"Best paid fighters are outside the UFC” - Joe Rogan’s comments about other MMA promotions broken down by Bellator analysts

Joe Rogan's recent comments about fighters competing in promotions outside the UFC has sparked debate amongst fans and pundits in the MMA world.

Rogan, a long time commentator for the UFC, recently spoke to surging middleweight contender Bo Nickal on the Joe Rogan Experience, where the podcast host said:

"No disrespect to other organizations, there are very good fighters in other organizations, but I often feel like they're wasting their careers..."

But two longtime analysts for the now PFL-owned Bellator brand, 'Big' John McCarthy and former UFC fighter Josh Thomson, have now dissected Rogan's comments.

McCarthy, who has worked as a commentator for Bellator, elaborated on the benefits of fighting for the UFC, as well as the benefits of competing outside the promotion:

"I've told fighters to their face, 'You need to decide, what is the reason you're fighting? Is it to become famous? If it is, the UFC is the best option for you. They have the best marketing. And they, if you do what you supposed to do, they're gonna put that marketing behind you and more people are going to know you than ever before. If that's thre reason you're fighting.'"

He continued:

"If you're fighting for money, [the UFC] are not the best option.. The UFC has proven time and time again, besides a couple of people, the best paid fighters are outside the UFC. A couple in the UFC make really good money. But it's only a couple."

Watch the video below (1:10):

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Former UFC-turned-PFL fighter Corey Anderson speaks out after Joe Rogan's recent comments

Joe Rogan's recent comments about fighting in the UFC may have been accurate to a degree, with other MMA promotion's having a fraction of the audience and marketing power possessed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

But for many fighters, including Corey Anderson, large exposure to the public won't make ends meet.

Anderson competed in the UFC from 2014 to 2020, during which he accumulated a promotional record of 9-5. He signed with Bellator MMA in 2020, and after two fights, Anderson claimed that he had earned more money than his entire UFC career.

After coming across Joe Rogan's comments online, Corey Anderson took to Instagram to share his thoughts, posting:

"as someone who spent 7 years in the UFC and left at #4 in the organization..... fans seeing me fight wasn't enough to pay bills or even begin to set my family up for a future. My wife and I both had to have jobs to keep afloat in between fights until my first fight in Bellator.."

See the post below: