A 25-year-old clip of Joe Rogan explaining the UFC to Conan O'Brien during the early and difficult stages of the organization is gaining traction on social media.
Before the UFC became a mainstream organization and MMA became widely popular, the leading brand in combat sports had a laundry list of negative connotations. While John McCain was working to get the sport banned across the States, enthusiasts such as Rogan became a voice for the then-bizarre faction as it tried to break out of the dark web and DVDs.
In 1998, Rogan appeared on O'Brien's show to promote a UFC event and the sitcom News Radio, which he was acting in at the time. During the segment, O'Brien asked 31-year-old Rogan to explain the UFC, seemingly to ridicule Rogan's passion for MMA.
'It's fun, man. It's a freak show. It's wild. It's great,' Rogan said after explaining his role as a post-fight interviewer.
'What ultimate fighting is, it's in a cage, it's in an Octagon. It's like a combination of boxing, and wrestling,' he added.
Joe Rogan began participating in UFC events in 1997 in exchange for tickets for his friends
'The moment you say it's in a cage, you lose people's respect,' O'Brien said as the dismissive and closed-minded audience laughed.
'But why?' Rogan exclaimed. 'That way you can't get away. That's the whole purpose of it. They're great athletes. They're Olympic gold medalists and world Jiu-Jitsu champions, and boxers. It's all just a combination.'
'There's always been questions in the martial arts, like what if a Karate guy fought a Judo guy? And what the Ultimate Fighting Championship did is say 'Let's find out.' And they threw them all together. It's great,' he added.
Rogan began participating in UFC events in 1997 after management noticed his enthusiasm for their product.
Parlayed with his podcast and TV endeavors, Rogan remained loyal to the UFC through the dark ages up until the likes of Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey launched it to mainstream success.
While Rogan moved from doing interviews in exchange for tickets to doing color commentary and in-cage interviews for the UFC, his respect for fighters was obvious through the 1998 segment.
Rogan now does color commentary for the UFC with Jon Anik (left) and Daniel Cormier (right)
Rogan also regularly conducts in-cage post-fight interviews for big UFC events
'They're some of the most intelligent guys you'll ever meet,' he said, remaining composed throughout the interview. 'You'll think these guys are a little bit dimwitted, they've been knocked around, but they're not. They're really, really bright guys. It's very technical.'
He also argued about safety despite the lack of regulations in its foundational years. Furthermore, he addressed the negative stigma attached to the company and people's refusal to view MMA as a proper sport.
'You have a referee. If it gets out of hand, it's very safe,' Rogan claimed and was met with a choir of laughter. 'People die every day in race car driving, they die boxing year, no one has died in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
'They have a huge problem with censorship,' he said when O'Brien brought an upcoming pay-per-view. 'Cable companies are keeping it from getting aired because [of] the image - fighting in a cage. Everybody goes 'Are you crazy? What is that? It's human cockfighting,' but it's not. They're really skilled fighters.'
As for O'Brien, MMA personalities have become regulars in his program with the likes of McGregor, Rousey, and Daniel Cormier appearing on the show.
He also became infamous for the 'Conan curse' where fighters would lose their bouts after appearing as guests on O'Brien's show. Cormier broke the curse when he defeated Stipe Miocic in 2018.
