Southpaw

We covered so much in this informative episode, we're just going to explain it via bullet points:

• Being a D1 wrestler, BJJ'er, and an academic during late stage capitalism
• Meritocracy AKA doing everything right and still being fucked
• Problems of health care and how one medical emergency can upend your whole life
• Dangers of post-concussion syndrome (and how little we still know about the brain)
• Magic the Gathering & professional poker
• Game theory & trickle-down economics
• The MMA Info Wars culture
• How living the BJJ lifestyle is very hard to do unless you're rich
• Batman, Iron Man, TED talks, and the creation of the anarcho-capitalist white billionaire superhero
• Hard math vs. everything else
• Market solutions when there are no rational actors (and old irrational economists resisting behavioral economics)
• Private solutions to public problems
• When you're hurting, a sociopath will say fuck everyone else; if you're empathetic, you'll wonder how others are also suffering
• Prosperity gospel (loving the rich and hating the poor)
• How CEOs and YouTubers replaced public intellectuals and made us dumber

If you like the stuff we're putting out, support Southpaw on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/southpawpod

You can find Southpaw on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/southpawpod/ and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Southpawpod

You can also find Sam at: https://twitter.com/StuffFromSam

Cejudo vs. Dillashaw, Mayweather vs. Nasukawa, Mighty Mouse, Hajime no Ippo, Dragon Ball, and MMA Internet Intellectualism with David Christian of The Modern Martial Artist. This is not your grandfather's MMA podcast.

If you like the stuff we're putting out, support Southpaw on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/southpawpod

You can find Southpaw on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/southpawpod/ and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Southpawpod

You can also find Sam on Twitter: https://twitter.com/StuffFromSam

Find David: https://twitter.com/MMArtist1

Power of the Pros: https://amzn.to/2SUEsVU

Footwork Wins Fights: https://amzn.to/2AJzW5u

This episode is jam-packed and might be worth listening to more than once, and definitely worth sharing with your friends.

We cover environmentalism, biocultural diversity, traditional knowledge, human rights, stewardship, martial arts, economics, and many other topics with environmental lawyer Sanjay Kabir Bavikatte.

If you'd like to help us with the costs of running the show, please sponsor Southpaw on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/southpawpod

Things mentioned:

• Darfur: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/jun/23/sudan.climatechange
• Syria: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/is-a-lack-of-water-to-blame-for-the-conflict-in-syria-72513729/
• Tragedy of commons: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons
• Biocultural diversity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biocultural_diversity
• Traditional knowledge: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_knowledge
• Stewardship: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stewardship
• Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action by Elinor Ostrom https://amzn.to/2SO4YA7
• Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu https://amzn.to/2REPzF6
• Art of Peace by Morihei Ueshiba https://amzn.to/2D0ItTc

Books Sanjay recommends:

• Walden (Life in the Woods) by Henry David Thoreau https://amzn.to/2SM0l9O
• Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer https://amzn.to/2SUK3eA

A book recommended by Sam:

• Silent Spring by Rachel Carson https://amzn.to/2FpA4dG

Sanjay movie recommendation:

• James Cameron's Avatar

Sanjay's podcast recommendations:

• Emergence Magazine: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/emergence-magazines-podcast/id1368790239
• In particular, the interview with Martin Shaw: https://emergencemagazine.org/story/mud-and-antler-bone/
• On Being: https://onbeing.org/programs/robin-wall-kimmerer-the-intelligence-in-all-kinds-of-life/
• And finally, Sanjay recommends this issue of Emergence: https://emergencemagazine.org/issue/wildness/

Have you been confused by the whole Jon Jones steroids controversy and the UFC changing venue for him? So were we. And in trying to get to the bottom of this, we see that it's not just about Jon Jones but really about how the UFC treats fighters. We previously used Chris Weidman in the previous episode (24 – Is the UFC Killing Fighters like Chris Weidman?) as one example of how fighters are treated. Jon Jones is another example.

The point of USADA was to make the UFC fairer for fighters. Or so we thought. But in reality, it was a ploy to make UFC more marketable to potential buyers. Same with the Reebok uniform deal. None of this was done for the benefit of fighters. Bellator and ONE has no USADA, yet their reputation amongst fighters is much better. Why?

We put a lot of work into this episode, so if you'd like to support Southpaw, please become our sponsor on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/southpawpod

*Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/southpawpod

Breaking down the career of Chris Weidman, and answering: Was he hype, a has-been, or a victim of the system? And really, it's all three.

He came in at the right time to beat Anderson Silva. His style matched up just right to do what Dan Henderson, Travis Lutter, and Chael Sonnen almost did but couldn't, which was to dethrone the king. But what happens after a lifetime of weight cuts? Several last minute UFC fights where you pass out and almost die to make weight, where there is not the ideal weight division for you, where you only know how to over-train, where you have to fight five five-minute rounds for title fights and non-title main events? Where you can't be on replacement therapy for low testosterone and you can't rehydrate through IV? Where your best years might already be behind you before you ever step into the Octagon?

This is the story of Chris Weidman, someone who had the potential to be greater than Anderson Silva, but never lived up to it. However, this is also the story of many fighters who may have never achieved the same heights as Chris Weidman. And how the whole system of UFC MMA does not look out for the health of their fighters, but instead, for mega-fights at the cost of fighters' longterm careers.

UFC 232, Slavoj Žižek, Noam Chomsky, Richard D. Wolff, & Ralph Nader—you know, just a typical UFC postshow

Today we sat down with MMA writer Elias Cepeda to discuss UFC 232 but ended up discussing every important topic worth discussing because it all still connects to MMA. I kid you not, this is the most WOKE UFC postshow you will ever listen to. A must for every MMA fan, and a must for every progressive who's never had an interest in MMA. But I guarantee, for some of you, this is the MMA show you've waited for your whole life.

You can find Elias on Twitter @EliasCepeda and you can also email him at [email protected]

This is probably our most serious and important episode as we discuss Fair Fight with martial arts instructor Mary Stevens. Fair Fight is an organization that empowers and educates vulnerable girls in India, many of whom have been rescued from child prostitution. We also discuss the broken educational system in the US and UK. Then Mary explains to us what she considers to be a well-rounded martial artist—not only someone who can defend themselves, but also someone who works hard at school, has knowledge of law, first aid, nutrition & health, survival skills, teaching skills, and empathy. Much of martial arts centers around the individual but a true martial artist should be committed to society. Then we get into Mary's upcoming martial arts children's books (rather than martial arts tournament based Lord of the Flies, it's about working together as a group).

If you'd like to support some of these causes or get more information, here are some helpful links:

actandhelp.org

fairfight.nl

Read Mary's project blog here: fairfightvaranasi.wordpress.com

You can find more about Mary and her karate school at schoolofmartialarts.com

Dan Hooker vs Edson Barboza: What the hell was Dan Hooker doing, calling out Edson Barboza. It seemed like bad style match-up on paper, but we were curious if Hooker was seeing something we weren't. Nope. It was a bad style match-up.

Kevin Lee vs. Al Iaquinta: Lee has been calling for a rematch with Iaquinta and, man, does Iaquinta have Kevin Lee's number.

PLUS a postshow breakdown of episode 20 with Tom Petruno.

Everyone has political opinions these days, but after you listen to this episode, you'll actually know what you're talking about.

Sam and Paul grill former LA Times columnist Tom Petruno and get to the bottom of how the economy works, what's been going on in politics, what do people mean by Fed and interest rates, how the US government spends more than it taxes, and how places like Ohio turned to Trump. But according to Tom, there's still hope—shalalala.