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The Joe Rogan Experience

JRE MMA Show #179 with Josh Thompson & "Big" John McCarthy

27 May 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What is discussed at the start of this section?

0.031 - 6.181 Joe Rogan

Joe Rogan Podcast, check it out. The Joe Rogan Experience.

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6.201 - 20.986 Unknown

Train by day, Joe Rogan Podcast by night, all day. Gentlemen, you're live. What's happening? Good to see you. What is up? I enjoy your show. Your show's excellent. You guys have a really good MMA show. It's really solid.

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21.006 - 32.701 Josh Thompson

Thank you. Thank you. I kind of blew that. How'd you blow it? We can talk about that. I got to talk to him. You guys are not doing it anymore? I stepped back away when I started refereeing again.

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32.801 - 49.873 Unknown

God damn it. You got to go back to doing it. You guys are great. You guys are a great combination. I think I might. What we did is we started doing McCarthy Mondays. Because when he went back to refereeing, he's not allowed to talk about promotions, not allowed to talk about fighters and what's wrong, and the things that possibly can make some changes.

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50.494 - 71.704 Unknown

So we just started McCarthy Monday, where we just talk about the Joe Schilling situation. That's something we could talk about, right? So I created a show for him to just only do on Mondays. He created. Nice. Well, it's his input. I was just trying to find ways to keep him involved. I love that you're refereeing again. We need great referees, but I wish you were out there doing both.

71.804 - 80.574 Unknown

It doesn't make sense to me that you can't do both. It's not like you're not going to be a great referee while also still being able to comment objectively about promotions. It's important.

Chapter 2: How did McCarthy Mondays come about?

81.094 - 85.779 Josh Thompson

It is important. It's important. Transparency, where's ever the problem with that?

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85.839 - 86.4 Unknown

Exactly.

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86.48 - 94.85 Josh Thompson

But you get these people that, oh, no, because you might say something that is— going to create a problem. And it's not a problem if it's the truth. It's ridiculous.

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95.21 - 117.077 Unknown

I mean, if that was the case, how come I can do it as a commentator? How come all these guys can do it? Because you're the best. Yeah, but I mean, everybody should be able to have a voice, especially referees. If something happens and you're a referee and you could say, here's my perspective. This is why I did what I did. And you have it on a podcast on a regular basis.

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117.097 - 134.986 Unknown

That's a benefit to everybody. So that is what I'm trying to clear with him. I believe you're right. But what you run into is you run into some issues where the referee says too much, and then people come back at him, and then the commissions have to answer for it, and then the fighters dig on them. Good. People are talking. That's how shit gets solved.

135.006 - 154.513 Unknown

That's how you don't have, like, one hand down is not a downed opponent anymore. Why? Because we fucking complained forever. 12 to 6 elbows. They're legit again. Except in New Jersey. You see the problem? Yeah. You see the goddamn problem? When we were in New Jersey, I was like, you've got to be kidding me. How the fuck do you guys not have 12 to 6 elbows?

154.613 - 157.116 Unknown

You can't make it any more complicated for the referees and the fighters.

157.136 - 182.854 Josh Thompson

It's so dumb. It's the dumbest fucking thing of all time. It's so unfair to the fighters themselves. I wrote those things out, and they were passed by the ABC, but we gave six months. Six months because you've got to give the fighters time to train to make sure that they get it right. Okay. And so put it in, it works great, and now you expect them to go back to one location.

182.874 - 184.617 Josh Thompson

And remember, in the middle of a fight. Exactly.

Chapter 3: What are the implications of referee transparency in MMA?

185.138 - 191.689 Josh Thompson

One location, and now they're going to automatically go back to the old rules. It's like, do you realize what you're doing to them?

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191.709 - 205.844 Unknown

It doesn't make any sense either. The old rules are fucking stupid. We all agreed. Everybody, no one was like, no, no, no, 12 to 6 elbows are too dangerous. Oh, yes, there was. Was there people? Oh, yeah. Your broadcast partner. Shut the fuck up. Which one?

