Joe Rogan, a long-time UFC commentator, shared his insights during the UFC 319 broadcast, which featured a highly anticipated main event between Dricus du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev. Rogan's commentary extended beyond just the fights, touching on fighter conditioning, broadcast team dynamics, and the UFC's future.
Du Plessis vs. Chimaev: Rogan's Pre-Fight Analysis
In the headliner of Saturday’s card, Dricus du Plessis entered as the UFC Middleweight Champion. He was hoping to earn his third successful title defense inside the United Center in Chicago. Riding into UFC 319 on a nine-fight unbeaten streak inside the Octagon, ‘DDP’ put his middleweight title on the line against the division’s designated boogeyman, Khamzat Chimaev, in the evening’s highly anticipated headliner. At the end of the UFC 319 broadcast, Rogan shared some final thoughts on the main event between du Plessis and Chimaev.
Rogan noted Chimaev's advantages, saying, "Khamzat's speed is a big factor with his hand speed. People forget what he did to Kevin Holland, the way he could ragdoll guys on the ground. But what he did to Gerald Meerschaert is pretty f*cking spooky. He's technical and sharp and straight down the middle. He is good standing up, and that's where it's going to be weird. That's where I want to see because Du Plessis makes everyone look stupid."
While du Plessis has beaten the likes of Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker, his loss to Chimaev was so lopsided that many are wondering if “Stillknocks” will ever win UFC gold again. Still, du Plessis remained positive during his post-fight interview with Rogan. The now former middleweight champion praised Chimaev for finding a way to be as dominant as he was. “Stillknocks” also vowed to eventually hold UFC gold once again.
“The bookies were right,” Rogan began after it was noted that even as challenger, Chimaev was a monstrous favorite heading into the fight. I mean, for Dricus to come back from that, and bridge the gap between him and Khamzat? “It’s a tall task, because that kind of dominance, that kind of grappling dominance, was not just a level. It was multiple levels, and it just didn’t seem like he had any answer for that.
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Du Plessis' Cardio and Work Ethic
Joe Rogan sees Dricus Du Plessis' cardio right up there with fellow UFC champion Merab Dvalishvili. Rogan compared Du Plessis' continuous growth to Dvalishvili's, pointing to "The Machine" dominating and submitting Sean O'Malley in their UFC 316 rematch as an example. He told show guest Matt Serra he, in particular, should relate since he's coached Dvalishvili for years.
"There's guys that reach this level of discipline, and they achieve a level of cardio vascular performance that's just above everybody else's and then they maintain it. They get that advantage and they keep pushing it, and they slowly keep adding onto it." Rogan said of Du Plessis in a recent episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience."
“Like you're seeing Merab now, particularly in the second O'Malley fight, you see he's a totally different beast. He's super confident, non-stop, and you can't keep up with that. The amount of hard work is extraordinary to get to that level, and I think Dricus is kind of a similar thing. I think that dude works so hard that he can go out there and fight full blast."
Rogan added, “I think Dricus is kind of a similar kind of guy. He looks like he’s mouth-breathing, but he just keeps the same… That was a lot of the earlier fights before he got his nose fixed. So he got his nose fixed so he could breathe out of his nose. Makes sense. Changed everything. That’s when he crushed Whittaker. Like the Whittaker one was shocking.
While ‘Stillknocks’ may be best known for his impressive knockout power and willingness to stand and trade with anyone, Serra made it a point to remind everyone that du Plessis is an accomplished grappler - something that could come in handy when he meets one of the best wrestlers in all of MMA come fight night.
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“Judo at five years old, wrestling at twelve; it’s not like he’s not a grappler,” Serra added.
UFC 319 Broadcast Team and Dustin Poirier's Role
Joe Rogan missed Dustin Poirier’s retirement fight at UFC 318 but now they’ll be working together as part of the same broadcast team for UFC 319 in Chicago. Rogan is joined by regular play-by-play man Jon Anik and UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier calling the fights.
