Joe Rogan Experience #2498 - Brendan Schaub

The episode opens with a long, detailed MMA breakdown centered on Sean Strickland's controversial decision win over Khamzat Chimaev, Joshua Van's rise, weight-cutting dangers, and the greatness debate (Jon Jones, Ilia Topuria, Islam-era contenders). It pivots into the business of fighting: the UFC's $7.7B Paramount deal, the 18% fighter revenue share, and whether fighters could ever collectively negotiate more. The back half turns into an extended car-enthusiast conversation about air-cooled Porsches, restomods, manual transmissions, American muscle (Corvette ZR1X, Cadillac Blackwing, Dodge Hellcats), and Joe's Gunther Werks Porsche. Throughout, the two riff on social media addiction, streaming-number inflation, bots and astroturfing, gambling, parenting youth athletes, and assassination-attempt conspiracy polling.

• Joe explains the abnormal Buckley betting movement that prompted the UFC to cap online bets and call Sean Brady to confirm he wasn't injured.
  00:05:40
• Both argue Chimaev's brutal ~22kg/40lb+ weight cut nearly shut his body down and caused him to coast on his back mid-fight.
  00:27:52
• Joe calls weight-cutting 'the dumbest thing we do in the sport,' saying fighters pretend to weigh a class they don't.
  00:32:30
• Joe says if he ran the UFC he'd treat it 'like a communist' and pay fighters more, admitting shareholders would fire him.
  01:01:06
• Schaub floats a fighter-strike idea: refuse to fight after the Paramount deal until the 18% share rises toward 30%.
  01:15:33
• Joe reveals Netflix passed on the UFC because it only wanted big events, not the ~30 smaller Fight Nights.
  01:20:11
• Joe admits he sits in his garage just to stare at his all-carbon Gunther Werks Porsche.
  01:54:21
• Joe says he's bummed Tesla cancelled the Model S, which he drives and loves despite owning many cars.
  02:07:52

• Ketone IQ came out of a $6 million US military human-performance research program (sponsor segment).
  00:18:01
• They argue the Francis Ngannou fight permanently changed Stipe Miocic's chin/durability.
  00:43:26
• Armen Sarukyan reportedly just calls his billionaire dad to buy a $500K car, yet still trains like a fanatic.
  00:50:11
• At the mid-1960s peak, 40-45% of US adults smoked (~80-90 million people), now around 11-12%.
  01:41:19
• Tubi has surpassed 100 million monthly active users as a free ad-supported service.
  01:27:56
• Tremec built a six-speed manual that fits the C8 Corvette, but GM won't bless it for production.
  02:04:45
• Gas hit roughly $7.90-$8.40 a gallon in LA, driven largely by the Iran war and global crude prices.
  02:17:09
• A poll cited says nearly one-third (30%) of Americans believe at least one assassination attempt on Trump was staged; only 38% believe all three were authentic.
  02:22:49
• Joe notes Trump moved to get rid of mandatory auto engine stop-start, which both say just wears out the starter.
  02:38:54
• Schaub says heavy electric cars chew through tires fast, citing Model S tires worn to the wire at ~10,000 miles.
  02:39:25

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