In a twist of fate that sounds straight out of a Hollywood script, UFC's Dana White recounted the moment that led to Joe Rogan becoming the voice of the octagon.
It all started with an old tape from the Keenen Ivory Wayans Show. White, 55, sifting through a mountain of tapes after acquiring UFC, stumbled upon an interview with the famous podcaster passionately discussing his love for Ultimate Fighting. "Back in the day, right after we bought the company, I had to go through the office," the owner of Power Slap recounted on the Wednesday, June 5 episode of the Flagrant podcast.
"They had a room that was full of f***ing tapes. So, I had to go through each 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 f***ing Joe Rogan on. Keenen says to him, 'You're into this Ultimate Fighting stuff, huh?' And Rogan starts going f***ing off," White explained. "The way that Joe talked and how passionate he was, I go, 'This is the f***ing guy that I need.'"
White continues, "so, I reach out to Rogan and we start going back and forth, and I said, 'I would love you to come in and be one of the commentators.'" The co-owner of Thrill One Sports & Entertainment went on to say that, "Rogan's attitude was, 'So, wait a minute. So 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."
Wrapping up the discussion on the 57-year-old former Fear Factor host, White said, "The thing that I loved about Joe Rogan, was when you were sitting there watching Joe Rogan on TV and he was on the mic, he wasn't one of these HBO f***ing goofball talking f***ing heads that were being paid. You felt that this dude not only knew what he was talking about but loved what this is about. And that began the relationship with me and Joe Rogan that is now coming up on 20 something years."
Rogan's first broadcast event was UFC 37.5 held in June 2002.
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
