Jake Shields brings up "N95" to hit back at renowned critic's Joe Rogan's 'audience dumb' comment

Joe Rogan hosts one of the biggest podcasts in the world. Rogan also signed an extremely lucrative deal with Spotify that guarantees the streaming platform exclusive rights to The Joe Rogan Experience. But with fame and popularity comes both fans and adversaries.

The UFC color commentator recently challenged Dr. Peter Hotez to debate anti-vaccine presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy. However, his challenge was declined. Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a renowned critic of Joe Rogan, claimed that the comedian's audience is too stupid to watch a real scientist debate on his podcast.

This led to a response, but not from Rogan. Instead, the response came from former UFC welterweight Jake Shields, who has quickly become one of the most controversial voices in MMA-based social media. He mocked Taleb by responding to a past tweet that the Rogan critic made about wearing N95 masks.

Shields is noted for his refusal to follow recommended safety protocols regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, such as wearing masks and getting vaccinated. He punctuated his retweet of Taleb by sarcastically parroting the former's description of Rogan's audience being too dumb.

Like Dr. Peter Hotez, Nassim Nicholas Taleb is himself an intellectual with a focus on mathematical statistics and risk analysis. While Rogan is yet to respond to Taleb's describing his audience as dumb and unsophisticated, it shouldn't be long before word gets around.

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What ties does Jake Shields have to Joe Rogan?

Jake Shields is a former UFC welterweight and an active member of the Skrap Pack, a group of mixed martial artists who train under Cesar Gracie. Thus, the collective includes MMA cult icons Nick Diaz and Nate Diaz, as well as two-time UFC lightweight title challenger Gilbert Melendez.

Like many MMA fighters, both active and retired, he has been a guest on The Joe Rogan Experience. He appeared on the 122nd episode of the podcast, where he and Rogan discussed a wide range of topics. Shields has since become a strong supporter of the UFC color commentator.

This is especially due to Rogan's largely adversarial response to the same line of politics that Shields himself opposes.