Long-time UFC Color commentator Joe Rogan is part of the furniture at the sport’s leading promotion, but in the latest episode of his wildly popular podcast he reveals he might decide to call it quits when his contract ends next year.
“My contract’s up in August,” Rogan revealed while in conversation with his guest, current UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson. “I might leave in August. It’s possible. I like doing sh-t that scares me. I like doing stuff – I like taking chances in that I like walking away from things. I like doing that. I like experiencing new things. You open up new doors, your mind starts firing in a different way. I’m not a big fan of doing the same sh-t over and over and over again.”
Rogan has been doing UFC commentary for a very long time indeed, with his earliest appearances dating all the way back to UFC 12 in 1997. Initially he was used as an interviewer, but he quickly became permanently installed in the broadcast booth.
For many years he called every UFC event, but recently as the promotion’s schedule has expanded both in terms of the number of events and the number taking place overseas he’s stepped aside from many of the smaller ‘Fight Night’ style shows.
In his place former fighters like Kenny Florian, Brian Stann and Dan Hardy have stepped up to fill his shoes but Rogan still remains alongside Mike Goldberg for the pay-per-view and UFC On FOX broadcasts.
The 48 year-old has casually spoken about the possibility of stepping away from commentary in the past on his podcast, but this time it seems like he really is seriously considering the possibility.
However, at this stage it seems that he’s not definitively made up his mind one way or the other.
“I love the sport. But there’s probably going to come a time where I don’t do commentary anymore, and it might be sooner than later. Or it might not. I mean, August might roll around and I might say, ‘You know what man, I f-cking love this, let’s just keep doing this.’ But I might not, too.”
Watch the full JRE podcast with Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson below.
