Podbit · The Joe Rogan Experience
Wrestling is a combat sport that's socially acceptable in high school — and it teaches a brutal lesson no team sport can. When someone can flatline you at will, there's no teammate to blame, no excuse to make. That accountability is what makes wrestlers into champions in every field of life.
Where this was said
At 1:59:15 · chapter starts 1:53:00
The final major discussion is a full breakdown of UFC glove design. [1] — Trevor Wittman "The UFC's current gloves force fighters to constantly fight their own equipment — straining to make a fist causes premature arm fatigue. Wi…" 2:06:00 Gaethje opens by noting the gloves in his White House fight felt slightly different — thicker leather, softer feel, less pain between the fingers. Wittman clarifies the core problem: current UFC gloves force the hand into an unnatural position and require constant muscular effort to maintain a fist, exhausting the forearm before a punch is thrown. His ONX gloves use internal strapping and a naturally curved shape to line the bones correctly and promote a relaxed, closed-fist position. He demonstrates on camera. Rogan immediately feels the difference. Gaethje hasn't worn hand wraps since 2015 and trains entirely in ONX gloves. Rogan then floats the mitten idea — covering the fingertips to reduce eye pokes by an estimated 80%. Gaethje pushes back: fingertip touch is a critical intuitive sensor during a fight that tells him range and direction. But he agrees the current gloves are terrible and the UFC spent significant money on a redesign that changed almost nothing. Wittman says the right people are now involved in the business side and the UFC deal is coming.
Rogan floated the idea of a mitten-style glove that covers the fingertips. Gaethje pushed back hard — he believes touch sensitivity is a critical intuitive tool during a fight. But he agreed the current gloves are terrible, forcing fighters to waste energy just to make a fist.
Gaethje will take the rest of 2026 off. He's already fought twice this year in under six months. He's been managing severe bone edema in his fibula since Christmas Day. He got cortisone shots and stem cells just to make it to the White House. The body needs a full reset.
Gaethje fought for the lightweight title while managing a severe bone edema in the tip of his fibula that he had suffered on Christmas Day and couldn't heal during camp.
Gaethje received a cortisone shot the Friday before he left for the White House fight to manage the bone edema in his fibula, which he said helped significantly.
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.
We use essential and analytics cookies to run Vuci. To understand how the site is used: Privacy Policy.
Install Vuci on your phone
Add it to your home screen for a faster, app-like experience.
Install Vuci on your phone
Tap the Share button, then “Add to Home Screen”.
A new version is available
Reload to get the latest Vuci.