WATCH: Joe Rogan Makes His First Ever UFC Appearance on This Day

Joe Rogan is one of the most influential people in the MMA community. Rogan has been a lifelong martial artist and mixed martial arts fanatic. Ever since he was a child, Rogan has been involved in MMA. He took up Taekwondo and won accolades in the sport as well. 

His love for the sport never diminished, even though he decided to not participate in competitions anymore, Rogan started off his career as a standup comedian, and as his fame grew more opportunities present themselves. 

Perhaps the biggest break in his career occurred when the UFC approached him to become a backstage interviewer. At the time, the promotion was still in its nascent stage, and it was not very well known. 

As the company had just started, they could not afford to pay Rogan. This lead to him quitting as the pay could not cover his expenses to cover an event. 

After Zuffa acquired the UFC, Dana White offered Joe Rogan a role as a color commentator. However, Rogan was still not paid monetarily at this point in time. Instead, White promised Rogan free premium tickets for him and his friends to every event, which Rogan gladly accepted. In retrospect, this proved to be a landmark decision for the company. 

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Joe Rogan’s commentary completes the live event experience for UFC fans

Over two decades on, Joe Rogan is an integral part of the UFC commentary team and is ubiquitous with the UFC. He now reportedly earns $50,000 per event and covers only PPV events in the United States for the company.

Rogan is a Jiu-Jitsu fanatic and a high-level black belt under Eddie Bravo. As a combat practitioner, his insights and accurate play-by-play breakdown of the fights are unique and it is something that fans love.

Rogan’s partnership with the UFC has now been more than two-decades-long. Yesterday was 24-years since Rogan first appeared with the UFC. 

MMA fans will be hoping that his partnership stays intact. Rogan along with Jon Anik and Daniel Cormier makes a fantastic commentary team and fans would love to have them around for a long time.