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Joe Rogan has been somewhat of a permanent fixture in the UFC since its inception, but over the past few years he has taken a clear step back from the promotion. UFC icon Joe Rogan is a big reason why the premier MMA promotion has continued to rise in popularity over the last 25 years. As the UFC continued to grow exponentially, Rogan’s popularity began to soar and he built a widespread base of diehard fans along the way. However, over the last few years, the part-time comedian and commentator has taken a clear step back from his duties with the UFC, and fans have become more critical of his value to the promotion. Joe Rogan replaced by Laura Sanko at UFC 321 At UFC 321 on Saturday night, Rogan will not be a part of the broadcast team due to the fact that the event is taking place in Abu Dhabi and he doesn’t travel internationally for events. And with that, he will be replaced by fellow color commentator, Laura Sanko, who will join Jon Anik and Daniel Cormier to make up the broadcast team. Sanko has only served as commentator on one UFC PPV event previously, debuting in the booth at UFC 293. Despite that, over the past few years she has helped out with commentary duties on several Fight Night events, as well as Dana White’s Contender Series. And during her short time in the booth, fans have grown fond of the insightful former Invicta fighter – begging the question, is she more valuable on commentary than Rogan? Rogan has been regressing for a while There is no doubt that Rogan has built a fanbase over his years as the color commentator in the UFC, and I was one of them. At the beginning of his career, he was passionate and educational, he added value to the product which at the time was relatively unknown and new to a lot of people. But now, he’s grown somewhat lazy and complacent. It was clear that back in the day he did countless hours of tape study and homework. But now, he simply relies on screaming ‘OHHHH!’ whenever someone gets slightly clipped in a fight. Despite my stance on what Rogan adds to the actual broadcast, it is clear that he still adds a lot of value for the promotion. His reactions along with ‘DC’s’ seem to always go viral, which is big for the company. Earlier this year at UFC 310, fans seemed to pick up on Rogan’s lack of desire to continue in his role and claimed that ‘he cannot wait to be done’ with being a commentator. And if he is in fact just checked out of the role, then maybe it is time he passes the cans to someone else. If it’s not Sanko on a permanent basis, there are plenty of commentators that consistently add value to the broadcast during Fight Night events. Michael Bisping has recently been given a heavier workload, and following Dominick Cruz‘s retirement from the sport, it is likely that we hear his voice more often. Whatever happens, it is without doubt that Sanko should be given a more regular seat in the booth because of her clear passion for the role and the simple fact that she knows her stuff. However, despite whether I believe it is time for Rogan to hang up the headphones, it is unlikely that he is heading anywhere, and with the UFC’s impending move to Paramount in 2026, they will want to hang on to the icon for as long as they possibly can.
