A large shock was administered to the UFC 318 card because the temporary employment team has been unveiled with a hugely remarkable absence.
On July 19, the UFC returns to Louisiana for UFC 318 and in the main event Max Holloway returns for the first time since his UFC 308 loss against Ilia Topuria, his BMF title defends against Dustin Poirier.
The most important point of discussion for their fight is that it is Poirier's pension fight, and UFC boss Dana White revealed that he built the map entirely for 'The Diamond'.
And just over a week from the fight, Holloway revealed that he officially landed in Louisiana after what he described as a few 'small fears' during his journey.
However, there will be one remarkable absence in New Orleans, as the broadcasting team has now been revealed.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Joe Rogan to miss the first US PPV event in more than three years
In anticipation of the Poirier pension event in New Orleans and the first UFC event in Louisiana for more than 10 years, the broadcasting team together with the analysts have been unveiled.
According to Mmajunkie, Jon Anik will serve as the leading commentator and is accompanied by UFC legends Daniel Cormier and Paul Felder.
For the first time in more than three years, since UFC 271 that took place in Houston, old color commentator Joe Rogan will not make the journey for the PPV event.
It has become known that Rogan is not traveling for international PPVs and he even extended that to Canada earlier this year when he chose not to comment on UFC 315.
With UFC 318, however, will take place in Louisiana, Rogan's absence is extremely telling, where he may want to take a step back from his duties.
From now on it is unclear why Rogan will not comment on UFC 318, but his reason to miss UFC 271 more than three years ago was due to a schedule conflict.
Shout at all the people who still don't believe in conspiracies. Your ability to stick to your weapons is inspiring.
– Joe Rogan (@joerogan) July 8, 2025
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Is this the start of the end of the comment career of Joe Rogan?
In recent years, Rogan has started receiving a lot of criticism of his work in the commentary cabin, where fans claim that he was not invested in the UFC as he ever was.
And because he is now missing a US PPV event for the first time in a few years, some fans are concerned that this could be the start of the end of Rogan in the commentary cabin.