On this day in 1997 Joe Rogan made his first appearance on the UFC broadcast team, kicking off a decades-long run in the sport.
Then a stand-up comedian and known as one of the stars of NBC’s sitcom News Radio, Rogan was still coming up in the entertainment world. He was years away from starting what would become the biggest podcast in the world, but had respect in the combat world for his time in taekwondo and kickboxing.
As such, he seemed a perfect fit for broadcasting martial arts. He got involved with the UFC as a backstage reporter four years before Dana White would even enter the fray, and is now a key player in major United States pay-per-view shows.
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Joe Rogan made his UFC debut at UFC 12 on this day
Back in 1997, the UFC was still not legal in a number of states so they headed down to Dothan, Alabama where they set up shop at the town’s Civic Center. 3,100 fight fans packed into the venue, but it was the pay-per-view viewers who really got to see history.
Between fights, the broadcast 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 right now backstage. I’ll be interviewing the fighters as they come out of the octagon.
“I’ll also be previewing the fights, the final fights, in each weight division. I’ll be talking to the fighters and we’ll find out who’s injured, who’s going to be able to continue and who is going to be able to go in if we need an alternate.”
The card saw the first 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 lightweight tournament also taking place.
Joe Rogan did first UFC commentary gigs for free
For years, Rogan plugged away in different jobs for the UFC, most of the time doing it for sheer love of the sport. He was famously a fan of MMA during his time as Fear Factor host, but what is lesser known is that he did his early shows for free.
The number varies; Dana White claims it was 31 while Rogan says it was closer to 15. But either way, it’s remarkable to imagine the podcaster, who now rakes in hundreds of millions from his show, was doing any sort of broadcast for free.
“I did that gig for free for the first 15 shows,” Rogan explained during an episode of his podcast in 2021. “Yeah, that’s what happened. The UFC was struggling, they just bought the company. It wasn’t financially viable, they weren’t making a lot of money.
“There was like Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell. This was like pre-2005. 2005 is when it really took off because of The Ultimate Fighter. That was season one of The Ultimate Fighter. So I was on fear factor and Dana and I became friends because he offered me tickets to the fights when they had just bought the UFC.”
Dana White claims Joe Rogan is the best commentator in combat sports
Nowadays, Dana White believes that there is nobody who can compete with Rogan when it comes to commentating on fights. The pair have been close friends for decades, and the UFC boss is still 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 year. “He said, ‘Wait a minute. So you’re telling me I can come to the sport that I love the most in the world, have the best seat in the house, and talk about it on TV? I’m in!’
“He did the first 13 for free, and the rest is history. Now he has the biggest podcast in the world, and he’s the greatest combat sports commentator of all time.”
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