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Joe Rogan has been a constant component of the UFC for over two decades now. The 55-year-old is still a commentator for the promotion and is one of the fan favorites. As a commentator, Rogan has been cage-side for several historic moments. However, there was one time he witnessed one disastrous moment for the promotion as a spectator.

The Spotify podcast list’s leading man recently looked back at the early days of the UFC. He was talking to his guest John Hennessey on episode #1982 of ‘The Joe Rogan Experience.‘ Rogan recalled the initial days of the UFC and told Hennessey how he attended one of their events.

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This event headlined by Tito Ortiz became infamous after a disastrous turn of events. Since this happened shortly after Zuffa purchased the UFC, it was a huge blow for them.

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Joe Rogan recalls UFC PPV disaster ft. Tito Ortiz

Joe Rogan joined the Zuffa-led UFC in 2002. Before that, he had attended a few of their events. The former Fear Factor host told Hennessey how one such event from 2001 entered the history books for the wrong reasons.

He said, “The UFC got purchased by Zuffa- that was in 2001. And I went to one of their first events. Vladimir Matyushenko fought Tito Ortiz and it was right after September 11.” He continued, “And tito ortiz… They used to have these elaborate walk-ins with lights and fireworks and sh*t. And Tito Ortiz is walking into the octagon with an American flag and the place goes wild, just wild because it was right after September 11. It was like, ‘holy sh*t.'”

The seemingly electrifying entrance would have got the fans on their feet for the fight. However, what happened next was anti-climactic for a section of the audience.

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Rogan explained, “And during that fight, the pay-per-view went out and the people didn’t get to see the last rounds of the main event. It was a huge disaster. The UFC had to give back who knows how much money. Because it was like their big event in Vegas and the pay-per-view f***ed up.”

The UFC has come a long way from 2002 and has multiple options available for people to stream their content. They have treated the fans to several stacked PPVs year after year. What do you think the consequences would be if something similar happened today?

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