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Joe Rogan has been a pillar in the growth of mixed martial arts, and his time as a commentator has produced some of the most iconic moments in the UFC. While he has the freedom to speak his mind on comms, there is one thing Rogan revealed he is unable to mention during the broadcast.
Over the years, the 57-year-old has established himself as one of the most prominent names in the sport, surpassing many of his peers. Despite his status, the podcaster doesn’t have complete creative freedom in the commentary booth during UFC events.
While not much is off the table to say during live shows, Joe Rogan revealed one thing that Dana White prohibited him from doing.
“They don’t like it when I talk about other organizations,” Rogan said during an interview with Cage Potato. “When they were trying to buy PRIDE, they asked me not to mention PRIDE, so I didn’t.”
“I never mentioned the organization in particular, but I always mentioned the fighters that were competing in PRIDE.”
“It was kind of a touchy situation, because I’d be the only one talking about them. [Mike] Goldberg wouldn’t touch it.”
“I would bring up [Antonio Rodrigo] Nogueira or Fedor [Emelianenko]; all these other guys. But they didn’t want free publicity for PRIDE.”
“That was pretty much the only thing they’ve asked me not to do.”
Related: Joe Rogan wants to get rid of the cage and stand-ups in MMA
Rogan confirmed that the UFC allows him to be as critical as he wants of fighters on commentary.
“They don’t have a problem with that, because my criticism is totally based on honesty.”
“My criticism is never like a personal thing, like, ‘Oh my God, this guy sucks, he’s terrible.’ It’s always 100% honest, like, ‘What am I looking at?’ If I have to assess fighters objectively based on how I believe they would perform against the elite in the division.”
“So no, I’ve never gotten talked to for criticizing fighters.”
