Joe Rogan shocked his co-commentators by revealing the conversation he had with referee Marc Goddard immediately after the UFC 307 main event.
Light-heavyweight champion Alex Pereira knocked out Khalil Rountree Jr. in the fourth round of their exciting fight at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Saturday night.
Goddard was the man in the middle, and Joe Rogan headed into the Octagon to talk with Pereira after he made history by defending his title for the third time in the space of 175 days.
Before their conversation, the veteran MMA broadcaster got chatting with Goddard, who was blown away by the power on display from ‘Poatan’.
Joe Rogan relays Marc Goddard’s comments on Alex Pereira’s ‘ungodly’ power
The English official is a former fighter and one of the most respected referees in the sport, so his thoughts on Pereira carried a lot of weight for Rogan.
“I was in the octagon after the fight and Marc Goddard came up to me and he said, ‘I’ve been doing this for 20 years’,” Rogan said while wrapping up the UFC 307 broadcast.
“And he goes, ‘The way he hits people, the sound is like nothing I’ve ever heard before.’ He said, ‘It’s ungodly’. That’s what he kept saying, he says it ungodly.”
Former dual-weight champion Daniel Cormier was with Rogan in the commentary booth and expressed his shock at Goddard’s high praise of Pereira.
“Wow! That’s crazy coming from Marc Goddard,” he said before Anik moved the conversation on.
Marc Goddard admits he cried after overseeing favorite UFC fight
Goddard recently opened up about his long career in the brutal sport.
The 50-year-old admitted that he got emotional after overseeing what he still considers the best fight he’s ever refereed years later.
Israel Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum knocked lumps out of each other for 25 minutes when they clashed with the interim middleweight title on the line at UFC 236 in 2019.
Goddard revealed he broke down in tears after officiating Israel Adesanya vs Kelvin Gastelum in 2019.
They went to war for 25 minutes with the interim middleweight title on the line at UFC 236.
“The number one is, every day of the week, twice on a Sunday, is Israel Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum,” Goddard said when asked about the best fight he’s officiated by talkSPORT MMA.
“I couldn’t believe what I was watching unfold in front of me.
“Two fighters that went into the deepest, darkest depths of their soul and they went into the deepest, darkest waters possible in a fight and I was right alongside them, standing three-foot away, witnessing this unfold.
“As soon as I know they’re safe, I f****** run off with my head in my hands.
“I won’t be ashamed to say, I’ve cried after that fight watching it back because it was ungodly what those guys did. It was ungodly.”