“I will not be there, I don’t go to Canada anymore, I don’t.” Joe Rogan had a stern stance regarding his commentary status for UFC 315. Rogan has his issues with Canada but he has been avoiding international events for years now. And he won’t be present at the upcoming international UFC event either.
And in such cases, Daniel Cormier, Dominick Cruz, Paul Felder, and Michael Bisping come in to help the commentary team. Weighing in on this, ‘The Count’ previously said, “He doesn’t want to travel anymore. You know so. He only does pay-per-views, and then if it’s like in Australia, I’ll be doing that one. But then they mix it up between me, Cruz, and Felder because we all want to do the pay-per-views because you know, but they’ve got their team set. They’ve got Joe Rogan, Jon Anik, and DC. You know what I mean; if one of those can’t make it, then they kick it down to the B team.”
A similar scenario came forth for the commentary team for UFC Baku, as Rogan and Cormier were out of the running. So, who is going to commentate the fight card headlined by the light heavyweight bout between former title challenger Khalil Rountree Jr. and former champion Jamahall Hill? It’ll be none other than Brendan Fitzgerald, Paul Felder, and Bisping. Not having Rogan, DC, or Jon Anik as the &12B worth UFC makes history with the first-ever event in Baku, Azerbaijan, is truly a disappointment. But we can certainly look up to the JRE Fight Companion for the 57-year-old commentator’s opinions.
The JRE host invites a few guests to the podcast studio and goes live with Fight Companion. But what if he had to choose between hosting the Fight Companion podcast and commentating at international events?
Home turf or away ground? Joe Rogan chooses between live UFC commentary and JRE Fight Companion
While watching UFC 297 along with Eddie Bravo, Joey Diaz, and Brendan Schaub on a January 2024 episode of JRE Fight Companion, the beloved UFC color commentator weighed in on the aforementioned choice. He said, “I love working for the UFC, but I love this more. If they came to me and they said, ‘No more fight companion,’ it’s one or the other, I’m like, ‘Hey, it’s been a great time, guys. It’s been wonderful. I love you, I love going to fights, I will buy tickets.’” Yes, he’d rather quit commentating than quit Fight Companion.
However, the JRE host seemed to forfeit his rule regarding international events when it came to Spain. During JRE MMA Show episode #166, Ilia Topuria forced Rogan to address his rule once again. ‘El Matador’ pointed out that Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium has a capacity of 80K, and the roof can be closed to accommodate an environment suitable for the UFC, as Dana White prefers.
That nudged Joe Rogan in the right direction. Even though he hasn’t attended any international UFC events for more than a year, UFC Spain attracted him with a different light. He said, “You get 80,000 in Spain easy, too. If you’re fighting in Spain—oh my god, that would be insane. I might have to go to Spain for that.”
But UFC Baku doesn’t have the appeal of a Spanish stadium. And it wasn’t just Rogan who was out of the commentary team. Cormer and Anik also opted out. The result? Commentary Team B will now handle the broadcasting of UFC Fight Night: Hill. vs. Rountree Jr. Will the trio be able to handle things as efficiently as Team A?
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