HOUSTON – UFC president Dana White has weighed in on the back-and-forth between longtime UFC color commentator Joe Rogan and ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith.
Rogan and Smith’s recent public disagreement stemmed from comments Smith made on the UFC 246 post-fight show in which he ripped Donald Cerrone for his first-round loss to Conor McGregor, even going so far as to say “Cowboy” quit.
Rogan took exception to Smith’s comments and made that clear during an episode of his “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast.
“For Conor to smash ‘Cowboy’ like that in front of his wife, his kid, his grandma and the whole world, you’ve got to have some respect for that man, and this sport demands a different perspective,” Rogan said. “It’s not the same thing as a ball going into a hoop. It’s not the same thing as crossing a line with a football. It’s different. It’s very intense and very personal, and it’s also very (expletive) dangerous and to play it off like it’s just a game, I don’t agree with it.”
Soon after that, Smith issued a video response to Rogan, doubling down on many of his comments from fight night.
“You have your right, just like I have my right to respond, as I’m doing right now,” Smith said. “But any time you want to talk to me about this fight, or you want to talk to me about my credentials to discuss something in the world of sports, name the time and place, Joe Rogan, and I’ll show up. It’s not a problem. It’s not a problem at all.”
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On Thursday, MMA Junkie caught up with White and asked for his thoughts on the Smith vs. Rogan rivalry and all that it entailed. White said that, while he recognizes what Smith’s job is, he isn’t a proponent of criticizing a fighter’s heart after a loss.
“One of the things when we bought and built the UFC that we always did, being fight fans ourselves … I’m a huge fight fan,” White said. “Lorenzo (Fertitta) was a huge fight fan. Joe Rogan is a huge fight fan. One of the things that we hated was on HBO boxing and some other boxing they would do. Listen, you’re tuning in and buying the pay-per-view because you love these guys and you respect these fighters, and you’re a fan of the sport. The last thing you want to do is hear somebody ripping them apart.
“I’m not into it. Rogan is not into it. You don’t see that in the UFC. There will be times where I’m pissed off at a guy, and I’ll voice my opinion on what he did or whatever – or if a fight is really bad or somebody did something. What we don’t do is, when a fight is over and a guy loses, we don’t go in and rip them apart. It’s just not our style. We’re fans. We don’t do it. I think Rogan was reacting to that. That’s our philosophy here. For Stephen A. Smith, that’s his thing. That’s what he does. It’s going to happen. You’re always going to have people who have difference in opinions, especially when you have two very opinionated guys like Stephen A. Smith and Joe Rogan.”
You can watch the full interview interview with White in the video above.
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