During JRE MMA Show #172 with Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson, Joe Rogan made his position crystal clear on the combat sports landscape and the UFC’s dominance in mixed martial arts.
When discussing professional wrestling’s lack of a major outlet, Rogan drew a direct parallel to MMA’s current state. “The problem is MMA is so huge now and people kind of associate wrestling with either MMA or pro wrestling now,” he explained to Steveson. “Like those are the two things that they think of.”
Stevenson then talked about the various promotions outside the UFC. “There’s so many great leagues, but like the most prestigious people, you can say PFL, you can say anything,” Rogan stated. “And you can go to any place and make a ton of money. But once you get that stamp of he’s a UFC champ, people like, ‘That’s him. That’s it.'”
Rogan agreed, stating: “They put that UFC belt on you and it’s on ESPN and everybody sees it. That’s it. The PFL is just another belt.”
Rogan used boxing’s fractured championship system as a cautionary tale, noting the IBF, WBA, WBO, and WBC create confusion rather than clarity. In contrast, he praised the UFC’s singular championship model.
The podcast host became even more direct about fighters competing outside the UFC. “If you’re not in the UFC, I don’t care,” Rogan declared. “I mean, you look, you can go to the PFL and you can win that million dollar tournament and you can make, and I’m all for that. And I’m very happy for those guys. They get to feed their family, and they provide, and they make a great living, and they can retire with some money in the bank. But the reality is part of what you’re doing is you’re trying to be the best. And if you’re going to be the best, you kind of have to be in the UFC.”
When Steveson mentioned high level PFL stars, Rogan acknowledged their skills but emphasized public perception: ” Like we talked about Nemkov who’s an excellent fighter. Nobody knows who the f**k he is. Not in America. You go to a regular kid, you know, some kid on the street and you know, you say, ‘Who is Vadim Nemkov?’ And they’re like, ‘What?'”
He contrasted this with UFC stars: “They probably know who Alex Pereira is. They probably know who Islam Makachev is. They know who the UFC guys are. The UFC, that title is worth so much.”
Rogan’s assessment wasn’t merely about brand recognition. He pointed to the UFC’s production quality and storytelling through series like Countdown and Embedded, which humanize competitors and build genuine connections with audiences in ways other promotions struggle to replicate.
