• Football
  • Boxing
  • UFC
  • Home
  • Football
    • England
    • Transfer News
    • Premier League
    • Champions League
    • Lionel Messi
    • Cristiano Ronaldo
    • EA FC 25
    • Wrexham
  • Boxing
    • Tyson Fury
    • Anthony Joshua
    • Oleksandr Usyk
    • Mike Tyson
    • Jake Paul
    • Logan Paul
  • UFC
    • Dana White
    • Conor McGregor
    • Khabib Nurmagomedov
    • Jon Jones
    • Paddy Pimblett
    • Joe Rogan
  • Other Sport
    • Athletics
    • Formula 1
    • MMA
    • Motorsport
    • NBA
    • Darts
    • NFL
    • Snooker
    • Wrestling
    • Tennis
    • Cricket
    • Golf
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
Dana White opens up on how he hired Joe Rogan to work for the UFC for free initially

Home> MMA> UFC> UFC News

Published 14:25 24 Feb 2024 GMT

Dana White opens up on how he hired Joe Rogan to work for the UFC for free initially

The well known commentator worked his first dozen UFC events for not a single penny and White has explained how this happened

John McDougall

John McDougall

Joe Rogan is one of the voices of the UFC with an instantly recognisable tone which any fan of the sport will immediately know - and he even worked his first shows for the brand for not a single penny.

Dana White is UFC president and became it when the company was bought back in 2001 for $2m - a drop in the ocean compared to the estimated $9bn to $10bn it was worth in 2022 and it is testament to how it has grown over the past two decades.

Rogan became friends with White after the latter became UFC president and, not long after this, the TV host was offered a job to be the sport's colour commentator - but with a catch.

Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta bought the UFC along with White in 2001, but in the early days, the company was not the lucrative worldwide brand it is now.

In fact, the UFC was losing significant amounts of money in the early days of its current ownership, and it meant White had to go to some drastic moves in order to save spending money.

Advert

Speaking to the Games with Names podcast, White explained how he managed to get Rogan to work his first dozen or so UFC shows for free as the company battled to reverse a near-$40m red hole in its finances as options were sought to minimise expenses and turn around its fortunes.

UFC president Dana White and colour commentator Joe Rogan. (
Getty)

White said: "I reached out to Rogan. At that time, I think it was on the internet, I reached out to him and we started talking, and I asked if he would like to work for us and be a commentator.

"If you look at where the UFC was at that time, we were losing money like crazy.

Advert

"We bought it for $2 million, which sounds like a great story now. We ended up being almost $40 million in the hole before we turned it around.

"But Joe Rogan did the first 12 or 13 shows for free. He said, ‘F*** yeah, I’ll come there and do it and sit in the best seats in the house,’ and everything else.

"Joe and I have been super close friends for a very long time. I would do anything for Joe Rogan."

Featured Image Credit: Getty/Games with Names podcast/Youtube

Topics: UFC, Dana White, Joe Rogan

John McDougall
John McDougall

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

2 days ago
4 days ago
  • 2 days ago

    Conor McGregor could finally make UFC return in blockbuster event as leaked DM sends fans into meltdown

    Conor McGregor has teased a monstrous fight as he plots his UFC return.

    MMA
  • 2 days ago

    Donald Trump and Dana White 'confirm' massive UFC event to take place in The White House

    The US President made a huge announcement about a historic UFC event.

    MMA
  • 4 days ago

    Paddy Pimblett sounds off on 'embarrassing' Charles Oliveira for what happened before devastating Ilia Topuria knockout

    Paddy Pimblett called out Charles Oliveira's 'amateur' gameplan against Ilia Topuria.

    MMA
  • 4 days ago

    Israel Adesanya in fiery incident with UFC fan after hearing him make comment about Jon Jones

    Jon Jones recently chose to retire from the UFC rather than fight Tom Aspinall.

    MMA
  • Joe Rogan calls out Dana White over major 'f*** up' and says UFC boss ignored his warnings
  • Dana White immediately fires fighter hours before UFC 317 as fight cancelled
  • Dana White makes shock second decision on fighter who was sacked hours before UFC 317
  • Dana White tells Shaquille O'Neal the UFC super-fight Joe Rogan is pushing for and it'd blow people's minds