UFC officials confirmed the broadcast plans to MMA Fighting on Thursday. Charli Arnolt is serving as the roving reporter in the arena for the UFC 319 broadcast with Din Thomas joining the team as the coach to provide analysis throughout the show.
As for Poirier, he’s back on the desk as one of the analysts for the card where he’ll provide insights before, during and after the fights. It’s his first official gig since retiring from the sport following a decision loss to Max Holloway at UFC 318. Poirier serves as analyst alongside one-time title challenger and also recently retired UFC veteran Anthony Smith, the always talkative Chael Sonnen and welterweight competitor Michael Chiesa. Brendan Fitzgerals is expected to serve as the host on the desk.
Criticism and Commentary Education
The UFC commentary team of Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier has received quite a lot of criticism from the fanbase as of late. For several years now, the UFC PPV broadcast team has consisted of Jon Anik, Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier, with Rogan having seemingly taken a small step back from duties recently.
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When the UFC returned to Louisiana for Dustin Poirier‘s retirement fight at UFC 318, Rogan skipped the event, missing his first UFC PPV in several years. Rogan and Cormier have received a lot of criticism for their commentary recently and even UFC welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena called for a Cormier mute button on the UFC broadcast.
Rogan has always been widely regarded as an MMA expert as when he was first brought into the promotion as a color commentator, he added a lot of educational value to the broadcast. Despite that, fans believe that over the last few years, the UFC icon has provided less value to the commentary.
However, in a recent podcast, Rogan revealed that he had to educate the former UFC double champion, Cormier, during the recent UFC 319 broadcast. “I don’t know s- about judo, I know how to do a few hip tosses, but when someone is doing something I don’t even know what it’s called… In wrestling I have to refer to DC… So even in Martial Arts, I’m not an expert,” Rogan explained.
“In jiu-jitsu, it happened in the last fight, on the last UFC card. Daniel Cormier didn’t know about the dead orchard, he thought this fighter was fine because they had two arms in when they were caught in a triangle, I go, ‘No, this is a real submission, this is f-- dangerous,” Rogan continued. The fight that Rogan is referring to is the fight between Karine Silva and Dione Barbosa and in round two, Silva had Barbosa caught in the ‘Dead Orchard’ submission Rogan is referring to.
Joe Rogan's Future with the UFC
Although a large part of the fanbase has grown tired with Rogan’s commentary, he is unlikely to fully drop his duties any time soon. And following the UFC’s new $7.7 billion broadcast deal, Dana White addressed Rogan’s future with the promotion, stating that he remains in the UFC’s plans going forward.
The UFC's shift from ESPN/Disney to Paramount will certainly shake up the MMA leader. rights agreement, which spans seven years, totaling $7.7 billion. The podcaster and comedian says things appear to be looking up for a sport that surpassed its 30th birthday nearly two years ago - and continues to expand globally by the year.
Rogan has called UFC fights Octagonside since 2002 with the likes of Mike Goldberg through Dec. 2016 and Jon Anik through present day beginning after UFC 207. Rogan served as a backstage analyst during the SEG era in the late 90s.
"Through the roof," Rogan said on "JRE" regarding the elimination of pay-per-view with increased accessibility. "And it's a super smart move for Paramount," Rogan said. "What a great move to not just have the UFC for seven years, but have it for free."
Rogan says the sport's potential for even more popularity growth is limitless. "How much does it cost a month?" Rogan asked. "Let's say it's 10 bucks. That's crazy. That's a $120 a year, you could watch every UFC pay-per-view? Two UFC pay-per-views is, like, 140 bucks, right? Isn't it? Aren't they, like, $70? So you get all of them. Everything's free? That's incredible."
Rogan said for any type of MMA fan, the more coverage regardless of what network the UFC gets coverage from is a big deal. "Because I think that's also a big factor in pulling people from casual viewers that watch other sports that might occasionally watch a UFC fight and then they see, like, Dustin Poirier vs. reach point draws more people in."
It's great. I'm kind of bummed out, and I hope they don't lose the relationship that they had with ESPN with all their MMA shows," Rogan said.