Snapshot · Modern Wisdom
After 7 years of perfect progression in MMA, a fighter's first year in the UFC might gross only $80,000, netting as little as $27,000 after expenses in California.
Where this was said
At 42:00 · chapter starts 41:43
The conversation pivots to one of Ben's most strongly held and frequently argued positions: talent doesn't exist. His framework is simple — to test talent, you would need to test it at birth, before any environmental variable has been introduced. The moment you allow two 7-year-olds to live different lives for their first seven years, you have already created radically different athletes, regardless of genes. [1] — Ben Askren "Ben Askren flatly denies that talent exists. His argument: you can't test talent at birth because every child arrives with different enviro…" 44:10 Chris pushes back thoughtfully, asking whether the desire to train is itself a form of talent — and Ben concedes this, pivoting to the Iditarod sled dog analogy: breeders select for desire, not speed or strength, because desire is the trainable and heritable variable that matters. His knockout argument is László Polgár, who advertised for a wife willing to help him create chess champions before they had children. His three daughters became three of the five highest-rated chess players of all time. Ben's verdict: he called it before he'd even procreated. Environment, expectation, and relentless deliberate practice — not talent — made them who they are.
Ben Askren flatly denies that talent exists. His argument: you can't test talent at birth because every child arrives with different environmental inputs, and the Polgár sisters — three of the five highest-rated chess players of all time — were engineered from before conception by a father who wanted to prove exactly this point.
László Polgár raised three daughters who became three of the five highest-rated chess players of all time, having predicted this before they were born.
Thomas's wife is already ranked in the top 2,000 CrossFit athletes in the world — roughly the top 1% — and Thomas wants her to pursue the sport professionally now that he is graduating law school.
Research shows athletes who mentally imagine practicing basketball or soccer have better performance than those who do not include imagination in their training.
Rico Verhoeven dominated approximately 10 of 12 rounds against undisputed heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk before a controversial post-bell stoppage.
Rico's appeal confirmed the fight was stopped after the bell rang, and the ringside doctor found no concussion or disorientation — yet the result was never overturned.
Glory Kickboxing uses 5 judges rather than boxing's 3, which Joe Rogan argues reduces the chance of a corrupt or incompetent minority swinging the result.
Rico Verhoeven had only one professional boxing match before fighting undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk for the WBC title.
Despite having just one pro boxing match, Rico Verhoeven had been training boxing for 15 years alongside his kickboxing career.
Rico used a full 6 months to transition from kickboxing stance to a proper boxing stance under trainer Peter Fury, calling it essential rewiring.
Rico Verhoeven has had approximately 75 professional kickboxing fights, giving him a massive combat sports experience advantage over pure boxers.
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.