Joe Rogan explains why he will turn down any exhibition fight offers

Joe Rogan has long worked as a podcast host, and UFC commentator. But unlike many other MMA insiders, RoganĀ  has has years of taekwondo and jiu-jitsu training under his belt. To this day, he spends a lot of time training to stay in shape.

However, Rogan claims he has no desire to compete at the age of 54. He seems to be averse to the trend of stars trying their hand at boxing. This is likely, at least in part, due to the fact that he has a lucrative deal to for Spotify to stream JRE valued at over $200 million.

Rogan admires the late-career comebacks of fighters like Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather regardless of his own ‘retirement’. These fighters engaged in multi-million dollar exhibitions long after retiring from the ring. However, he feels he is too old to compete in any way, even against a fellow influencer or celebrity.

Joe believes he can still win bouts, but he has no desire to do so.

He noted on a recent edition of his podcast, ā€œIā€™m too banged up. Iā€™m too old. Iā€™m not interested anymore. Probably I could f*** some people up. Iā€™m not interested.”

Rogan has been especially pleased with Tyson, who boxed Roy Jones Jr in November 2020. It’s now being speculated that Tyson will meet one of the Paul brothers, Jake and Logan, who are both younger than he is.

Rogan said, “Some guys can keep it up. “Like Floyd, 45 years old looks f***ing amazing.ā€

ā€œThe best example is Mike Tyson. He is 55 years old and theyā€™re still talking about him fighting either Logan or Jake Paul. Like that is crazy. And I donā€™t know what would happen.ā€

ā€œYou know whatā€™s crazy? Floyd is still doing these exhibitions making millions. He was holding the ring card girlā€™s cards and walking around. He held up the card between rounds and Floyd walked around with the card, he put on a show.ā€

“Itā€™s really smart. Because heā€™s given them their moneyā€™s worth. Itā€™s not just a boxing exhibition. Heā€™s putting on a show. Heā€™s laughing and dancing. Heā€™s got a big smile on his face while the fights going on.ā€

Rogan was at one point in talks for an exhibition against Wesley Snipes.Ā  Snipes was in trouble with the IRS and was interested in a one off in order to steer PPV toward his debts.

 Snipes appeared set to face fellow actor Jean-Claude Van Damme, but there was another name in discussion. The mind behind Combate, Campbell McClaren proposed Snipes take on Rogan:

 “He’s like ‘nobody’s gonna pay to see you and Jean-Claude Van Damme fight'”, Rogan recalled on his podcast in 2016.
“You have to fight someone who was ‘current.’ So he said ‘would you fight Joe Rogan? And he said ‘Yup, let’s do it.’ So they came to me, and I went ‘How much money?’ And then they started talking, then I said ‘OK, let’s see what happens.'”

Ultimately nothing came of it.
“I just didn’t think that anybody who didn’t know any jiu-jitsu could learn it quick,” he added. “I was already a brown belt by then, and I just knew what happened when a brown belt fights a white belt. I just can’t imagine.

“I know how to stand up, and even if I wasn’t good at striking anymore like I was when I was a kid, I’m good enough to know what to not do and where to not be. And if I get a hold of someone who doesn’t know jiu-jitsu, I’m pretty sure I’m choking the f**k out of them.

“He’s never wrestled, he never had a competitive martial arts match, whether it’s a kickboxing fight or karate fight. I was like ‘I’m gonna choke the f**k out of this guy. I’m gonna get a hold of him, and I’m gonna squeeze the s**t out of him, and they’re gonna give me a lot of money, and he’s probably not even gonna get hurt.’ That’s what I thought.”