MMA analyst Luke Thomas, appearing on Pablo Torre Finds Out, made Joe Rogan a central reference point in his argument about right-wing politics and what he described as a culture of denial surrounding combat sports.
Thomas opened with a blunt assessment of the current landscape. “It’s very obvious that it’s right-wing and they are in denial about it,” he said.
To illustrate how that denial can operate at the highest levels of influence, Thomas pointed to the launch of Rogan’s Comedy Mothership in Austin, Texas. He recalled researching the media coverage around the club’s opening and the way Rogan framed its identity during interviews.
“I was thinking about this and I was looking this up when Joe Rogan opened his comedy club in Austin, Texas,” Thomas said. “I’m not sure how long ago, a few years at this point. There was a lot of fanfare about it. And he had done a bunch of interviews. They were asking him, ‘Hey, what’s it like to be the first anti-woke club for comedy in the country?’ And he was like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa. I’m not anti-woke. You know, there’s not woke and then anti-woke. There’s just woke and then we’re a return to normalcy.'”
Thomas described this response as part of what he sees as a pattern, framing it as a “problem with self-identification” among influential figures in the space.
“There’s clearly support for right-wing ideas, support for right-wing candidates, support for right-wing billionaires on his show, support for any number of right-wing conspiracy theories, you name it,” he said. “And then if you ask them if they’re right-wing, they’ll be like, ‘No, no, no, no. I’m more like some kind of loose association of the middle.'”
He continued: “And then the other part is people who are like yes MMA is very very right-wing. why do you even care? And the answer is because it’s become a vector for right-wing politics in the country.”
Despite his criticism, Thomas also acknowledged a point from Rogan that he believes reflects a genuine understanding of martial arts evolution. He referenced a quote he considers insightful, even if somewhat exaggerated.
“Joe Rogan actually does have a really interesting quote where he said martial arts have evolved more in these 30 years than they have in the past 30,000 years,” Thomas said. He then added: “And there’s something to be said for, I mean that might be a little bit of hyperbole, but there is a core insight there.”
Thomas previously appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience roughly six years ago, spending three and a half hours discussing mixed martial arts, an experience he has described as positive. What he believes has changed since then is not the individual host, but the scale and direction of the platform itself.
As Rogan’s show grew into one of the most influential media outlets in combat sports, it also became, in Thomas’s view, a recurring stage for right-leaning figures, ideas, and political candidates.
