Dana White Confessed What Joe Rogan Did That Made UFC CEO Compelled to Sign the Commentator – “This Is Exactly What I Need”

Dana White loves Joe Rogan and why shouldn’t he? The color commentator was perhaps one of the first few people to bring the world’s attention to the UFC and the sport of MMA. Even before Rogan was hired to be on the UFC, he was already promoting it.

Was that enough of a reason for White to sign him up to be the UFC color commentator? Perhaps. Dana White has always looked out for the best of the promotion and it just happened to be that Rogan was his best choice. Here’s why.

Dana White reminisces about hiring Joe Rogan

Dana White and Joe Rogan have been working closely together for decades now. In a recent conversation with Lex Friedman, the UFC boss opened up about his reason for hiring the stand-up comic.

“… He was promoting “Fear Factor” but all he would talk about was UFC. And he was talking about how people think that these guys in the martial arts movies are tough and he was talking about what UFC fighters would do to these martial arts guys if they ever got their hands on them.”

“And I was like, ‘this is exactly what I need. A guy who isn’t afraid to speak his mind and knows the sport inside and out but more importantly is super passionate about it and loves it.'” He also mentioned that Rogan was just someone who came off as a person who loved the sport, and not someone who was just being paid to do it all.

Today, Rogan is worth millions thanks to his efforts in the UFC and then his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience. Rogan bagged a $250 million deal with Spotify after his initial deal expired with the same platform. However, he could have made more money and yet, he decided to stay. Why?

Rogan and his long-standing loyalty for White

Joe Rogan is loved by the UFC and Dana White and it’s not a one-way street for him either. Rogan started out in the UFC with so much passion that even though White couldn’t pay him for the first 13 shows that he worked on. Interestingly, White came across the idea of hiring Rogan when he was cleaning up old offices.

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According to him, he went to New York to clean out old UFC offices and send everything he needed to Las Vegas after he and the Fertitta brothers acquired the promotion. “I was emptying all these boxes and sending s*** to Vegas that I thought I needed to keep from the office . . . So I popped in this tape and there was this talk show, The Keenan Ivory Wayans Show, the oldest Wayans brother had his own talk show and they had Joe Rogan on there.” 

That’s how he was reminded of Rogan, and that’s when he found out about his backstage interviewing skills. Now, ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ host is a UFC mainstay and would even step away from the organization if Dana White ever does so. In fact, he’s maintained that the condition is in his contract. If this isn’t loyalty, what is?

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