Joe Rogan highlights how Herb Dean, Marc Goddard, and other top referees train in MMA and protect fighters

Popular MMA personality and stand-up comedian Joe Rogan recently discussed how insanely difficult MMA referees' jobs are. In a Joe Rogan Experience podcast episode with fellow comedian Theo Von, the 57-year-old UFC mic man mentioned how referees get a bad reputation for some questionable calls but aren't fully appreciated for how extremely difficult their tasks are.

Referees have to make crucial split-second decisions and maintain fairness in a fight, all while keeping both competitors safe. This makes them just as important as the two fighters in the ring with them.

Rogan said:

"It's a crazy job. They have the hardest job in the world. So the guys like Herb dean, the guys like Marc Goddard, those guys need more praise because it's one of the most difficult jobs in all of combat sports other than being a fighter. The second most diffucult for sure is being a referee. Because you have to make these calls in the middle of chaos in a world title fight where millions of people are watching. And you got to keep things together in this very chaotic sport."

He added:

"Most of them [referees] are massive fans. Most of them train. Like Marc Goddard. I believe Marc Goddard's a black belt in Jiujitsu...Herb Dean I know had a few MMA fights...You have to have some [MMA/combat experience]. You have to know what's going on because sometimes, especially in, like, submissions and things like that. Things get complicated real quick."

Listen to his comments here (15:57):

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When Joe Rogan was critical of MMA referees standing up fighters

While he recognizes the difficulty of a referee's job inside the octagon, this doesn't mean Joe Rogan gives them a pass when they're doing a bad job. Being a life-long Jiujitsu practitioner, Rogan's affinity for the grappling aspect of the game causes him to get frustrated when referees decide to stand fighters up when they're on a supposed "stalemate" on the ground.

To the podcasting pioneer, this is one of the examples of bad refereeing in MMA. He mentioned this in a separate podcast episode with top-ranked UFC bantamweight Cory Sandhagen.

Rogan said:

"It's one of the things that drives me nuts about bad refereeing. Like, say if someone has a big burst and shoots for a takedown. Massive struggle. Gets it to the ground. And then is trying to intelligently move to a place where they could do damage but the other person is defending well, and then the referee interferes and stands them up. I'm like, 'Jesus f*cking Christ. Do you know how hard it is to get someone to the ground?'"

He continued:

"And if that [other] person is having a hard time on the bottom, they should probably get up. Figure out how to get up. But for you to just, the boos of the casuals and 'c'mon, stand them up, stand them up', and you just interfere? It drives me nuts!"

Listen to Joe Rogan's comments here (0:19):