Joe Rogan has no plans of leaving the UFC in the near future, but would do so once Dana White steps down from his position as president.
Joe Rogan reveals he has a clause in UFC contract that will see him leave whenever Dana White goes, the commentator confirms on his podcast
Rogan called himself a ‘professional fan’ and said, ‘If Dana leaves, I’m gone’He has been affiliated with the UFC since 1997, commentating since 2002Rogan has carved out a niche for himself, leveraging his time with the UFC into a successful career doing standup comedy & a lucrative and popular podcast
By Jake Fenner For Dailymail.Com
Published: 23:33 EDT, 20 September 2022 Updated: 23:33 EDT, 20 September 2022
Joe Rogan doesn’t have plans of leaving the UFC any time soon, but would do so when or if president Dana White steps down.
On an episode of his podcast, the Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan revealed there’s a stipulation in his contract that will let him leave if Dana White no longer runs the show.
‘If Dana (White) leaves, I’m gone,’ Rogan said. ‘That’s in my contract.’ Rogan later called himself a ‘professional fan’.
Rogan first became interesting in fighting – specifically jiu-jitsu in 1994 after watching a fight at UFC 2. He then became involved with UFC as an interviewer at UFC 12 in 1997.
That was before Dana White became president of the company in 2001. After initially rejecting the offer, Rogan accepted a job as color commentator – working for free in exchange for tickets for him and his friends.
Rogan continued working under this agreement for about 15 gigs before he began accepting payment for the job.
While he doesn’t go to as many UFC events now as he did before, Rogan is still a staple in the sport’s biggest events including American pay-per-view coverage.
He’s known for his over-the-top commentary and reactions to decisive blows. At UFC 278, he was seen looking stunned after Leon Edwards caught Kamaru Usman with a head kick that knocked the Usman out cold.
Rogan was able to leverage his popularity from the color commentary gig to turn the Joe Rogan Experience into the most popular podcast in the world.
In 2020, Rogan was offered – and signed – a deal with Spotify for more than $100 million.
Rogan was a color commentator at UFC’s most recent pay-per-view event, UFC 279, where he was praised by fans following a tense exchange with Swedish-Chechen fighter Khamzat Chimaev after his undercard fight.
Chimaev was initially slated for the main event against Nate Diaz, but was overweight and was forced to fight in a less-prestigious match.
Rogan demanded an answer as to why Chimaev missed weight. After his initial question was dismissed by the Swede after his victory over Kevin Holland, Rogan pressed, saying, ‘I know you don’t care about [missing weight] now, but if you want to compete for the welterweight title, it’s important that they know you can make 170 pounds.’
Fans applauded Rogan for his commitment to getting an answer out of Chimaev, with some like former UFC champion Daniel Cormier praising him for ‘[asking] him the hard questions.’
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