In 1998, when Iran beat the US 2-1 at the World Cup, Iranian-American Kevin was 11 years old, sitting in an Ohio restaurant surrounded by American fans, quietly cheering for both teams. That game was the first time his two identities were pitted against each other in the sport he loved — and it wouldn't be the last.
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At 25:08 · chapter starts 24:05
The story shifts to Kevin, Farhad's son, who grew up in Ohio as an Iranian-American. His love of soccer began with an old VHS tape — '50 greatest World Cup goals' — that he and his father watched repeatedly together. One tape became boxes of taped matches stacked in the living room. Kevin started playing in a neighbourhood league; Farhad took him to meet American players like Brad Friedel and Brian McBride. Soccer became more than a sport — it became the primary thread connecting Kevin to his Iranian side and to his father. Their typical evening together, he says, is cooking Persian food and turning on a game. Farhad calls Kevin an 'encyclopedia of soccer,' capable of reciting what happened in specific games from when he was 11.
When Kevin was 11, his father told him Iran had qualified for the 1998 World Cup — a defining family memory tied to his Iranian heritage.
Iran beat the United States 2-1 in the 1998 World Cup — a result that was later used as government propaganda by the Iranian regime.
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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