Josh Noble

speaker

145 appearances 1 recordings 1 series first heard Jul 2026 last heard 11 Jul

Josh Noble’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

Trend

recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 1 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 1.

Appearances

newest first · ▶ plays the moment

FT News Briefing · Rewiring sport: How technology is helping athletes break barriers · 11 Jul 2026 podcast

It's a sport league for mixed martial arts, and Duncan is on the ground demonstrating his moves on a robot. voice-verified

This is an example of how technology is finding its way into the UFC, one of the biggest combat sports leagues in the world. voice-verified

Duncan helps run the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas. voice-verified

The league has facilities like it in Mexico City and Shanghai, all free for the UFC's more than 700 fighters. voice-verified

They provide coaches and high-tech equipment in the hopes that they can give their athletes a competitive edge. voice-verified

Tracking eye movement is one way to diagnose traumatic brain injuries and concussions. voice-verified

There's also a new machine that uses sound waves for muscle recovery. voice-verified

The question is, is it possible to take the oldest sport in the world, two guys punching each other in the head, and give it a tech makeover? voice-verified

Now, interestingly, the thinking behind the Performance Institute is less about throwing bigger punches and more about regulating size and weight in a healthy, sustainable way. voice-verified

Duncan says that UFC's move into more sophisticated training came out of a weight cut incident that happened 12 years ago. voice-verified

A Brazilian named Hernan Barao was preparing for a big UFC fight. voice-verified

Barau had been sitting in a bathtub in a Sacramento hotel room trying to sweat out weight. voice-verified

But when he stood up, he fainted, hit his head and was rushed to hospital. voice-verified

rapidly losing weight can have all sorts of side effects on the body. voice-verified

That was actually only one of several incidents that year where fighters were drastically cutting their body weight and ended up requiring medical attention. voice-verified

So the UFC developed these high-tech gyms specifically to counteract this exact problem with machines that can help cut weight. voice-verified

And it's worked. voice-verified

Duncan is pretty explicit about why this new technology also benefits the UFC's business model. voice-verified

There are plenty of examples where sports tech has kept fighters performing optimally even as they get older. voice-verified

Fighters like Andre Feely. voice-verified

Showing 101–120 of 145 · page 6 of 8