488 JRE Review Gable Steveson

Summary

JRE Review Podcast – Episode 488: Gable Steveson

Release Date: January 13, 2026
Hosts: Adam Thorne and Nick

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Main Theme & Purpose

This episode of the Joe Rogan Experience Review dives into and dissects Joe Rogan’s interview with Gable Steveson, Olympic gold medalist wrestler and rising heavyweight MMA prospect. Adam and Nick explore Gable’s athletic prowess, his mindset, his potential UFC future, and the broader significance of his journey for the fight world and beyond. The conversation centers on themes of elite athleticism, life transitions, mentorship, winner mentality, and the cultural role of the Joe Rogan Experience.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Gable Steveson’s Phenomenal Athleticism

• Rogan’s Hype About Gable
  Nick recalls Joe Rogan texting Dana White, saying, "everyone in the heavyweight division is fucked when [Gable] enters the UFC." (04:00)
• Comparisons to Sporting Legends
  Gable is described as a “Bo Jackson level athlete” and “an absolute freak athlete.” (03:00)
• Effortless Confidence
  Adam notes Gable’s natural self-assuredness in the JRE episode:
  “The way he was answering questions like, 'that's the worst I'm ever going to be at that sport.' … he just knows that. Matter of fact, 'I’m gonna be the best.'” (03:27)

2. Mentorship from Jon Jones

• Passing the Torch
  Nick and Adam discuss how Jon Jones appears to be mentoring Gable, seeing him as his “pet project” and potential successor. (04:00)
• Legacy Building
  Adam reflects:
  “It’s one thing to become the hero of your own story, but to create a prodigy in your own image and give them everything you didn’t have—that’s next level.” (05:24)
• Jon Jones’ Unique Role
  Nick: “When you’re literally becoming the Michael Jordan of UFC… and you want to pass the torch…” (04:29)

3. Gable’s Crossover Talent: Wrestling, Football, and Beyond

• NFL Tryout Story
  • Gable reportedly never played football before making an NFL tryout, which both hosts find “insanely impossible” and a testament to his athletic IQ. (07:11)
• Wrestling Is the Toughest Sport
  Adam:
  “Wrestling… there’s no knockout – you have to systematically beat your opponent. It is the hardest sport there is. I think wrestling is the sport; everything else is a game.” (08:29)
• Transferable Skills
  Nick and Adam break down how top wrestlers’ work ethic, discipline, and adaptability allow them to succeed in new fields.

4. Mentality of Extreme Winners

• Unparalleled Drive
  Nick:
  “There’s just something in his mind—this athletic IQ if there’s such a thing.” (16:23)
• The Secret Work Ethic
  Adam:
  “You don’t know what these professional athletes are doing when nobody’s around… that’s their secret. That’s why they’re always going to be better than you.” (19:16)
• Liking the Pain
  • Gable’s statement, "I like when it hurts," is highlighted as uniquely authentic winner mentality. (33:24)
    Nick: “Not many people say things like that and mean it… People that can say that are a different beast.” (33:53)
• Adam on Enduring Hardship:
  “If you can put yourself in those situations over and over again, you might start to like it eventually, because you like what comes of you.” (35:00)

5. The Story and the Business of Heavyweight Fighting

• UFC Heavyweight Division’s Need for New Blood
  Nick explains the excitement around Gable:
  “Anytime the heavyweight division is stacked, that’s always the best fights to watch… the UFC heavyweight division hasn’t been that stacked.” (21:16)
• Role of Storylines and Personas
  Adam:
  “You don’t just need a champion; you need a character and you also need a villain… there’s a portion of that on the marketing side.” (23:56)

6. Rejecting the WWE Path

• Entertainment vs. True Competition
  Nick:
  “He got recruited by the WWE… they set him up as the next Brock Lesnar. But Gable said, ‘no, this isn’t for me; feeling fake feels scripted.’ He wants to find himself in his prime more than he wants money.” (25:50)

7. Mentorship, Self-Belief, and the Power of Positive Influence

• Jon Jones’ Encouraging Gable
  Adam highlights his favorite quote:
  “Jon Jones said to him, ‘You can have this, too.’ That is a great line… everybody needs to hear that from somebody else.” (30:08)
• Overcoming Self-Doubt
  Adam:
  “Your biggest enemy in anything you want to accomplish in life is you. And you need somebody on the outside telling you, 'you can have this, too.'” (30:36)
• Surrounding Yourself with Believers
  Nick:
  “You should always have people around you that believe in you more than you believe in yourself. It’s just a good move.” (31:12)

8. Reflections on Rogan’s Cultural Impact

• Joe Rogan as ‘Podcast Dad’
  Nick:
  “There’s a lot of guys … brought up without a good dad … you kind of have this podcast dad almost giving you some instructions. Go to the gym, eat better, work out, do hard things…” (44:10)
• Rogan’s Unique Place in Podcasting
  Adam:
  “Do you think that person [like Rogan] had to exist and he was just at the right place at the right time? He became what people needed him to be.” (47:01)
  • The hosts marvel at Rogan’s longstanding, mass appeal and the door he opened for long-form, conversational podcasts. (47:39)

9. Applying Lessons: Try, Fail, and Keep Moving

• Personal Stories of Risk and Change
  Both hosts reflect on their own pivots—leaving stable jobs to pursue creative work, inspired in part by Rogan’s message to just try something different. (51:44)
  • Nick:
    “A lot of the bravery … came from listening to Rogan. If you work in a cubicle or hate your job, and just feel like you’re stuck, why not try and do something different…? That was the start of something for me.” (52:54)
  • Adam:
    “You can't be everything, but if you pick out some stuff, you can have it to a certain degree.” (49:47)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Adam on Gable’s Mentality:
  “The way he was answering questions like, ‘that’s the worst I’m ever going to be at that sport.’ … he just knows that. Matter of fact, ‘I’m gonna be the best.’” (03:27)
• Nick on Freak Athlete Rarity:
  “To think that somebody that hasn't even played the game can just step on and do that… this is incredibly rare.” (20:14)
• Jon Jones to Gable Steveson:
  “You can have this, too.” (Adam’s highlight) (30:08)
• Gable Steveson via Nick:
  “I like when it hurts.” (33:24)
• Adam on Wrestling:
  “Wrestling… there’s no knockout – you have to systematically beat your opponent. It is the hardest sport there is.” (08:29)
• Adam on Hidden Work and Winner’s Mindset:
  “You don’t know what these professional athletes are doing when nobody’s around… they will do something when you’re asleep and they’re not.” (19:16)
• Nick on Podcast Influence:
  “You have this podcast dad almost giving you some instructions… it opened the door to an area of thinking they’d never have considered.” (44:10)
• Adam on Taking the Leap:
  “If you don't try it, then you won't know. If you shoot for something pretty cool and try to make it, you’re gonna be happy with what you come up with.” (51:44)

