Joe Rogan Experience #2498 - Brendan Schaub
In a Nutshell
Joe Rogan and Brendan Schaub analyze recent UFC fights, praising Joshua Van's flyweight dominance, Sean Strickland's resilience against Hamzat Chimaev (hindered by brutal weight cuts), Ilia Topuria's featherweight supremacy, and Jon Jones' GOAT case, while debating judging biases, betting suspicions, and fighter pay in UFC's $7B era. They critique social media addiction, TikTok's brain-rot algorithm, conspiracy theories around Trump assassination attempts, and MK Ultra persistence, advocating nationalized US oil to curb gas price manipulation. Car talk dominates the latter half, geeking out over modded Porsches (Gunther Works), Hellcat Durangos, manual swaps, Tesla tire woes, and Brendan's Gearheads Gone Wild show on Tubi, emphasizing driving joy over house luxury.
These notes were generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
Joe Rogan and Brendan Schaub discuss Joshua Van's recent fight. Van has been fighting for about 5 years, is 24 years old, and shows crazy athleticism. His boxing might be the best in the UFC, comparable to Ilia Topuria. Topuria is a one-punch knockout artist. It's tough to be a knockout artist at flyweight. Josh Figueroa was starching people. In the Tatsuro Taira fight, Van pieced him up despite Taira's grappling background. Van's counters were clean and sharp. The performance removed questions about how Van won the title against Pantoja, who is a straight-up assassin. Van's stock rose; Taira got him down but couldn't submit him.
At 24, Van has time to improve holes like ground game. Potential Pantoja rematch in Q4; even if Pantoja wins, Van is young and could be champ for a long time. Alexandre Pantoja is 36, old in flyweight years—tough division. Middleweight at 36 is the beginning of the slide; welterweight even more so. Heavyweight prime extends longer: Francis Ngannou is 38 and in his prime. No one sees him over the hill. Heavyweight has old fighters succeeding: Volkov is 45 (said 59 jokingly), former Bellator and M1 champion. Volkov updated his Moana tattoo to a dope Japanese mask.
Sean Brady looked phenomenal, entire body tattooed including feet. MMA is tough to pick for betting. Walker Buckley said pre-fight he wasn't working grappling, planned to keep it standing and knock Brady out. Brady dominated 10-7 over three rounds. Could have been mental games, but Brady's grappling overwhelmed. Buckley went back to locker room realizing he wasn't in the same ballpark.
Abnormal betting patterns: Buckley moved from +150 underdog to -220 favorite. BetOnline cited patterns from highly monitored accounts. UFC minimized bets, checked if Brady was injured—fear of inside info on injury. They called Brady, who confirmed he was fine and planned to win. Similar to Alexander Hernandez fight pulled from betting amid suspicious movement; Hernandez fought Rafa Garcia instead (very good, close fight) and lost next to Michael Johnson. Suspicious movement from known whales or shady accounts. Two judges scored Buckley fight 30-25. UFC handled better by not canceling.
Betting causes more fighter hate now; losing costs money, unlike before when betting wasn't big. Poly markets allow betting on anything. Soldier bet Maduro would get kidnapped. Like Pete Rose betting on his team to win—shouldn't be punished, especially special forces guy betting on his own success. Pete Rose never had confirmed evidence of betting against Reds; speculation only. Fighters should be able to bet on themselves to win, not lose. Opens issues if they bet against self. Hamzot-Chimaev fight was pick'em despite Hamzot favoritism.
Strickland thrives in deep water, survives. Hamzot holds down to conserve energy like vs. Dricus. Strickland hard to hold, underrated grappling, wound up on top multiple times, almost threw Hamzot. Fought with blown-out shoulder from dirt bike crash—noticed awkward arm warm-up and throws. Still wobbled Hamzot with right hand in round 2 despite pain. Many would pull out of such a big fight. Strickland is 100% Hall of Famer, bigger star now. Grew up poor white kid in America with abusive father, disenfranchised—beat odds like fighters from war-torn countries. Beat Izzy Adesanya (best striker) at striking in Australia, best grappler Du Plessis. Blue-collar through hard work, not elite athleticism (bad leg from motorcycle accident). Underdog vs. Du Plessis (thought he won first), Hamzot, Izzy.
