JRE MMA Show #84 with Brendan Schaub
Joe Rogan (host), Brendan Schaub (guest), Narrator, Narrator, Narrator, Narrator
In this episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, featuring Joe Rogan and Brendan Schaub, JRE MMA Show #84 with Brendan Schaub explores rogan and Schaub Revisit MMA Careers, Legends, and Future Superfights Joe Rogan and Brendan Schaub have a long, candid conversation that moves from desk clutter and fan gifts into a deep dive on the brutal realities of MMA careers, CTE, and why Rogan pushed Schaub to retire. They break down heavyweight and welterweight divisions, discussing fighters like Jon Jones, Ngannou, Masvidal, Diaz brothers, Adesanya, Yoel Romero, and many others, often focusing on style matchups and career trajectories. Boxing crossovers feature heavily, including Ruiz–Joshua, Wilder–Fury, and hypothetical Ngannou and UFC champions in boxing. Woven throughout are stories about comedy culture, the evolution of the Comedy Store scene, and how podcasting and camaraderie reshaped both their careers.
Rogan and Schaub Revisit MMA Careers, Legends, and Future Superfights
Joe Rogan and Brendan Schaub have a long, candid conversation that moves from desk clutter and fan gifts into a deep dive on the brutal realities of MMA careers, CTE, and why Rogan pushed Schaub to retire. They break down heavyweight and welterweight divisions, discussing fighters like Jon Jones, Ngannou, Masvidal, Diaz brothers, Adesanya, Yoel Romero, and many others, often focusing on style matchups and career trajectories. Boxing crossovers feature heavily, including Ruiz–Joshua, Wilder–Fury, and hypothetical Ngannou and UFC champions in boxing. Woven throughout are stories about comedy culture, the evolution of the Comedy Store scene, and how podcasting and camaraderie reshaped both their careers.
Key Takeaways
Interventions for fighters often require painful honesty to be effective.
Rogan explains he deliberately went “hard in the paint” on Schaub on-air because softer approaches wouldn’t cut through a fighter’s ego and identity, especially when that identity is wrapped up in being a top-10 UFC heavyweight.
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Fighter identity and post-career purpose are central mental health issues.
Both men describe how quitting fighting leaves a void: if your only source of self-worth is martial arts, transitioning to something you initially suck at—like stand-up—can feel like giving up your whole identity, which is why many fighters stay too long.
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Elite fighters separate themselves through fight IQ and distance management, not just power.
They repeatedly highlight how Jon Jones, Israel Adesanya, Masvidal, and others win by controlling space, tempo, and reads—using traps, selective explosiveness, and composure under bright lights rather than simply relying on athleticism.
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USADA’s evolution shows anti-doping must balance rigor with realism.
Rogan and Schaub note cases like Jon Jones, Tim Means, Barnett, and Lawler where ultra-sensitive testing caught trace contaminants; they credit USADA for eventually adjusting thresholds and relaxing on marijuana, but point out that some fighters lost crucial peak years.
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Matchmaking and timing can make or break careers and paydays.
They frame fights like Conor–Cowboy, Masvidal’s options, and Leon Edwards’ being overlooked as business decisions as much as sporting ones; title belts matter less than “red panty night” paydays and strategic opponent selection.
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Crossovers between MMA and boxing are compelling but highly contextual.
They argue Ruiz–Joshua, Wilder–Fury, and Canelo’s moves up in weight show how technique, style, and context matter more than size alone—and speculate that someone like Ngannou could starch mid-tier heavyweights in boxing if built up correctly, but not jump straight to Fury/Wilder.
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Modern stand-up thrives on collaboration and shared platforms instead of cutthroat competition.
Rogan credits a martial-arts-style ethos—everyone improving together—for transforming the Comedy Store from a backstabby scene to a supportive network where comics boost each other on podcasts and tours, creating a “real network” outside TV.
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Notable Quotes
“I know that I was a dick to you to get you to stop doing it, but I felt like there was almost no other way that you were gonna let… I felt scared.”
— Joe Rogan
“Thank God or whoever's up there, man, for you and Brian Callan… I think that’s the only way you could’ve done it because the ego that I had at the time, especially fighting, man, that ego's insane.”
