You’d think that after over two decades behind the mic, calling UFC fights would be second nature for Joe Rogan. After all, the man has seen it all—from early prelims to historic title bouts. But even after all these years, there are still a few things that trip him up. One of the biggest? Fighter names.
And when Rogan slipped up with a particularly tricky one, it didn’t go unnoticed—especially by Khabib Nurmagomedov since it was a fellow Dagestani fighter’s name.
So, what exactly happened? Well, as is the case after every fight, Rogan interviews the winner. In this particular instance, at UFC 311, the winner happened to be Khabib‘s cousin Umar.
After he was done talking, Rogan said, “Congratulations sir” followed by an absolute decimation of his last name.
‘The Eagle’ shared a clip of the video on Instagram with a warning, “@joerogan you should have remembered this name @umar_nurmagomedov is a problem.”
View this post on Instagram
Notably, Rogan has rarely had these moments where he has struggled with names. Especially compared to some of his peers in the industry.
Rogan usurped by Sonnen and Schaub
Chael Sonnen and Brendan Schaub have become well-known for their blatant mispronunciation of fighters’ names, even ones that should be rather easy to say.
Sonnen, for instance, has struggled with names like Zabit Magomedsharipov and Merab Dvalishvili. In a lighthearted exchange, he admitted that after finally learning to pronounce Magomedsharipov’s name, the fighter retired, rendering his effort moot.
Similarly, Sonnen’s attempt at Dvalishvili’s name came out as “Deeshalivili,” much to the amusement of co-host Daniel Cormier. He also continues to call Alex Pereira, ‘Peira’.
Meanwhile, Schaub’s penchant for mispronouncing names has become a lighthearted hallmark among MMA fans. His verbal slip-ups have led to some memorable moments, such as referring to Khabib Nurmagomedov as “Ni**amurdov” and calling Paige VanZant “Paige Van Ants.”
Schaub has also amusingly dubbed Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson as “Wanderboy” or “Stephenboy Thompson,” and Jeremy Stephens as “Germy Stevens.” His creative takes don’t stop there; he’s pronounced Du Ho Choi as “Dan Ho Choi” or “Dough Ho Choi,” and Jon Jones as “John Jones.”
Even outside the MMA realm, Schaub has had his moments, like calling actress Margot Robbie “Margaret Robert” and singer Wiz Khalifa “Wiz Kalifee.” Schaub’s blunders are so notorious that there are subreddits dedicated to them!
