Podbit · Pivot
Kara Swisher held up the New York Knicks as the antidote to UFC-brand masculinity: players who sacrificed salary for team success, openly celebrated the women in their lives, and brought an entire city together in the streets. It's sport as a healing force, not a dominance display.
Where this was said
At 8:10 · chapter starts 5:08
President Trump's 80th birthday UFC event at the White House drew a who's-who crowd — Zuckerberg, Joe Rogan, cabinet secretaries, and a very happy-looking Lindsey Graham — but was tucked behind a Paramount+ paywall, a fact Kara found deeply ironic for an event billed as being 'for the people.' [1] — Kara Swisher "President Trump's 80th birthday UFC event at the White House mixed flyovers and ring girls with Bud Light ads and a Paramount+ paywall. A f…" 05:08 She quotes Washington Post columnist Monica Hass, who captured the tonal chaos perfectly: patriotism and bloodlust, history and commerce, sailors dancing to YMCA and ring girls in sequined stars and stripes. Then a fighter made a racist, misogynistic cheap shot at Michelle Obama, and everything else became a footnote. Scott argues the event still worked as a political win for the White House — and as a distraction from more consequential news — while acknowledging the fighter's remarks were inexcusable. He frames the UFC spectacle as filling a cultural vacuum Democrats have left around aspirational masculinity. Kara counters by holding up the Knicks as the better model: teamwork, sacrifice, women celebrated in the stands, a city healed. Dana White's tepid 'I hate that kind of nonsense' defense, both hosts agree, was the least he could do.
President Trump's 80th birthday UFC event at the White House mixed flyovers and ring girls with Bud Light ads and a Paramount+ paywall. A fighter's racist, misogynistic cheap shot at Michelle Obama drowned out everything else, including Meta's genuinely good work giving blind veterans assistive glasses.
The White House UFC event isn't just bad taste — it's filling a political vacuum. Scott Galloway argues that if Democrats can't produce aspirational masculine role models built on service and strength, Republicans will keep filling that void with misogyny and performative dominance.
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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