Joe Rogan won’t be in the commentary booth for the UFC 315 pay-per-view on May 10th, but despite some recent reports it has nothing to do with any anti-Canadian sentiments.
Rogan was quoted as saying on his Fight Companion podcast this weekend that, “I won’t be there,” when UFC 315 in Montreal was brought up, before adding that “I don’t go to Canada anymore. I don’t. I’d rather go to Russia.”
It’s a headline-grabbing quote, but the reality is that it was a remark made in jest by Rogan, with his true feelings towards Canada having already been made clear just a few days earlier on his podcast.
“Why are we upset at Canada? This is stupid, this over tariffs,” Rogan had said on an episode with fellow comedian Michael Kosta earlier this month.
“We gotta become friends with Canada again …This is so ridiculous. I can’t believe there’s anti-American, anti-Canadian sentiment going on. It’s the dumbest.”
“I just want America and Canada to get along. I think (this) is ridiculous,” Rogan added later, before noting that, “I don’t really think they should be our 51st state. There. I said it.”
For the record, the real reason Rogan isn’t attending UFC 315 is because he opted to stop commentating on events outside of the U.S. several years ago.
As such, Rogan also wasn’t in attendance back at UFC 297 in Toronto, Canada in January of 2024 when Sean Strickland fought Dricus du Plessis in a middleweight title showdown.
