JRE MMA Show #95 with Brendan Schaub
Joe Rogan (host), Brendan Schaub (guest), Jamie Vernon (guest), Unknown (friend/example being discussed) (guest), Narrator, Narrator, Brendan Schaub (guest), Jamie Vernon (guest), Narrator, Narrator, Narrator
In this episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, featuring Joe Rogan and Brendan Schaub, JRE MMA Show #95 with Brendan Schaub explores rogan and Schaub Debate COVID, UFC 249, And Fighting’s Future Joe Rogan and Brendan Schaub bounce between COVID-19 skepticism, the logistics and politics of reopening America, and how the pandemic is reshaping sports—especially the UFC. They dig into Elon Musk’s COVID numbers, government overreach, and media fear-mongering, contrasting that with their own experiences getting tested. A major chunk of the conversation breaks down UFC 249, matchup dynamics (Ferguson–Gaethje, Francis–Rozenstruik, Cruz–Cejudo, Masvidal’s next move), and broader division pictures at 135–265. Along the way they riff on everything from rattlesnakes and murder hornets to Neuralink, bike culture, stand-up comedy’s shutdown, and the possibility of leaving California if lockdowns return.
Rogan and Schaub Debate COVID, UFC 249, And Fighting’s Future
Joe Rogan and Brendan Schaub bounce between COVID-19 skepticism, the logistics and politics of reopening America, and how the pandemic is reshaping sports—especially the UFC. They dig into Elon Musk’s COVID numbers, government overreach, and media fear-mongering, contrasting that with their own experiences getting tested. A major chunk of the conversation breaks down UFC 249, matchup dynamics (Ferguson–Gaethje, Francis–Rozenstruik, Cruz–Cejudo, Masvidal’s next move), and broader division pictures at 135–265. Along the way they riff on everything from rattlesnakes and murder hornets to Neuralink, bike culture, stand-up comedy’s shutdown, and the possibility of leaving California if lockdowns return.
Key Takeaways
Lockdowns should shift from blanket policies to targeted protection.
Rogan and Schaub argue that with updated data showing lower-than-feared mortality and strong age/health risk stratification, the focus should move to shielding the elderly and those with comorbidities instead of keeping entire economies closed.
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Media incentives skew heavily toward fear and worst-case narratives.
They criticize news outlets for amplifying panic, cherry-picking dire stats, and rarely highlighting positive trends, asserting that ratings and clicks drive an exaggerated sense of danger around COVID-19.
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UFC can safely operate with rigorous testing and controlled environments.
Rogan details his negative swab and antibody tests and notes that everyone on UFC 249 is being tested and isolated, arguing that under these conditions running cards is rational, not reckless.
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Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje is stylistically more volatile than Ferguson–Khabib.
They frame Gaethje as hurricane-level early danger—huge power, pressure, and risk tolerance—against Ferguson’s legendary durability and cardio, making it a more chaotic and potentially entertaining matchup than the wrestling-heavy puzzle of Khabib.
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Francis Ngannou is a future heavyweight champion—but Rozenstruik is a real threat.
They see Ngannou as a near-inevitable champion given his power and improved mindset, yet emphasize Rozenstruik’s elite striking and size, warning that overlooking him based on MMA math (like the Overeem fights) is a mistake.
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Modern medicine and tech are rapidly changing the ceiling of human performance and recovery.
From new ACL repair techniques and stem cells to advanced prosthetics and Elon Musk’s Neuralink, they highlight how athletes (and even amputees) may soon surpass current physical and cognitive limits.
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Comedy will come back, but LA’s politics may drive comics to new hubs.
They predict clubs reopening at reduced capacity, talk about residency-style shows instead of heavy touring, and seriously entertain moving to freer, lower-tax states like Texas or Utah if California attempts another full shutdown.
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Notable Quotes
“It’s not what we thought it was going to be… it’s not the plague. We got lucky.”
— Joe Rogan
“Let the bitches suck on their thumb and hide and the rest of us just go about our business.”
— Brendan Schaub
“If you can’t beat them, join them—that’s where Neuralink comes in.”
— Joe Rogan (paraphrasing Elon Musk’s view on AI)
“If you’re locked in the cage with Justin Gaethje, it is war.”
— Joe Rogan
“When you look at 55, 70, and 85—dude, it is murderer’s row from top to bottom.”
— Brendan Schaub
Questions Answered in This Episode
How much weight should we give Elon Musk–style data skepticism versus public health officials’ caution when deciding lockdown and reopening policies?
Joe Rogan and Brendan Schaub bounce between COVID-19 skepticism, the logistics and politics of reopening America, and how the pandemic is reshaping sports—especially the UFC. ...
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Is the UFC’s testing and isolation protocol a realistic model for other sports leagues—or is it uniquely suited to combat sports?
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Does a fight like Ferguson–Gaethje permanently change both men in ways that affect a future matchup with Khabib?
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At what point do advanced prosthetics, stem cells, or Neuralink-like tech raise ethical questions about ‘natural’ versus augmented athletes in combat sports?
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If major comics and podcasters migrated to places like Texas or Utah, how might that reshape the cultural and economic gravity of LA’s comedy scene?
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Transcript Preview
Fight week. (gasps) It's here.
Dude.
It's here. We're just a couple days away. Here we are, Thursday. We got Friday, and then Saturday's fights, and I gotta go. I'm gonna be in Jacksonville, Florida. I'm gonna be doing commentary in an empty arena. No one's gonna be near me. Everybody has to be really far away from each other. We're gonna be on separate corners of the octagon, which, which fucking sucks.
You, DC-
And Hanick.
... and, and Hanick.
'Cause, 'cause when things go crazy, DC and I are always grabbing each other.
I know.
We're like, "Ah!"
You guys vibe off of each other.
Can't do that. Everybody's a pussy. But we're all tested. That's what doesn't make any sense.
That's what I'm saying. If you all agree, like, yeah-
Yeah.
... we'll risk it, man. We're all, we're all healthy. We're all fine.
Well, not only are we all healthy and fine, we're tested. We're, we're clean. We don't have it. It's not... Like, we, we don't have to be far apart from each other. I got tested yesterday. I got the results back from my nose swab. That's negative. And then two days before that, I took an antibody test. That's negative, too. I'm, I'm 100% negative.
So whose idea is this?
It's fucking s- the state. The state just has real rigid guidelines, apparently. They just wanna make sure that everybody's safe. Cam Hanes wanted to come with me. He couldn't come. Cam or anybody else.
They won't let Cam in?
Nope, nope.
(laughs) Do you know what Cam would do to COVID?
(laughs) It doesn't have a chance.
Not a chance.
He's so good with that kinda cardio.
God, come on, man.
Listen, I had Elon on the podcast yesterday and we talked about what the actual death rate is versus what everyone thought it was going to be.
Is he good at reading stats?
Yeah.
I don't know.
He said it's a, um, a magnitude of 10 to 50%, 10 to 50 times less deadly than they thought it was going to be. That's pretty big.
That's huge.
Yeah. The, especially when they start getting to things like... I don't know if you've seen the, um, um, there's a prison where they tested these prisoners and 98% of them had it and were, had been-
I had no idea.
... asymptomatic.
Yep.
Yeah.
Everybody was fine?
Yeah, they're finding that in a lot of places. A lot of people are asymptomatic.
And Elon goes hard in the paint, too.
Yeah, he goes hard in the paint.
Which I love.
He said yesterday-
I'm a huge fan.
... if you got bit by a shark and g- and died, and you had COVID, they would count it as a COVID death.
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