Joe Rogan has reacted to the decision to have UFC 249 cancelled following on from the coronavirus outbreak.
Dana White was going to extreme lengths to put the event on however after the powers that be at ESPN and Disney asked him pull the plug, the UFC president revealed last night that the show won't be taking place.
Rogan, UFC's primary commentator and post-fight interviewer, was initially undecided as to whether he would attend the event and is content with the postponement given the current situation.
"Wow, that's interesting," he said on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, as per Metro.
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"Well that saves me a lot of f****ng thinking. I was 75% ready to go. The only thing that worried me is that if I contracted something and then I came into contact with other people.
"What I was going to do, if I could definitely get tested, then I'd have to definitively know the results before I came back. Even then you don't know."
After the event was moved from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, along with UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov being forced to pull out, White remained determined.
He managed to secure Justin Gaethje as a swift replacement to face Tony Ferguson in the main event - in addition to a venue change to Tachi Palace in California.
He eventually had to admit defeat but Rogan understands why he was trying to do business as usual.
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"Imagine being the president of the UFC, f**k all that, all these fights you have to make and all this pressure on you," he added.
"And you're also a famous guy like Dana is, imagine being that guy. F**k that job.
"If this was any other disease where we understood it better, I would be way more confident. I was hesitant. I was leaning towards going. I'm not interested at putting myself at risk, but my real concern was contracting it and bringing it back."
White is still hopeful of delivering his 'fight island' on ESPN and predicts it will off the ground in a month. But for now, his priority is all of his staff at UFC.
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"I'm going to take care of as many people as I possibly can and do whatever it takes to make all these guys feel comfortable," White said.
"All of my employees, nobody is getting laid off at the UFC. Everybody is good. We will be the first sport back.
"All of my fighters that are under contract with me, I want them to feel safe, take time with your families and enjoy this time.
"Don't worry about the financial part of this. You're gonna get the fights in your contract, and I'm gonna make things right with the people who were willing to step up and fight next weekend on April 18."
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