During episode #2468 of The Joe Rogan Experience with guest Luke Grimes, Joe Rogan opened up about his close friend Dana White’s well-documented appetite for high-stakes gambling and offered a theory about why White created Power Slap.
The conversation turned to Las Vegas and gambling when Rogan drew a contrast between himself and the UFC CEO. “No. Not really. I mean, I’ve bet some money on matches. I’ve played blackjack a few times, but I’ve never lost any real money,” Rogan said. “But my friend Dana White, he’s a f**king degenerate. Like a crazy degenerate.”
Rogan then described a visit to Red Rocks Casino where he witnessed White’s gambling firsthand. “I went to visit him recently. So he was at Red Rocks Casino and a couple of my other buddies were there. So we showed up and went into the blackjack room. He was there. And when I got there, he was down $600,000 when I got there.”
He continued: “And it was a normal night for him. And he wasn’t even nervous. He was like, ‘Hey, what’s up?’ He’s shaking my hand, give me a hug. All these other people are there. And I got f**king massive anxiety. I was like, ‘This is crazy. How are you?'”
Rogan went on to describe how White apparently coached NFL offensive tackle Taylor Lewan at the table that night. “Him and Taylor Lewan, the football player, he coaches Taylor how to play blackjack. And so they got together. He tells him when to hit and when not to hit. And they did it right next to us. Within five minutes, Taylor was down $125,000.”
The losses, however, don’t stop there. Rogan recalled a story White told on the Flagrant podcast. “He told a story on, I think it was Flagrant, where he talked about losing like $6 million in one night.”
It was at that point Rogan floated his theory directly connecting White’s gambling to the creation of Power Slap. “That’s my theory about Power Slap. Why they’re doing Power Slap. I think it’s Dana’s gambling money. That’s what I think. I think it’s like he needs some source of revenue outside of the UFC so he doesn’t lose his UFC money.”
Grimes was candid about what he thinks of the product itself. “Sorry, Dana. I know you, but it’s tough to watch. You just, people getting brain damage over and over again.”
Rogan agreed and replied: “It’s not my thing. I don’t get it. It’s all like the saddest people getting whacked in the head. It’s not a good thing. They call it fig hts, too. Like, okay. I mean, I guess you should come up with another name. It’s kind of insulting to an actual fig ht.”
Rogan circled back to his gambling theory one final time, pointing to a telling exchange he once had with White. “That’s my theory, that that’s his gambling money, ’cause that f**king dude gambles. ‘Cause I asked him once, I go, ‘Oh, you like living here?’ He goes, ‘I love the action.’ He’s a good friend of mine, but he’s a different person than me. I’m not. That’s not me.”