Second Du Plessis fight with fucked shoulder—punches looked awkward. Phenomenal vs. Hernandez after suspension. Beat Hamzot with one shoulder. Many thought Hamzot won first fight, split among journalists, but strong argument Strickland won. Close judging; commentators focus on entertainment, not scoring like Eddie Bravo's detailed system (strikes, takedowns, damage). Wars hard to score, e.g., potential full Taira-Van would favor Van for damage. Sabatini-Gomez: Sabatini clinched/attempted takedowns unsuccessfully, Gomez landed more strikes standing, no ground damage.
Gomez was the one going after Pat, landing strikes when they stood up. Not sure if it was enough to win because there wasn't much damage. No rocking or dropping Pat. Gomez did better in standup, which was the only damage in the fight.
DC has extensive wrestling background, so he scores for Hamzot due to wrestling. Kamar Usman, Henry Cejudo score for Hamzot because of wrestling. Strikers score for Strickland. Take wrestler-heavy opinions with grain of salt if takedowns successful but no control or advancement. Strickland rubs people wrong with wild off-stage comments, biasing against him.
Strickland went too far, apologized, but sold tickets. Don't apologize for selling fights. Fight brought UFC hype like Conor vs. Khabib days—bad blood, couldn't wait. Magnitude huge; casuals at baseball/football fields asking if Strickland has chance, signaling big event. Huge because Sean sold it with chaos, which people love, especially casuals.
Strickland good person with crazy thoughts. UFC lacks stars, then complains when he builds name—third most watched welterweight? fight ever. Hating on method: making personal like Conor vs. Khabib, crossing lines without apology. Khabib professional pre-fight, then leaped into crowd post-win like eagle after stopping Conor—iconic picture. Should be Khabib's logo: flying eagle like Dan Henderson's H-bomb.
Hamzot in big fights but not defending middleweight title against wild-talking Strickland—unfamiliar pressure. Cardio issues; camp destroyed partners viciously but doesn't translate to octagon. Weight cut primary issue: cut 22 kilos (40+ pounds) from 230+ lbs to 185. Planned 205 vs. Yuri Prochazka, bulked up eating like animal, deadlifting. Muscle eaten away, no fat to lose. Bad breakdown mid-cut; brother said body nearly shut down. Paused cut, then lost final 1.2 kilos (2.2-2.5 lbs water)—nightmare.
Few months to cut after Strickland beat Fluffy, switched to 185. Bulk muscle harder to lose than fat belly like Strickland's. Body eats muscle to shrink, requires starving or radical dehydration near death. Hamzot looked healthier? No, Strickland did—bigger, healthier in cage. Post-fight, Hamzot told Dana done at 185, going 205, but now wants rematch.
Strickland durable, great cardio, takes fights deep. Final round vs. Izzy: hands down, screaming, looked better as Izzy faded from first-round beating—dropped, concussed. Picture-perfect straight right spun Izzy's head, then 15-20 left hands in clinch. Compromised after that.
Second round failed takedown, falls to back—cooked 6 minutes in. Went hard first round, no gas, coasted on bottom to recover. Got better rounds 3-5. Body nearly shut down 24 hours prior. Dumb sport pretends 185-pound fights; neither true 185, Strickland bigger/healthier.
Limit calories, burn muscle slowly like Cam Haynes for ultramarathons (down to 160 lbs via willpower, looks terrible). Can't explode/recover if unhealthy from near-death cut—not 100% recovered. Excited for 100% Hamzot at 205, even undersized, vs. 70% at 185. Strickland stays 185 dominating; rematch then Hamzot to 205. Stop lifting to 230, do cardio/wrestling/bags/pads. Get cardio from sport: Strickland spars madman, same in camp/octagon. Avoid tire hammers, runs—wrestle top guys.
Aljamain Sterling agrees: Merab unbeatable cardio from wrestling, not crazy stuff. Cub Swanson did Training Lab (bike, garage), overtrained, tired for camp/fights. Marvin Marinovich with BJ Penn: plyometrics built gas tank, no fight training—best BJ ever. Talented guys undisciplined early; BJ freak (won mundos 3 years into black belt), flexibility, balance, hops single-leg across cage.
