Does Joe Rogan still work for the UFC?
Yes. Joe Rogan still works for the UFC.
Rumors regarding Joe Rogan potentially parting ways with the UFC have swirled across the combat sports community for the past few years. However, Rogan is indeed still with the UFC.
Joe Rogan has quit the UFC before
The UFC held its first event, UFC 1, on November 12th, 1993. At UFC 12: Judgment Day, on February 7th, 1997, Joe Rogan started working with the UFC. Rogan mainly worked as an interviewer and also provided commentary for the UFC events.
Rogan worked with the UFC for a couple of years, but he then parted ways with the company because his salary did not cover his travel expenses. This incident was back when the sport of MMA was banned in many parts of North America and the UFC was an underground organization that mainly organized events in rural areas of the US.
Things changed when ZUFFA took over the UFC in 2001. This change was courtesy of Dana White and his friends – Las Vegas business tycoons, the Fertitta brothers (Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta). Joe Rogan attended quite a few UFC events around 2001-02, and he would discuss martial arts and MMA fights with White during these events.
White was quite impressed with Joe Rogan’s knowledge of the sport and offered Rogan a commentator’s position in the UFC. Rogan returned to the UFC in 2002, eventually accepting White’s offer.
Rogan's current relationship with the UFC
One of the most pivotal moments in Joe Rogan’s career came when the Fertitta brothers and White sold most of their shares in the UFC to WME-IMG and its associates in 2016. Rogan had stated that he would leave the UFC if the company was sold, and many in the MMA world believed that Rogan would go after the 2016 sale.
Regardless, Joe Rogan ended up re-signing with the UFC. Rogan did, however, cut down on the overseas travel he does for UFC events. Since 2016, Rogan usually doesn’t appear in his commentary position for the UFC’s events outside North America.
Joe Rogan had addressed this change on an edition of his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, back in 2016. Rogan stated:
"I had a conversation with Dana. We had a bunch of conversations. What I decided to do was no more international travel; no more flying across the planet...If I go to Brazil that's five days out of my life...and on top of that there's the recovery time. The flying f**ks with my head. I'm cutting down a lot of events, but I'm doing at least one more year. It's a year by year thing."
Now 53 years of age, Rogan continues to thrive in his color commentary role in the UFC. Joe Rogan is still a proud representative of the UFC and the sport of MMA. Moreover, Rogan is widely regarded as one of the most popular combat sports personalities in the world today.