Joe Rogan made no secret of his unease about the upcoming UFC White House event during episode #2466 of the Joe Rogan Experience, recorded with British comedians and political commentators Francis Foster and Konstantin Kisin.
With an ongoing military conflict in Iran casting a shadow over the United States, Rogan expressed genuine concern about what it would mean to host one of the most high-profile sporting events in recent memory at the seat of American power.
When the subject of the White House card came up, Rogan was initially enthusiastic about the talent on show, particularly featherweight champion Ilia Topuria.
“It sounds crazy,” Rogan said. “I know it’s going to be very high security and high stress and weird to have an event at the White House in the middle of a f**king war. But I would hope the war will be sorted out by June, but quite honestly, I’m not confident that that’s going to be the case.”
He pushed the conversation further: “That would be weird having this very high-profile event where everybody’s in one place at one time, right there.”
Kisin stated, “Holy s**t, I hadn’t thought of that at all.”
Rogan replied: “How could you not think of that?”
Kisin’s answer revealed exactly why the concern had not been front of mind. “Well, because I’m not going to be there. You’re the one that has to think of it. I was just like, this is a great lineup. I look forward to the matchups.”
With the Iran conflict ongoing and no clear resolution in sight, gathering a large crowd of political figures, media personnel, athletes, and fans at the White House presents an obvious security question that goes well beyond standard event logistics.
Throughout the episode, the three discussed how unpredictable the geopolitical situation has become, with Kisin noting that nobody truly knows how the Iran conflict resolves. “The coin is in the air,” he said, “and we do not know how it’s going to go.”