Talented avoid hard grinding (rotating partners, exhausted sparring), prefer tuning up lesser foes. Fade vs. GSP-level. GSP phenomenal but no freak trait; trained NFL-style sprints/agility, not crazy. Jon Jones super talented but works when needed: first Gustafsson fight barely trained, 5-round war, pulled out final rounds despite first takedown ever. Second fight trained hard, destroyed him.
Youngest UFC champion (Josh Barnett youngest heavyweight at 24, stripped for steroids). Beat murderers row; light heavyweight 1-15 insane then. Resume phenomenal. Prime Jon vs. Alex Pereira (LHW champ who beat Magomed Ankalaev, KO'd Jiri Prochazka, Jamal Hill)—insane matchup. Jon's wrestling/IQ bullies, reads like book (vs. Ciryl Gane).
At light heavyweight, not many top 10 ranked guys. Discussion on how Alex Pereira would fare against Gustafsson. Very tough fight for Alex against prime Gustafsson. Based on Tare fight where he pieced up Glover with a video game combination knockout. Alex similar to DC; if born different time, five years before or after Jon Jones, he'd be their Jon Jones. So talented: huge 6'6", great wrestling, world-class boxing, good at everything. Hard in division with the GOAT.
Look at Ilia Topuria's opponents: Max Holloway, Charles Oliveira, Alexander Volkanovski. Blasted all into orbit. First to stop Max. At 45, what can you do? Don't know about 55. Oliveira fight was one-punch knockout, bad knockout. Justin Gaethje quite a bit bigger than Ilia, a big cat. Tough fight, different from Oliveira. Oliveira did a lot to Max, a beast, but couldn't do it to Ilia. At 55, no one's in prime: Charles was in prime when Ilia beat him, Justin not in prime, Max in prime but not prime-prime. Ilia just getting to his prime, surging, already one of the greatest. Smart, disciplined, completely focused. Great at everything. Started as grappler, now striker. Toughest matchup Arman Tsarukyan.
Hamzat Chimaev not active. Issues with OG gun weight cut, mental block finishing fights due to gassing out fear. Take page from Tsarukyan: wrestle all the time, wrestled eight times this year, subs dudes, makes six figures every sub. Stay active, in shape, competing. UFC allows it. Hamzat fights once a year, not good. Stay active like Tsarukyan, keep weight down. Signed with him but not sure if interested. Planned to wrestle an Olympian, gets dicey.
Recent weird event: kicks to leg, punches to body, jiu-jitsu. Gable fighting, takes guy down, knee catches weird, blows out. Wrestling safer, but wrestlers blow knees out from explosive movement. For Hamzat, can't fight once a year with weight issues and cardio mental block. Do RUF, stay active, keep weight down, stay in limelight. Arman blown up, massive star online, for dorks like us. Beat Giorgio twice, tech'd Lance Palmer.
Urijah Faber threw him over. Psychopath, rich, calls dad for $500k car, dad's billionaire, tons of money. Not lazy, flies in face of rich family can't be great fighter belief. Batman, from ghetto or not, fucks you up. From Favelas, good luck with Armenian psychopath pulling up in Maybach caviar. Lands in LA, rents Lamborghini, drives to training lab. Greek god body, elite wrestler, strikes, submits. Angry denied title shot due to back injury pre-Ilia. Best thing, profile bigger now online. Dorks equal sponsorship money. Compelling matchup for Ilia. Justin beating Ilia one of greatest upsets, caps career: interim title, BMF title.
If Justin beats Ilia at UFC 250 Freedom in front of Donald Trump, only American gets belt, bigger than MMA, Miracle on Ice. Headlines massive. Then says to Charles Oliveira, "sorry, has to be you," celebration party night before fight, drinking wine (disputed, maybe water). Psychopath, starch, beautiful Spanish accent, checks all boxes. Tough for Justin, rooting for chaos in front of elites. If Justin pulls off, greatest upset/victory, retire.