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205.904 - 213.851 Josh Thompson

Dan Cormier. No. I swear to God. He says some crazy shit. He does say some crazy shit. DC, I love you. He says some crazy shit. I love him.

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213.891 - 215.092 Big John McCarthy

Why did he say the 12 to 6 elbows?

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215.132 - 218.375 Unknown

He goes, I think that rule should, absolutely, that's dangerous.

218.475 - 218.776 Big John McCarthy

I swear.

218.916 - 225.982 Unknown

If we're going to ban anything, and I don't think we should ban anything, but if we're going to ban anything, sidekicks to the knees. See, that right there. Right?

226.002 - 227.704 Josh Thompson

I don't think we should. No, you shouldn't.

227.884 - 232.329 Unknown

I don't think we should, but I'm saying if we should, there's an argument that you're going to blow out a guy's knee.

Chapter 4: How important is financial management for athletes?

3397.379 - 3415.945 Unknown

But he saves his money, man. He's got a lot of money saved up. Learning how to be frugal is very important, especially if you're an athlete. Any type of athlete. Especially if you're an athlete like Strickland who still rides a motorcycle. That psychopath. I still ride a motorcycle. He still? Oh, yeah. You didn't learn anything from Frank Mir when you broke his femur? I'm surprised fighters.

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3416.166 - 3426.682 Unknown

Frank Mir breaking his femur is what kept me from getting a motorcycle license. That was the last one. Really? Yeah, two friends crashed. One friend wiped out and fucked up his shoulder, and then Frank Mir got T-boned, and I was like, I'm out.

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Chapter 5: What are the risks of motorcycle riding for fighters?

3426.963 - 3432.331 Josh Thompson

It all comes down. There's the old saying. There's two types of motorcycle riders. Ones that have been down and ones that are going down.

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3432.351 - 3441.565 Unknown

Yeah. And that's just the truth. That's the problem. I felt like I'm hurting myself so many days a week just doing jujitsu. Doing that on top of that, it's like I don't want to risk.

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3441.965 - 3443.868 Josh Thompson

No. Yeah. Especially if you haven't been doing it.

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Chapter 6: What lessons can fighters learn from their spending habits?

3443.888 - 3454.444 Josh Thompson

Because there's ways to ride. And you don't ride. I can watch people on the road and I go, that dude doesn't know how to ride. Scary. And it's like they're the ones that are going. You can just buy a bike.

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3454.464 - 3469.985 Unknown

That's what's scary. You get a license, figure out how to ride it, buy a bike, and you fucking wow. It's like you could go to a car dealership right now and pick up a Corvette ZR1. You got a 1,000 horsepower car. Who knows if you know how to really drive that thing?

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3470.005 - 3471.747 Josh Thompson

Who says that you're prepared to drive that thing?

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3471.768 - 3479.978 Unknown

That's a fighter jet on wheels. This is fucking insane. And you just give it to some kid? But it's awesome. Yeah. Your parents are rich, so you have a fucking fighter jet on wheels?

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3480.098 - 3499.818 Josh Thompson

This is nuts. But what you're talking about, Sean Strickland, with how many cars do you need? I tell fighters all the time, how many cars do you need? You know, I've had arguments with Rampage because Rampage got eight million cars. And I go, dude, how many cars can you put your ass in at one time? Right. And it's like you're blowing through money. You can't get back.

3499.879 - 3514.852 Unknown

You can't get back. You know, it's like you try to tell cars. It's depending on what kind of cars you have. Some cars are. Oh, if you if you're going to do an investment, that's fine. Muscle cars like that. They're always worth money. I think if you're a fighter, you need to take a page out of Forrest Griffin's book. Right. With the scion that he won for the ultimate fighter.

3515.152 - 3530.925 Unknown

He drove that thing into the ground. Door handles were off. He had to roll the window down to open the door from the outside. He's such a character. But, I mean, that's how you have to live. If you're going to be a professional athlete, a professional fighter, that's how you have to live, especially early in your career. You don't know how long it's going to last.

