Joe Rogan has made it clear from the start that he doesn’t support the UFC’s upcoming White House event.
It was announced several months ago, but the UFC White House event is now just a few weeks away. The main event will feature Ilia Topuria defending his lightweight title against Justin Gaethje, while Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane square off for the interim heavyweight belt in the co-main.
Even though there’s a lot of excitement around it, longtime commentator Joe Rogan has been against it from day one. When news first broke about the UFC planning to host an event at the White House, not everyone was on board.
Plenty of fans and media questioned why they’d choose such a polarising location, and some fighters voiced their concerns as well. Donald Cerrone and Josh Emmett were among those who said they wouldn’t take part because of where it was being held. Commentators Michael Bisping and Dan Hardy also criticised Dana White’s decision.
Despite being invited by Dana White to visit before making up his mind, Rogan didn’t change his stance. Dana seemed open-minded about Joe stepping away from commentary duties for this one. But when he tried offering other roles—like ring announcer or interviewer—Joe turned them all down as well.
Joe Rogan raises concerns about outdoor conditions ahead of UFC White House event
Back when the event was first announced, Rogan called it a ‘gimmick’ despite his role in the broadcast team. Trump, meanwhile, agreed with that label, calling it a “good gimmick” on what will be his birthday.
With the event just weeks away, concerns are starting to get louder. Dana White has even mentioned a bug problem they’re dealing with. With the fights set to happen outdoors, White made it clear the event will go ahead rain or shine—only lightning would force a stoppage.
Rogan has raised new concerns about holding the fights outdoors again. “The White House thing is odd, I don’t like it,” he said on a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience.
“I don’t like the idea of fighting outside at all. And in June, and it’s D.C. I looked it up, last year the same day, it was 100 degrees, that’s hot as f—. You add the lights, that attracts bugs; they were talking about maybe using fans, is that enough?
“Are you gonna have bug strips everywhere? Like, how are you gonna stop the bugs? I just don’t think you should compete in a world championship fight in a non-controlled environment. I think it should be inside an air-conditioned arena; it should be a controlled environment.”
The UFC will host around 4,000 people at the event itself and feature appearances from names like Tom Brady and Dwayne Johnson. Across the road at The Ellipse, over 80,000 fans are expected to attend a live show featuring music and big screens showing the fights.
“You wouldn’t ask them to play a world championship basketball game outside in the sun, that’d be crazy… Just build a roof, build a roof, you’ve got all the money in the world… Build a 4000-seat arena, get a barndominium, put it in there,” Rogan continued.
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