Joe Rogan will be speaking to a large audience when the UFC returns to Fox Saturday night.
Joe Rogan is a talented guy. He turned a stand-up career into several successful TV series with residuals that pay the bills, introduced a podcast/videocast that is one of the most downloaded of its kind and continued his high-profile comedy career, all while being one of the most recognizable voices and figures to UFC fans.
In all, life is pretty awesome for Joe Rogan.
This Saturday, he gets another shot at national exposure for something other than Fear Factor with UFC On Fox 2. This won't be like last November where he gets just a few minutes to introduce and then call a fight that is over in an instant.
With two solid hours and three fights guaranteed to make air, there's plenty of time for Rogan and lead announcer Mike Goldberg to make their impressions on people that have never seen the UFC before.
That's why Saturday marks an extremely important event for Rogan, the UFC and Fox Sports in general. They need to bust out of the MMA bubble and figure out how Rogan can step his game up and deeper explain what's happening in the Octagon to the casual or new fan tuning in, especially when it comes to Brazilian jiujitsu.
If you were relatively new to the sport like me when you first started watching, you had no idea what 'guard' was. When things went to the ground, you assumed the guy on top had an advantage. Cage grappling looked like resting, not working. Knockouts are easy to understand, everything else isn't. Seven years after I first decided to invest myself into MMA and after enrolling in several martial arts programs, I get it. New viewers don't have that luxury.
One could argue that the UFC and Rogan have been doing a great job at this for years and I agree to an extent. I always think there's an opportunity to educate those who aren't reading sites like Bloody Elbow and simply are dropping into watch a fight or those who want to learn more but feel dumb asking. I used to be one of those people and this Saturday, millions more like 2005 me will be tuning in.
What fight could Rogan have the most impact on? Join me after the jump.
Where Rogan can really shine is in the broadcast's opening bout between Chris Weidman and Demian Maia, a fight that will quite surely spend an extended period of time on the mat. Rogan has to assume he's talking to new people without dumbing it down for the hardcore fans. If done right, it will have an impact. It's a delicate balance but if anyone can do it, it's him.
I'm positive there are those who roll their eyes at the notion about more explaining and descriptions and will claim it potentially would disrupt the natural flow of watching a match. However, this is why the UFC is on Fox. They need to bring more people in and can't assume the attention span is going to be there for people to self-educate like there was when the boom period began in 2005.
When Rogan is talking with that Fox Sports microphone in front of his face, he is to be judged alongside his peers in football, baseball, NASCAR and every sport that Fox airs. His role is that of an educator for what's happening so everyone from the rookie to the novice understands what's going on. Rogan has done a good job in the past. Now, it's his time to be great.
1 recs | 79 comments
I hope he's good during the fights, he can be hit and miss
I see what you’re saying, that the audience will be less knowledgeable, but I don’t know if he’ll have the whole 2 hr block. Fox/FX seems to switch to other commentators between fights; the last FOX show had 2 sets of commentators, I think. What really matters is he does well for the fights, and he’s not too excited.
verloc - January 25, 2012
Coming off his excellent performance at 142 in which he publicly badgered a ref, once again hawked Diamond MMA product, and relied even more than usual on his video-game sound clips (Virtual Joe sez “OH! HE’S HURT!”) rather than informative analysis, I’d say your hopes are a little too lofty right now, Josh.
BVandDietPepsi - January 25, 2012
Going after Mario there was completely legit
the other stuff…
jhf884 - January 25, 2012
Joe is really good about getting excited about not much
And that rubs off on the audience, so I guess that’s good for the UFC.
I could do without him at this point though. YOU’RE OLD HAT JOE.
menckenstein - January 25, 2012
I like Joe
It always feels like I am watching the fight with a regular guy wo is aslo a fan of the sport, I dont think all commentators have to be zombies.
SandboxKing - January 25, 2012
who*
SandboxKing - January 25, 2012
I agree
biggant - January 25, 2012 via mobile
cough Joe Buck cough
Pat Tzu - January 25, 2012 via mobile
Joe Buck projects a huge amount of unearned self confidence.