Topuria plans massive celebration dinner night before lightweight belt: "We're going to celebrate before the fight. My team taking care of it." Mind fuck in hotel scrolling Instagram seeing him party 24 hours before. Standing on table dancing, eating spaghetti, salsa dance, that sure.
At White House, Trump: "I thought you liked this guy." Why give friend toughest test? For Gaethje, last fight smart. Patty fight sloppy, entertaining for casuals but technically sloppy. Justin wanted to throw caution to wind, like PFL/World Series of Fighting days, got job done. Years, wars catch up. Bet Justin wants biggest upset opportunity. Trevor Whitman loves underdog, like Rose Namajunas beating Weili Zhang/Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
Rose head kick stop on Weili nuts, underdog. Similar to Zhang, scary monster at strawweight, trains like angry dude filled with testosterone. Maybe natural or slipped in noodles. Fighter busted: took husband's vitamins, steroids, threw him under bus.
Justin not in prime but didn't lose step vs Paddy Pimblett, animal. Paddy good, beat Bobby Green. Style fun, talking shit, pointing. End of fight, interviews, walks to Dana White for bonus, never given despite exciting. Dana: strength of opponent, like Zell huber stop deserved bonus, Jeremy Stephens good but compared to card.
Hate fighters asking for bonuses. UFC $7 billion deal. If running UFC, shareholders fire me, treat like communist. Careful, don't know books. Ari Emanuel $67M last year from TKO. Big part selling for $7.7B, took chance buying for $2B.
Fighting different business: health on line like football/boxing/kickboxing. Fighters entire product, short prime window, 10 years. Consequences: mumbling, neurological/memory problems lifelong. Generate money short time, should get more. Balance not correct, deep empathy for those in harm's way.
Fairness in marketplace. UFC only combat sports promotion ever profitable: PFL, Bellator, Affliction, World Series, One Championship failed. 18% to fighters, just how fight business is, not NFL/NBA/MLB.
Give UFC flowers: greatest in combat sports history. Better production than boxing. Consolidated 25 years: Zuffa, now TKO/Ari Emanuel, same team Dana White, Anik, DC, Bisping, Cruz, Felder, Sanko. Smooth operations, production in truck perfect, right angles, Gioano on point.
Other promotions notice difference. UFC like NFL, XFL irrelevant. PFL good fighters, far cry from UFC.
**carry_over": "some of them are really good, man. That
Cat knocked out Hennon Ferrar, Fedor's protege, Russian heavyweight good in UFC's shallow heavyweight division. Could use that guy. Show up at his hotel with briefcase full of money.
UFC best organization, figured it out, deserve to be rich, incredible product. Fighters make the product, like at comedy club where comedians make most door money.
Mothership compared to Comedy Store, Improv. Bring national headliners weekends: David Tell, Tony Rock. Weekdays: Shane Gillis, Ron White, Tony Hinchcliffe, Kill Tony Mondays. No other club does that level weekdays. Model sustainable, comics make majority money, profitable with talent.
Pure luck: Comedy Store shut down, employees fired, no standup in LA, crime, riots, COVID masks, moved to Texas. Had money from Spotify deal, #1 podcast, drew talent. Ron White already here, reason to move even if no comedy. Then Tony (Hinchcliffe?), Tom Segura, Brian Simpson, Asaam (Assan?), Brian (Derek Poston?), Tim Dillon, Duncan Trussell moved before Mothership opened, trusted. Owe them, threw everything in, disposable income to pay comics well, encourage staying, home club.
Can UFC pay fighters more like Mothership? Comedy Store legendary, Sunset Strip, Mecca since 1988, cycles with talent. Doesn't bring headliners weekends like Mothership, has Main Room, O, Belly Room. Enough talent needed, many left LA: Joey Diaz, Theo (Von?). UFC profits much, no reason to change.
Idea: After Paramount $7.7B deal, talk to managers/fighters, no fights until 30% pay (from 18%), still profit for UFC. Fighters unite, no one agrees to cards. Days over, can't get all to agree.
Dana White: Fighters paid too much end careers earlier, mostly right (Arman Sarukyan exception). On them. Can't protect unless retirement bonus, won't do. Sean Shelby/Mick Maynard: High pay means pickier on fights, nightmare matchups. Not reason not to pay. Feels bad if fighters not compensated right, make greatest thing, everyone feels good. Shareholders obligation to maximize profits.
