JRE MMA Show #71 with Rico Verhoeven
Joe Rogan (host), Rico Verhoeven (guest), Narrator, Narrator
In this episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, featuring Joe Rogan and Rico Verhoeven, JRE MMA Show #71 with Rico Verhoeven explores rico Verhoeven Reveals Champion’s Mindset, Training, And Badr Rematch Joe Rogan and Glory heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven discuss Rico’s upcoming rematch with Badr Hari, positioning it as potentially the biggest kickboxing fight of this era. They explore why elite kickboxing isn’t bigger in America despite massive popularity in Europe and what makes Rico’s pressure-heavy, high-cardio style unique among heavyweights. Rico breaks down his training architecture: Dutch-style sparring, strength and conditioning, recovery, nutrition, and the science/monitoring behind his camps. A major theme is mindset—mental toughness, visualization, dealing with self‑doubt, therapy, and planning life after fighting through acting and other ventures.
Rico Verhoeven Reveals Champion’s Mindset, Training, And Badr Rematch
Joe Rogan and Glory heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven discuss Rico’s upcoming rematch with Badr Hari, positioning it as potentially the biggest kickboxing fight of this era. They explore why elite kickboxing isn’t bigger in America despite massive popularity in Europe and what makes Rico’s pressure-heavy, high-cardio style unique among heavyweights. Rico breaks down his training architecture: Dutch-style sparring, strength and conditioning, recovery, nutrition, and the science/monitoring behind his camps. A major theme is mindset—mental toughness, visualization, dealing with self‑doubt, therapy, and planning life after fighting through acting and other ventures.
Key Takeaways
Treat fighting as a thinking game, not just a brawl.
Rico emphasizes that “everyone can fight” when pushed, but champions manage distance, pacing, and decision-making—consciously choosing when to sacrifice a round or when to press, rather than reacting emotionally.
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Build cardio through sustained pressure, not just power shots.
Training for years with lighter, high-output partners taught Rico to prioritize volume and constant pressure over single power shots, allowing him to outwork heavyweights in later rounds.
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Structure training with clear roles: strength, explosiveness, skills, and sparring.
Rico splits his week between heavy-but-controlled strength work, explosive/plyometric sessions, technical pad work, and hard yet managed sparring, using each modality for a specific purpose rather than overemphasizing any one.
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Use data and medical feedback to avoid overtraining.
He logs morning vitals (especially temperature), tracks blood markers with a doctor, and relies on his team to pull him back when he pushes too hard—acknowledging he personally lacks an internal “off switch.”
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Recovery is as systematized as training.
Daily massage, regular cryotherapy, occasional floating, and targeted supplementation based on bloodwork are treated as mandatory components of staying at the top, not luxuries.
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Mental coaching and therapy can be performance tools, not signs of weakness.
Initially skeptical, Rico found that talking to a psychologist after his father’s death helped him process unresolved issues and better manage the natural confidence swings that occur during fight camp.
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Plan life after fighting while you’re still in your prime.
At 30, Rico is actively building an acting career (with a lead role in development) and insists on clear separations between fight camps and film work so neither pursuit dilutes the other.
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Notable Quotes
“Fighting is a thinking man’s game. Everybody can fight, but it’s so much more than that.”
— Rico Verhoeven
“The grind starts when your body tells you to stop. That’s where champions continue.”
— Rico Verhoeven
“I don’t have balance. I need people around me to say, ‘Rico, step back or you’ll overtrain.’”
— Rico Verhoeven
“You are responsible for the choices you make in your life, and nobody else.”
— Rico Verhoeven
“If one person is on something and the other is not, that’s a giant advantage. Anyone who says it’s not is lying.”
— Joe Rogan
Questions Answered in This Episode
What specific tactical adjustments is Rico planning for the Badr Hari rematch compared to their first fight?
Joe Rogan and Glory heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven discuss Rico’s upcoming rematch with Badr Hari, positioning it as potentially the biggest kickboxing fight of this era. ...
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How could American promotions or broadcasters package kickboxing differently to make it resonate with U.S. fans the way it does in Europe?
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What early warning signs does Rico’s team look for that tell them he’s on the edge of overtraining, beyond temperature and bloodwork?
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How much does a sports psychologist tangibly change a fighter’s performance on fight night versus in daily life outside the gym?
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If Rico took a full year to prepare for MMA, what kind of heavyweight matchups would make sense for his debut, and in which organization?
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Transcript Preview
And boom. Right when you take a drink of water, that's when we go live, always. (laughs)
That's when we go live, yeah.
What's up, my friend?
I'm good.
Good to see you. Good to see you.
Yeah. Thanks for having me, bro.
My pleasure. I'm a big fan. I've been a fan for a long time.
Thank you so much.
And I'm very excited about this Badr Hari rematch.
Yes.
So w- we were just talking about it.
Yeah.
That's gonna be in December.
Yes, sir.
Yeah.
It's gonna be huge. It's, uh, I think it's, uh, gonna be the biggest fight in kickboxing history.
I think it's already.
Yeah.
I mean, you were just saying that, that tickets go on pre-sale today, I think?
Yeah, today or tomorrow or something, so.
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Um ...
Where is it gonna be held? Is it in Holland?
It, uh ... Yeah, it's gonna be in Holland, yeah, so-
Where at?
Um, it's called the Gelredome and it-
How many seats is that?
I believe around 25,000, 30,000.
Wow.
So that's huge.
It's crazy how big kickboxing is in Holland as oppair- as opposed to America.
Yeah, it's ... But Holland, Europe, it's-
Mm-hmm.
... it's a lot bigger than it is here.
It's so weird. I d- I do not, for the life of me, understand why it hasn't taken off in America. I don't get it.
Well, I think i- the- the step of going to MMA then to kickboxing is so much closer. P- for example, from high school, it's so much more logical f- w- when you do wrestling-
Right.
... and you do a little bit of boxing, well, let's jump into MMA then-
Right.
... because it's so close to each other and when you go to kickboxing, it's totally different.
Right.
It's totally different.
But so many people in America, when they watch MMA, they want guys to stand up.
(laughs) Yeah, I know, but-
That's why it doesn't make any sense.
... but still, I think, like, every country is, like, very patriotic. They want their own guys-
Right.
... to- to be very good at something.
Sort of. But, like, when Anderson Silva was at the top of the heap in- in MMA, everybody wanted to see him fight.
Yeah.
It didn't matter that he was from Brazil.
Yeah, that's true.
In America, they still wanted to see him fight. It's just ... They wanna see high level stuff. I just-
Yeah.
Ooh, everyone here is such a fan of knockouts-
Yeah.
... and k- and striking, high level striking. I just don't understand it.
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