Joe Rogan and the UFC go together like peanut butter and jelly. The UFC color commentator has been around the promotion for over two decades, and fans never heard anything about him leaving his job. Still, it seems like we rarely see him in the booth recently, so the fans are asking, why is Joe Rogan not commentating on UFC?
Joe Rogan is still UFC’s color commentator. He didn’t stop commentating, but he limited his appearances to US-based PPV events. Rogan will rarely miss those, but he stated that his days of traveling abroad for UFC events are over.
Several factors lead to him making that decision. First, the decision came due to fatigue when traveling across the globe for every event. Second, Rogan has numerous other endeavors such as his podcast and his comedy appearances he has to adhere to.
Perhaps there will be a time when Joe and UFC will part ways, but that time hasn’t come yet.
Is Joe Rogan Commentating on UFC?
Joe Rogan is still an integral part of the UFC’s commentating crew. Not only is he their go-to color commentator, but also their number-one in-Octagon presence, doing post-fight interviews with fighters, getting a piece of their mind after their matches.
However, there are some changes that happened. Rogan decided he won’t travel abroad for UFC events anymore. Also, he isn’t commentating on Fight Night events for quite some time, meaning the only events he is still working on are US-based PPV events.
That’s why fans are seeing him a lot less frequently, leading to some fans believing he isn’t a part of the promotion anymore.
Several reasons led Rogan to the decision to do only US PPV events. First of all, he had already floated the idea of leaving the promotion in 2016 due to fatigue and simply trying out new things.
He has his super-popular podcast, Joe Rogan Experience, and he’s doing comedy tours across the United States leading him to miss some events he’d usually cover (most recently, UFC 265 in Houston).
However, he continued to work for the promotion, stating that he loves the fight game too much to leave and that he’ll continue to work “as long as he gets the juice”, meaning that he’ll keep commentating as long as it excites him.
The other reason for him to do only US events is the pandemic that limited his travels, along with fatigue that kept his schedule too tight and having him simply too exhausted.
Will Joe Rogan Continue to Call UFC Fights in the United States?
As of right now, there’s no word about Joe Rogan leaving his UFC color commentator role any time soon. He stated several times that he loves the game and loves his job, and several of his colleagues in the booth stated that Joe’s as happy as ever to do the events he’s doing.
The fans got worried because he even missed some US PPV events, but the reason he missed them wasn’t that he stopped working for the UFC, but rather because he had other business obligations he needed to adhere to.
Both the UFC and Rogan said that there would be a time when they will part ways, but as far as we know, it’s not coming any time soon.
Will Joe Rogan Leave the UFC?
Joe is deep in his fifties, doing tons of work. He does the UFC, his podcast, TV appearances, comedy shows, and so many different endeavors, I don’t know how the guy can even do it all. As I said, he floated the idea of leaving the UFC, but if you ask Joe, that isn’t coming any time soon.
In 2019, Joe restricted himself to only US PPVs but hadn’t put an end date to his UFC days. Then, in 2020, speaking on Unlocking the Cage, Joe stated that he’s not leaving any time soon because the fight game is “still magic” to him.
Especially during the pandemic, he was only one of few people who had the chance to witness some all-time great fights live, such as Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier, because there was no audience allowed at the events.
