JRE MMA Show #21 with Brendan Schaub
Joe Rogan (host), Brendan Schaub (guest), Narrator, Guest (guest), Guest (guest), Narrator
In this episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, featuring Joe Rogan and Brendan Schaub, JRE MMA Show #21 with Brendan Schaub explores khabib vs. Holloway, MMA Chaos, Comedy, and Controversy Collide Joe Rogan and Brendan Schaub break down the last‑minute replacement of Tony Ferguson with Max Holloway against Khabib Nurmagomedov, analyzing styles, risks, and what’s at stake for everyone involved.
Khabib vs. Holloway, MMA Chaos, Comedy, and Controversy Collide
Joe Rogan and Brendan Schaub break down the last‑minute replacement of Tony Ferguson with Max Holloway against Khabib Nurmagomedov, analyzing styles, risks, and what’s at stake for everyone involved.
They range widely across MMA topics: title politics, weight cuts, matchmaking, mythical grapplers like Khabib, future super‑fights (Conor, GSP, Askren), and under‑discussed bouts on the same card.
The conversation repeatedly veers into comedy and personal life: stand‑up process, TV deals, diet and training, PED scandals in boxing, the MeToo era, parenting, depression, and Schaub’s recent on‑air controversy with Yves Edwards.
Overall it’s a long, free‑flowing mix of deep fight analysis, insider business talk, and raw personal anecdotes that show how intertwined the fight world and comedy scene are for both men.
Key Takeaways
Short‑notice fights massively skew risk–reward for champions.
Holloway taking Khabib on six days’ notice, up a weight class and off injury, is portrayed as historically gutsy but structurally unfair; Schaub argues he should be compensated with multi‑million‑dollar pay to justify the potential career‑changing damage.
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Khabib’s grappling is viewed as uniquely oppressive even among elite wrestlers.
Stories from DC, Jon Fitch, Josh Thomson, and Ed Ruth paint Khabib as a once‑in‑a‑generation mauler who breaks opponents mentally and physically, making him the worst possible late‑notice matchup.
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Matchmaking and belts are as much business tools as sporting merit.
They criticize interim titles, stripping Ferguson, the lightweight belt confusion with Conor, and how rankings often obstruct good fights by giving fighters reasons to refuse lower‑ranked but dangerous opponents.
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True pound‑for‑pound status requires signature wins over other greats.
Rogan and Schaub note Khabib’s dominance but argue he still lacks the defining victories over fellow all‑time greats (like Conor, Tony, or GSP) that cement legacies the way Aldo–McGregor or Jones–Cormier did.
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Many UFC stars are under‑appreciated due to style or marketing gaps.
Names like Tyron Woodley, Demetrious Johnson, Darren Till, Brian Ortega, and Ben Askren are highlighted as technically brilliant but either “bad dance partners” or hard to market under current systems.
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Long careers in combat sports demand smarter training and recovery.
They detail evolving strength and conditioning (barefoot work, VersaClimber, rowing), PRP/stem cells, and simple rehab tools like the TheraBand flex bar, emphasizing adaptation instead of grinding through chronic injuries.
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Unfiltered long‑form talk guarantees missteps—and demands real accountability.
Schaub openly recounts his poorly phrased comments about Yves Edwards and UFC Tonight, acknowledging he didn’t even remember his point, and reflects on how speaking 10+ hours a week makes mistakes inevitable but still his responsibility.
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Notable Quotes
“If you don’t respect Max Holloway more after this, you’re a moron.”
— Brendan Schaub
“Khabib’s the toughest guy in the world on six days’ notice.”
— Brendan Schaub
“I’m always fascinated when Khabib fights because you’re wondering: who’s the first guy that’s gonna be able to give him something different?”
— Joe Rogan
“The losers are gonna be the judges ‘cause they won’t know how to judge that fight.”
— Brendan Schaub on a hypothetical Ferguson vs. Khabib bout
“When you talk as much as we talk, shit comes out of your mouth… and then you’re scrambling trying to make it make sense.”
— Joe Rogan
Questions Answered in This Episode
Given how dangerous Khabib’s style is, should the UFC build more structural protections (money, medical guarantees) for short‑notice opponents taking that level of risk?
Joe Rogan and Brendan Schaub break down the last‑minute replacement of Tony Ferguson with Max Holloway against Khabib Nurmagomedov, analyzing styles, risks, and what’s at stake for everyone involved.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Is it fair to criticize Khabib’s résumé for lacking “signature wins,” or does sheer dominance over solid opponents already justify pound‑for‑pound status?
They range widely across MMA topics: title politics, weight cuts, matchmaking, mythical grapplers like Khabib, future super‑fights (Conor, GSP, Askren), and under‑discussed bouts on the same card.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
How should athletic commissions and promotions balance individual freedom with public safety when dealing with clearly disturbed figures like the YouTube shooter or fighters showing mental health red flags?
The conversation repeatedly veers into comedy and personal life: stand‑up process, TV deals, diet and training, PED scandals in boxing, the MeToo era, parenting, depression, and Schaub’s recent on‑air controversy with Yves Edwards.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Are MMA rankings and interim belts helping or harming the sport’s ability to consistently make the best fights at the right time?
Overall it’s a long, free‑flowing mix of deep fight analysis, insider business talk, and raw personal anecdotes that show how intertwined the fight world and comedy scene are for both men.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
To what extent do comedians and media personalities owe public apologies or corrections when long‑form, unscripted conversations inevitably produce offensive or poorly thought‑out remarks?
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Transcript Preview
(sniffs) Four, three, two, one. And we're live! This is a bummer of a fight week, but also an awesome fight week.
(laughs)
Like, I'm very excited. Did you see the- the latest Countdown? What is it, uh, All Access? What do they call it? No.
Embedded?
Embedded, yeah. I'm always trying to come up with the name of those things.
There's always some- they're all the same, but-
Yeah.
... All Access, Embedded, 24/7.
Embedded is very good. I should- I should remember the name. It's very good.
They're all, yeah, they're all good.
And this- this new one is really good 'cause it's got Max Holloway running on a treadmill two treadmills over from Nurmagomedov, who's also running on a treadmill. And they're fucking very cool to each other.
They're cool.
It's very interesting.
Khabib thanked him for taking the fight-
Yeah.
... which he should-
Yeah.
... which he should. Thanks for taking the fight. And then, they have the same, uh, weight coach.
Yeah.
Like cutting, yeah.
That's crazy. Lockhart, right?
It- it's, yeah, it's Lockhart.
Yeah, it's Lockhart.
Yeah, that's right.
Lockhart is go- did- is Lockhart working with Nurmagomedov as well?
Yes, both of them.
So, Lockhart was g- like, Lockhart is legit. Like, he goes over calculations of like, how much you weigh, how much water you're gonna take, and he's weighing things out. It took him an hour and a half to do the calculations.
Yeah.
It wasn't like, "Hey, we're gonna wing this." It's like, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no. We're gonna do this weight cut correctly," and he's got it down to the day. You know, like, it's six days to lose, I think he was 171.
Is that- is that- is that- I was wondering what did- what did he start at? Is it 171?
Yeah.
Shh.
So, I think he's gotta lose 16 pounds.
What's crazy is, when Max was on my show, I was talking to him a little bit off air, and this is on record. I'm not spilling anything that he didn't say. But he just goes, "You know, I've, with the injury-"
There we go, right there.
Jesus Christ.
Embedded. Embedded, I think, is better than that UFC, uh, not UFC, the HBO ones. I think it's better than all of them.
The 24/7?
Yeah.
How dare you.
I- I think it's better than all of them.
The 24/7, when there's a big fight?
Yeah.
I think- I think, because this is RAW.
You know why? Because this is RAW. This-
I think, well, I think in general, they're better-
Yeah.
... 'cause they do more of it.
Yup.
But a 24/7?
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