AUSTIN, TEXAS: Despite the controversy surrounding his Spotify podcast's different topics of conversation, Joe Rogan remains one of the most generally respected people in the world of MMA analysis. During the live broadcast of UFC 247, Rogan slammed the UFC judge for "not watching the fight."
The incident took place during a preliminary card fight between Lauren Murphy and Andrea Lee. The judge in question, according to Rogan, was not paying attention to the battle taking place within the octagon.
'This is insane'
Rogan shouted out one of the judges during the live broadcast of UFC. Dominick Cruz, a UFC fighter who worked as a desk analyst for the event, also commented. Rogan said, "Looking at the judge... he's not even watching the fight. This is insane... This is crazy, he's still not watching the fight."
Cruz further added, "The judges don't even watch. They're looking down at the floor. This is insane. It's gonna be tough for the fighters tonight to figure out how to win a decision." Murphy won the bout by split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28) from the judges. According to MMA Decisions, Lee received the majority of the media scores for the fight.
Lee later resorted to Instagram to criticize the judge's behavior.
The main event of UFC 247 culminated in one of the more contentious decisions in recent memory. Jon Jones won his light heavyweight title by unanimous decision over Dominick Reyes, with scores of 48-47, 48-47, and 49-46. Several fans and UFC figures, including President Dana White, disputed the fight's judging. Many thought the challenger had done enough to dethrone Jones.
According to Reyes, he felt "disrespected" by the scoring. He said, "I do feel disrespected. One of the judges had it 49-46. Who are you? I might want to have a word with you... I know I won that fight. I was in that fight. I don't have to watch the replay. I was there. I made Jon Jones look like just a man."
Following the announcement of the Jones vs. Reyes ruling, Rogan and Cruz lashed out at "incompetent judging." A Twitter user shared a clip writing, "After #UFC247, @joerogan and @DominickCruz call for reform to fight scoring and judging"
'I used to gamble on the fights'
Rogan revealed that he used to bet on MMA fights, but he stopped because of concerns that it would affect his commentary during the fights on which he had bet. David Portnoy, the creator of Barstool Sports, appeared on 'JRE.' When asked about the state of betting in MMA, Rogan stated, "I used to gamble with my business partner at Onnit, Aubrey [Marcus]."
"I used to gamble on the fights early on," he continued. "The early days of the UFC, like the 2000s. I would just go, 'Ah nobody even knows about Anderson Silva. Bet the house on this guy!' Then I thought about it for a while, and I was like, 'Maybe this isn't good for my commentary.' So I just stopped doing it and I would tell Aubrey, and at one time we were like 84% winning. "The clip was shared on Twitter by a person who said, "Joe Rogan talks gambling on MMA in the early 2000s."