Snatchl - January 25, 2012
I love Joe Buck
He’s so dry and zombie-like that I honestly think it’s hilarious and adds a lot of light humor to the booth. He know’s what he’s doing in that regard as far as I can tell, it’s not like Steven Seagal wristlocking people dead serious that has the added effect of being hilarious.
Or maybe it is, either way I think Joe Buck is the man.
deathbydegrees20 - January 25, 2012
Rule 1: Stop him using Bravo slang for everything
It’s fine when it’s rubber guard or whatever, but nearly-having-an-armbar-on is not ‘the spiderweb’, and when he referred to it as that in a recent fight (Omigawa/Alcantara, I think), I doubt Alcantara himself would think of it as that position.
I love Rogan’s commentary and passion, but I’d said that the commentator who best explains jits has yet to be found. Ken-Flo is probably closest.
CaptainArmbar - January 25, 2012
I thought Frank Mir was quite good in the WEC, if a little smarmy.
VenusBlue - January 25, 2012
He started off awesome
Kinda got a bit lazy towards the end though.
discoandherpes - January 25, 2012
Provided Torres wasn't fighting.
MicahtheCynic - January 25, 2012
Keep Joe but make him play by play
Allow Goldie to hype the show, fighters, video games and sponsor’s products…….
and for the love of God have Dana and Militich kiss and make up so we can get a true MMA analyst.
F'n Clownshoes - January 25, 2012
If you're going to make changes
Put Anik and Rogan in there. Anik proved himself to be a very effective play by play guy last weekend. I MUCH prefer Anik to Goldie. Rogan is a solid color guy, but I think he sometimes has to compensate for Goldie’s bumbling.
LenBarson - January 25, 2012
Goldie needs to stay for product hype
his strength is his voice and ability to make what the UFC is selling and supporting sound both important and necessary.
F'n Clownshoes - January 25, 2012
I thought Ken-Flo did a pretty solid job, too.
Anik and Rogan would make a great team, in my opinion. Mir, Millitich and Couture have all provided great commentary over the years. You definitely need a knowledgable person calling the fight. I’ve definitely learnt a lot through Rogan’s knowledge of BJJ.
@KatanaClothing - January 25, 2012
Which is why I think they need to go with 3 instead of 2. I thought Anik got caught up when switching to announcing ad stuff. Multiple times he’d start a sentence then pause awkwardly then finish his sentence.
YoungGun - January 25, 2012
Watching Live vs Replay
I typically take in my live MMA bouts at a local sports bar, and even though the volume is blasted out concert quality speakers that seem too loud before the fights start, it gets pretty rowdy in there and I have some trouble hearing the commentary. Joe Rogan seems to know this, or he just likes getting all hyped up and shouting, either way, it helps.
I couldn’t hear Anik and Florian at all. It sounded like another show, some TV talk show playing in the background during the fight. It wasn’t until I got home and watched it again thanks to my DVR that I was able to appreciate what those two had said at all, and they definitely do not bring the excitement.
Since it is on free TV, I imagine most casual fans will watch at home, maybe even recorded…but I’d still like to hear more excitement from my commentators.
RobtWeaver - January 25, 2012
much ado about nothing...
In my opinion alot of this is a given… not really much to talk about.
RECE ROCK - January 25, 2012
I feel like it's too hard for anyone of us in the hardcore fan community
to get enough distance on Joe to be objective. My instinct is that he strikes a pretty good balance between hype man and explainer for a more general audience, but the truth is that for me Joe and Goldie are like a well broken in pair of sneakers by this point. I barely think about them, but I’d miss them if they were gone.
Dave Strummer - January 25, 2012
K1 level striking & the Michael Jordan of BJJ
Not me I would give anything to have a mute button during live fights, can’t stand both of them.
