Even the Most Polarizing Voice in Sportscasting History Concedes Defeat to Joe Rogan in Dana White’s Book

UFC CEO Dana White and JRE host and color commentator Joe Rogan go way back and both of them are the main faces of the promotion. Rogan’s contribution to the UFC world is unmatched according to White. The former Fear Factor host, stand-up comedian, and a million-dollar podcaster was an MMA artist before he founded these ventures. He has been a part of UFC since 1997 when he made his debut as a post-fighter interviewer on UFC 12: Judgement Day.

White might be the main head honcho of UFC, but he heavily trusts and relies on Rogan and at one point even threatened the authorities that he would leave UFC if they decided to let go of Rogan because of a supposed incident of a racial slur. So clearly, White admires Rogan a lot so much so that he ended up terming the JRE host when compared to one of the sports legends.

Dana White explains Rogan’s influence on the promotion

The American football tight end Shannon Sharpe had Dana White in his podcast ‘Club Shay Shay’ for an entertaining and comprehensive conversation that covered the history and future of MMA. He also talked about personal anecdotes of his career. This is when Sharpe asked White about what he thinks about Joe Rogan and if he was as influential as Howard Cosell.

White was quick to answer as he downplayed the audacious commentator of television’s Monday Night Football and the nation’s most loved to hype up Rogan. The UFC CEO claimed, “100% I mean he is better than Howard Cosell. Howard Cosell never actually trained in it, did it and, you know, could speak about it with the love and passion that Rogan does.” 

The UFC boss gushed about Rogan while terming him as an influential factor for taking the UFC to greater heights. Dana White’s main reason for saying that the color commentator is better than the legendary American sports journalist and broadcaster is that the former knows about UFC and has been trained in it, unlike Cosell, who was not trained in a specific sport.

During the candid interaction, White also revealed the struggles the UFC faced when it was trying to establish itself in the 2000s and how Rogan was a big boon during that time.

How Joe Rogan contributed to UFC’s growth?

White explained that one of the struggles for the promotion was to educate the audience who were just getting introduced to the combat world. The knowledge of the complexity of the sport was important because it involved jiu-jitsu and grappling. White said, “How are you going to educate people about the jiu-jitsu? Because you know again, you and I are close to the same age, we came from, you know the old John Wayne movies where you’d hit a guy and you go over and you’d stand him back up and hit him again…”

These tactics of the MMA world and the fighting styles needed to be taught to the audience so that they could understand the matches better. Joe Rogan’s contribution in this case is unparalleled, according to the boss. White reckoned that since Rogan was trained in martial arts and had taken part in tournaments when he was young, he could make the people walk through the sport step by step. Rogan started training in jiu-jitsu before it was even mainstream.

Today, the UFC has a huge stature, just like any other sport, and it is the prime stage for elite fighters to win and make a name for themselves. As told by White, Rogan is not just a color commentator but also a huge knowledge bank for the audience, who are eager to learn about this world. Do you agree with what Dana White said regarding Rogan? Drop your views in the comments below.