On today in 1997 Joe Rogan made his first appearance on the UFC broadcast team, kicking off a decades-long run in the game.
Then a slapstick comedian and generally known as one in every of the celebs of NBC’s sitcom News Radio, Rogan was still coming up within the entertainment world. He was years away from starting what would grow to be the largest podcast on the planet, but had respect within the combat world for his time in taekwondo and kickboxing.
As such, he seemed an ideal fit for broadcasting martial arts. He got involved with the UFC as a backstage reporter 4 years before Dana White would even enter the fray, and is now a key player in major United States pay-per-view shows.
Joe Rogan made his UFC debut at UFC 12 on today
Back in 1997, the UFC was still not legal in quite a lot of states in order that they headed right down to Dothan, Alabama where they arrange shop on the town’s Civic Center. 3,100 fight fans packed into the venue, but it surely was the pay-per-view viewers who really got to see history.
Between fights, the published was sent over to a fresh faced Joe Rogan, who was just 29-years-old. His first words on the show were “Thanks Bruce. I’m back here straight away backstage. I’ll be interviewing the fighters as they arrive out of the octagon.
“I’ll even be previewing the fights, the ultimate fights, in each weight division. I’ll be talking to the fighters and we’ll discover who’s injured, who’s going to have the ability to proceed and who’s going to have the ability to go in if we want an alternate.”
The cardboard saw the primary ever unification of the UFC superfights title with a Heavyweight tournament, meaning the promotion was finally crowning an official heavyweight champion. Vitor Belfort stopped Tra Telligman and Scott Ferrozzo on his path to the belt, with a light-weight tournament also happening.
Joe Rogan did first UFC commentary gigs without cost
For years, Rogan plugged away in several jobs for the UFC, more often than not doing it for sheer love of the game. He was famously a fan of MMA during his time as Fear Factor host, but what’s lesser known is that he did his early shows without cost.
The number varies; Dana White claims it was 31 while Rogan says it was closer to fifteen. But either way, it’s remarkable to assume the podcaster, who now rakes in tons of of thousands and thousands from his show, was doing any type of broadcast without cost.
“I did that gig without cost for the primary 15 shows,” Rogan explained during an episode of his podcast in 2021. “Yeah, that’s what happened. The UFC was struggling, they only bought the corporate. It wasn’t financially viable, they weren’t making a number of money.
“There was like Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell. This was like pre-2005. 2005 is when it really took off due to The Ultimate Fighter. That was season one in every of The Ultimate Fighter. So I used to be on fear factor and Dana and I became friends because he offered me tickets to the fights after they had just bought the UFC.”
Dana White claims Joe Rogan is the very best commentator in combat sports
Nowadays, Dana White believes that there’s no one who can compete with Rogan on the subject of commentating on fights. The pair have been close friends for many years, and the UFC boss continues to be very favorable in his description of his pal.
“I ended up reaching out to Rogan, we hit it off and that’s it,” White told Fox News last yr. “He said, ‘Wait a minute. So that you’re telling me I can come to the game that I like essentially the most on the planet, have the very best seat in the home, and speak about it on TV? I’m in!’
“He did the primary 13 without cost, and the remainder is history. Now he has the largest podcast on the planet, and he’s the best combat sports commentator of all time.”
