Joe Rogan recently revealed that one of the reasons his highly anticipated interview with Kamala Harris never materialized was because of none other than Ilia Topuria. At the time, Harris—then Vice President and a Presidential candidate—was in discussions to appear on The Joe Rogan Experience in late October 2024, just days before the election. However, the timing proved to be a dealbreaker.

As it turns out, the Harris team wanted the interview to take place on October 26—the same day as UFC 308, where Topuria was set to defend his 145-lbs title against Max Holloway in Abu Dhabi. A die-hard MMA fan and longtime UFC commentator, Rogan wasn’t about to miss the card, even for a high-profile political interview. In the end, his commitment to the Octagon took priority, and the Harris interview never happened.

“They wanted to do it that Saturday, the day after Trump, and I said, ‘I’ll do it, but it has to be at 8:30 am.’ The reason why, is that I had a podcast already scheduled that was a live UFC podcast… I’m an MMA commentator, this is part of my job. I said I’ll do it, but it has to be at 8:30 in the morning because I have to be done by the time the fight starts… That was Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway,” Rogan said on episode #2267 of his JRE podcast last week.

And ‘El Matador’ is both amused and touched by Rogan’s decision to do so. “I just saw that. But so funny that someone is not accepting Kamala Harris because he wants to watch my fight against Max Holloway. That’s fun. He didn’t have to say that. He could [have] like close his mouth and don’t say anything. But I love Joe Rogan,” Topuria said while appearing on the ‘Full Send’ podcast for a candid chat.

And this seems to have hurt the Harris campaign. In fact, many political commentators feel that the fact that Donald Trump got a chance to talk to Rogan’s huge audience, while Harris could not, was one of the reasons the Republican candidate won. One of the most discussed talking point after the election, in fact, was that the left needs its own Joe Rogan, which is another way of saying it needs a massive platform which supports the left as much as Rogan has been supporting the right lately.

But then again, all UFC fans can at least understand why the UFC commentator chose to watch the electrifying Topuria-Holloway matchup than even interview with the Vice President. In addition, it seems Topuria’s next move may be as much must-see TV, especially if he gets his new dream fight.

Ilia Topuria wants lightweight legend even as he closes in on featherweight GOAT status

Ilia Topuria is on the cusp of becoming the featherweight GOAT. With wins over Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, the two greatest featherweights of all time, ‘El Matador’ is already in the 145-pound GOAT conversation. And you know what could make him the undisputed GOAT?

A couple of wins over the young guys like Diego Lopes (who has set the featherweight division on fire with his many impressive finishes) and Movsar Evloev, who is undefeated and has a nightmarish ground game. But it seems like Topuria is more interested in moving up and fighting not Islam Makhachev, as he has long wanted, but another 155-pound legend.

“At this point, just imagine a fight between me and – I love that dog, Dustin Poirier. He’s a f***ing fighter. He goes in and he fights til’ he dies. You’re gonna have that guy in front of you fighting and try to take your head off. That’s a very exciting fight for me and I think for the fans also,” Topuria said in the same interview. What do you think about Ilia Topuria’s comments about Joe Rogan passing on a chance to interview Kamala Harris to watch him fight?