Podbit · The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
After 20 years of professional fighting, Poirier had no roadmap for who he was without it. The gym was therapy, competition was purpose, and the fight camp was structure — strip all three away and you're left with long, empty days and no dopamine equivalent. He always feared becoming 'that guy,' and then he did.
Where this was said
At 22:25 · chapter starts 18:00
Poirier paints a devastating picture of his father's trajectory: a gifted athlete who got a girl pregnant in high school, abandoned his football dreams, spent his life paycheck-to-paycheck in the oil fields, and let alcohol erode everything around him. [1] — Dustin Poirier "Poirier's father, 74–75 years old, is currently homeless — sleeping in a truck his sister provided — after a lifetime of alcoholism that de…" 11:31 He has two sons who refuse to speak to him. He's been jailed multiple times for alcohol-related offences. He's currently living in a truck his daughter provided, sleeping behind businesses. Poirier drove to find him the morning after flying home from jail, signed an OPC, and tried to have him taken into protective custody — only for the attempt to fail because his father appeared coherent when authorities arrived. The emotional weight of this failure was a direct contributor to the Father's Day incident.
Poirier's father is currently homeless, sleeping in a truck his sister provided, with lifelong alcoholism having destroyed his relationships, marriages, and health.
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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