Joe Rogan Experience - Fight Companion - May 27, 2018
Joe Rogan (host), Brendan Schaub (guest), Eddie Bravo (guest), Narrator, Eddie Bravo (guest), Fight Companion Additional Guest (unidentified) (guest), Fight Companion Additional Guest (unidentified, likely a comedian friend) (guest), Fight Companion Additional Guest (unidentified) (guest), Narrator, Narrator, Fight Companion Additional Guest (unidentified) (guest), Fight Companion Additional Guest (unidentified comedian) (guest), Fight Companion Additional Guest (unidentified) (guest), Narrator, Joey Diaz (guest), Joe Rogan (host), Narrator, Narrator, Narrator
In this episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, featuring Joe Rogan and Brendan Schaub, Joe Rogan Experience - Fight Companion - May 27, 2018 explores joe Rogan’s Fight Companion Dissects Till–Wonderboy And MMA’s Future This Fight Companion episode follows Joe Rogan and friends live-watching UFC Liverpool, centered on Darren Till vs. Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. They break down stylistic matchups, weight-cut drama, and what a Till win means for the UK MMA scene. Along the way, they dive into broader topics: judging and stand‑ups, the UFC’s ESPN move, combat jiu-jitsu rules, nicknames, comedy, and even stem cells and travel stories. The show is part live fight analysis, part long-form hangout between comics, coaches, and hardcore fight nerds.
Joe Rogan’s Fight Companion Dissects Till–Wonderboy And MMA’s Future
This Fight Companion episode follows Joe Rogan and friends live-watching UFC Liverpool, centered on Darren Till vs. Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. They break down stylistic matchups, weight-cut drama, and what a Till win means for the UK MMA scene. Along the way, they dive into broader topics: judging and stand‑ups, the UFC’s ESPN move, combat jiu-jitsu rules, nicknames, comedy, and even stem cells and travel stories. The show is part live fight analysis, part long-form hangout between comics, coaches, and hardcore fight nerds.
Key Takeaways
Missing weight is a massive but under-policed advantage.
Rogan and co. ...
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Wonderboy’s karate style neutralizes aggression but can produce low-action fights.
They explain how Thompson’s long, sideways stance, distance management, and counters make aggressive strikers walk into traps—great for winning but tough for highlight finishes, especially versus elite opponents like Woodley and Till.
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Darren Till’s upside is huge, but his game still has unknowns.
The crew loves his confidence, striking, and star potential for the UK, but wants to see him against elite wrestlers/grapplers (Woodley, Covington, Usman, RDA) before declaring him a future dominant champion.
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Judging and stand-up decisions are still a major structural problem in MMA.
They criticize inconsistent scoring, overemphasis on takedowns and “octagon control,” and some egregious stand-ups from strong grappling positions, arguing it disincentivizes real jiu-jitsu and distorts results.
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Alternative formats like combat jiu-jitsu can expose what really works in fights.
Eddie Bravo outlines why he added slaps and upkicks: to force engagement, punish unrealistic positions, and “keep jiu-jitsu honest” by making practitioners respect strikes while grappling.
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The UFC–ESPN deal will reshape where and how fans watch fights.
They discuss ESPN+ streaming, fewer or no Fight Pass-exclusive cards in the U. ...
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Podcasting and long-form conversations now rival late-night TV for promotion.
Rogan and Schaub argue that authentic, hour-plus podcast appearances convert more real fans than four-minute late-night spots, because people connect with the person, not just the product they’re plugging.
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Notable Quotes
“Missing weight, it’s a form of cheating. If you do it on purpose, for sure.”
— Joe Rogan
“If you beat Wonderboy and you knock out Wonderboy…it’s off to the races. UK is on, man.”
— Brendan Schaub
“Combat jiu-jitsu keeps your jiu-jitsu honest. Don’t get too crazy off the beaten path.”
— Eddie Bravo
“You can’t give yourself a nickname. It doesn’t work that way.”
— Joe Rogan
“This is what happens when a person takes pro-athlete discipline and applies it to stand-up.”
— Joe Rogan, on Brendan Schaub
Questions Answered in This Episode
Did Darren Till do enough over five rounds to clearly beat Wonderboy, or did the home crowd and octagon control sway the judges?
This Fight Companion episode follows Joe Rogan and friends live-watching UFC Liverpool, centered on Darren Till vs. ...
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How should commissions and promotions penalize fighters who miss weight to remove the competitive advantage without killing cards?
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Would adopting elements from combat jiu-jitsu (like upkicks or mandatory engagement) improve MMA, or would it create more chaos and risk?
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With the UFC moving to ESPN and ESPN+, how might fan habits and fighter pay or visibility change over the next five years?
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Is the podcast ecosystem now more important than traditional sports media for building stars in MMA and comedy, and what does that mean for younger fighters and comics?
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Transcript Preview
Three, two, one. Bam! We're live. We got up early as a motherfucker, ladies and gentlemen. Not really.
Nah.
It's 10:00 AM. Didn't we do one at like 4:00 AM before?
We did one at 5:00 AM. Remember that?
What was that for? What was it-
Damn.
What was that for?
It was a, uh, it was a England card, right?
Was it? Something.
It was UFC Congo.
Maybe it was like China or something. Congo. (laughs)
It might've been China.
It might've been China. Yeah.
It might've been China. Like, what time is it-
That makes sense.
... in Africa right now? Was it yesterday?
Fuck.
Yes-
I think it's... They're 12 hours ahead.
Is it yest- Is it Wednesday in Africa? (laughs)
(laughs)
(laughs)
(laughs)
It's definitely 1960.
(laughs)
(laughs)
(laughs) I forgot he knocked out Whittaker. We're looking at Wonderboy, uh, stopping Whittaker. That's-
At se- yeah.
That's big.
At 70.
Yeah, but that was... Whittaker was diminished, man. Getting down to 170 was a fucking battle for him.
Dude, you look at Wonderboy, what, what he's accomplished, it's so impressive.
Amazing.
All, all the indicators would point that Wonderboy should win this fight, but I don't... I'm, I'm on the fence, man.
Well, I think Till really is a bad, bad man. There's no question about it. But he did come up real short on the weigh-in, which really bums me out. Now, I had heard that his pregnant girlfriend is in, this is what everyone's saying, is in the hospital and that she's had some serious issues and he's been going back and forth to the hospital. And he hasn't... He just didn't have a chance to cut the weight right. A lot of people claim, you know, that that's exactly what the, what the issue was. I don't know.
That drama's never good, especially your first-
Not good.
... main card, main event in your hometown against Wonderboy.
Yeah.
There's enough pressure as it is.
Well, the Cowboy fight was a big pressure fight, but he rose to the occasion of that in a big way.
Not really though. Was it? Was it? 'Cause we didn't know who he was, really.
Yeah. But it was his opportunity to fight Cowboy.
For sure, but you're fighting a smaller guy. It's against Cowboy, you know?
True.
So, he goes forward and does work. Now, it's like, man, uh, I mean, there's been guys who have blown up before, but the, the hype on, uh, Till... And I'm all up on his dick, but, you know, there's a ton of hype on him.
Mm-hmm.
If he wins this one, it's off to the races.
It is, but he's fucking four and a half pounds over championship weight. That is a lot. That's not a little. That's a lot.
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