To get $7.7B, 45 fight cards/year, Fight Nights, lower talent now (Contender Series kids with 3-4 fights, 10 years ago not UFC level). Netflix negotiated but out, wanted only big events, no Fight Nights/Apex. Ted Sarandos, Bella Bajaria upfront. One PPV free for subscribers premium pay, not 30 Fight Nights. TKO wants volume for big money. Fans love fewer big fights monthly.
Paramount dark horse. Loves Mob Land, Landman, Audi RS6 wagon. No PPV great. Paramount+ 79M global subs, 35M US (UFC deal US only), UK Sky Sports, Australia PPV. Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua 33M Netflix views. Ronda Rousey/Gino? (Rina?) this weekend, two 40-year-olds main event. Sean Strickland/Hamzat Chimaev? Netflix inflates numbers, Jake Paul 400M claim dubious (300M+ subs). Ronda learned from Dana, claims destroy UFC.
Paramount+ can't hit Netflix numbers. White House on CBS too, regular TV (rabbit ears, 4 channels, local news). Fox cable swearing ok, broadcast regulated FCC over-air antenna.
Fox used to cable only, now local broadcast (e.g. Channel 31 Simpsons). Too much content now, no Game of Thrones/Sopranos shutdowns.
Tubi (not Tuby) 300M subs? Actually surpassed 100M monthly active users, free ad-supported, paid ad-free tier. YouTube most active worldwide. YouTube Red shows failed, jumped gun. MrBeast thrives free. Infinite channels, algorithm dependent, niche creators (kids know 60M sub guys unknown to adults). Astroturfing: fake views/downloads/comments (millions subs, hundreds K views, 5-6 comments suspicious).
YouTube sees the back end. If you're trying to make money off your show, high subscriber counts make you look legitimate even if views are low, encouraging more clicks and subscriptions. People see 25 million subscribers on brendanob.com or a YouTube channel and think, "Damn, he's doing something right." This boosts perceived legitimacy for sponsor deals: "I've got 20 million subscribers on YouTube—this guy's big."
But then they're like, "But there's three comments."
Early podcasts had scammers rigging downloads by counting every start/stop as multiple listens. Everyone used the same audio service; Joe told Brian, "Dude, we got 30 million audio downloads this month," while Tom had 60 million. Regulators caught it. You can pay for Instagram followers or bots; platforms shut them down, but sophisticated AI programs from places like Singapore control cell phones to generate views, comments (positive or negative), mimicking real people—e.g., "Bob 567254" with empty profiles posting constantly. This enables paid engagement.
Streamers pay thousands of real people at home to post clips everywhere, creating a false sense of popularity: "I see them everywhere." This is likely legal if not tied to advertising revenue, but creates false fame. For fighters like Arma, it reinforces existing fans but doesn't convert casual UFC viewers, especially younger demos who stream.
Joe has never streamed; Brendan talked to a streaming company but rejected 7-days-a-week camera time for breakfast and family. Streaming harms posture and mental health. Rampage Jackson thrives, making stupid money; it's a good diversification post-fighting, alongside his Jackson podcast. He's perfect with his personality. Streaming is huge among youth.
Streamers rant, react to videos (e.g., JRE reaction channels playing full episodes while commenting—shady/illegal), street fights, MrBeast. They interact with comments, making money. Social media wrecks mental health.
Brendan saw Lake Travis High School bus kids all staring at phones, silent, not talking—bummed him out, reminiscing about old bus fun. Humanity heads toward a digital world; first steps are phone addiction. People are 100% addicted; it'll get more invasive—headsets for mind-reading, AR/VR hangouts. Phones are primary news source (e.g., Iran stories on X), but dicey with clickbait; still uncovers breaking news and crazy stories.
Unlike cigarettes (peak 40-45% US adults in mid-1960s, ~80-90 million; now 11-12%), phones permeate life: calendar, email, photos, memories, DM friendships (no phone numbers needed). UK bans cigarette buys for those born after a date (e.g., can't buy at 21), generational prohibition—called communism/socialism, government control. England arrests for social media posts on immigration, scraps jury trials for judges. Agenda: control via 15-minute cities, digital credit/social scores tied to centralized digital currency (like China's: low score blocks plane tickets, loans, houses, stifles protests).
