On this day in 1997, Joe Rogan first appeared in the UFC broadcasting team and started in sport for a decades.
Then a stand-up comedian and known as one of the stars of NBC's Sitcom News-Radio, Rogan was still in the entertainment world. He was years away from starting what would be the largest 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 became involved in the UFC as a backstage reporter for four years before Dana White even entered the battle, and is now an important player in large pay-per-view shows in the United States.
Joe Rogan made his UFC debut on UFC 12 on this day
In 1997 the UFC was still not legally in a number of states, so they went to Dothan, Alabama, where they established a store in the Civic Center of the city. 3,100 Vecht fans who were packed in the location, but it was the pay-per-view viewers who really saw history.
Between fighting, the broadcast was transferred to a freshly confronted Joe Rogan, who was only 29 years old. His first words in the show were: “Thank you Bruce. I'm backstage here again. I will interview the hunters when they come from the Octagon.
“I will also view an example of the fighting, the last fighting, in every weight distribution. I will talk to the hunters and we will discover who is injured, who can continue and who can go inside if we need an alternative. “
The card saw the very first unification ever of the UFC Superfights title with a heavyweight tournament, which means that the promotion finally awarded an official heavyweight champion. Vitor Belfort stopped Trelligman and Scott Ferrozozo on his path to the belt, with a lightweight tournament that also took place.
Joe Rogan did the first UFC commentary -performances for free for free
For years, Rogan put in different jobs for the UFC, usually it did for pure love for the sport. He was a famous fan of MMA during his time as an anxiety factor host, but what is less known is that he did his early shows for free.
The song varies; Dana White claims it was 31, while Rogan says it was closer to 15. But anyway, it is remarkable to imagine that the podcaster, who now gets hundreds of millions from his show, did free broadcast.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
“I did that performance for the first 15 shows for free,” Rogan explained during an episode of his podcast in 2021. “Yes, that's what happened. The UFC had a hard time, they just bought the company. It wasn't Financially feasible, they didn't earn much money.
“There was like Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell. This was as before 2005. 2005 was when it really started because of the ultimate hunter. That was season one of the ultimate hunter. So I had fear factor and Dana and I became friends because he offered me tickets for the fighting when they had just bought the UFC. “
Dana White claims that Joe Rogan is the best commentator in combat sports
Nowadays Dana White believes that there is no one who can compete with Rogan when it comes to comments on fighting. The couple has been good friends for decades and the UFC boss is still very favorable in his description of his friend.
Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty images for Spike TV
“I finally reached for Rogan, we took it off and that's it,” White told Fox News last year. “He said:” Wait a minute. So you tell me that I can come to the sport that I love the most in the world, have the best chair in the house and talk about it on TV? I am inside! '
“He did the first 13 for free, and the rest is history. Now he has the largest podcast in the world, and he is the greatest combat sport commentator of all time. “
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