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Important Timestamps

• 03:00-04:00: How Rogan and Dana White hyped Gable; comparisons to athletic legends.
• 04:29-07:11: Jon Jones’ mentorship and the idea of passing the torch.
• 07:11-10:33: Gable’s transition attempt into the NFL and wrestling as the hardest sport.
• 16:23: Understanding athletic IQ and natural talent.
• 19:16: Winner mentality and “the secret” of professional athletes.
• 21:16-23:56: UFC’s heavyweight division and the importance of stories and personas in fighting.
• 25:50: Gable’s WWE experience and reasons for pivoting away.
• 30:08-31:12: Jon Jones’ “You can have this, too” and the importance of outside encouragement.
• 33:24: “I like when it hurts” – Gable’s pain-embracing approach.
• 44:10-47:01: Rogan’s role as “podcast dad” and the cultural impact of his show.
• 51:44: Personal stories about taking risks and being inspired by Rogan’s ethos.

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Episode Ratings

• Nick: "A solid 7… mainly because I'm just excited for this guy. I can't wait for him to get into the UFC. He is a badass, he seemed super intelligent as well as, obviously, the athlete that he is." (56:04)
• Adam: "I'm gonna go seven as well. He seemed very put together, young man, and he knows what he wants to do. The world needs more put together young men for sure." (56:35)

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Closing Thoughts

Adam and Nick’s review of the JRE/Gable Steveson episode paints a vivid picture of what makes Gable a rare talent and why his story resonates—even beyond wrestling and MMA. The hosts intertwine their own experiences and Rogan’s lasting influence, showing how the right combination of confidence, struggle, mentorship, and risk-taking leads to extraordinary outcomes. For fans of MMA, combat sports, or even personal development, this episode delivers actionable insights and plenty of motivation—in the quintessential, conversational style Rogan’s sphere is known for.

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Transcript

[Adam Thorne]

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[Nick]

You are listening to the Joe Rogan Experience Review Podcast.

[Adam Thorne]

We find little nuggets, treasures, valuable pieces.

[Nick]

Of gold in the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast and pass them on to you.

[Adam Thorne]

Perhaps expand a little bit.

[Nick]

We are not associated with Joe Rogan in any way. Think of us as the talking dead.

[Adam Thorne]

To Joe's Walking Dead.

[Nick]

You're listening to the Joe Rogan Experience Review.

[Adam Thorne]

What a bizarre thing we've created now.

[Nick]

With your host Adam Thorne.

[Adam Thorne]

Might either be the worst podcast or the best one. One go.

[Nick]

Enjoy the show. Hey folks and welcome back to another episode of the JRE review. Coming into 2026. Hot and heavy this week, joined by Nick from lesser known operators. What's up, Nick?

[Adam Thorne]

As usual, happy to be here, man.

[Nick]

Great, great stuff. And Nick. Yeah? You got a new line of merch, right? Hoodies and some T shirts. You want to tell us about that?

[Adam Thorne]

In one short year, I've gone from being a terrible businessman to a just slightly bad businessman. And yeah, we finally got T shirts after. After 12 months. So yeah, link I guess in the episode description for my boy at Colorado Customs. And my wife did the artwork the color of Arden. So she, she brought to life the special forces mistress into a visual form. And that's going to be our first T shirt design and stickers and everything. So it's pretty cool.

[Nick]

They're dope. They're dope. Get. Get in the bio, buy some of these, support it. And what? Some of the money goes to charity. What's the charity there, bud?

[Adam Thorne]

Yeah, a dollar from every T shirt purchase goes to Project Recon, which is a special operations nonprofit that is getting FDA authorized stem cells to special operations veterans to combat the effects of traumatic brain injury. I think I said that right.

[Nick]

Well done. That's great stuff. That's great stuff. Go support them. God bless our troops. Nice. I like it. This week we are reviewing Gable Steveson. What an animal. Exciting to have him on. Rogan's talked about this guy before. Made reference to texting Dana White and saying everyone in the heavyweight division is fucked when he enters the ufc. I Couldn't have agreed more. I mean, this guy just is an absolute freak athlete, and there's really no denying that. I mean, he is like, you know, Bo Jackson level athlete is what it seems like.

[Adam Thorne]

Well, there's. There's no one like Bo. You don't know Bo.

[Nick]

Okay?

[Adam Thorne]

We.

[Nick]

I clearly don't.

[Adam Thorne]

But you could just tell from listening to how he gave the interview that he also knows that he's the best as well. The way he was answering questions like, that's the worst I'm ever going to be at that sport. And he just knows that. The way he would just. Yep. Nonchalantly, matter of fact, I'm gonna be the best. And as he made reference to many times, it seems like Jon Jones is making him his pet project and is going to create a monster out of this kid.

[Nick]

Yeah, I think Jon is looking to go out with a bang at the White House fight, which is kind of clearly going to be the biggest thing ever in UFC history. I mean, I don't even know how the UFC would ever top that. I don't know what you could ever do. Have a fight on the moon.

[Adam Thorne]

I was just going to say Bezos is going to have a octagon on the moon eventually. So, you know, technology will get us there.

[Nick]

Yeah, it would have to be something like that. But, I mean, you know, Jon Jones is going to fight in the White House card. More than likely, that's going to be the biggest thing. He's then clearly going to retire, because why would he not? And go out probably undefeated, greatest of all time, and he's going to want to pass the torch to somebody, and it seems like he has already found the next potential goat. I mean, look, it's early days to say something like that. I mean, a lot of things can happen, and you've got to be tested, clearly. But the. Just the way this guy talks, it just seems like he knows something. And. And he just. He just seems like he's the type that's going to be completely unstoppable. People must be terrified of this guy.

[Adam Thorne]

Well, I think athletes, especially at a professional level, they have a lot of confidence in themselves, and he's gonna have a lot of. He's also a kid, but he's grown up, you know, beating adults as well. I mean, he's Olympic champion, so that's. That's on a whole other level as well, so. But it. It's one thing to become the hero of your own story, but to create a prodigy in your own image and try and give Them everything that you didn't have and make them into the best version that you could have been. So you got Jon Jones at the top of his game and goes out and he sees this person that he wants to make into who he, he thinks he could have been. Because no matter how good you are at anything, I achieved great success in the military, but I could have been so much more had things gone left or right or I not gotten injured, right. And now I can talk to guys coming up and go, hey, you might want to avoid this thing, this really held me back or things like that. Now he's at the top and he gets to see this guy can be just like me, if not better. So it's got to be fun for him as well. So he's got a, he's, and he's got a professional eye. He can see that this person is going to go far and to carry on the legacy. Because once you retire, you know, you fade away. People, somebody new always comes in and no matter what, you people are going to forget your name because somebody else will be wearing the title belt. And it's very exciting and they're winning by knockout. But if you can hang around and then your boy is at the top and you're in the corner, it never ends then. And just keep the party going.

[Nick]

Yeah, yeah. And I mean, and John is a different creature too. I mean, it's pretty undeniable now that he, if you know that he's the best of all time. So when you're that, I mean, he's literally becoming like the Michael Jordan of UFC in a sense. Even though his career was kind of tarnished because of his out of the cage behavior, but ultimately completely undefeated, dominated everyone totally. I mean, he just smashed everybody, all the toughest guys. I mean, yeah, I think he could, he could move into a pretty interesting post career as well. Yeah, it'd be interesting to see what he does, but being in his corner I think is a big deal. Now let me ask you this, what did you think when he said that he had never played football before ever, and then just went to the tryouts and made the NFL? How is that possible? It seems like just insanely impossible.

[Adam Thorne]

He's very flexible, very agile. The workouts of a professional wrestler at the Olympic level are unlike anything across any sport, conditioning wise. So he's not going to be held back by his cardio. So that's a non issue strength for his weight. He's pound. He has to pound for pound, be as strong as anyone in the world because he has to make weight and he has to be as strong as he can at that weight. So size comparison, he's going to be equal in strength. He might be a little light for the position because those, I mean, they're, they're eating for size and things like that. So he's, he's a, he's the difference between the bottom level of professional athlete and the top level professional athlete is pretty far. And he's a top professional athlete in the hardest sport ever to exist, right? Wrestling. Because there's no, there's no knockout in wrestling. You have to beat the other person. You can't just land a, a Hail Mary in the dark. You have to systematically beat your, your opponent. It is the hardest sport that there is. You. Now I have some bias. I, that's. I think wrestling is the sport. Everything else is a game. Football is a game and the game can be managed and worked into in a system. Right. But there's nothing like wrestling. And if you're good at that, you can, you can probably figure out how to be good at everything else, especially for the best in the world. Really.

[Nick]

Did, did you wrestle?

[Adam Thorne]

I did. Okay. I did. I was, I was good. I could have been great, but I didn't apply myself. I didn't apply myself till I put on my, the uniform when I joined the military. And then I knew what motivation was, but I was very good. I had natural talent, but I just didn't, didn't take it as far as I should have. And. But that's okay. I did, I did it when I put my uniform on, so I got it in the end.

[Nick]

Yeah, but you had a good time wrestling. This podcast is brought to you by DraftKings Casino. Get cozy because DraftKings Casino is turning up the heat this winter. Play more than 1,000 slots, everything from classics like Cash Eruption to exclusives like Fire Buffalo. New players can wager $5 and get 500 spins over 10 days on your choice of Cash Eruption slots. Download the DraftKings Casino app, sign up with code JRER and start spinning. The crown is yours in partnership with DraftKings Casino Gambling Problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER in Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org Please play responsibly. 21/physically present in Connecticut, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia only. Void in Ontario eligibility. Non withdrawable casino spins issued as 50 spins per day for 10 days. Valid for featured games only and expire each day after 24 hours. See [e-mail] promos ends March 15, 2026 at 11:59pm Eastern Time. New Year. New systems Right. This is the time when we all look at the messier parts of our business and think there has to be a better way. And there is. Streaming your communications is one of the quickest and easiest upgrades you can make. That's why today's episode is brought to you by Quo, spelt Q U O. The smarter way to run your business communications. Quo works wherever you are, right from an app on your phone or computer and lets you keep your existing number, add new numbers or teammates in minutes, sync your CRM and reply on seamless routing and call flows as your business scales. Make this the year when no opportunity and no customer slips away. Try quo for free plus get 20% off your first six months when you go to quo.com j r e r that's q u-o.com j r e r quo. No missed calls, no missed customers. You enjoyed it?

[Adam Thorne]

I loved it. It's. There's nothing like it. When you and I was trying to think of before we got on a. A call here, I was trying to think of something that I can equate it to that everybody would understand something that everybody goes through and it's. There's really not. When you train and you are out there and there's nobody else on the mat, it's just you and somebody else that is the exact same size as you, the exact same strength as you, the same fitness level and you give everything you have and you go into overtime or double overtime and it's sudden death and then you come out on top and you get your hand raised at the end. There is nothing, nothing in sports like that. You are completely exhausted and you win the match. Nothing compares to that as that I've ever encountered in sports. And it's very. Joe has said it, other people have said on the show about wrestling, there is no sport like it. It is the greatest sport that there is.

[Nick]

Yeah, Joe is actually over the years had a lot of great legendary wrestlers on and hearing about the trainings, how grueling they are and what it took for them to get to the position of like the highest levels. I mean, it, it sounds like it takes a very special individual to get there and. And not a normal human being. I would say that. So I can't imagine what you're saying that, you know, you kind of put them in another environment and they're just like ready for it.

[Adam Thorne]

They just know that person has had to succeed. He's had to succeed as a. As a child, a little child. And then wrestling in these tournaments year after year after year, and never taking a break. And then you get into middle school and then high school, and you're going through that and this. There's no offseason. You're cutting weight and you're. You're getting. You're just wrestling all. It becomes your life. It. It's your whole life. And some of the. Yeah, the hardest training and the hardest diet and routine and just perfecting your craft and then. Okay, let's try something else. And maximum confidence as well. Like, I can do this. I did that. That was extremely hard. This can't be that hard. Then let me just jump right into it. And there's a freeness there, too. If you really believe in yourself, that your mind will make you do it.

[Nick]

The only thing, though, is, yeah, you jump over to football, you're super athletic. You can move, do all these things. It's still. There's rules, though, in football. There's still movement, there's still particular ways of, like, tackling is like. There's a structure to certain elements of it. Right.

[Adam Thorne]

But we learned by visualizing as well. So he's built up this system where he's had to learn all of these things in wrestling as well. So he's a student of wrestling, of being an athlete. So he might learn just quicker, just quicker by watching it also on tv, of seeing how people move. Oh, look at that person's footwork. Because he's looking at other people's footwork when he's on it. He might pick up stuff that we don't fucking understand. That's also.

[Nick]

That's true. I had this friend in England, his name was Lee Pritchard, and he was like the most. Pretty much the most naturally gifted. Well, we call him football player, but soccer player to you Americans that we had in our group, or at least one of them. But he was so good. He was just so good. Like, he could just do things that, like, the other guys just couldn't do. And he would always pull off, like, the most ridiculous shit. In some of the games, he was just cheeky and confident and could just move that ball, take shots that nobody would pull off. And it would also be like, we would show up to places or if we did, like, a lads holiday, we would go off to, like, Blackpool and, you know, they have, like, the fairground games and things. It was like everything he would get on, he Just could figure out and do it well. And then when there was one year, everybody started playing golf and he was just immediately like a light year ahead of everybody. Like, he just. There was just something in his mind. He wasn't like necessarily like even very smart guy. He just. There was something in him that just. He could move like himself, like, well, right. It's just like this athletic IQ if there's such a thing.

[Adam Thorne]

I think there is. There's also, you know, coordination to your hand, Eye coordination. Look at F1 drivers and their reflexes as compared to a normal person. You know when they drop those darts.

[Nick]

Oh yeah.

[Adam Thorne]

The person's holding the tennis balls and they'll grab them right away. They only fall a couple inches. There's. If you have a fast reflexes. Life is in slow motion if you have fast reflexes.

[Nick]

That's true. Have you ever seen Lewis, the British F1 driver, when he went to. He went to the. That shooting range in L. A, the one that they trained John Wick on. Okay, anyway, I have it on my Instagram somewhere. I'll send it to you. They did a run through with him and it's unbelievable. He got like one of the quickest times on almost his first go. And he'd like never even fired a gun before. He's just like this done and everyone's just jawed to the ground. Well, of course he's got, I mean those guys have lightning fast reflexes.

[Adam Thorne]

But also with something like somebody like that with Lewis Hamilton and let's say Gable, Stevenson, other people, you don't know what they're doing in the hotel room as well. They're very competitive. They don't want to go in public and be embarrassed. So he might have been studying video and playing AR or a VR headset, because you can do that with a VR headset and do these things and practice these things.

[Nick]

No doubt.

[Adam Thorne]

You don't know what these professional athletes are doing when nobody's around. That's a good point. So they can be these. They're not like a normal person. This person has. Has beaten everybody. Everybody. They have come across, they've dominated and they are doing something that everybody else was not doing, otherwise somebody else would be them. So you don't know what they're doing. And that's their secret. That's why they're always going to be better than you. That's why they're on tv. That's why they've got the championship belt, is they will do something when you're asleep and they're not.

[Nick]

Yeah. It's like that extreme winner mentality, isn't it?

[Adam Thorne]

Yeah, they don't want to be. You know, even if it's something you've never done before, you don't want to be embarrassed in public. Well, I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go show up, because I've been practicing when nobody else is around on something I've never done before, so. Is it cheating? No, but it's. You know, you're always very competitive, and that's why they're on. They're on the winner circle. And I'm not, Right?

[Nick]

Yeah, very much so. No, that's a good point. That's a good point. Well, you know, I also like to believe that he just showed up and was that good? Because that's cool. That's cool, too. But, yeah, either way, yeah, it makes a lot of sense. It's still remarkable, though, to think. Just think of all the college players that are. I mean, for example, in Bozeman, the football team here in our small little city just won a national championship. Crazy. They beat all odds. It was the wildest thing. Crazy game, too. Super stressful. But we won Bozeman. Well done. Go Cats. And even with all those players that won that national championship, I was talking to some people, and I'm like, whoa, who do you think will go to the NFL from this team? And they're like, well, honestly, probably nobody, because it's a big jump to get to that league, you know, moving forward. And it's actually pretty rare to go from college to up to that. So to think that somebody that hasn't even played the game can just step on and do that is. It really just highlights what it means to be, like, that level of freak athlete. And I guess I'm just kind of driving that home, because it's just easily washed over almost just to be like, oh, yeah, he's a free Catholic. Well, but hold on. What does that mean? You know, it's like, no, this is incredibly rare. Like, you've got to understand this isn't just a person telling us his life story and that he likes to save French bulldogs, which, by the way, I thought you would like, since you're a bit of a fan of. Um, but, you know, this is. This is an exceptional human being that we need to pay attention to, especially if you are a UFC fan, because he's on his way there. I'm a big UFC fan. Like, that's my sport. That's the thing that I watch. So for me, I'm Very interested to kind of watch this kind of career. Especially because the heavyweight division in any fighting sport, you know, in boxing especially, anytime the heavyweight division is stacked, that's always the best fights to watch. It just really is. And you know, for a long time in the ufc, the heavyweight division hasn't been that stacked. It hasn't been that great to watch. You know, if you are a CFO.

[Adam Thorne]

Or controller, closing the books should not.

[Nick]

Feel like a monthly fire drill. Contracts, billing and revenue recognition often live in different systems. Leaving finance to reconcile everything by hand. Just to close Tabs fixes this. Tabs is an AI native revenue platform that unifies erp, CRM and billing data to automate billing, collections and revenue recognition. Close faster and get paid sooner. Learn [e-mail] it's like we were really paying attention for a long time to Anderson Silva, gsp. I mean, obviously then Jon Jones came along and lifted up the light heavyweight division, but heavyweight division was just kind of back and forth for a long time. It was hard for anyone to hold the belt and kind of stay there. But to get a real massive champ in there that just can't be moved is very cool. Because then you have like the ultimate, toughest guy in the world.

[Adam Thorne]

A good story too, right? Accomplished wrestler, just winning, winning, and then just jumps in, jumps into this sport and picks it up and goes to the top as well. There's a lot of money in these things also that people tie themselves to. And you need, you don't just need a champion, you need a character and you also need a villain. That's why, you know, like, WWE was so great in the 90s and early 2000s, the attitude era. Right? You had the heels and the baby face and people getting over, and it was just, it was absolute cinema. Right. Well, there's a portion of that on the marketing side that you need as well. So you need to create these stories of these people, but they, these, they have to have real talent and show up. So. God. And it is, you're right. The most exciting is the heavyweight. The biggest, baddest people, the biggest also, because the normal person isn't that big. You have somebody that's superhuman, that's bigger than the average man that could beat anybody in a fight on the face of the earth, and they're going at it. Yeah, it's just more exciting as well. I'm not the biggest UFC fan. I'm, I, I, I don't, I don't know, but I do like wrestling this. It's very, very technical. I do avoid, you know, being hit in the head, you know, with all 10 of my concussions. So maybe that's it. Good idea. You guys shouldn't be getting hit in the head anymore. Like, that's really bad for your health.

[Nick]

Is that why you shout at the TV when you watch the ufc? Don't get hit in the head.

[Adam Thorne]

You guys just avoid the blows to the head. You'll live longer. But, no, yeah, it's. It's interesting to see where things go, but. But this all brings more people in, more people into the sport. And, sure, Dana White sure seems to know what he's doing.

[Nick]

He definitely does. I mean, but it's a really interesting move. I mean. I mean, he got recruited by the wwe, and he, you know, they kind of set him up as the next Brock Lesnar, which is, you know, really. It's like, Brock was in there, made a ton of money in the WWE and then went to the ufc. Everybody was like, this is gonna be dumb because he's just a wrestler. He's not a real fighter. And he became heavyweight champ and beat some legends and proved that those guys really are tough. I mean, Brock was a beast and smashed some people early on. He was terrifying. But Gable said, no, this isn't for me. Feeling fake feels scripted. You know, he felt like an entertainer, not an athlete. And he's just a core. Like, he wants to find himself in his prime more than he wants money or something. He just seemed like he's on this very particular pursuit that is really admirable, and I've got a feeling he's gonna come out with a large bank account regardless of what he does. But he's really not chasing the money. He's chasing the dream more, which I love.

[Adam Thorne]

He knows what he wants. He's probably known for a long time. And when you know what you want and you have the ability to get there and it's a competition sport, you're. You're the warrior. You're the man in the arena. Right? Literally in this situation, and to execute on that, to make it happen for you. I tried this. This isn't for me. This way. Didn't work out. But it's just the end of the road is to come out on top, and whatever path that pushes him down, if takes it, ufc, he might get to ufc. Get to the top and say, I don't like this either. Yeah, I'm gonna go do something else.

[Nick]

Yeah.

[Adam Thorne]

So he's very, very young, very capable. He's got the correct name, you know, looks good. Written down and sounds good over audio. So sky's the limit, man.

[Nick]

Sure. Yeah. He could just smash for five years as champ, be really active, do a bunch of fights, take a bunch of money. You know, who knows? Maybe he could then head in and do a bunch of those, you know, celebrities, stupid boxing matches that make a ton of money.

[Adam Thorne]

Yeah, I mean, you're reviewing at the base of things, you're a review show for the guy who hosted Fear Factor. I mean, did you think when you were watching Fear Factor that you were going to review that guy someday? So you never know where people are going to go.

[Nick]

You don't know. You just don't.

[Adam Thorne]

No idea.

[Nick]

No idea.

[Adam Thorne]

Yeah.

[Nick]

Well, when I first listened to Rogan's podcast, I mean, I literally caught his fur. Like, I caught some of his first episode now, maybe not. Maybe 2010. So maybe he was like a year in to doing his show, but because I think it was on, like, some sort of. It was, like, streaming only online at first, before there was, like, an actual dedicated platform for podcasting that you could get on your phone. It was like, super basic. But, yeah, hearing his show at the very beginning and thinking, one day my job would be talking about that thing. I mean. Yeah. Makes no sense. You never know.

[Adam Thorne]

Never know. You're one. You're one or two decisions away from living in the trailer park, and then the other direction, the sky's the limit, you know? Sure, I do. I did write this down. This was my favorite quote from the episode. Okay. He said. Jon Jones said to him, he said, you can have this, too. I was. I was like, that is a great line.

[Nick]

That's very good.

[Adam Thorne]

You can have this, too.

[Nick]

I like that a lot.

[Adam Thorne]

And everybody needs to hear that from somebody else. You know, I had one on my Instagram the other day. Somebody wrote, you know, transition. And all comes down to really transition from the military. All comes down to one thing. And somebody wrote, try and be that one thing for somebody or the what at one guy for somebody. You know, and it's the same thing. You can have this, too. Everybody needs to hear that.

[Nick]

Sure.

[Adam Thorne]

Because you need a reminder, because we. We destroy ourselves. Your biggest enemy in anything that you want to accomplish in life is you. And you need somebody on the outside telling you, you can have this, too. If that person did it, you can do it, too. If you want to be like me, you can have to sacrifice some things, and if you want it bad enough, you can get it. You can't be everything in life, but you can probably be something you Know.

