Last month, MMA fans witnessed an unexpected clash between two generations of fighters when UFC veteran Quinton “Rampage” Jackson hosted welterweight fighter Kevin Holland on his podcast. Initially, Holland was there to promote his UFC 311 fight against former ONE Championship standout Reinier de Ridder. However, the conversation soon took a sharp turn when he made a bold and disrespectful remark toward ‘Rampage’. While the 32-year-old’s comments garnered ample criticism at the time, it looks like Joe Rogan is here to give Holland yet another warning…

But before we get to that: Let’s look at what exactly happened between Jackson and Holland. Well, the issue stems from a joke the 46-year-old MMA legend had made at the behest of Holland and his UFC 299 opponent, Michael ‘Venom’ Page. During Page’s UFC debut, where he defeated Holland in a clear unanimous decision victory in the welterweight division in March last year, at one point the two linked hands, which Jackson supposedly found hilarious.

Already known to have a penchant for joking around, the veteran took to social media, and wrote that the duo’s bizarre hand-linking “looked like two women sci***ring”. This, evidently, didn’t sit well with Holland, and he made full use of an opportunity he got almost one year later…

Two days before Holland suffered a loss to Reinier de Ridder at the UFC 311 on January 19 this year, he made an appearance on the Jaxxon Podcast with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Bear Degidio. Holland kept challenging Holland to fight. “That’s the last thing he wants to do is fight me,” Rampage said, to which Holland replied: “I still want to. I don’t give a f–k about the fight on Saturday.” Jackson asserted again, “I’m being real with you young buck, you don’t want to fight me.” To this, the young fighter responded, “That sounds good.”

 “Sometimes, people don’t know what they want. You don’t want to fight me,” the veteran concluded. As time passed, the controversy did not fade away. Instead, it resurfaced weeks later—this time on The Joe Rogan Experience (#2266). During the episode, stand-up comedian Brian Simpson brought up the incident, asking Rogan, “One of the young fighters now talking shit to him?” In response, Joe Rogan confirmed, “It was Kevin Holland,” recalling their disagreement. At this point, Simpson stepped in to defend the former 205lbs champ, pointing to his “legend status.“

Consequently, Rogan took the opportunity to criticize the younger generation for their apparent lack of respect toward MMA veterans: “I don’t know. Young guys—you know how they are.” To further emphasize his point, Simpson compared it to disrespecting a legend like Randy Couture, prompting Rogan to agree: “Right, right. You’re a fighter—you kind of gotta let it slide. He’s a legend. (Quinton) Rampage is a legend. There are a lot of guys where you just…you talk about him with respect.”

Notably, Rogan was not the only one irked by Kevin Holland’s public disrespect. Former MMA fighter TJ Dillashaw said, “He can’t talk s—.He can’t come in her talk s— to a legend across the table. I text Bear, I was like, ‘Homeboy needs to get slapped’.” Michael Bisping, on the other hand, said, “I remember being that age, being mid-fight career, you know, and you do have that chip on your shoulder, we don’t feel that need to impress or prove ourselves anymore, so Rampage was really restrained and he was like ‘Bro, what are you talking about?’”

And then there was former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker, who said on his MMArcade Podcast, “Dude he’s so average. What do you want me to say? He just time and time again keeps doing the same thing, and the same thing keeps happening. The same thing! Good on those guys, I don’t know.”

However, Jackson himself has always maintained he was never mad. “At the end of the podcast, I wasn’t mad at the kid. But right here at the time, when I got quiet; I had to think. I really had to think. This is one thing a lot of people didn’t see on the podcast, he came in with bad energy. I tried to come in for the bro hug and he pushed me away,” Rampage said on the recap episode.

“I had to be real professional. I was real proud of myself…A man-to-man, you just don’t tell another man, ‘Shut the fu– up’…without violence being threatened…I’m like, I’m gonna be the bigger guy…he got a fight this weekend…I cared about his fight and I don’t want to lose my temper, fight him and get in trouble, and Dana White get mad at me because sometimes you got to be the bigger person in times like that,” he said on the consequent episode of his podcast.

“[Holland] was upset with me cause I made a joke on Instagram. I make jokes, I like to laugh…It wasn’t even a good joke, it was one of my jokes that didn’t land, but I thought it was kind of funny…I like making the fans laugh sometimes, so I understand why [Holland] was upset…For me, I was making a joke. So I want all the fighters to know that if I make a joke about you, it’s not personal,” Rampage further noted.

Having said that, people have long recognized Joe Rogan, a veteran figure in the sport, as the ‘official voice of MMA.’ With nearly three decades of experience, he has witnessed the UFC’s evolution, from minor changes to major milestones. He witnessed firsthand Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson in his prime—an unstoppable force in Dana White‘s multi-billion-dollar promotion, conquering legends like Chuck Liddell and Marvin Eastman, which earned him the iconic “Rampage” moniker.

Even after retiring from the UFC, ‘Rampage’ continued to make waves in Bellator. But wait—didn’t Rogan himself disrespect UFC veterans at some point? Let’s take a closer look at that.

Joe Rogan warns non-UFC MMA fighters

Joe Rogan once remarked on his podcast, “There are very good fighters in other organizations, but I often feel like they’re wasting their careers. I see these elite fighters fighting in Bellator and PFL, and I’m like, ‘Hey guys, no one’s watching.” While UFC has undeniably been the top combat sports promotion for over 20 years, his statement raises a question: Is it the right approach to address fighters from other organizations this way, implying their value is lessened?

After all, not every fighter has the chance to compete in the UFC. Take MMA veterans like Wanderlei Silva, Tito Ortiz, Chael Sonnen, and Quinton Jackson—after their UFC careers, they continued to fight in Bellator, maintaining prominence. Moreover, many elite champions like Shinya Ayoki, and Vadim Nemkov made their name outside the banner of the biggest MMA promotion in the world. What’s your take on Rogan’s remark?

Could it be that his comments are directed at the younger generation of fighters, even though it’s clear not everyone can make it to the UFC? Drop your opinion below.