Joe Rogan Explains Why He No Longer Calls UFC Events On Fox
Joe Rogan has called some of the greatest moments in UFC history, whether on pay-per-view or on free televised broadcasts.
The color commentator no longer calls the UFC On Fox cards, which is mainly due to conflicts he had with people from Fox.
“They got in my ear,” Rogan said during the UFC Fight Night Liverpool Fight Companion podcast. “The very first events for FOX, they were like telling me what to do. They were telling me to take it down a notch. ‘Don’t be so amped up about that guy,’ I was like, ‘What? What are you doing here?’ I go, ‘Listen, I do commentary. This is what I do. I’ve been doing it forever. This is how I do it. If you think you can change me, then we’re not going to work together.’ We had a real problem for the first event. It was a FOX production. I didn’t like it. They want a sports guy. Look, MMA is what it is. It’s fighting. It is a very specific kind of sport. I’ve been doing it the way I’ve been doing it forever. If you don’t like the way I do it, that’s fine. Don’t hire me. But don’t try to get me to become some sports guy. I’m not interested in that at all.”
Rogan now works exclusively on pay-per-views based in North America, with the upcoming UFC 225 card being the next time fans can hear him calling the action.
One thing that Rogan says will never change is his passion for the sport, which hasn’t diminished one bit in the decades the color commentator has been involved with it.
“This is what I do,” Rogan said. “I get amped up. If some (expletive) goes down and guys are trading blows and I’m screaming, it’s because I feel that way. It’s legitimate passion. I’m not faking it. They let it go after a while, but it’s not like they fought for me when I quit, either.”
It is possible that Rogan can be behind the commentators table more when the UFC transitions to ESPN next year, but nothing is set in stone as of yet.
