Joe Rogan Explains How UFC Debunked Martial Arts Myths, Showing Half of Them Were Useless

Back in the 1980s, a young Joe Rogan started training Taekwondo after his coaches told him it was a superior martial art. At the time, it was very common for each and every fighting form to believe and claim they were the best. This notion has been debunked by the UFC, says Rogan.

The idea of one martial art being superior to the rest is inherently flawed since a fight with trained athletes would bring about unpredictable circumstances. A mix of different styles would then become paramount to success.

“Every discipline believed they had the very best discipline…..And it took the UFC to slam everything together and go, ‘oh Jesus half of the stuff is f*cking useless’,” the host of JRE said on his podcast episode with Jimmy Corsetti and Dan Richards.

However, Rogan also clarified that not everything about traditional martial arts was ‘useless’. It’s the matter of using things the right way, at the right time. He cited the example of UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones using a Taekwondo spinning back kick to secure the TKO victory over Stipe Miocic at UFC 309.

And this is something Rogan wished more fighters did — incorporating elements borrowed from different martial arts into their arsenal.

UFC 309 was a spectacle. And Jones’ Taekwondo kick wasn’t the only thing Rogan took away from the event.

Joe Rogan’s UFC 309 hat

Rogan keeps collecting the coolest of memorabilias from fight nights — specifically hats from fighters. just one of the perks of his job as a UFC commentator.

During UFC 309, Ramiz Brahimaj, an American fighter with Albanian roots, gifted Rogan an Albanian hat that belonged to his grandfather. He explained the importance of it in his post-fight press conference, saying,

“Oh that’s an Albanian Plis, that was my grandfather’s and it’s like a tribal hat….Tell him to take care of that thing. It was my grandfather’s.”

Ramiz Brahimaj reminded the world that fighting is more than a sport—it’s a connection to our roots. His emotional tribute to his late grandfather, sharing the story behind the traditional Albanian hat, moved Joe Rogan and fans alike. A champion in and out of the octagon! pic.twitter.com/9LkGhnczSE

— Sami Flamuri (@SamiFlamuri) November 18, 2024

Rogan has previously been gifted headgear from Dagestan and Kazakhstan by Khabib Nurmagomedov and Shavkat Rakhmonov respectively.