"Your sport is getting swallowed" - When Joe Rogan predicted the death of boxing way before MMA picked up steam

The footage of Joe Rogan’s heated argument with boxing promoter Lou DiBella has re-surfaced.

Between 2000 and 2010, the UFC did everything they could to convince the general public that MMA was here to stay. As a result, the head UFC commentator, Joe Rogan, attempted to defend the growing sport against boxing purists who denounced MMA.

In 2007, Rogan was invited on ESPN to debate MMA vs. Boxing with promoter Lou Di Bella. The friendly atmosphere didn’t last long before Di Bella referred to the UFC as “human c*ck fighting,” leading the podcasting legend to respond with the following unforgettable rant:

“You know what boxing is? Well, boxing is a very limited form of fighting. It’s kind of a silly agreement. To say like, ‘We hate each other. We’re gonna fight. We’re gonna duke it out man-to-man, but we’re only gonna use our hands, that’s it. There’s so many aspects of boxing that are really ineffective, that don’t really work in a real fight. All the bobbing and weaving and shoulder rolling, all the beautiful moves that Pernell Whittaker and James Toney and some of those.”

Rogan continued:

“I’m a boxing fan. I love boxing. You don’t know me, and you don’t know what I’m a fan of. I am a fan of boxing, it’s a beautiful sport, but it’s a sport that encompasses one aspect of fighting. What you guys don’t understand is that you guys are a dying breed. You boxing guys, ‘Oh, [MMA] is human c*ck fighting. What you don’t understand is your sport is getting swallowed. It’s getting swallowed by a greater, more efficient, more spectacular sport. It’s not B.S. It’s slowly getting swallowed.”

Watch Joe Rogan's rant toward Lou DiBella below:

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How long has Joe Rogan been a UFC commentator?

On February 7, 1997, a young Joe Rogan appeared on a UFC broadcast for the first time as a backstage interviewer during UFC 12: Judgement Day, which took place in Dothan, Alabama. With that said, it wasn’t until UFC 37.5 on June 22, 2022, that Rogan would officially commentate a UFC event.

Since then, Rogan has established himself as a mixed martial arts legend for the hundreds and hundreds of fights he’s commentated on. To this day, the 56-year-old continues to call premium UFC events in the United States.