Joe Rogan Puts MMA Fighters’ Safety Under Threat as “Back of the Head” Strikes Told to Be Legalized by UFC Commentator and Royce Gracie

Injuries are more common than people think in the world of mixed martial arts. One of the common but serious injuries is due to hits to the back of the fighters’ heads. Joe Rogan and Royce Gracie recently had a talk about the legalities of hitting the back of one’s opponent’s head during a fight. Although they agreed on the risk factors, they pointed out the two-faced nature of rules that determine the legibility of hits to the back of the head.

Rogan has often talked about head injuries. One of his stories came from the podcaster’s own fights. However, when addressing the hits to the back of the fighters’ heads, the podcaster and his guest revealed some unseen threats.

Joe Rogan and Royce Gracie address fighters’ safety from head hits

During their conversation on episode #156 of the JRE MMA Show, Rogan and Gracie addressed the risk of damage on getting hit at the back of the head. The BJJ expert although admitted that he understood the rules that protected the fighters’ napes, he didn’t agree with it. Soon after, Rogan followed suit. 

The JRE host said, “I don’t agree with it either. Also, it’s weird that you can’t hit the back of the head, because the back of the head gets hit a lot. A lot accidentally, especially with head kicks.” Rogan proceeded to narrate situations when kicks to the head wrapped around the nape, which resulted in a loss of consciousness for the fighter. The UFC Color commentator simply did not understand why such KOs were acceptable but punches to the back of one’s head were not.

He continued, “That’s okay. And that’s a legal KO. Which is crazy! But if you get a guy on the ground and you punch him in the back of the head, referee take a point away, stand you up… doesn’t make any sense.” The BJJ legend agreed with Rogan, but all he had to say was to let it all go. 

Intentional blows to the back of the head are penalized in the sport. However, there are instances where a blow just lands behind the head when a fighter is ducking under a punch or trying to roll with it. UFC 302 main event star Dustin Poirier would be a perfect example. In his KO loss to Conor McGregor at UFC 178, Poirier was caught with a shot that grazed him behind the head.

Fast forward to 2023, ‘The Diamond’ fell victim to a head kick from Justin Gaethje in their BMF title match. Replays showed that Gaethje’s feet went past Poirier defense and wrapped around the back of his head. However, these were not intentional blows, but landed perchance. Cases like that of Prichard Colon‘s are worst case scenarios why intentional strikes to the back of the head remain outlawed. But Rogan himself is no stranger to these. In fact it was a similar strike that forced him to quit martial arts.

Rogan once slept his opponent with a head strike

Although the beloved 56-year-old podcaster doesn’t fight anymore, he was once a Taekwondo prospect. But an accident led him to drop the striking game and enter the realm of BJJ. If you’ve guessed it already, congratulations! It was indeed because he slept one of his opponents with a kick to the head.

In one of the previous episodes of JRE, Rogan narrated his experience at the US Open National Taekwondo Tournament, back when he was only 19. He recollected how he struck his opponent with a stepping roundhouse kick. The kick caught him in the head and he was running to attack Rogan. The podcaster further narrated, “He was unconscious for half an hour. They put him in a stretcher. I was watching. He never got out of that stretcher. They took him to the hospital.”

Following this incident, Rogan stepped out of competitive martial arts. However, his love for the art form has glued him to the fighting realm.  What are your thoughts on the rules that protect the fighters’ back of the head? Let us know in the comments down below.