[Nick]

And it doesn't matter how, you know, optimistic and positive you are, and.

[Adam Thorne]

And.

[Nick]

Even positive you are towards yourself, you should always have people around you that believe in you more than you believe in yourself. I think. I mean, it's just a good move. It's a really good move. And it just always.

[Adam Thorne]

I tell my listeners, I said, my people that the people that support me that I message all the time, or even my followers, they believe in me all the time. I don't believe in me 50 of the time. It's a constant up and down, like, I can take over the world. I'm the biggest piece of. In the world 50 times a day. And, and people message me like, oh, I really appreciate the content you're putting out. I was like, I, you know, I, my I, I send back. I'm always like, I appreciate you telling me that. Thank you. And I really do. Like, you need to hear that because you will talk yourself out of a life goal or a dream faster than anybody else in the world could. Just because you don't believe in yourself or it's awkward or you, it's difficult or you'll put it off tomorrow. There is no tomorrow. There is no tomorrow rock.

[Nick]

Yeah. And, you know, there is an element of that that's somewhat useful. You don't want to be delusionally optimistic. That could probably get you into some trouble. You need to have a bit of a stopgap to kind of take a step back and.

[Adam Thorne]

But we're on a rock traveling around a ball of hydrogen in fucking space, man. Like, it's very true.

[Nick]

It's very true. It's very true. But, yeah, the majority of the time believing in yourself is, is very useful. And, and yeah, for people to just surround you like John is with him and just be like, look, I see the best of you. I'm not worried about the worst of you. You've got this. That's an important message to hear, actually. Talking about quotes, one that I liked from him, which really does sum him up, is, I like when it hurts. Well, the holidays have come and gone once again.

[Adam Thorne]

But if you've forgotten to get that special someone in your life a gift, well, Mint Mobile is extending their holiday offer of half off unlimited wireless. So here's the idea. You get it now, you call it an early present for next year.

[Nick]

What do you have to lose?

[Adam Thorne]

Give it a [e-mail] Switch limited time.

[Nick]

50% off regular price for new customers.

[Adam Thorne]

Upfront payment required. $45 for three months, $90 for six month or $180 for 12 month plan taxes and fees. Extra speeds may slow after 50 gigabytes.

[Nick]

Per month when network is busy.

[Adam Thorne]

See terms.

[Nick]

And I believed him when he said it. Not many people say things like that and mean it. Like maybe some people try or pretend and there's some bravado in it. I certainly don't. I wouldn't say that. That would be a lie if I said that. And people that can say that are a different beast for sure. They're the ones that can push themselves into impossible places. They can push beyond their physical limits and do it over and over again. And that's, that's wild. That's wild stuff.

[Adam Thorne]

I, I like the success that comes with the pain. I have never ever liked the pain. I did a, a 5K row at the gym the other day and it hurt for 4, 500 meters, you know, like that's 19 minutes of just being in pain. I went, this blows the whole time.

[Nick]

You got to put on Viking music, dude. That's what you need.

[Adam Thorne]

I had on all kinds of, I had on some Swedish House Mafia and I was free world, you know. But, no but you can, you know, if you. That's a, that's another trait of, of the person who can win is they can find that success in the pain that they feed off of it, them being in pain. And they know that the benefit is going to far outweigh their discomfort. And they know when they're in pain that they're putting themselves through something that's going to make them a better athlete or person or opponent and they're surviving something, they're making that steel more rigid and they just, they just feed off it and they want more and they more and then they can dull the pain and then just make it worse and worse. That's another trait of somebody that, that doesn't compare. Somebody that can switch sports as well because, oh, I'm gonna put myself in a, in a uncomfortable situation. Ah, that's easy because I've been through things you can't imagine like, and that's something you can't describe to people. I have been through bleed from your eyes pain before in my career, military. And I've, I've done things where I was actually thought I was going to die. And if you can put yourself in those situations over and over again, then you might start to like it eventually because you like what become what comes of you when you do make it through those situations.

[Nick]

Yeah, that's even terrifying to think about.

[Adam Thorne]

There's some Terrifying people in the world.

[Nick]

Yeah, for sure. You don't want to mess with those folks. Well, I don't want to.

[Adam Thorne]

Most of the most dangerous people in the world are very nice.

[Nick]

Well, until you upset them or they get given a mission to go get you.

[Adam Thorne]

Hey, man.

[Nick]

You'Ll be nice to.

[Adam Thorne]

Bills. That's it.

[Nick]

Whatever pays the bills.

[Adam Thorne]

Exactly. Yeah.

[Nick]

Well, it's going to. It's going to be interesting. Did they. I don't remember. Did they say anything about when he's getting into the ufc? Is that kind of up in the air? I don't remember them saying no.

[Adam Thorne]

He asked him. He said, I don't think they had any. Did he say dates or did he say, I don't know. He doesn't have any. Doesn't have any fights or anything yet. They're just talking about it because he did this dirty boxing thing. Right, But.

[Nick]

And he kind of alluded to maybe being on the White House card, but who knows? Maybe that's just talk. I mean, it'd be, I don't know.

[Adam Thorne]

This close to being finished yet. So bright. Right.

[Nick]

It'll be interesting to see if they can. Like how they even pull that one off. Didn't they just knock down, like, half of the buildings on that site as well?

[Adam Thorne]

The one side, they knocked some stuff down, but it's. This is the US Government. They'll just throw money at it until it's done.

[Nick]

They'll fix it.

[Adam Thorne]

Yeah, there's. People are worried about budgets. We don't. We don't. The Pentagon failed its eighth audit.

[Nick]

Nice week, right?

[Adam Thorne]

Yes.

[Nick]

Good work. And we can't even send over $600 on Venmo without getting in trouble. If you don't.

[Adam Thorne]

Oh, God. You know what? Come arrest me. The front. I'll.

[Nick]

I'll leave.

[Adam Thorne]

If you send me a message, tell me you're coming to get me and. And I'll happily go if you've. Yeah, take me away. Yeah. 601.

[Nick]

It's like, do as we say, not as we clearly do. How do they get away with this? Like, in it. And they just do. And it's like, we do better next time. Eight in a row. Clearly there's no repercussions for this. Eight in a row. Eight.

