Joe Rogan: "Give him a test" - When Joe Rogan played matchmaker for Conor McGregor during a time when potential fight against Prime Kamaru Usman was looming

"Give him a test" - When Joe Rogan played matchmaker for Conor McGregor during a time when potential fight against Prime Kamaru Usman was looming

By Dabeer Shah

Modified Mar 16, 2025 18:06 GMT

UFC 264 Weigh-in - Source: Getty — Joe Rogan is one of the reasons for the growth of MMA [Image Courtesy: Getty Images]

Joe Rogan has played an important role in the growth of the sport and has often played matchmaker on his podcast.

While Conor McGregor was recovering from a broken tibia, Rogan made an appearance on Mike Tyson's podcast in 2022. The podcaster asserted that McGregor should first fight with a guy on the come-up, then only he should challenge then welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.

Notably, McGregor suffered a leg injury against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in 2021. Since then, McGregor hasn't returned to the octagon. 'The Notorious' was booked to fight against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 but pulled out due to a toe injury.

Here's what Rogan said about McGregor:

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"If Conor wants the most chance of success, I would say fight a guy who is a little below championship level. Maybe a guy on the come-up, who Conor has an advantage over, but it's still a competitive fight. Give him a test, but don't put him in there right away with Usman."

Check out Joe Rogan's comments below:

When Joe Rogan shed light on how Conor McGregor destroyed his MMA career

Joe Rogan once explained how Conor McGregor's MMA career took a downturn and attributed it to his fame, fortune and absence from the sport. McGregor was regarded as UFC's biggest star and one of the best to ever compete when he became double champion in 2016.

In episode #2232 of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Rogan opined that McGregor's fight with Floyd Mayweather made him wealthy but affected his UFC career. He said:

“Conor self-destructed in a lot of ways because of money. He took that fight with Floyd Mayweather, made a ton of money off that, and then took a long time before he came back to MMA—and he’s just not been the same guy since. I think that’s just money, it’s a lot of partying, but it’s the same kind of thing. It’s just wild. But when Conor was in his prime, he was a f***ing assassin.”

Check out Joe Rogan's comments below (2:00:32):

About the author

A B. Tech in electrical engineering, Dabeer began his professional career in 2022 with Vairuhl LLC. Dabeer turned into an MMA fan after watching Nick Diaz’s one-round barnburner with Paul Daley in Strikeforce in 2011. His favorite fighter is Tony Ferguson, whom Dabeer loves for his skills and personality. However, ‘El Cucuy’ does not figure in his top-five MMA fighters of all time, with Jon Jones, Demetrious Johnson, Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, and Khabib Nurmagomedov making that list.
Dabeer is of the opinion that MMA has supplanted boxing as the world’s premier combat sport, though he feels that UFC fighters in general are underpaid. This diehard MMA fan also believes that titles should not change hands by disqualification.
Someone who keeps himself immersed in the sport at all times, Dabeer likes to use his knowledge and writing skills to create accurate and relevant information that provides value to the readers. His hobbies are playing football and reading books.

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Edited by Tejas Rathi