Joe Rogan is a man with the gift of gab. In addition to his stand-up and his podcast where he talks to guests for an average of three hours per episode, he also does color commentary for the UFC. These are events that often last over six hours from the start of the early prelims to the final bell of the main event, and Joe is right there for the company’s many pay-per-views and major FOX events.
But over the past several months, Rogan has made several public statements that called his future announcing UFC events into question. In May, he said this:
“If the [UFC] sale goes through I’m outta there … I’ve been working for the UFC on and off for almost 20 years. And that’s more than I’ve done anything in my life. I’d like to move on.”
With Rogan’s contract up in August and the UFC sale now a done deal, many wondered if UFC 200 was the end of the road for Joe. But if this tweet from Dana White is any indication, Rogan will continue to bring his unique brand of knowledge and humor to UFC broadcasts … at least for the immediate future.
👍🏼👊🏼
— danawhite (@danawhite) July 11, 2016
All signs are pointing to WME-IMG attempting to make the transition from the Zuffa era as seamless as possible. One way they’re ensuring that is keeping Dana White on day-to-day operations as president of the company. Another would be to keep Rogan — a voice synonymous with the Octagon — around as well. Joe has always given the company a massive amount of credibility with their core demographic, so it makes sense that they’d open their wallets and make sure he stays.
Whether he will remain for longer than a year or so remains to be seen, but it seems likely that this latest event wasn’t the last UFC fans will hear from the comedian and podcaster.