Break for piss. Back to cigars—Brendan smoked one backwards last time, got roasted online; label position doesn't matter. New cigar not a torpedo, so less confusing. Brendan's show: Gary Head's Gone Wild (like Girls Gone Wild; Joe jokes original guy's on the lam in Mexico, had dicey kidnapping issues).
Filmed at Calvo Vipers (scary), biggest Porsche collection in Austin. Obsessed with Safari Porsches (Russell-built off-road 911s, e.g., 993). Love the vibe for dirt mountain roads (not bouncing rocks like trucks). Russell built fab example shown. Brendan dislikes extra front hood lights ruining lines: "Like bat set of fake tits," "collarbone tits." More isn't better on beautiful long-nose Porsches.
Likes LS-swapped Porsches for choppy sound (heretics to purists). Porsche driving head rejected LS idea. Rutledge Wood had RWB (Rauch & Wiederholt Bau) LS-swapped Y-body. Air-cooled Porsches have wild raspy sound; bargains on Facebook Marketplace as purists want air-cooled. As they age, 250hp manual air-cooled Porsche > 1400hp trucks for driving enjoyment—not racing.
Brendan's TRX (1400hp, twin-turbo Hellcat, E85) overheated driving kid to baseball in Dripping Springs—pulled over smoking: "What the fuck am I doing?" Hennessy 1000hp daily viable. Brendan's Ram 2500 AV upgrade: Ry's transmission, stealth bigger turbo, fast fuel system—picking up today.
Gary Head's Gone Wild checks car mods like old-school shows, pops facts (Porsches/cars). Gordon Ryan's TRX: 120,000 miles, busted, daily/off-road driver.
Brendan recounts telling Gordon in the car: "I'm going to tell you the same thing I tell everybody when I get in the car with him. I know this is for TV. I don't need your show off. Nobody's trying to get hurt." Gordon said he had it but ripped the car hard. Brendan warns flipping one isn't fun. It's fun though. Someone suggested a TV show with them, and Brendan agreed.
Joe notes it's a male thing—women into cars exist but not to the same degree. Brendan agrees some women like cars but for him, having money for a nice car is worth it. Nice house is great but becomes just your house. Humble house with nice kitchen, big TV, couch, nice bed—you're set. Difference between home in humble vs. nice house isn't much, but driving a nice car to work feels like Disneyland. You're shifting gears—fun.
Brendan lives through Joe due to tax brackets. He shops Facebook Marketplace, picked up tires—guy recognized him buying tires there for a deal. Joe has a Gunther Porsche, posted picture sitting in garage staring at it. Brendan says it's a piece of art, all carbon fiber.
Seeing Gunther Works Porsche or certain cars gives indescribable feeling—so sick. Joe saw Gunther Works twin turbo slant nose—Peter Nam sent it, owner of company did too. Brendan bought one from him (not slant nose). Deals directly with Peter, who's awesome. That car raced a GT3 RS and buried it in rolling race from 30 mph. 670 horsepower, weighs nothing—carbon fiber. Around 2,400 lb. 4-liter twin turbo flat-6, air-cooled, 1000 horsepower—crazy.
People want 1000 horsepower but factory cars like ZR1, Demon 170 are good. Modified TRX, Corvette, Ford Lightning to 1000 hp brings problems—nightmare, constant shop visits. Gunther Works are reliable. Question if it has traction control—hopefully not. Jamie searches: Gunther in California. Wooden shift knob tributes Porsche motorsport. Has motorsports-grade ABS and traction control—good, needed. Race video vs. GT3 RS hilarious, sound orgasmic. Costs $1 million—probably 1.2-1.6 million.
Joe's first Porsche 15 years ago: base 911 for $80k. Now base Porsche expensive like Ferrari was 10 years ago—pricing out market. Porsche has become marquee, unattainable. Used to be affordable supercar, daily driver. Now everything twin turbo except GT3. Modding exotics loses value—Joe modded GT2 RS. Went to American cars like C6—can mod heavily, market exists, cheaper. Modding Ferrari (exhaust, turbos, tune) nightmare.