[Adam Thorne]

They are there. You know as well as I do there's no repercussions, because who is going to enforce that? Over this past week, right, there's been a lot of debate on social media of who's going to like people. There's international law. I said no. There's not. Because for there to be international law, somebody has to enforce it, and nobody's going to enforce it, so there isn't one.

[Nick]

Yeah, it reminds me of that Chappelle, that Chappelle skit where he's like, the un, come get me with your army. Oh, you don't have an army. Well, maybe. Shut the up.

[Adam Thorne]

Yeah, right.

[Nick]

It's like. It's so true. It's just like, yeah, what are you gonna do?

[Adam Thorne]

What? I'm not saying good or bad or sides or anything, but if. If you're the biggest and the baddest, there's nobody going to tell you what to do until they are. Until there is somebody that's going to tell you what to do. And then we're all going to go extinct as a species after that point. And they'll be. When the aliens land here, they'll be looking at these scan disks of Joe Rogan Experience review podcasts and going, is this wisdom? I don't know.

[Nick]

No, they're gonna know right away that it's not. They're gonna go, my goodness, people must have been bored. They're like, this is what happens when people work in cubicles. Like, yeah, yeah. This is what happens when people have painting jobs and they need to kill a lot of time and they're sick of listening to their playlist on Spotify. You just listen to a couple. It is dorks.

[Adam Thorne]

You know, you do get thrown on. You do get sucked into the. Into the podcast, but there's at least information there. If you're listening to your same songs over and over again in the gym, that's not. There's no information there. You're not gonna pick up anything new. But maybe you can work through some ideas if you're thinking about them. But at least there's information and stuff in the gym that you can at least learn something a little new.

[Nick]

Sure.

[Adam Thorne]

And let's realize that again today.

[Nick]

I'm a huge fan of podcasts in general. And, you know, I listen to a lot of the comedian comedy podcasts as well, and they're not always just telling jokes all the time. It's like you. It's almost like you're just part of a conversation that you're. You've decided to not talk in, really. So that's what I like with it, too. I rarely listen to music in the gym. I just have, you know, a couple of people having a conversation going, and it's just kind of comfortable. And even if it has very little information in. I mean, especially if it's like Shane Gillis and Matt. If they're just chatting away, it's always nonsense, and it's great.

[Adam Thorne]

I did, like, one thing, that Gable, he's in front of Joe Rogan on his show, and then he just took the opportunity to ask him the question, what can I. You know, what can I do or learn? He. He was trying to get information out of Joe to be successful in the sport that he's going into.

[Nick]

Yeah, there was some mentoring going on, for sure.

[Adam Thorne]

And to be smart enough as a kid. What did he say? He is 26 years old, 24.

[Nick]

25, I think.

[Adam Thorne]

25 years old. To be. To not be. To not be drowned by the sit. The gravity of the situation of being on Joe Rogan, most famous person in the world, and to sit there and go, I can learn something from this guy, and this could be a lifelong asset for me if I conduct myself in a professional manner. So I thought that was also very professional of him, and he took advantage of his chance or his seat at the table.

[Nick]

Yeah, yeah, I like that a lot. And it's a smart move. I mean, you know, Joe kind of finds himself playing that role with. With a lot of his friends. You see that on the pod. And, you know, he also talks about his lifelong friendships with, you know, Duncan Trussell and Bird and some of these guys that he's known forever. And it seems like he's kind of played that role for a long time. He's been very structured, very disciplined, very focused, ambitious in his own way. And a lot of this kind of came from the structure of the dedication to juju from taekwondo that he did at a young age, and he just kind of brought that forward. And, yeah, he's just been good at kind of organizing himself like that, and in that way, quite sensible. And he's navigated a type of fame that is incredibly unusual, and he does it well. You've got to give him that. I mean, he has changed over the years, and now he has unbelievable access to human beings, which he has been taking some slack for in the last year, you know, especially with his connection to a lot of these billionaires. But it's literally because he has the biggest voice and the most ears listening to him of any human being that's ever existed. So people want to get his attention, and, you know, powerful people have that access, so they're pulling him in every direction. And the way he navigates it still is quite impressive. And it's, you know, he's good at grounding himself and taking A step back and kind of, you know, just doing his best to not take himself too seriously. That's hard to do. Like, almost anyone would get too carried away and too full of themselves, for sure, with the type of range and power and control that he has. So, yeah, a very good person to talk to. And what a wise move. I mean, he's a good mentor, for sure, for a lot of people. And I think that, in a lot of ways, is why the podcast has been so popular and effective for so many men that listen to it. You know, there's a lot of guys out there that I used to speak to back in the day, before I even did this podcast. Probably why I was drawn to do the review show. I often found myself talking to people that, you know, didn't have great home lives. Maybe their dads weren't around. They kind of were those. Those men that were brought up without the good dad, you know, without a dad at all. And it's like, you know, you kind of have this podcast dad almost giving you some instructions. Go to the gym, do things like this, Eat better, you know, work out, go to jiu jitsu, do hard things, challenge yourself, learn. Think about, you know, physics. I mean, the first time I would hear the conversations of, like, Jim Bros talking about, like, some conceptual physics idea, and it came from them listening to Rogan. It, like, opened the door to, like, an area of thinking that they would never even consider because they would have been like, that's for nerds. Who cares? But now, all of a sudden, they're kind of into it because somebody like Joe, who is similar to them, it, like, spoke to them. You know what I mean? He was like, bridge that gap is like, the everyday dude. And. Yeah.

[Adam Thorne]

Do you think. Do you think that that person had to exist and he was just at the right place at the right time, and he just became the person that the market needed him to be because he started at the right time with the podcast. He had the right background, he had the right temperament, and it's all. He's grown into the position as well, and has just become what people have needed him to be in the market as it has evolved. Because you said, I mean, she started before I was in the military. That was 15 years ago.

[Nick]

Yeah.

[Adam Thorne]

You couldn't listen to a podcast. I didn't even know what a podcast was.

