“Put the UFC machine behind it,” Joe Rogan offers a solution to take kickboxing to the next level

Joe Rogan proposes leveraging the UFC's promotional power to catapult high-level kickboxing into mainstream sports recognition.

“Put the UFC machine behind it,” Joe Rogan offers a solution to take kickboxing to the next level

Joe Rogan on how to make Muay Thai kickboxing mainstream (Image via: IMAGO, X)

MMA was not very popular in the beginning. Even though it attracted a lot of combat sports athletes, it did not get mainstream recognition. Moreover, many states in the USA banned the sport. Nonetheless, the UFC commentator was a fan of the sport even from the beginning. Rogan even defended the sport on the Late Night Show with Conan O’Brien.

Rogan is also a fan of other combat sports like wrestling, kickboxing, and BJJ. Muay Thai kickboxing is one of Rogan’s favorite sports due to its violent nature. Nonetheless, Rogan was in awe of its perceived less popularity. However, he found a solution in one of his podcast episodes with Eddie Bravo as the guest. This is what Rogan said.

Put the UFC machine behind it. If they put the UFC promotion machine behind high-level kickboxing and got just f*ckinh 'Hey, we're gonna sign the biggest fighters in the world. We're gonna have UFC Kickboxing.'
Joe Rogan via JRE

It was the super fight between Superlek Kiatmuu9 and Rodtang Jitmuangnon that made Rogan ponder why kickboxing was not popular. The fighters mentioned above impressed Rogan with their fight that headlined ONE Friday Fights 34. Incidentally, UFC veteran Matt Brown first asked Rogan’s question.

Even before his comedy career, Rogan had an accomplished kickboxing career but left it in fear of confusion. However, he found an affinity towards BJJ and later achieved a black belt under Jean Jacques Machado. Rogan’s extensive knowledge of kickboxing and BJJ is evident during his commentary with the UFC.

The USA has produced some of the biggest kickboxers in the world. However, it did not achieve mainstream recognition in the country. Joe Rogan revealed why he thought it was the case in one of his recent podcasts. Rogan blamed the PKA’s 1980 point fighting competition as the main reason for it.

Joe Rogan
Joe Rogan (Image via: IMAGO)

The PKA’s 1980s tournaments restricted full contact and even banned leg kicks. Rogan even revealed that he talked with UFC CEO Dana White to make Muay Thai fights happen in the UFC. He even stated in the podcast that he would do commentary for free if he chose to do so. Rogan had worked for free during the early days of the UFC when the promotion did not bring in much profit.

Karate Combat is a relatively new American promotion that has now become a hotbed for elite Karate strikers. Many UFC fighters have aligned with the promotion. Unlike previous Karate competitions, Karate Combat offers full-contact fighting at a pit. Rogan had spoken about his respect for the organization in the post.

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