Joe Rogan has been pulled from the UFC 271 pay-per-view card on ESPN+.
Rogan, 54, has been working with the UFC since 1997 and is one of the faces of the company. He has been a commentator on their fights since 2001.
Rogan was set to serve as a commentator for Saturday’s fight card, alongside Jon Anik, but he has now been replaced. Instead of Rogan, Michael Bisping will be making his in-person debut for a US pay-per-view fight card.
Aaron Bronsteter was told by a UFC official that Rogan has a scheduling conflict.
Per a UFC official, Joe Rogan had a scheduling conflict this week and will not be on the call for UFC 271.
He is scheduled to do colour commentary for UFC 272 in March.
Tomorrow's broadcast booth will consist of Jon Anik, Daniel Cormier and Michael Bisping.
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) February 11, 2022
The “scheduling conflict” is most likely a coverup for someone not wanting Rogan to represent them in the public eye until conflicts over his popular podcast blow over.
Rogan hosts the extraordinarily popular “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast and in 2020 was paid $100 million to make Spotify the audio home of his podcast. The deal made him more visible in the public eye.
Rogan is frequently a target of “cancellation” attempts from those who attempt to silence or censor his podcast due to the topics of exploration. Particularly, there were efforts to censor Rogan throughout the COVID-19 pandemic because he brought on guests who were censored/banned by many notable tech and media platforms. Rogan also gained notoriety for providing advice to some on how to battle COVID-19.
Recently, those looking to cancel Rogan compiled a video of times he used the n-word on-air, omitting context from the uses of the word. Rogan has addressed the attacks on him, his show, and Spotify. Spotify has since pulled over 100 episodes of Rogan’s show due to the language used in those episodes, though they have continued to let him host.
Though Rogan misses some UFC shows here and there, the timing of this move seems related to his recent controversy.
Photo: Jul 9, 2021; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Joe Rogan hosts weigh ins for UFC 264 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
