"The system is rigged" - Ex-Illinois governor opens up his battle with perceived political corruption and unjust charges on Joe Rogan's podcast

In episode #2245 of The Joe Rogan Experience, the celebrated UFC commentator was joined by a former Illinois governor as the duo spoke on a wide range of issues.

Rod Blagojevich, who served as the 40th governor of Illinois also reflected on the corruption charges he faced during his tenure.

He was charged with corruption charges by the federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald in 2008. Blagojevich was found guilty of corruption charges for trying to sell the US Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama. He was impeached, removed from office, and sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2011.

Recalling his struggles with the charges and impeachment, Blagojevich said:

"They tried me twice after the first trial where they failed to convict me with their fake corruption charges. They were floating 18 months and you know there were a lot of people in my team like my lawyer who thought that might be the prudent thing to do because you really can't beat these people, the system is rigged."

Check out Rod Blagojevich's comments below (2:32)

Rod Blagojevich served eight of his original 14-year prison sentence. His sentence was overturned by President Donald Trump in 2020.

---

When Joe Rogan miffed veteran referee Herb Dean at UFC 306

Joe Rogan is one of the most prominent faces in the UFC's commentary team and has been a part of the promotion for decades now. While calling the fight at UFC 306, Rogan's commentary evoked a response from the veteran referee Herb Dean.

In the main event, when Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O'Malley were fighting for the bantamweight title, Dean's continuous directions to 'The Machine' came under criticism at Joe Rogan's end. The 57-year-old termed Dean's tactics as insane, sparking a wave of reactions online.

Dean reacted to his comments on the JAXXON podcast by saying:

"I would like to talk to them... the commentators. I can tell it was the commentators before I even heard that it was because on social media, I was getting a lot of the same thing... I see a bunch of grown men saying somebody else’s opinion, must’ve been something the analysts said, and it was."

He further added:

"They’re saying that I shouldn’t be telling the guys to work. This is something I’ve always done. Our sport, there’s rules that are there for safety. There’s rules that are there for fairness, we have rules that are there to build our sport."

Check out Herb Dean's reaction below (15:54):