5 times Joe Rogan couldn't help but fanboy over a UFC fighter

Joe Rogan is not only a successful podcaster, longtime UFC commentator, and influential public personality, but is also a bonafide combat sports fan. Rogan himself is a former Taekwondo competitor. He also consistently works on his BJJ skills.

Unsurprisingly, akin to many other fight fans, the 57-year-old spends a lot of time watching and discussing the sport of MMA -- which is one of the most popular combat sports in the world today.

Over the years, he's expressed his respect for and heaped praise on various fighters in the world's premier MMA organization, the UFC. Today we look at a few special instances where Rogan went above and beyond with his laudation for some UFC fighters.

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#5. Dricus du Plessis

UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis defended his belt by submitting combat sports megastar Israel Adesanya in August 2024. Moreover, du Plessis notably traded barbs with Brazil's Alex Pereira.

Pereira, an ex-UFC middleweight (185-pound) champion and the reigning UFC light heavyweight (205-pound) champion, suggested that he'd like to reclaim the middleweight belt by fighting and defeating du Plessis. Meanwhile, the South African indicated that he'd rather move up to light heavyweight and dethrone Pereira.

During a JRE Fight Companion episode of his JRE (Joe Rogan Experience) podcast, Joe Rogan hosted Brian Simpson, Tony Hinchcliffe, and Brendan Schaub. They gave their live reactions to the du Plessis-Adesanya event, which was underway in Australia.

Rogan boasts a special UFC commentary contract, whereby he primarily commentates only for domestic UFC pay-per-views (PPVs) and not UFC Fight Night cards or overseas PPVs.

Nevertheless, Rogan was so very impressed by du Plessis that he suggested that if 'Stillknocks' moved up to light heavyweight to face Pereira, he'd be willing to travel even to the moon to commentate for the fight:

"If Dricus goes up to 205 [pounds] and fights Alex, oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. I'll fly to the moon to commentate that fight. I want to see that fight. That's crazy."

Presently, du Plessis is booked to defend his middleweight belt in a rematch against Sean Strickland at UFC 312 (Feb. 9, 2025, local time in Australia). Meanwhile, Pereira is scheduled to defend his light heavyweight belt against Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313 (March 8, 2025).

Check out Joe Rogan's comments below (2:53:35):

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#4. Conor McGregor

Conor McGregor's 13-second KO win over the legendary Jose Aldo helped him capture the undisputed UFC featherweight championship and unify the belts after a stint as the interim champion in 2015. McGregor then won the lightweight belt by knocking out another legend, Eddie Alvarez, and became the first fighter to simultaneously possess UFC titles in two separate weight classes.

On episode #137 of the JRE MMA Show in 2023, Joe Rogan hosted McGregor's longtime rival -- MMA great and the UFC's inaugural BMF champion, Jorge Masvidal. The duo discussed Masvidal's legendary five-second knockout win over Ben Askren. The discussion segued into McGregor's impressive knockout against Aldo.

Rogan indicated that McGregor beautifully threw Aldo off his game via mental warfare tactics and had drilled and then executed his counter left-hand KO punch. He hailed McGregor as one of the deadliest fighters, especially in the early going:

"The thing about Conor is in that first round, particularly, he's so explosive, he's so quick ... And that touch of death. He's got these big a** hands, and he just f**king launches them at people. In that first round, he's one of the most dangerous guys alive. He's so good."

McGregor, who's been out of action since July 2021, has lately been hinting at potentially boxing in 2025. However, he recently implied that the UFC would like him to resume his MMA career inside the octagon.

Watch Joe Rogan's assessment below (1:45:40):

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#3. Joe Rogan's "conqueror" monolog about Jon Jones

Ex-UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones captured the vacant UFC heavyweight championship by dominantly submitting Ciryl Gane in March 2023. On JRE's episode #1956 later that month, Joe Rogan labeled Jones as the G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time).

Speaking to singer-cum-songwriter Luke Combs on the podcast, Rogan implied that Jones was cut from the cloth of all-time combat sports greats like Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali, and Marvin Hagler. He also likened him to all-time greats from other sports, underscoring that 'Bones' boasted a rare competitive spirit and mentality that might terrify ordinary persons:

"Jon Jones is a bad guy, who's trying to be a good guy ... If we were living a thousand years ago, he would be on a horse with the biggest battle ax, waiting in the back, hacking heads off. And everybody would be running. And those people have always existed."

He added:

"These dominators have always existed. But Jon is like a genuinely sensitive and intelligent guy, who's trying to do the right thing. But he's a f**king conqueror. He's a f**king conqueror. That's the thing that's inside of him that leads him to be the G.O.A.T."

Presently, Jones still holds the heavyweight title and seems likely to fight interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall in a title unifier in 2025.

Watch Joe Rogan address the topic below (4:20):

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#2. Ilia Topuria

Joe Rogan hosted former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier on episode #150 of the JRE MMA Show in December 2023. Among other topics, they discussed then-UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski's risky decision to fight UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev on a few days' notice.

Volkanovski had gotten knocked out by Makhachev in their rematch in October 2023. Both Rogan and Cormier appeared to question whether Volkanovski would feel the lingering effects of that knockout defeat in his expected UFC featherweight title defense against Ilia Topuria in early 2024.

Rogan notably insinuated that 'The Great' might be making a mistake by facing a dangerous foe like Topuria so soon, right after a brutal KO loss. Also, Rogan waxed lyrical about Topuria's well-rounded MMA skill set. Rogan had once deemed Topuria as "a perfect example of a guy who has no weakness" -- with great striking and grappling. Speaking to Cormier, Rogan said:

"Even if he [Alexander Volkanovski] wasn't compromised, even if he didn't fight Islam [Makhachev], Topuria is a nightmare... He's scary."

Topuria knocked out Volkanovski and became the new featherweight champion in early 2024. 'El Matador' then defended his belt by shockingly knocking out the legendarily durable Max Holloway later in 2024. Topuria is currently eyeing a shot at the UFC lightweight title, which is, ironically, held by Volkanovski's longtime rival, Islam Makhachev.

Watch Joe Rogan discuss the topic below (2:11:30):

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#1. Khabib Nurmagomedov

Back in October 2018, then-UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov defended his championship with a submission victory against former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor. On JRE's episode #1906 in 2022, Joe Rogan hosted American military veteran and fitness influencer David Goggins.

The duo discussed the topic of who's the greatest ever, and Rogan alluded that it's tough to correctly determine because there are many weight classes and many other variables attached to the MMA G.O.A.T. conversation. Nevertheless, he named Nurmagomedov as a G.O.A.T. candidate.

Specifically, recounting how Nurmagomedov steered clear of McGregor's psychological warfare and stuck to his gameplan to get the better of the legendary Irish combatant, Joe Rogan smilingly mimicked 'The Eagle' and said:

"'I'm gonna smash your boy.' And that's what he did. He was on top of him, pounding him, going, 'Let's talk now.' He's on top of him, punching him in the face, going, 'Let's talk. Let's talk now.' Beating the f**k out of him."

Nurmagomedov retired from MMA in October 2020 and has been working toward coaching his friends and relatives over the past few years.

Watch Rogan lavish Nurmagomedov with praise, reminiscing about the classic fight, below: