Joe Rogan will not be in the booth for Saturday night’s UFC 271 broadcast.
The longtime UFC color commentator and podcast host (The Joe Rogan Experience) has come under fire in recent weeks, caught in something of a political maelstrom with varying groups seeking to silence him. In January, a group of doctors and other medical professionals criticized Spotify in an open letter to the platform over Rogan featuring Dr. Robert Malone, a controversial figure who is named in multiple patents related to mRNA vaccines — the science behind the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines currently in production.
In recent years, Malone has been anything but mainstream, and has been an advocate for the use of Ivermectin in treating COVID-19. He’s also suggested that America is experiencing mass formation psychosis, comparing it to Germany during the rise of the Nazi regime.
Next came a clip of Rogan uttering the N-word repeatedly, albeit with little context (further investigation found Rogan hadn’t been using the word as a slur, but the debate about whether it should be said at all, especially by a white public figure, remains). That resulted in calls for Rogan to be outright cancelled — which led to several prominent black fighters coming to his defense, including Terrance McKinney and Israel Adesanya.
In the wake of all this, Rogan being absent from Saturday’s UFC 271 broadcast has brought about concerns over the promotion caving to external pressure. Rogan has worked a part time schedule in recent years, but generally attends most U.S. based Pay-Per-View shows. Per a report by TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter, however, the push to silence Rogan does not appear to be the culprit in this case. Rather, a “scheduling conflict” has resulted in Joe Rogan being unavailable for Saturday’s card in Houston, TX.
“Per a UFC official, Joe Rogan had a scheduling conflict this week and will not be on the call for UFC 271,” Bronsteter wrote on Twitter. “He is scheduled to do colour commentary for UFC 272 in March.”
In place of Rogan will be former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping. Jon Anik and Daniel Cormier will also be featured on the broadcast.
