Joe Rogan says PRIDE FC didn't test for steroids and even "encouraged" their use: "Giant jacked guys beating the sh*t out of each other"

Joe Rogan recently got into discussing Pride FC and the prevalence of steroids within the defunct promotion.

On episode 2166 of The Joe Rogan Experience, the titular figure was speaking with Christian Angermayer and Dr. Aron D'Souza. The two men are co-founders of Enhanced Games which has a focus on creating a league for competitions that allow top global athletes in an Olympic-style framework to compete without performance-enhancing drug restrictions.

Leading into the subject at hand by saying the early days of MMA were all enhanced, Joe Rogan said:

"PRIDE, which was the big show in Japan. It was this enormous organization in Japan that kind of fell apart because the yakuza was involved with it. They went bankrupt, there was a lot of craziness involved. But at one point in time, they were selling out like these 90,000 seat arenas in Tokyo. It was nuts and everybody looked like a super hero."

He added:

"I mean just f****** jacked. Just giant jacked guys beating the sh*t out of each other. Everybody who went over there will tell you, the contract literally specifically stated in capital letters: WE DO NOT TEST FOR STEROIDS. They will encourage you to do steroids over there. They wanted you to look good. They wanted you to fight at your best."

Check Rogan discussing Pride's stance on fighters using PEDs below (10:45):

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Joe Rogan and his belief of PRIDE FC having better rules

Joe Rogan has often shouted out the powerhouse Japanese mixed martial arts promotion many years after it ceased operations in 2007. This came about recently when speaking with UFC legend Royce Gracie who also competed under the PRIDE banner. The chat took place on the 156th installment of the JRE MMA Show.

The two were getting into how PRIDE FC had a superior ruleset with Rogan stating he liked how the juggernaut in combat sports used to utilize a ten-minute opening round. Gracie took it one step further by saying fights should be in fifteen-minute round increments which was the instantiated time limits on a round-by-round basis in the MMA legend's iconic fight with Kazushi Sakuraba.

The 56-year-old host of JRE also stated that the five-minute round increments used within the unified rules of MMA favor strikers more than grapplers. Rogan felt as if the shorter durations of rounds hindered grappling-centric fighters who, in his estimation, are able to thoughtfully and more methodically express their art over longer periods of time.