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JRE MMA Show #176 with Dustin Poirier

| 24 products mentioned
Joe Rogan Joe Rogan host
Dustin Poirier guest
Watch on YouTube weight cutting in mma fighter compensation calf kick technique evolution peptides and recovery trt in combat sports hyperbaric oxygen therapy creatine supplementation

Joe Rogan hosts retired UFC fighter Dustin Poirier for an in-depth conversation covering his competitive career, the evolution of MMA training and technique, fighter compensation, and his transition to retirement. The episode weaves together combat sports history, weight-cutting dangers, and reflections on how the sport has changed, featuring detailed discussions of iconic fighters, technique innovations like the calf kick, and Poirier's current work as a UFC desk analyst.

Key takeaways
  • • Extreme weight cutting in MMA poses severe health risks including kidney damage, compartment syndrome, and dehydration 24 hours before competition, with California's regulatory approach (limiting cuts to a percentage of body weight) offering a potential solution.
  • • The calf kick represents a clear technical evolution in MMA; early fighters like Ben Henderson experimented with it, but elite strikers like Dustin Poirier and Israel Adesanya perfected the technique with minimal hip rotation and devastating effect on opponents unprepared for the damage.
  • • Fighter pay remains disproportionate compared to other major sports leagues (NFL, NBA), though Poirier acknowledges fighters sign contracts knowingly and must push for better terms rather than complain retroactively.
  • • Peptides and recovery tools like Tessamorelin (growth hormone-releasing peptides) and hyperbaric oxygen therapy can aid recovery without providing direct performance enhancement, offering alternatives to banned substances like BPC-157.
  • • TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy) was legal during Pride and early UFC eras, creating an uneven playing field where fighters on exogenous testosterone demonstrated greater durability, though recovery protocols like HCG and clomiphene can restart natural testosterone production.
  • • Training with wearable recovery metrics (Whoop, Aura Ring) can be counterproductive during fight camps since peak MMA conditioning requires pushing through red recovery zones, making data-driven rest advice incompatible with competitive preparation.
  • • Creatine monohydrate was historically stigmatized as cheating in the 1990s but is now recognized as safe, beneficial for brain health, and particularly beneficial for women, though hydration and kidney monitoring are essential.

Recommendations (3)

Creatine monohydrate uses

"I just talked my wife into starting creatine"

Dustin Poirier · ▶ 43:05

Check price →
Tessamorelin uses

"I'm on a bunch of peptides. And I feel great. Honestly, I wish I could have been on this shit when I was fighting, man."

Dustin Poirier · ▶ 41:28

Check price →
Ways to Well
Ways to Well uses

"I got hooked up with Brigham and Ways to Well, they did all my blood when I retired and got me"

Dustin Poirier · ▶ 41:10

Mentioned (21)

Lime Wire "that we had to download it illegally on like Lime Wire or something back then" ▶ 2:11:58
Netflix "if Netflix can become successful at MMA, if they can become successful putting cards together and..." ▶ 2:16:06
Uber Eats
Uber Eats "he was driving Uber or Uber Eats, like just trying to making, you know, scrapping to get bills paid" ▶ 2:35:36
Whole Foods
Whole Foods "when we go to Whole Foods she'll grab something off the counter and say dad it only has three ing..." ▶ 0:46
American Top Team
American Top Team "on the mats at American Top Team, there's a dozen guys you never heard of that can make a run in ..." ▶ 9:41
Oura Ring
Oura Ring "if you have an Oura ring or a Whoop strap and you go into one of those things, it shows you. It's..." ▶ 37:14
Whoop
Whoop "if you have an Oura ring or a Whoop strap and you go into one of those things, it shows you. It's..." ▶ 37:14
CCTV "it's CCTV to the other prisons, so other prisons can watch in their cells" ▶ 1:03:57
ESPN
ESPN "when it was ESPN, I was kind of doing like independent contractor stuff" ▶ 1:08:53
VHS tapes "I remember renting VHS tapes with my dad of the old UFCs" ▶ 1:23:42
Karate Combat
Karate Combat "And that's a big space they fight in Karate Combat. Something like that I think would be good" ▶ 1:19:21
World Combat League "I think it was World Combat League or something. I went to see that one" ▶ 1:19:36
Bellator
Bellator "watch Eddie Alvarez and Michael Chandler in Bellator" ▶ 2:05:17
Dream "I think that was in Dream. Eddie Eddie Alvarez and Dream was bunch of good fights, man" ▶ 2:07:05
Alpha Brain
Alpha Brain "Alpha Brain has a bunch of different ingredients that enhance your mental focus and clarity" ▶ 24:54
BPC-157 "BPC-157, which offers no performance-enhancing, but would help you heal soft tissue injuries" ▶ 42:02
ONE Championship
ONE Championship "They have such a great product, man. I wonder how many like viewers and how the ratings are" ▶ 1:15:02
PFL
PFL "he's fantastic over at PFL" ▶ 1:09:45
UFC BJJ "you know how like the UFC BJJ is that sloped surface" ▶ 1:19:09
Strikeforce "by the time he got to Strikeforce his kind of best days were behind him" ▶ 1:20:14

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