This also excludes gems from his pod cast such a very stoned Joe saying, "[…] how does the economy work?" If I could tolerate more than 15 seconds of this god awful wannabe pseudo stoner intelligence drenched in an appalling attempt at sophomoric comedy I could post another quote. This also excludes my views of him being a terrible spokesperson for drug reform, please Joe leave it to doctors and people who actually know what they are talking about and if you really love DMT get a frog and keep it yourself. Keep in mind I love stupid shit like Beavis and Butthead, Cheech and Chong, Dumb and Dumber, recreational drug use, and real comedians like George Carlin.
the jewish conquistador - January 25, 2012
You don't have a mute button?
LenBarson - January 25, 2012
try the volume down button
you do have one of those right?
Kevin Jennison J. Zametov-St Pierre - January 25, 2012
Yes but my friend who I always watch the fights with throws a shit fit if I do that so I just deal with it and try my best to ignore them.
the jewish conquistador - January 25, 2012
Joe does a good job.
I just wish he would stop calling the fight before it is actually finished.
“Oh he’s got the neck, it’s over!!!” Then guy gets out of choke etc…
NickRingp4pGOAT - January 25, 2012
At least he’s seemed to stop shouting “HE’S ROCKED!” after every solid strike.
Pat Tzu - January 25, 2012 via mobile
Alot o folks complain about
Rogan but after watching at least a dozen other promotions over the years I simply have not found anyone better IMO. He does go over the top at times but he is paid to be the color guy isnt he? Who would you prefer? Trigg,Schivalo, rutten, gus johnson, metger? While not perfect he is the best out there imo.
ldcpanther - January 25, 2012
The only good color commentators out there
Are probably Mir and Miletich
discoandherpes - January 25, 2012
Miletich is good
But he’s a bit dry. I think he’d be a good hypothetical addition to a Rogan-Goldberg booth though.
VenusBlue - January 25, 2012
a bit dry, yes
But he offers far more indepth and diverse analysis as well as on the fly insight on what will happen. His knowledge isnt skewed towards one aspect of the sport. A lot of guys you can tell their strong point and the rest seems like they’re just making it up or parroting someone else. My dream team is him and schiavello. I think he would compensate for the dryness.
NNR (formerly NameNotRequired) - January 25, 2012 via mobile
his dry professionalism ...
coupled w/ Goldies hype voice and Rogan doing strictly play by play would be a very good combo.
F'n Clownshoes - January 25, 2012
not only that, but he only seems dry depending on who he’s paired with. he did a great job with Schiavello this past weekend with the ProElite event, and he does very well with Ranallo as long as Frank Shamrock stays quiet.
Victor Rodriguez - January 25, 2012
he matched up well with Schiavello for the Proelite/Dream card.
far better commentary than that card deserved, to be honest, and a bit snarky.
Snatchl - January 25, 2012
Could anyone tell me what exactly happenned between Miletich and Dana?
I just learned the two are not on good terms but i m no insider so i have no idea
I like Joe Rogan i dont like when during a fight they start to promote the next but its their job i think he is fine with Goldie sometimes they say dumb things and there are some things they dont notice though. As i generally see they always have one fighter in each fight they favor and then they rather comment what that guy does .. but hey its human nature they are ok
szanpan - January 25, 2012
I think Mir is absolutely the best outside of Joe at this point
I really wish they’d find a way to get him in the booth a little more, though it may be weird with him actively competing at a high level.
Dave Strummer - January 25, 2012
I would use Mir occasionally
His earlier WEC commentary was fantastic, but then he started to do it consistently and the quality of his work kind of diminished.
discoandherpes - January 25, 2012
im sorry i havent heard him
any vids i could reach which he commentates?
szanpan - January 25, 2012
I think Rogan will do a great job. On his podcast, his viewers aren’t just MMA fans and when he starts to talk about an MMA topic, he explains it to people who don’t know, very well. He never dumbs it down, just tells how it is in a simple and easy to understand manner.
InfamousProfessorPlum - January 25, 2012
You’re absolutely right. And the more Rogan explains things, the less time Goldie can say stupid shit. Win/win!
