UFC color commentator and podcaster Joe Rogan clearly talks the talk when it comes to his knowledge of MMA. But a little research will reveal that he walks the walk, too. However, despite the credentials, the commentator doesn’t believe he could have taken on any UFC heavyweight.
Having initially developed an interest in MMA during his teenage years, he began to train in Brazilian jiu-jitsu in 1996 under the revered Carlson Gracie. This led to Rogan earning two black belts in BJJ under the tutelage of Eddie Bravo and Jean Jacques Machado. Rogan’s black belts are in the no-gi and gi styles of Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
He also has a black belt in Taekwondo, having been the Massachusetts full-contact state champion for four years running in his youth. Rogan’s impressive MMA repertoire would get him out of many sticky situations and would most likely help him hold his own in a difficult fight.
Speaking to his latest guest on the Joe Rogan Experience, Amanda Knox, Rogan offered the journalist and author to prepare for the worst-case scenario – a trained killer – even if that scenario is very unlikely to happen.
While Rogan recognized that his MMA expertise would put him in a good position against most in a fight, including Knox, it wouldn’t be an advantage in a fight against someone outside of his weight class or someone who was simply bigger than himself.
“The way you would be able to beat me was if I were untrained,” began Rogan, addressing Knox.
“I have too many advantages. But also, I don’t have advantages if someone is bigger than me and just as well-trained as me. Or more well-trained than I am. I’m not gonna beat the UFC Heavyweight Champion…” he continued.
“I’m completely vulnerable. As an expert martial artist with three black belts, I’m completely vulnerable,” the JRE host stressed.
But while Rogan’s measured and theoretical approach to MMA showed in his discussion with Amanda Knox, it’s clearly not the only route to combat success, as shown by Max Holloway.
Holloway’s layman’s approach to fighting
Holloway, who will next be Dustin Poirier’s final opponent in July, sat down last year with Rogan on his podcast to discuss his unorthodox training methods from early on in his career.
“My first seven fights in the UFC, you know the UFC game? I’d use Renan Barao and Jose Aldo and I’d do stuff with them and I’d be like ‘Oh yeah, this works in the game,’” revealed Holloway to a stunned Rogan.
“And I’d be like, ‘Look, I tried this in the game and it was working, let’s try it,’ and we did it, I figured out [striking] from the regular UFC game,” he gleefully told Rogan.
Rogan’s depth of MMA knowledge and practical experience make him an expert in the sport. But as he stated to Knox, someone who is better trained than he, who is better than he, and has more experience than he, would carry the advantage in a straight fight.
So while it is a bizarre MMA apprenticeship, partially completed at the helm of a games console, Rogan can’t question the expertise of someone as experienced as Max Holloway.