3530.956 - 3554.068 Unknown

Yeah, also, there's something to be said for the comforts of nice things and luxuries kind of slowing you down a little bit. Not everybody. Doesn't seem to do it to Arvin Sarukian. No. That fucking dude, he breaks the whole rule book. Rich kid, fights like a demon, built like a Greek god. He is such a stud, man. Constantly competing in wrestling, doing everything.

3554.429 - 3557.934 Unknown

He's wrestling this weekend here at Roth Wrestling in Arlington. Animal.

Chapter 7: What makes Ian Gary a standout fighter in MMA?

6622.216 - 6627.262 Unknown

And the knee, that fucking knee that comes out like a jab, his knee is nuts, man.

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6627.302 - 6639.822 Josh Thompson

You go back to his fight with Gary. You know, and you look at, you know, Gary was doing great that last round. Yeah. You know, he came back on it and you look and you go. If this was five rounds, it'd be a real problem. Hello.

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6640.022 - 6642.046 Unknown

But it also shows you how fucking good Ian Gary is, man.

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6642.066 - 6663.396 Josh Thompson

Oh, absolutely. That's the whole point. It shows how good he is because he has gone against guys that are a real problem as far as stylistically. You know, his fight against MVP. Ian Gary fought as smart as you could fight and did a wonderful job in showing, hey, I'm multifaceted. I'm not just this one style fighter.

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6663.476 - 6684.099 Unknown

With Prates, when he knocked out Leon Edwards, I was like, oh. I knew he was really elite, but I'm like, Leon's so technical and he's so slick. And Prates is not going to try to take him down. I'm like, this is going to be a very interesting fight. But it wasn't. It was Kyle's Prates show. He put on a fucking show. The relaxation, the comfortness of being out there.

6684.16 - 6688.727 Unknown

Also, too, Leon understanding, like, I was the champion. I'm not the champion. It's hard to get back there.

6688.787 - 6700.708 Josh Thompson

The mindset has changed a lot. It's been hard for Leon ever since when he lost that title fight against Muhammad. And you look at everything that's happened to him since. It's just, you know, confidence is everything.

6700.688 - 6712.121 Unknown

Yeah, well, the Sean Brady fight might have been even more brutal than that, because Sean just mauled him. Mauled him. When Sean gets on top of people, like, what he did to Joaquin Buckley was bananas. No, it wasn't.

Chapter 8: How does the discussion shift to the challenges faced by Leon Edwards?

6712.141 - 6727.734 Josh Thompson

I look at that, and this is why. Sean Brady won against Craig Jones. Okay, now it was an advantage as far as win, but he grappled against the real Craig Jones and showed that he can stay with him. Poor Joaquin is not at that level.

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6727.934 - 6731.319 Unknown

But you know in that match, Craig was not allowed to use leg locks. You know that, right?

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6731.439 - 6732.941 Josh Thompson

That's crazy.

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6733.121 - 6738.108 Unknown

That's a big, that's like fighting Ernesto Hoost and you only can kick above the waist. You know what I'm saying?

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6738.168 - 6740.232 Josh Thompson

Well, if you're Rick Rufus, that's a smart idea.

6740.252 - 6747.604 Unknown

Yeah, but you know what I'm saying? It's like Craig Jones, you've got to give him his full game. You can't have him thinking, oh, I can't do this.

6747.624 - 6749.507 Joe Rogan

Yeah, that's true. He's taking away 50% of his attacks.

6750.288 - 6768.274 Unknown

But it shows you how good he is. But Sean Brady on the ground is really good. Elite. But it was just the ability to hold him down was just shocking. I mean, it was like, God. And then when he was mounting him, it just, like he was doing drills. It wasn't, it was just like staying calm and just bang, bang, bang. It was like he was doing conditioning drills on a heavy bag.

6768.295 - 6771.559 Unknown

Like he was just sitting on a heavy bag, pounding on the bag. Time.

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