Shnak - January 25, 2012
i thought the ufc on fox gig belonged to kenny and that anik guy?
theblade - January 25, 2012
Think that's only the Fuel/FX stuff.
VenusBlue - January 25, 2012
i see
for a first live event, anik and kenny did a very good job imo
theblade - January 25, 2012
Meh. Anik looked shaky, literally, his microphone was always shaking, and Florian, whatever. He’s fine for a fill-in, but he’s no where near Rogan. He’s too grayscale to be a great color commentor, he needs to amp it up a few notches.
Shnak - January 25, 2012
There is one word that obliterates all opinions on Anik being bad or "meh" and that word is
Goldberg.
UncleMax - January 25, 2012
Oh, don’t get me wrong, I thought Anik did well for his first time… and a monkey would do a better job than Goldie… Anik with Rogan is the pairing I’d like to see.
Shnak - January 25, 2012
I actually really like Goldberg.
I just pretend during every event that he is there because Make A Wish is fulfilling his wish to commentate with Joe. With that mindset he kind of grows on you like the pretend cancer that is making its way into his brain.
NickRingp4pGOAT - January 25, 2012
Anik will flourish
if i’m not mistaken, that was the first time he had done any live play by play since his college radio days….at least that’s what i heard and i can’t recall him doing live stuff prior.
F'n Clownshoes - January 25, 2012
He did Bellator play-by-play, didn’t he?
Shnak - January 25, 2012
yep.
i just looked it up. first season
F'n Clownshoes - January 25, 2012
We were dubbing in lines for Anik, because I couldn’t hear him over the crowd, and when he interviewed Dana White he literally looked like he wanted to lick Dana’s face. There were a lot of “mini-me!” and “I have your action figure up my ass right now!” tossed out.
Anik just looked way too star struck, and it hit a real creepy stalker vibe, to me.
RobtWeaver - January 25, 2012
I liked Anik and Florian.
My only complaint was that they sound very similar and its tough to tell who is who sometimes.
LenBarson - January 25, 2012
I liked that both Anik and Florian did not yell into the mic.
the jewish conquistador - January 25, 2012
I think Kenny actually did a great job explaining the battle for underhooks against the cage last Friday.
SanFranpsycho - January 25, 2012
Joe and Mike
Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg do just fine. They compliment one another very well. Joes insanity and Mike’s less caffeinated approach work well. Joe was obviously well versed from the start and Mike has gotten significantly better. Did not care for Anik and Florian at all. They did a good job but I am just used to Rogan and Goldberg. Also, it is not the announcer’s job to educate the viewer. Professional basketball, hockey, football, golf (etc.) announcers do not take the time to break down every little nuance of that particular sport and never have. Why should MMA be held to a different standard? It is up to the viewers to educate themselves. Also, most television announcers actually have very little tehnical knowledge of the sport they represent. Most of them are just fans who turned to journalism. Unless there are ex players, coaches or executives involved, usually what you get is just a lot of hype. I think broadcast television in general is a bad idea for MMA. The commercials are going to be non stop. Too much time to lose interest.
angelofpeace - January 25, 2012
My brain hurts from all the logical fallacies you just made me read.
Diz D - January 25, 2012
What?
Football, Basketball, Baseball, almost ALWAYS have an ex-player or coach in the booth nowadays and tons of them in the studio doing analysis.
Maybe John Madden drawing dicks on the screen with his intellimarker or w/e it’s called is clouding your judgment, but there are replays in almost every NFL play and most passing plays are quickly explained and dare I say analyzed so the viewer sees the finer points of the play.
