CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 3:43
Settling in with Bisping: flags, accents, and moving to the U.S.
Joe and Michael open with a loose, comedic exchange about the Hawaiian flag’s British-looking design and the history of colonization. Bisping talks about living in America, how his accent has changed, and the practical realities of adapting speech for TV and everyday life.
- •Hawaiian flag resembles the Union Jack; quick talk on colonization history
- •Bisping’s background (Polish/Irish roots) and pride in being English
- •Adjusting accent/wording for U.S. life and for Fox broadcast clarity
- •Jokes about ordering food and avoiding the 'tomato/tomayto' routine
- 3:43 – 5:41
Post-fight analyst life: commentary ambitions, retirement planning, and eye-injury reality
Rogan praises Bisping’s work on the UFC desk and asks about commentary roles. Bisping explains how his serious eye injuries forced him to plan ahead and build a career outside fighting, making retirement smoother than it is for many fighters.
- •Bisping’s limited commentary work so far (Contender Series) and new deal in progress
- •Why the UFC post-fight analysis show works for fans
- •Eye injuries since 2013 made him feel on 'borrowed time'
- •Proactively building a post-fight career to avoid the typical retirement crash
- 5:41 – 8:31
Side hustles and the Playline pitch: fantasy gambling, big prizes, and cheating concerns
Bisping outlines his podcast and his fantasy/gambling venture Playline, emphasizing its simplified format and huge advertised prizes. Rogan raises concerns about fixing/cheating, leading into an anecdote about how gambling lines broke professional pool.
- •What Playline is and how it works across multiple sports/events
- •The 'billion dollars' prize claim and daily giveaways marketing
- •Rogan’s worry about manipulation; Bisping argues stats-based structure helps
- •Pool gambling scandal example and why some sports became non-bettable
- 8:31 – 10:27
From The Ultimate Fighter to UFC champion: career longevity and legacy wins
The conversation pivots to Bisping’s long UFC arc starting with The Ultimate Fighter and the shock of how far the sport has come. They discuss how meaningful it was for Bisping to retire having won the belt, and what wins felt most satisfying.
- •TUF season era comparison and how long Bisping’s run really was
- •Diego Sanchez as an example of extreme longevity and style-related wear
- •Winning the title as closure; documentary 'Built For This' referenced
- •Most satisfying victory discussion leads into Anderson Silva and Rockhold
- 10:27 – 14:25
Bisping vs Anderson Silva: the mouthpiece moment, motivation, and surviving adversity
Bisping recounts the controversial moment where Silva kneed him as he gestured for his mouthpiece, and why it felt 'cheap' even if legal. They explore how trash talk can genuinely change an opponent’s intensity and how Bisping had to dig deep to win.
- •Rules nuance: what counts as a 'lull' for referee intervention
- •Silva’s perfectly timed knee and Bisping’s comeback to win the fight
- •Debate about Silva being 'past his prime' and why he fought differently vs Bisping
- •Trash talk as a real performance variable, not just promotion
- 14:25 – 19:58
Steroids, USADA, and the TRT era: murky incentives and fighter trust
Rogan and Bisping get blunt about PED suspicion in MMA and how testing games used to work. Bisping argues TRT made the sport especially murky by creating a semi-legal pathway to enhanced performance, using Vitor Belfort as the prime example.
- •Yoel Romero/Paulo Costa physiques and the difficulty of public accusations
- •Bisping’s 'never tested positive' stance and skepticism of 'tainted supplements'
- •Pre-USADA strategies: timing cycles and managing tests via specialists
- •TRT loopholes and 'TRT Belfort' as the clearest case study
- 19:58 – 24:55
Fight promotion psychology: why trash talk works and when it fails
Bisping explains trash talk as both mental warfare and a business tool for selling fights. They compare different personalities—McGregor’s ability to make opponents fold versus fighters like Nate Diaz who are immune to verbal pressure.
