theory: the country is so small that every gym shares knowledge freely. In the US, you need a flight. In Holland, you drive 40 minutes and spar the national champion.
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