Podbit · We Need To Talk with Paul C. Brunson
Every coach in Colton's life made homophobic remarks as a matter of course, using gay slurs only when players screwed up. That relentless messaging fused sexual identity with failure, and drove Colton so deep into the closet he couldn't even defend gay teammates without risking exposure.
Where this was said
At 14:16 · chapter starts 12:13
This is the longest and most revealing chapter of the episode. Colton explains his increasingly elaborate system of self-concealment: telling college friends he had a girlfriend back home, and home friends he was seeing someone at college, so the two groups could never cross-reference. He joined FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes), attended Bible study, and prayed sincerely to God to make him straight [1] — Colton Underwood "Colton prayed to God to make him straight, joined The Bachelor believing the public heterosexuality would trap him into straightness, and e…" 18:24 . To survive the locker room, he kept a folder of women's photos on his phone ready to produce at a moment's notice. For the rare same-sex encounters he did allow himself, he imposed an iron rule: married men only, because they had more to lose. The emotional cost was profound — he became expert at severing his own feelings, a learned skill that still affects his marriage to Jordan today. Paul gently names the experience as chronic internalised homophobia, and Colton agrees that watching Ellen on his small dorm TV was sometimes his only therapy.
Colton kept a fake folder of women's photos on his phone to produce during locker-room peacocking sessions. Each small lie required another, and the spider web of deception eventually disconnected him from his own identity.
Colton kept a folder of women's photos on his phone to show teammates in the locker room and deflect questions about his sexuality.
Colton prayed to God to make him straight and believed becoming The Bachelor would force him into heterosexuality through public performance.
Colton prayed to God to make him straight, joined The Bachelor believing the public heterosexuality would trap him into straightness, and even got a large cross tattoo on his wrist — then wrapped it during same-sex encounters. He was running his own conversion therapy.
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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