Why is Joe Rogan getting replaced by Michael Bisping for UFC 275?
Legendary UFC color commentator Joe Rogan is being replaced on the pay-per-view commentary desk by former middleweight champion Michael Bisping for UFC 275 in Singapore.
Rogan has only covered UFC pay-per-view bouts held in North America in recent years, owing to his busy schedule, which sees him handle many other ventures. Given that UFC 275 is set for Singapore, it's no surprise that Bisping has made the trip over instead of Rogan.
Besides occupying the commentary seat for UFC events, Rogan is a successful stand-up comedian as well. Additionally, Rogan is the host of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, which is one of the most popular podcasts in the world.
Rogan is also a hunting enthusiast and has withdrawn from his UFC commentary duties in the past to accommodate hunting trips.
Rogan is expected to return to the mic for UFC 276, which is set to be hosted in Las Vegas. The comedian also has a show in Vegas on the Friday before the PPV event.
Joe Rogan on how he got into the UFC
On episode 1237 of JRE, featuring comedian Sebastian Maniscalco, Joe Rogan explained to his guest how he came to work for the UFC.
"I started in 1997, I was the post-fight interviewer. it was just a position that was available and the UFC was very small back then, very few people knew what it was... I had always been a martial artist since I was a kid so I just was interested in watching the UFC and then I started training in jiu-jitsu and when I was training in jiu-jitsu, I was just a white belt, I was just starting out. That's when I got hired by the UFC to be a post-fight interviewer. But I only just did that for two years and then I quit... I was losing money, I would make more money doing a weekend at a comedy club than I would doing the UFC."
Watch Joe Rogan talk about how he started working for the UFC below:
Rogan said that when UFC was later acquired by Zuffa and started putting up shows in Vegas, Dana White offered him a commentator role, which Rogan eventually accepted.
The comedian told Maniscalco that after commentating for UFC 37.5, he realized that it was a lot of fun and started regularly commentating for the UFC. Rogan also said that the UFC gig was not lucrative at the start and that he initially worked for them on 12 occasions for free.