[Nick]

Well, he definitely started. He started at the right time, so he got in really early, and, you know, he had a massive head start. But, you know, him being able to just kind of continuously stay Ahead of everybody. And also run his show quite differently than everybody too. There's literally two people that do it. I mean, he has a skeleton crew like nobody's business. And the amount of content that he makes too, and the whole structure of his show. I mean, the reason all these people do these three hour shows is because of Joe. I don't think if Joe had done that, almost no one else would have thought of doing this. They just. Because it just seems too long. But Joe was like, I don't care, I'm just doing this. And because everyone saw Joe have so much success with these long form conversations, they were like, well, I'll just do that too. And we're all trained to listen to these long conversations because of the way Joe did it. Yeah, I don't know. I've reviewed him since 2017. It's been my job. And I still can't entirely put my finger on why he is the most listened to human being in the world. I mean, I'm not taking anything away from him and saying he's not interesting. I know I could list 50 reasons why he's very compelling. But you know what, what the whole mixture is. Yeah, I'm not entirely sure, but it's a fascinating combination and it is something very unique to him. I don't think other people can do it.

[Adam Thorne]

No, he, he just. It is relatable to the most amount of people and the most amount of people want are. Somebody has to be the person.

[Nick]

That's it.

[Adam Thorne]

The most amount of people relate to.

[Nick]

That's it. That is it.

[Adam Thorne]

And he's got the platform that he built for himself. And you know, you said people back to this, you can have this too. One year ago I went, I want a podcast. I want to have my own show. I and I want to talk to people. And then I went and made my show. I want to have an Instagram page where I make my posts and like my goal. I want 100,000 followers. And we're, we're chugging away, you know, chugging away. You, like I said earlier, you, you can't be everything. But if you pick out some stuff, you can have it to a certain degree. A certain degree. With the way technology is now and the advantages that we have with in society and in this country, you can have whatever you want. It won't be to the level that you see at this Joe Rogan or, or maybe it will. Like I have friends, friends that I talk to almost every day that know personally Sean Ryan and he's one of the top podcasters in the world.

[Nick]

Huge.

[Adam Thorne]

And he's with, you know, well, I won't get too much into it. I don't know. What he talks about in the show is what he tells people that he was into. But. But, you know, he started out, he's.

[Nick]

A wild man in the military. He's a wild man.

[Adam Thorne]

And he did some really crazy in the military and in contracting, and now he's the number one, or number sometimes number one podcaster in the world. That's crazy. That's crazy. So if you decide I'm going to get into this and you get in, you pick something in life and you work at it. You fucking don't know. But if you don't try it, then you won't know. But you can. If you shoot for something pretty cool and try and make it, you're gonna be happy with what you come up with. It's gonna be a lot farther down the road than nothing.

[Nick]

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the saddest thing is, is, like, the. The ideas that you have that you don't. You don't try for the things you didn't go for, you know, and it's the things you talked yourself out of. Then you sat there and go, man, I wanted to try that. I wanted, like, I can't tell you how many people I know that. Like, that that are like, oh, I wish I had done stand up, too. And I never have to say that, because I got to do it. I tried it. I went and did it, you know, the same as I went and did the podcast. I mean, I've had to make quite big sacrifices that often people in my life that knew me were like, adam, what are you doing? Like, this seems kind of nuts that you're like, either quitting this job or moving to go do this thing that really has almost zero chance of success in any way. And sometimes it didn't work out great. And honestly, often it did, because I just was very passionate about what I was doing, and I just would grind at it and find a way and talk to people that were good at it and learn from them and just keep on going and be consistent, and you get somewhere. You may not ever be the best at it, but, you know, I love it when I hear people doing those things. And I will say that a lot of the bravery to do that, you know, a lot of the catalyst to do that came from listening to Rogan. I shit you not. There was one time I was driving to Rio Rancho from Albuquerque. I had a job. I was Working for the government at the time, I was contracting with them, and I was driving out there to actually go watch some comedy, because there was a comedy show that they would do at Casino, like, over in Rio Rancho, or, like, other side, kind of in Bernalillo. Anyway, and I was heading out. I was listening to. I can't remember who the guest was. She's like African American comedian that goes on Rogan often. Bigger lady. What is her name? Shit. Anyway, I remember the conversation, though, and Rogan was talking, and he was talking about just, if you, like, work in a cubicle or you hate your job and you just feeling like it's bullshit and you feel like you're stuck there, why not just try and do something different just for a bit? Pick something that you want to do that you find interesting and just try it, or just go do something for a year? It was like, some message very similar to that. And it was not long after that, I made a massive pivot. It was almost like that was like, the start of something for me where I made just kind of a huge change. I, like, believed in something that he was saying there, and I was like, yeah, why not? It seems so easy to just get stuck in this, like, comfortable little place of, like, yeah, it's paying my bills, and this is the type of job people said that I should have. And I feel like I will be here forever with my, like, 401k and whatever it is, and I'm like, yeah, it doesn't seem very fulfilling. And I just went off on a journey that was, yeah, way scarier, way wilder, and took me in all different directions. But, man, looking back on it now, I wouldn't trade it for anything. And also, it turned out pretty good. So I'm a way different person.

[Adam Thorne]

I.

[Nick]

It would be interesting to bump into myself another version of myself that would have stayed in that la, you know, that lab job and just kind of had a look at who that was. That version of me. Yeah, I think I'm much happier over here. Who knows?

[Adam Thorne]

Good.

[Nick]

Who knows? Anyway, on that note, what do you give this episode out of 10? I give it a solid 7, mainly because I'm just excited for this guy. I can't wait for him to get into the ufc. I think he is a badass, and I really liked his style. He seemed super intelligent as well as, obviously the athlete that he is. And, yeah, I can't wait to see what he does next.

[Adam Thorne]

Yeah, I'm gonna go seven as well. He seemed very put together, young man, and he knows what he wants to do. And the world needs more put together young men for sure. So that's. It's just something. It's something that we need and to be an example to people coming in to convince them to do hard coming up as well also.

[Nick]

Yeah, let's go. True that. All right, guys, thank you so much. We appreciate you as always, Nick. Pleasure. And we will talk to you next time. Cheers.