How Dana White Convinced Joe Rogan to Become UFC Commentator Despite His Reluctance to Take the Job

Dana White convinced Joe Rogan to become a UFC commentator by appealing to his passion for martial arts and promising creative freedom, overcoming Rogan's initial reluctance.

By Debmallya Chakraborty

Published on Aug 07, 2024 | 04:01 PM IST | 66.6K

Dana White, and Joe Rogan

Joe Rogan is synonymous with the UFC. The color commentator has been the voice of UFC since 1997 and has achieved immense success calling the thrilling action inside the octagon. However, in reality, Rogan was never interested in doing commentary for the UFC. In a throwback clip, a compilation of Joe Rogan’s videos can be seen where he stated that it was all Dana White’s idea and never wanted to take up the mic.

Speaking about his experience, Joe Rogan stated, “Dana and I went out to dinner and he's like do you want to do commentary? I don't want to do commentary man I'm here to get drunk and watch people kick the [—] out of each other oh I don't want to do that I don't want to work.” Well, his denial did not have much effect on Dana White as he persuaded Rogan until he agreed to accept his terms.

Joe Rogan started his UFC career as a backstage interviewer in 1997 at the UFC 12 event. After continuing for a while, Rogan became a commentator for the UFC after it was taken over by Zuffa in 2001. However, in a recent revelation by Dana White, the UFC head honcho stated that Joe Rogan was associated with the UFC due to his love for the sport and not for the finance. To justify his point further, Dana White, in an appearance on the Lex Fridman podcast, mentioned that Joe Rogan was unpaid for 13 straight UFC events.

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Having a close friendship with the color commentator, Dana White once threatened to resign from the UFC for Rogan. Few years back, Joe Rogan faced a lot of criticisms for using racially insensitive language and giving a controversial take on the covid-19 scenario. This backlash resulted in people asking for Joe Rogan to be cut from the UFC. This is when White pledged his loyalty to Rogan by refusing to work if Joe Rogan was terminated.

Reminiscing the early days, White said that when they took over the reigns of the UFC from Art Davie, things were gloomy. The promotion was plagued with several controversies and the authorities also had their sights on UFC. However, it was Dana White, who, with his extreme hard work, built the UFC’s reputation as a prime MMA promotion in the entire world. And during the entirety of this period, Joe Rogan happily worked for free until White and the UFC were up on their feet.

Well, Rogan was soon rewarded for his loyalty towards the company. Standing in 2024, Joe Rogan has garnered a massive $200m net worth, the chunk of which came from his UFC earnings. According to recent reports from YouTuber Noah Kagan, Joe Rogan currently earns around $50,000 per UFC event.

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