Joe Rogan said he won’t be attending an upcoming UFC fight in Montreal because he doesn’t “go to Canada anymore” and joked that he would “reasonably go to Russia.”
The UFC commentator shared his thoughts on his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, when asked if he might be in attendance to observe UFC fighter Belal Muhammad defend his Welterweight gold against Jack Della Maddalena in May.
When Rogan asked his guests Gordon Ryan, Brendan Schaub and Eddie Bravo when the fight is about to happen, they said, “About two months.”
“Where’s that at?” Rogan asked.
The Joe Rogan Experience producer Jamie Vernon told Rogan that the fight might be held in Montreal at UFC 315 on May 10.
“Wow, I won’t be there. I don’t go to Canada anymore,” Rogan said. “I reasonably go to Russia.”
One among Rogan’s guests suggested that Canada “may turn into the U.S.” in reference to U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent comments that Canada must be the 51st U.S. state.
“That’s never going to occur. That’s so crazy to ask them to be the 51st state,” Rogan said.
“I had a conversation with Trump about it,” Rogan revealed. “He goes, ‘I began calling him Governor Trudeau only for fun, but a number of persons are saying it’s an excellent idea. Like possibly it’s an excellent idea. Loads of people say it.’”
Earlier within the podcast, Rogan, who also didn’t attend UFC 297 in January in Toronto, called Canada’s government “terrible” but said that he likes Canadian people.
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“I believe it’s silly that we hate Canada … They’ve a terrible government however the Canadian persons are awesome,” Rogan said, throughout the three-and-a-half-hour podcast.
“The brand new guy is more of the identical,” Rogan added, comparing Prime Minister Mark Carney to former prime minister Justin Trudeau. “After which they need to have a vote … They don’t have the identical thing over here, prefer it’s November 4th. With them they get to come to a decision when there’s going to be a vote. They’ll, like, call it in three weeks.”
Rogan referred to Canada’s government as “a squirrely system” and said Canadians “just keep losing rights, left and right.”
He also discussed the “Freedom Convoy” in Canada in 2022, which travelled the country and protested vaccine mandates in front of Parliament in Ottawa for several weeks.
Rogan claimed that Canadian authorities froze bank accounts of people that “only donated to the truckers” and that individuals are “still in jail” for his or her participation.
“It was form of when a number of people woke up,” Rogan added.
This isn’t the primary time Rogan has criticized Canada on the podcast.
In March, Rogan said he didn’t love Trump’s idea of creating Canada the 51st U.S. state. “I just want America and Canada to get along. I believe it’s ridiculous,” the previous Fear Factor host said.
“I don’t really think they must be our 51st state. There. I said it,” Rogan said while laughing.
“We now have to turn into friends with Canada again. That is so ridiculous,” Rogan said, adding, “That is the dumbest f–king feud.”
Back in July 2022, Rogan had some strong words about Canada and Trudeau, voicing his distaste for the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Canada’s communist,” Rogan said on the podcast. “They’re f—ked. They gotta eliminate that guy,” he said, referring to Trudeau.
Rogan’s guest, comedian Tom Segura agreed, saying, “Canada’s crazy.”
Rogan admitted he has “no idea how [the] system works” in Canada, but claimed that he liked Trudeau before the pandemic.
“I used to be like, he’s a handsome guy, seems sweet,” he said. “Good-looking guy, confident, good talker after which throughout the pandemic I’m like, ‘Oh, you’re a f—king dictator.’”
As Segura agreed with Rogan, the podcast host continued, claiming Trudeau doesn’t like criticism, and tried to “shut down criticism by saying that every one your critics are misogynists and racists.”
Rogan was again referring to the “Freedom Convoy” in Canada, when Trudeau enacted the Emergencies Act in response to the convoy, which gridlocked Ottawa on Feb. 14.
“He’s gross. He’s a sketchy guy,” Rogan said on the podcast.
Rogan also said Trudeau has “some shaky deals” and added that he would “prefer to see where the cash is coming from.” It remains to be unclear what deals Rogan was referring to.
— With files from Global News
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