The topic came up after Stevenson admitted he wasn’t very familiar with MMA or many of its athletes. Rogan encouraged him to start watching the sport more closely, noting that there was a UFC event scheduled for that weekend in Las Vegas.
Stevenson acknowledged he planned to watch, adding that UFC fans tend to get frustrated when he says boxing is the better sport. “UFC people be kind of mad at me when I say boxing is better, but it’s my sport,” he said.
Rogan agreed with Stevenson, saying: “Of course you’re going to think it’s better. It’s what your life is based around.”
Rogan acknowledged that MMA demands a broader range of skills, noting that boxers in MMA have to think about takedowns, leg kicks, body kicks, knees, and elbows simultaneously. “There’s stuff that you do in boxing that you can’t do in MMA because your legs are exposed,” he said.
The two then discussed what they felt was the single most important skill an athlete could bring into MMA competition. Stevenson asked directly: “What would you say is like the best skill in MMA?”
Rogan answered without hesitation: “Wrestling.”
Stevenson laughed, saying he already knew the answer before asking. “I already knew it before I asked,” he said.
Rogan then offered his explanation: “Because wrestlers can take everybody down, and if you get taken down you’re finished.”
Stevenson then looked at Rogan and said plainly: “I want to learn how to wrestle.”
Rogan responded that it was a worthwhile pursuit, calling it “a good thing to know” and “a humbling thing.”
Stevenson noted that wrestlers possess a distinct kind of physical strength that is unlike anything found in other combat sports disciplines. Rogan agreed and said,”When they get a hold of you, you feel like a child. You just get rag-dolled. Like, this is embarrassing.”
Rogan also pointed out that wrestling does not guarantee a finish on its own. “Every match starts standing up,” he said. “Every round starts standing up. At the beginning of the round, you’re standing up again. So that guy’s got to take you down again. And in that transition, you can catch somebody.”
Stevenson acknowledged the logic: “Yeah, I figured that.”
Rogan then pointed to Jon Jones as an example of athlete who built his career on a wrestling base before developing everything else. Stevenson expressed admiration for Jones, saying he appreciated the way Jones studies his opponents completely, going through interviews and footage to identify weaknesses.
“That’s exactly why I like him,” Stevenson said.
The conversation also touched on Terrence Crawford’s wrestling ability, with Rogan noting that Crawford was one of the very few boxers who, if he crossed over to MMA, could genuinely hold his own.
