Joe Rogan has admitted that he finds it difficult to pronounce the names of Russian fighters, particularly from the Dagestan area.
The veteran UFC commentator has decades of experience calling some of the biggest fights, including two of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s legendary lightweight title bouts. He was on the desk for the night the Russian won the belt against Al Iaquinta, as well as his infamous UFC 229 win over Conor McGregor.
However, he claimed during a recent podcast episode that he finds it tough to get their names out while announcing at weigh-ins or working the microphone during events. This, he noted, included once messing up with Khabib’s cousin Umar Nurmagomedov, whose name he was unable to say coherently.
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Joe Rogan finds it hard to pronounce Russian UFC stars’ names
Joe Rogan is one of the veteran voices of the octagon, but even he can come in for criticisms from time to time with fans. He even admitted while speaking to NFL legend Aaron Rodgers that he struggles to pronounce certain fighters’ names, particularly those from Russia.
“There are struggles, some of them are rough,” Rogan noted, before admitting that he once had an issue with Umar Nurmagomedov’s name. “I f—ed up Umar Nurmagomedov’s name once. I knew how to say it, just my mouth didn’t work… I just f—ed it up.
“There are a lot of these Russian and Dagestan names that are crazy. Like, Zabit Magomedsharipov, that one is crazy. There’s a bunch of crazy ones. You have to [practice them]. Before the weigh-ins sometimes I’ve never seen a guy fight before if they’re new to the UFC.
“So then I have to find them online and watch some of their fights online, and even then there are discrepancies in how to say the name. So we have to get it from them, they have little recordings where the fighter will say their name.
“Sometimes it’s like ‘Jesus Christ, play that back again, what are the vowels he’s using?’ Shavkat Rakhmonov, like, wow. Shavkat Rakhmonov? Okay. There’s some rough ones. Generally, the Russian ones are the most difficult ones.”
Joe Rogan has commentated on many legendary UFC fights
Rogan has been involved with the UFC since the early days, commentating on hundreds of the biggest fights of all time after moving from a backstage interviewer role years ago. All the while, he has become one of the most influential men in the world as a result of his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience.
The commentator used to do almost every show while on the way up, but now has a different type of deal. He exclusively commentates on events in the United States, and hasn’t traveled for an international show in years.
He doesn’t even go to Canada, joking that he ‘would rather go to Russia’ than attend UFC 315 in Montreal last month.