Joe Rogan on Thursday walked back what he now says was a falsehood he reported on his podcast and said he “felt obligated to inform everybody” it was not factual.
On his his “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, Rogan recently said heavyweight champion Jon Jones is rumored to be in search of $30 million to fight interim champ Tom Aspinall, “and the UFC goes to pay it, hopefully. I hope they pay it.”
Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC) has been dismissive of Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) and desires to be paid handsomely for a title-unification bout. Despite his reluctance to fight Aspinall next after he finished Stipe Miocic this past November at UFC 309, Dana White guaranteed that the fight will occur this 12 months.
But after Rogan went public with the $30 million number he now says was merely a rumor, it caused enough of a ripple effect that UFC CEO Dana White reached out to Rogan to refute the claim.
“I had heard a rumor that Jon Jones wanted $30 million to fight Tom Aspinall. And I did hear that rumor. And I did hear that the UFC said yes,” Rogan said on his latest podcast. “But that’s not true. Dana contacted me and said that rumor is bullsh*t. So I felt obligated to inform everybody that was a fake rumor. … We did that podcast two weeks ago; I don’t remember who told me that.”
Within the wake of admitting to reporting the rumor and retracting it, Rogan now said he thinks the MMA collective – the UFC brass, Aspinall’s side, the media, presumably – should give Jones space to come to a decision what he wants his next move to be, quite than speculating and, perhaps, putting pressure on him to make a move.
“Apparently Jon is desirous about retiring,” Rogan said. “… He should give it some thought. Give the person on a regular basis he wants. He can fight at any time when he desires to fight. That’s Jon Jones – he’s the GOAT. So leave him alone. If he decides someday to come back back and he comes back and he desires to fight Tom Aspinall for the heavyweight title … The query is, how long are you allowed to carry onto that title before they begin having that conversation?”
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