No NFL fan is studying Cover 3, Cover 2 and stunt blitzing schemes to prepare themselves to watch football on Sundays. It’s the announcers who explain all of that. Some are better than others, but Joe absolutely needs to describe what’s going on especially on the floor before people who have never seen the sport before chalk it up as two guys humping each other on FOX.
deathbydegrees20 - January 25, 2012
actually it's mike who's super-caffeinated
he drinks a shitload of energy drinks to get hped before events
thats why he has so many piss breaks where rogan has to announce alone
Cunny - January 25, 2012
Joe, Mike and Frank
And Frank Mir was very good at breaking things down, analyzing and speculating on what moves were coming next or who was going to use what against whom. He definitely would be a great fit when he is ready to transition from fighting.
angelofpeace - January 25, 2012
It's a shame it isn't Anik with Rogan
Rogan having to do two jobs makes his commentary harder.
UFC 126 Front Kick
Goldberg: “COMPLETELY ROCKED HIM! TRYING TO FINISH! AND IT IS ALL OVER!”
Rogan of course said “HE FRONT KICKED HIM IN THE FACE!”
And these two on Cain/JDS were on FOX Sports Radio in a simulcast of the TV broadcast. If I were listening to Goldberg’s blow-by-blow on the radio of that fight I’d have had no idea what happened.
SSreporters - January 25, 2012
I know he isn't real
but Renato Laranja would be the greatest ever.
hervoton - January 25, 2012
MicahtheCynic - January 25, 2012
Joe was so uncomfortable there.
It was like they told him two seconds before they went to air what they were announcing, and someone just threw a blazer on him.
pud333 - January 25, 2012
that was so awkward
Cunny - January 25, 2012
early
DamnSevern - January 25, 2012
In a time before cokebloat...
menckenstein - January 25, 2012
Rogan’s never done coke… steroids on the other hand…
Diz D - January 25, 2012
is that tony danza
UncleMax - January 25, 2012
He looks like Chris Kattan here.
NickRingp4pGOAT - January 25, 2012
Rogan taught me Jiu-Jitsu.
As someone who has never rolled before getting into MMA – or since, for that matter – Rogan was the guy that helped me understand the ground game back when I was a newbie. Without him, I wouldn’t have bothered with MMA since I had absolutely no idea what was going on. By this point, I’ve seen enough MMA to know what I’m looking at, and Rogan is more of an afterthought, and yes, he does make some bad comments and yes he gets excited over nothing sometimes, but Rogan is the man as far as I’m concerned. He does his job incredibly well. And I am glad he is getting these opportunities.
However, I will not miss Goldie. Anik looked nervous and he missed some spots, but overall, I think he did a fantastic job – better than Goldie ever did. It was nice, for once, to hear some actual play by play. The UFC is pretty loyal to those who are loyal to them, so I don’t see them getting rid of Goldie any time, but I would like to see Anik and Rogan paired up for a few shows.
pud333 - January 25, 2012
Well said. Long before I started reading articles here, Rogan was my one source of knowledge for Jiu-Jitsu too. I’m now good enough to recognize what’s going on most of the time. And it’s all thanks to him. I definitely would miss him if he left.
Shnak - January 25, 2012
Rogan has officially seen the article
someone tweeted the article to him and he’s since retweeted it.
ChillMike - January 25, 2012
That was me!
Joe does an excellent job most nights, but this time its more important to explain stuff such as guard, side control, the importance of leg kicks, etc. I saw the last UFC on Fox event with 4 friends that had never seen a UFC event, and i was willing to explain those things, but we all know what happened..
I hope Joe does a good job of explaning things by making the assumption its the first MMA event for a lot of people.
Immortal_JL - January 25, 2012
rogan
just re tweeted a link to this article
Elstriko - January 25, 2012 via Android app
Hopefully, there is another 'spilled bag of ice' moment to endear him to new fans
Steve4192 - January 25, 2012
That is by far the best Joe Rogan moment in UFC history.
In case anyone missed it:
http://youtu.be/X9IfSOxqC2I
Immortal_JL - January 25, 2012
Joe Rogan has been on primetime television for years
I highly doubt this event is going to help his national exposure.
Andre - January 25, 2012
With 4/6 main eventers having grappling favored attacks, this should be interesting!
ludakrish - January 26, 2012
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