Joe Rogan‘s martial arts commentary is not limited to the UFC. The veteran host has discussed other promotions and martial arts disciplines on his show just as much as the UFC, including Karate Combat. On multiple occasions, Rogan has criticized the angled walls at Karate Combat. However, when he was spotted at the recent Karate Combat event, the fighting community was left with wide eyes. 

In a couple of recent episodes of the JRE, the famed UFC color commentator stood against the angled edges of the karate promotion. He even dissed the MMA cage. For Rogan, the best possible way to organize a fight was on a basketball court with mats laden on top. But why was he present at Karate Combat if he disliked the arena? Let’s find out.

Joe Rogan spectates Karate Combat live despite openly criticizing its arena

In episode #157 of the JRE MMA Show, the podcaster invited the BJJ legend, Craig Jones, to the studio. Therein, Jones revealed some of the problems Jiu-Jitsu fighters faced while rolling on elevated spaces or mats in their matches. Therefore, the grappling superstar opted to go with a rectangular space with elevated edges. And in case you’re wondering, it was an idea inspired by Karate Combat.

But Rogan wasn’t ready to approve of it. He believed that the angled edges were the problem. The 56-year-old podcaster said, “Isn’t the angled wall a bit of a problem? Like I, I saw your match with Philip Rowe, and the angled wall, like, all of a sudden he’s f***ed. Because you’re just going to go down. Like, it’s not like a wall, like a wall… I don’t like the cage in MMA. I’ve said multiple times. I think they should be fighting in a basketball court. Just make it all matted up, have a long red line.”

But then Jones convinced Rogan that it was all because he wanted to punish the fighters who were backing up. Thereafter, Rogan declared that the Karate Combat 46 would be held in Austin, that week, and he was going to check it out. Without a doubt, the JRE host did just what he said. Karate Combat shared the moment on Instagram. The caption of the post read, “What an absolute honor having the one and only @joerogan come check out the show! 🫡 #KC46.” The video showed Robin Black inviting Rogan into the arena.

This wasn’t the first time the UFC commentator went against Karate Combat’s angled edges. Previously, when the podcaster invited Royce Gracie to the JRE set, the duo talked about the shortcomings of the MMA cage and the angled edges of the karate promotion. Let’s see why Rogan doesn’t like those edges.

JRE host strictly opposes angled arena edges

While talking to Gracie in episode #156 of the JRE MMA Show, Rogan shared the BJJ legend’s thoughts and claimed that the Karate Combat’s angled edges were a problem. He disclosed that if the fighters had to back away from the fight in order to come up with another strategy, they would topple down at the edges. If their opponents chased them, they would fall on top of them. Rogan said, “I don’t necessarily think that that’s the best idea because as soon as you go up against that, a lot of times guys wind up falling down and the guy just falls on top of them.”

But the UFC commentator also had a way to make things right, and it was indeed a basketball court. He suggested that a flat mat on a basketball court with a red line marking the safe zone could work pretty well. In case the fighters went beyond the safe zone, they could get a warning and try to stay away from it. As if to see if his theory was true, Rogan went ahead and witnessed the proceedings of KC46 live.

Flat mats for MMA would alter the approach to the sport completely. Grapplers like Khabib Nurmagomedov, who made efficient use of the cage in their fighting style could have been completely different in their gameplan on a flat mat. Further, it would eliminate high-flying moves like the Pettis kick. On the other hand, it would also eliminate situations like fence grabs to avoid takedowns.

What are your thoughts on the angled edges and MMA cage? Let us know in the comments down below.