When Joe Rogan came clean about overhyping Ronda Rousey: "I exaggerate all the time"
Joe Rogan has been known to weigh in on a wide ranging variety of topics on his hit podcast The Joe Rogan Experience. The UFC commentator hosted writer and stand up comedian Nick DiPaolo back in February 2017, where he attempted to walk back comments he had previously made about Ronda Rousey.
Two years prior, Rogan had claimed that he wasn't happy about his claims that the former UFC women's bantamweight champion could beat 50 percent of male bantamweight fighters. Speaking on episode #915 of JRE, he said:
"I'm not happy that Ronda Rousey lost, but in a way, it makes things easier because there was a bunch of f**king people that were going, 'oh yeah, what about Ronda Rousey?' She'll kick - and I made the mistake of saying - hyperbole. Okay, I'm the master of hyperbole, I exaggerate all the time - I was like, 'She could probably beat half the men bantamweights in the UFC.'
His guest questioned if that's true, leading Rogan to state:
"No, that's definitely not true. I shouldn't have said it at the time, now it's definitely not true. She could beat a few that aren't good outside the sport. Look, if she gets guys on the ground she could f**k a lot of people up. Her Judo is 100 percent legit, her armbars are amongst the best in the business, but people were always saying that... Thank god now that she's lost everyone's relaxed with that."
Check out Joe Rogan's comments about Ronda Rousey below (14:15 mark):
Rogan's initial claims came when Rousey was on top of the mixed martial arts world as an undefeated champion. She suffered two consecutive defeats in the two years leading up to him backtracking. 'Rowdy' walked away from the sport following the two losses and was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2018.
Joe Rogan claims he would make a terrible fight promoter
Joe Rogan has found success in several different fields, however, the UFC commentator does not believe he would be a good fight promoter.
Speaking to Eddie Bravo, Joey Diaz, and Brendan Schaub on an episode of JRE Fight Companion back in January 2024, the podcast host discussed the $1.6 billion class action lawsuit filed by former fighters against the UFC, stating:
"God, I'm so glad I'm not a promoter. First of all, I'd be terrible at it because I'd want to give the fighters too much money. I'd be like, 'you guys deserve it, listen, let's just figure out a way to work this out'. You can't do that if you're running a business. If you're running a business, you got to be ruthless."
Check out Joe Rogan's comments below (0:34):
The UFC reportedly wound up settling the class action lawsuit for $375 million.