As one of Dana White’s close personal friends, Joe Rogan probably had a lot more inside knowledge on the evolving UFC sale than he ever let on. But with the UFC’s desire for ironclad secrecy regarding even the possibility that the promotion was making a deal, he kept his mouth shut … an impressive feet considering the man does several three-hour podcasts a week and a ton of comedy club work as well.
But one way he did touch on it was in his interest in sticking around if the Fertitta brothers left. In May he said “I’m outta there” if a sale went through. Even with the same ownership in place, Rogan seemed kinda tired of the UFC asking him to attend too many events and functions.
“I don’t ask a lot [about the sale], I’m going to be honest with you,” he said at the time. “I don’t ask, because when I call them, they want me to do s**t, and I just don’t.”
All signs pointed to the UFC’s main color commentary man leaving the company when his contract expired at the end of July. But when asked on Twitter, UFC president Dana White indicated Rogan would stick around. And just a few days ago Joe revealed on his podcast that he’d be staying … at least for a while.
“I signed for at least one more year,” Rogan said. “I was on the fence man, I just do too much s**t. I’m too f**king busy. I don’t know if I’m doing myself or all the other things I do a disservice. I had a conversation with Dana, we had a bunch of conversations. What I decided to do was no more international travel. No more flying across the planet. I’m cutting down a lot of events, but I’m doing at least one more year. It’s a year-by-year thing.”
“I don’t want anyone to think that I don’t appreciate it or that I don’t know how lucky I am or that I don’t think it’s an amazing job. I definitely do. I’m almost too lucky, I have too many amazing jobs.”
It was Dana White who brought Joe Rogan on board to begin with, so it’s fitting that White was the one to convince Rogan to stay. But it tells us a couple of things: that Rogan would have left if White hadn’t convinced him otherwise, and to a degree he only stuck around because Dana was sticking around.
How long Dana White will actually stay at the helm of the UFC after the sale has been one of the biggest questions of the deal. Will it be a long term situation? Or is it more to cover the transitional period as the new owners try to keep the status quo and keep from spooking fans, fighters, and staff? Rogan’s one-year contract may be a sign that transition is the name of the game, keeping things relatively the same as the company changes hands at the upper levels.