Enjoyment about driving feel—loves V8. Has Shelby Super Snake, six-speed—modern muscle like old school but reliable, great interior. Fun at normal speeds. ZR1 different—spaceship, most capable, crazy fast at K1 Speed, handles well, confident. But no manual, no clutch—less engagement. Corvettes fun but manual best. Tremec makes six-speed manual for C8—not GM production. Car guys knock ZR1 for driving itself like spaceship.
Get Z06 with manual—ultimate Corvette. Tremec transmission needs software, ECU cooperation—big problem. 2024 Ram mods: no ECU unlock, need 2022 or earlier—$7k for unlocked ECU, just to add power. New law: cars monitor, kill switch for impaired driving, tied to 2027 models. Federal mandate, Thomas Massie voted against. Prevents engine start or shuts performance if impaired. Trojan horse—starts with safety but expandable. Already in Corvette OnStar, Teslas—can shut down if stolen or issues.
Tesla cancelled Model S—bummed, loves it, V8 fan, drove Raptor. Model S: four-door, 0-60 under 2 seconds. Never carries four, but picked up daughter and three friends once. Likes four-doors for family. Cancelled Apex too. Cybertruck SUV rumored—mix of X and Cybertruck. Smart: extend seats, shorten wheelbase. Or Hellcat Durango—Stellantis bringing Hellcats back, Tim Kuniskis running Dodge.
Dodge crushed with Viper (V10), Challenger Hellcat, Redeye—iconic V8. Discontinued electric push by French exec—now gas Charger coming, fast. Durango with cap engine—V8. Trackhawk robbery target. Hennessey—leave badges off for sleeper. Hennessey did Super Duty. Do dope Mustangs, Cadillacs, Blackwing. Connect with Gunther, John from Hennessey. Brendan built Raptor to 1400 hp, talked to John. Durango smokes Trackhawk.
They discuss the Durango with the Hellcat engine, noting its insane horsepower. The red interior is awesome. They're selling Dodge. It might have been the Trackhawk on the right. Either way, get one. Both would 100% drive one and might get one.
Gas is $7.90 a gallon in LA right now, down from $8.40 a month ago when shooting a commercial. Tim Dylan mentioned this on the phone.
US gets maybe 3-4% oil from Iran. Americans suspect manipulation: they increase prices knowing we'll go along if there's war. Global prices rose due to disruptions, but oil companies make money no matter what while Americans lose. Even in war, how much money do rich executives need?
American gas prices rise mainly because crude oil is more expensive due to the war with Iran, disruptions in global oil supply, seasonal factors, refining, distribution, and taxes. Biggest driver is crude oil and the Iran war.
US could get all oil from America. American prices are tied to global oil market. Companies are crooks. Propose a national oil company selling only in America, keeping it in-house no matter what happens. US is world's largest oil producer, but companies sell on global market to highest bidder. High world prices mean high domestic gas prices. Tax them. President can't fix it; they'll kill him. They've tried three times already.
Three legit assassination attempts on Trump barely make news for 2-3 days. Another one barely made news: guy tried to attack JD Vance at the White House. Guy who got shot in Cambridge had a shootout with cops three years ago (20 bullets exchanged), did only three years, got out, and was walking down the street unloading on passersby and cars. Insane sentence. In a Toyota Land Cruiser, they'd run him over.
Survey: one in four Americans think assassination attempts on the president are fake.
Butler, Pennsylvania attempt not staged; nobody who knows guns thinks Trump would let a bullet nick his ear. Firefighter behind him died from a bullet intended for Trump. Photo shows bullet whizzing by his face.
Correspondence dinner: teacher rushed in, threw away his life. Tim Burchett (congressman on podcast) thinks he was MK Ultra.
MK Ultra happened years ago with Charles Manson, Unabomber. It didn't stop; they've gotten better. Public thinks it's shut down, but it expands.
Thomas Crooks (Butler shooter): house professionally scrubbed, no silverware, no online activity, no social media, BlackRock ties. Vanished; no updates. Charlie Kirk guy who killed Charlie: no interviews. Weird.
