While he fell short of saying, flat out, that the event is a bad idea, Joe Rogan is looking at the UFC’s White House event with a raised eyebrow.
Rogan, the UFC’s longtime lead analyst, also has the top-viewed podcast in the country. And on his “Joe Rogan Experience,” he brought up the timing of the event, UFC Freedom 250, which is scheduled for the White House lawn June 14, and the war recently started by Donald Trump in Iran.
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Rogan said he doesn’t think the Middle East tension or the U.S. involvement in it will have ceased by then, making a UFC fight card at the White House a target-rich environment for potential bad actors.
“It sounds crazy,” Rogan said of the event. “I know it’s going to be very high security and high stress and weird to have a fight at the White House in the middle of a f*cking war. I would hope the war will be sorted out by June, but quite honestly, I’m not confident that’s going to be the case.”
Rogan then said the quiet part out loud, regarding Trump and his senior staff and cabinet cronies.
“That will be weird, having this very high-profile event where everybody is in one place at one time,” Rogan said.
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Rogan stopped being part of most every UFC broadcast long ago and has been only doing pay-per-views – now UFC “numbered events” on Paramount+. And even at that, he has only been doing those big cards when they’re in the U.S.
He presumably will be part of the planned June 14 broadcast, though details haven’t been released. He was on the job for UFC 326 this past Saturday in Las Vegas, and Jan. 24 for UFC 324 in Vegas prior to that.
The UFC White House card is headlined by a title unification bout between lightweight champ Ilia Topuria and interim champion Justin Gaethje. The co-main event will see Brazil’s Alex Pereira try to make history as a three-division UFC champion against France’s Ciryl Gane for an interim heavyweight belt. The event has only six fights and has come under fire for its quality relative to the buildup that was given its announcement five days ago.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Rogan: ‘Crazy’ to do UFC White House ‘in the middle of a f*cking war’
