In his Flagrant podcast interview a while back Dana White has explained the origin story behind Joe Rogan becoming a UFC commentator.
“When you look at Rogan, he makes s**t loads of money. He’s got the biggest podcast in the world and all this s**t,” White said on the Flagrant podcast.
“But, back in the day, right after we bought the company, I had to go through the office. They had a room that was full of f***ing tapes. So, I had to go through every f***ing tape to make sure it wasn’t anything important.
“So, I pop in this tape, and it’s the Keenen Ivory Wayans Show, and they have Joe Rogan on. Keenen says to him, ‘You’re into this Ultimate Fighting stuff, huh?” And Rogan starts going off.
“The way that Joe talked and how passionate he was, I was like, ‘This is the f***ing guy that I need’. So, I reach out to Rogan. I said, ‘I would love you to come in and be one of the commentators’.
“Rogan’s attitude was, ‘So, wait a minute. You’re saying I come over there, sit in the best seats in the house, and watch the sport that I love for f***ing free. I’m in’.
“At the time, financially, we were getting f***ing murdered. Rogan did the first 12 or 13 shows for free.”
It’s worth noting that Rogan was involved in the UFC before the Zuffa era, as his first gig with the company was actually back in 1997 as a post-fight interviewer, which he did for two years before calling it quits.
So it was a few years later that White was then able to convince him to return, and the rest is history.