- •Weigh-in staredowns as a last chance to seed doubt or fear
- •Animals puffing up metaphor: intimidation as primal behavior
- •McGregor’s influence and examples (Poirier, Diaz)
- •Press conferences: entertainment value vs overly respectful 'boring' dynamics
- 24:55 – 32:37
Modern fight talk: Holloway–Ortega, weight cuts, Tony Ferguson bad luck, and fighter wear-and-tear
They analyze Max Holloway’s style and the Ortega fight, including Bisping’s earlier concern about Max’s slurred speech and possible weight-cut effects. The discussion jumps to Tony Ferguson’s freak knee injury, then into the physical toll of training—especially knees and necks.
- •Holloway’s pressure, cardio, stance switching, and in-fight reads
- •Bisping’s on-air concern for Max and Holloway thanking him afterward
- •Tony Ferguson’s press-related injury and debate over stripping the interim title
- •Bisping’s knee problems, cyst issues, and ongoing wear from wrestling/training
- 32:37 – 38:10
Injury management and recovery tech: neck decompression, Regenokine/Regenokine-like treatments, and scary examples
Bisping details chronic neck nerve issues and the numbness/‘stinger’ sensations that still affect him. Rogan suggests decompression tools and regenerative treatments and shares cautionary tales about catastrophic neck injuries from takedown mechanics.
- •Bisping’s C5/C6 nerve symptoms and reluctance to spend time on treatment
- •Rogan’s recommendations: Regenokine/Regenakine-style therapy and home decompression harnesses
- •Mechanics of guillotine + takedown spikes and paralysis risk example
- •Dark humor tangent about Derrick Lewis’s Instagram and injury clips
- 38:10 – 48:51
Boxing heavyweights and combat-sports safety: Fury–Wilder drama and when refs should stop fights
They break down the Fury–Wilder fight, weight disparity, power, and Fury’s legendary recovery from a near-finish. That leads into how referees decide stoppages and a sobering discussion of serious boxing injuries like Adonis Stevenson’s brain bleed.
- •Bisping’s pre-fight read: Wilder’s power vs Fury’s technique and movement
- •The 12th-round knockdown, the 'count' controversy, and why it’s the ref’s job
- •Referee stoppage dilemma: premature stoppages vs catastrophic late stoppages
- •Boxing vs MMA danger arguments: glove size, accumulated head trauma, and deaths per year
- 48:51 – 59:37
Slaughterhouse stories to hunting ethics: how meat, morality, and conservation collide
A surprising detour: Bisping recounts working at a slaughterhouse at 16 and describes the process in graphic detail. Rogan connects it to why he started hunting (to avoid industrial slaughter), and they debate trophy hunting, Cecil the lion, and conservation economics.
- •Bisping’s apprenticeship slaughterman story and why he quit quickly
- •Industrial slaughter methods (bolt + ‘pithing rod’) and psychological impact
- •Rogan’s hunting motivation tied to slaughterhouse footage; both reject trophy hunting
- •Cecil the lion controversy and the messy reality of conservation funding via hunting
- 59:37 – 1:12:47
Winning the belt on two weeks’ notice: the Rockhold call, chaotic cut, and coach Perillo’s mindset reset
Bisping tells the full story of accepting the Rockhold title fight while filming Triple X, including finding out via media before directly confirming it. He describes sprinting through Toronto to start the weight cut, the role of coach Jason Perillo, and the exact left-hook finish that changed his life.
- •Weidman pulls out; Bisping texts Dana and unexpectedly gets announced
- •Panic weight check (215–216) and running through the city while negotiating
- •Perillo’s coaching philosophy: confidence to rest and enjoying the process
- •Fight execution: reading Rockhold’s openings, landing the left hook, and the emotional aftermath
- 1:12:47 – 2:04:24
Fighting with one good eye: retina surgery, oil in the eye, depth perception, and the cost of pushing on
Rogan and Bisping dig into the medical specifics of Bisping’s eye damage and how he continued competing while effectively blind in one eye. Bisping explains retina detachment procedures, oil vs gas options, barely meeting commission vision thresholds, and why the risks finally outweighed the reward.
- •Retina detachment treatment (scleral buckle) and using oil to allow flying
- •Complications: re-detachment and glaucoma; long-term vision loss
- •Commission minimums (20/200) and how his brain suppressed the distorted image
- •Depth-perception problems across late-career fights and why retirement became inevitable
