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Dana White Takes a Firm Stand for Joe Rogan After Spotify Controversy – “Wasn’t Going Around Using the Word”

Published 03/27/2024, 10:36 PM EDT

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Dana White and Joe Rogan have been in the fight business for decades. White hired Rogan when he was a new star in the commentary world and since then he has been with the UFC. However, back in 2022, the podcaster came under the fire of the media for saying the ‘N-word’ and UFC was about to release the podcaster from its banner but Dana White stepped in to make sure his old-time friends stayed with him.

The UFC CEO, Dana White in his latest confession, stated why he stood up for Joe Rogan when everyone was against him and gave the reason for the stupidity behind the controversy.

Dana White explained Joe Rogan’s innocence in the controversy

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The COVID-19 times were harsh for the 250-million-dollar podcaster. Joe Rogan came under fire from various organizations and netizens when a video surfaced compiling old episodes of his podcast. The complied videos showcased Rogan using the ‘N-word’ to describe the black community. There was a huge uprising from the community and various organizations wanted to cut ties with the podcaster. However, fortunately, no such thing happened.

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Dana White in his latest confession with  Sage Steele on her podcast ‘The Sage Steele’ show explained that Rogan was innocent in his take and it was just a fabricated video of him quoting somebody else. “First of all, the whole Rogan thing that happened was 10 years earlier. Rogan was quoting somebody when he used the word. It was a quote,” said White.

He further added, “Rogan wasn’t going out using the word, then somebody went out and clipped it all together. The times that he was quoting others saying it, Rogan said, “Whoa, I saw this thing too. Looks bad.” And I apologize and whatever, and then everybody.” 

Following the controversy, the UFC was forced to issue a statement that they were planning to let Rogan go, however, Dana White threatened the UFC admin that if Rogan left the promotion then he would step down and leave the promotion as well.

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Back when White threatened to leave UFC once and for all

While having a conversation with Lex Fridman on his podcast channel, White recounted the story when UFC was very close to releasing Joe Rogan for his controversy on Spotify. The UFC admin let White know about their decision and upon hearing this, White made sure that his close men stayed with him till the very end. He threatened everyone that he would leave the promotion if they fired Rogan.

“Anybody who is with me, has been with me, knows: when you’re with me, you’re with me, It’s a two-way street, it’s not a one-way street. I’m not one of these guys that is just going to roll over. It’s like going through COVID, I wasn’t laying any of these people [off] — some of these people have been with me for 20 years, we’re going to lay them off? This motherf***** will burn, burn before I do that to my people.”

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Rogan has been working with the promotion since 1997 and to let such a long-time employee go would have been a disaster for the promotion. Nonetheless, White made sure that Rogan stayed with the organization. Whats your take on the entire story? State your thoughts in the comments below.

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Written by:

Suryakant Das

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Suryakant Das is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. His fascination with combat sports was sparked by gleeful moments he shared with his father watching wrestling. An ardent fan of UFC star Charles Oliveira, Surya closely follows the sport and keeps tabs on behind-the-scenes action.
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Edited by:

Joyita Das