Nearly one-third of Americans (30%) believe at least one of three attempts on Donald's life over last two years were staged. Majority (54%) say staged or not sure. Only 38% believe all three authentic. TikTok ruined brains.
Chinese TikTok: traditional dance, martial arts, science projects; shuts down for kids after 10 p.m. Americans get brain rot. Sold to American company that continues rotting brains for money.
Idea: promote exceptional people doing exceptional things. As a dad, would allow kids TikTok if educational. But algorithm pushes street fights, parking lot brawls. Addiction keeps users on negative content. Instagram same.
Send each other worst online content daily; don't want to start day like that. Only use Instagram for that now. Better off X (Twitter) for trending news, not news feed or comments. Curated Google news feed shows X stories.
Stopped drinking, went back but not crazy: couple drinks now and then, not drunk in over two years (almost three). Feels great, never in better shape. Likes glass of wine with dinner or drinks with boys at club, but was doing too much.
Woke up one day: don't need 11 cars (half trucks, all similar). Getting older, better at checking self. Realize some addictions not beneficial; get addicted to good things. Can't regulate well leads to problems. Same obsession makes people great at stuff. Dude not addicted to anything can't hang; obsession led to UFC, football.
Gambling scariest: rich people like Dana gamble big in poker. They need huge stakes to feel it; $100 bet means nothing.
Kids inherit drive from disciplined, hardworking, kind parents. Shitty kids partly from parents.
Coaches son's baseball and football teams. Talks to overbearing dads: back off, you've made it not fun; kid wants to quit. Used to love football, now it's a job. Fucks up relationship; won't watch kid play.
Don't force kids beyond school; find what they're into and ride. Self-worth not tied to kids' performance; want them to have fun.
Parents treat kid like racehorse. Youth sports now billion-dollar business: travel ball with majors, AAA, double A, single A levels. Every parent wants travel ball. Just play wherever; have fun, apply yourself.
Parents brag about levels, talk down kids not on top team. Like stage moms; identity tied up, fucking it up.
Parents super involved in young actors' careers; kid quits. One case: parents stole $6 million from kid (details after show). Quit working, relied on kid. Kid feels pressure, resents: this is my money, can't have cereal? Unhealthy to get famous at 10 for pretending.
Parents who never played sports are worst when kid shows talent.
Kids into cars big time; teach manual driving to avoid stupidity, prevent theft (criminals can't drive manuals).
Likes X5, X6, AMG GLE. New BMW grills awful (M4s); only 7 series proportions work. M2 tasty, didn't mess up grill.
Has E46 M3 (2005): perfect car, hydraulic steering, manual, DIN supercharger (~400 hp), fun, handles great.
Brother has new M2 manual. BMW still makes manuals (M2, M4). M5 heavy, no manual; last manuals were E60 V10 (sound amazing).
2026 BMW M5 manual? Article on two versions world missed (older cars).
BMW great interiors. New M5 hybrid screamer.
Trump got rid of engine auto start-stop. Annoying, cooks starter, saves nothing. Parked next to Maserati: cool, beautiful car in person.
Discussion on a tire problem with a Tesla Model S. Tires fell apart after 10,000 miles, revealing wires. Described as weird maintenance issue; tread worn down completely. Attributed to the heavy weight of electric cars causing faster tire wear. Noted that typical lifespan is around 15,000 miles, suggesting aggressive driving like a 'lead foot.' Jimmy possibly driving like a maniac, going sideways.
Praise for Aston Martins as dope cars. Dislike expressed for Blackwing Cadillac, though acknowledged differing tastes. Suggestions to buy fun cars like Trackhawks or Aston Martin from Facebook Marketplace. Encourage getting something fun within a budget. Noted experience driving race cars on tracks is enjoyable, but owning a drivable car for everyday use or at a planned studio track is better. More fun not to worry about damaging your own race car.
Show Gearheads Gone Wild on Tubi, four episodes available to binge watch now, each about 28 minutes long. If they perform well, more episodes ordered. Features Hennessy Gun Works. Hosts excited about the platform; first time using Tubi, easy to watch with a large audience. Glad to do something enjoyable.
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