— Brendan Schaub
“He's playing with his food… Wait till he goes to heavyweight, you're gonna see the old Jon.”
— Brendan Schaub (on Jon Jones)
“We're dealing with the GOAT, man. It's hilarious. He's the GOAT.”
— Joe Rogan (on Jon Jones)
“The more we do it together, the more we help each other, the more it makes people wanna come see it too… It’s a different kind of network.”
— Joe Rogan (on the comedy/podcast scene)
Questions Answered in This Episode
How much responsibility do friends, coaches, and commentators have to intervene when a fighter is clearly declining but still competing?
Joe Rogan and Brendan Schaub have a long, candid conversation that moves from desk clutter and fan gifts into a deep dive on the brutal realities of MMA careers, CTE, and why Rogan pushed Schaub to retire. ...
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At what point does an MMA fighter’s pursuit of legacy and titles become outweighed by long-term health risks like CTE?
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If Francis Ngannou or another UFC heavyweight transitioned to boxing with a proper build-up, how far could they realistically go in today’s heavyweight landscape?
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Does the current UFC business model overvalue star power and under-reward consistent contenders like Leon Edwards, and how should matchmaking change to fix that?
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Can the collaborative, podcast-driven model Rogan describes in comedy be replicated in other competitive fields, or is it unique to stand-up’s culture and economics?
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Transcript Preview
(sipping) There's a lot of shit on this table.
Yeah. This, this table's ridiculous. I'm a mess and m- this table's reflecting of the busyness of my life right now. I need to take some time and clean this fucking table. But the thing is, man, people keep bringing me shit, like Paul Stamet-
But it's all cool shit.
Paul, I love you buddy, but you gave me a mushroom hat. This hat is made out of-
Please put that on. (laughs)
Yes, I'll put this on. (laughs) Wait, I don't know which ... Is this the way to wear it?
Yeah.
Like this way?
Yeah, I think so. (laughs) Let me ...
Yep.
(laughs) That's fucking great.
So people keep giving me cool shit.
Yeah. You also g-
They also gave me this mushroom. It's a dried mushroom. People give me all this cool shit and so I go, "Oh thank you." And then I don't know where to put it.
You set it down.
I got, uh, Dan Aykroyd's vodka in the corner there, a cool skull vodka thing.
Got it. I've never seen-
Yeah.
... someone push vodka so hard on a podcast. (laughs)
Bro, he goes hard in the paint with his vodka sales.
Great promotion. (laughs)
It's very smooth and it's Dan Aykroyd, so you're like, "I'll buy it just to l- I wanna hear you talk."
The Blues Brother? I'm in, dude.
Dude, come on, man.
I bought it. I bought it.
He was ... He was a cone head. I mean, he's, he's one of the original Saturday Night Live slayers, like, the real OG.
Oh, yeah.
One of The Blues Brothers!
Blues Brother.
Yeah. Hey man, we started this podcast off talking, like, off the record and I, I thought it was probably good for everybody here, like, when ... I'm so happy you're not fighting, you know?
(laughs)
And what d- what we were saying was that I know that I was a dick to you to get you to stop doing it, but I felt sc- I felt like home- there was almost no other way that you were gonna let ... I felt like (sighs) I felt scared. I've seen too many people that are just ... There's this, there's a moment (snaps fingers) where it changes, where they stop being that person, and they keep fighting, and you see it. You see the deterioration and no one steps in and no one stops them, and then I talk ... You'll talk to them alone, man. Maybe you run into them in Vegas. Maybe you both have a couple of drinks and you see each other at the bar and you're like, "Hey, how's things?" And you have these conversations and then the reality sets in. Things are not good for a lot of these guys. A lot of these guys that have taken punishment for too long, there's no bringing them back, man. They get to this spot where you know, everyone knows there's something wrong and no one says anything to them. And I was real scared that that was gonna happen to you. I was real scared, you know? Like I didn't anticipate ... When we did that crazy podcast that wound up being, you know, this, like, intervention, I didn't even know I was gonna do it. But while it was happening I was like, "I ... This ... You gotta stop." That's all I was thinking is, "You gotta get ou-" I was ... 'Cause, but, we were a little high. You were ...
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