Joe Rogan and current UFC Bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling recently talked about the impact of kickboxing in America.
Sterling questioned why kickboxing isn’t a more popular sport in the country, pointing out that many MMA fans complain about wrestling being boring.
The UFC bantamweight champion told Rogan on the JRE podcast:
“I’m surprised that sport [kickboxing], like you know sometimes those fans that complain and go, ‘Oh, they just wrestled the whole time,’ well like, why isn’t kickboxing a bigger sport over here [the United States]?… I don’t get it, like it’s literally everything you want to see that you b**ch about in MMA.”
Sterling doesn’t understand why MMA fans are upset when fighters wrestle during their fights when they can watch kickboxing.
Rogan continued to say that if you’re a “true fan,” you should be aware of what’s going on in the fights and that all aspects of martial arts will be utilized.
Despite the Brazilian’s lack of striking, the UFC commentator mentioned Demian Maia and his incredible performance against Neil Magny. When they fought at UFC 190, Maia submitted Magny in the second round with a rear-naked choke.
Furthermore, Rogan stated that if you don’t respect what fighters like Maia do in the octagon, you don’t respect the true “art” of MMA.
Joe Rogan reacts to Aljamain Sterling’s “weird” split-decision victory over Petr Yan
Joe Rogan praised Aljamain Sterling’s performance against Petr Yan at UFC 273 while calling the judges’ decision “weird.” Since winning the bantamweight belt via an illegal knee at UFC 259, the current UFC bantamweight champion has had difficulty with UFC fans.
When speaking with Sterling on his podcast, Rogan was full of praise for the 32-year-old:
“It’s a great fight. It’s a very good fight… That was a weird split-decision. It was a very good fight, but you definitely won the fight. I watched it again today, actually.”
When the decision was read out, UFC fans and judges did not seem as confident in Sterling as Rogan did. Despite this, ‘Funk Master’ retained his title after defeating Yan once more.
Sterling is on a seven-fight winning streak in the UFC, last losing to Marlon Moraes in 2017.
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