UFC president Dana White speaks on Joe Rogan’s last-minute absence from UFC 271.
About three days before UFC 271 fight night, long-time color commentator Joe Rogan was taken off the broadcast team. According to initial reports, the 54-year-old podcasters and comic had a “scheduling conflict,” which led to former champion and Hall-of-Famer Michael Bisping filling in for him.
UFC president Dana White shed some light on the matter during the post-fight presser on Saturday.
“There’s no conflict of schedule. Joe Rogan didn’t work tonight. Joe Rogan could’ve worked tonight… I don’t know what Joe Rogan had to do, you guys will have to ask Joe Rogan,” White told reports.
“There was no ‘Joe couldn’t work’ or anything like that. I know that came out, and it’s total bullshit.”
Rogan, who’s limited his commentary work to PPV events, is expected to be back on the desk by March 5th at UFC 272. White, however, gave a rather ambiguous answer when asked when Joe will be back.
“Whenever he’s gonna work again, he’ll be working.”
Rogan’s been under fire as of late, one, because of spreading misinformation through his podcast. Apart from doctors and medical professionals’ previous disapprovals, several big-named artists like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell also pulled their songs off of Spotify as a sign of protest.
Rogan was also chastised after a compilation of old videos from his podcast surfaced, showing him saying the N-word repeatedly. After previously apologizing for it, Rogan then called it a political hit job. Spotify, however, continues to stand by its most popular podcaster.