Longtime UFC color commentator Joe Rogan doesn’t shy out of pointing at the holes in a system. It even applies under his banner. Recently, the 56-year-old lashed out at the baseless scoring controversies and judges at fault. In prime Joe Rogan Experience fashion, the legendary podcaster hinted at what changes he’d employ if he were king!
During the past few years, Joe Rogan has been very forthcoming about the deviltry in questionable officiating. This is not just true in MMA, but it also applies to boxing. It’s not entirely avoidable for standup games like boxing. However, Rogan presents heavy changes favoring grapplers in MMA, where it’s mix-rule set:
I have a bunch of rules that I’d implement, If I was the king. Number one…No Stand ups, ever! I don’t give a fu*ck…figure out how to get up [by yourself]. Also, if a guy takes you down at the end of the first round, the second round starts with you with that ‘exact’ same page — hundred percent…
Joe Rogan via JRE Fight Companion – June 22, 2024
Rogan pitched in when ex-UFC heavyweight and debutant Francis Ngannou lost a decision nod over Tyson Fury despite wobbling him. Even Ryan Garcia took shots at a hold-back when he had a clear chance to knockout Devin Haney. It’s unavoidable in boxing, but for MMA, Rogan pitches one 15-round straight through. Or grapplers starting a second round from an unrecovered position.
This lines up with his discussion with BJJ Savant, the legendary Royce Gracie, on The JRE MMA Show #156. Being a mix-rule set, Rogan says fighters should not have the security blanket of recovering on feet or just overpowering with striking. Tough luck if one can’t get up as spatial control and shock-and-awe matters. Alongside, he cued in some ideas about the judges as well.
Joe Rogan calls for long-standing changes in judging to stop controversies
The audience is less than pleased with the skill-to-skill display whenever the game goes to the ground. Longtime bantamweight Aljamain Sterling sustained a good battle acumen and gassed his opponent with his wrestling at UFC 300 on his featherweight debut. It was the same in the UFC 303 pay-per-view main card opener, where Ian Garry took to the ground and won.
Nevertheless, there were boos for it. MMA includes multiple disciplines; if it were just about sluggers, UFC would remain somewhat similar to a bare-knuckle organization. However, even judges veer towards a flashy display of striking mettle and finishers.
Rogan recently watched the UFC on ABC: Whittaker vs. Aliskerov card with his friends on his podcast. During his June 22. JRE Fight Companion (PowerfulJRE › @joerogan), the UFC commentator presented he wants to double the number of judges:
That’s debatable [where judges are seated], but more judges, [UFC needs] more judges. Six… So if you have one c*ck-eyed a**hole, who fu*ks everything up… they should be cut out. As soon as they have one of those, get rid of them…
Joe Rogan via JRE Fight Companion – June 22, 2024
In recent memory, UFC Vegas 85: Imavov vs. Dolidze was a weird scoring. Despite initial assertiveness, Roman Dolidze failed to do anything significant to Nassourdine Imaov. However, one judge thought Dolidze won. The same happened with Yair Rodriguez and Brian Ortega in their rematch, where judges couldn’t decide between significant ground control and standup striking, scoring 10-8s for both.
Paulo Costa recently advocated for an open-scoring system to have the errors on full display. Better yet, Joe Rogan says to increase the number of judges. If one errs, the other rectifies. As such, MMA scoring still remains as convoluted as ever.
