Grappling’s popularity only continues to go down the unfortunate road. As recent as October last year, Conor McGregor even blamed the discipline for a drop in MMA’s quality, thanks to the perceived lack of action. UFC color commentator Joe Rogan, however, sees things very differently.

In a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience featuring Michael ‘Venom’ Page, the duo took a deep dive into the art of grappling. The 58-year-old revisited his well-known ‘No Standup’ rule, which is the idea that if a fighter gets taken down, they should have to work their way back to their feet without the referee’s help or a reset of the fight. This quickly sparked a back-and-forth between them. 

Not all grapplers are good grapplers, says Joe Rogan

Speaking to Page, Joe Rogan argued that not every fight needs to be a wild, edge-of-your-seat brawl. “That’s why I say no standups ever. When a guy takes a guy down, that person on the bottom does not want to be on the bottom. They want to be up. If they can’t get up, tough s—,” Rogan explained. He pointed out that every fight already begins with the fighters standing, which naturally favors strikers.

“Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to get themselves up. It’s gotta be pure. It’s gotta be real. You can’t have like [the only] way that a guy won because the rules set it up for him to get to a better position,” the podcaster added. Page, known for his flashy striking style, quickly jumped in to express his frustration with passive grapplers. “If you’re taking me down, try to kill me. Try to finish the fight. Don’t just take me down and [stay there], looking at the clock.”

Rogan agreed, noting that such a conservative approach often comes down to a lack of skill. But, he admitted that if Page were dominated by a grappler who simply held him down, “I’d be like, ‘Damn, he did it.’” Rogan reasoned that these fighters rely on what works for them. 

“They can’t do it any other way. If he can’t stand up with you… and he can take you down anytime, why would he ever let you up?” There are, however, exceptions—fighters who use grappling to dominate and finish. Rogan cited former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov as the perfect example.

“Khabib gets you down. You’re getting f—ked up. He’s crushing your legs between these legs and he’s f—king trying to choke on you,” Rogan said. 

Rogan concluded by acknowledging that some fighters with elite grappling can still beat potential champions purely through their ground control. “It sucks, but it’s real,” he said during the podcast. That’s quite true, if you look at it in a way. Take Ryan Hall, for example. His bread and butter was the Imanari roll into some sort of leg entanglement, leading to a heel hook finish. But as soon as Ilia Topuria figured his game out, his jig was up. Bottom position rolls and heel hook submissions began to take a backseat after that fight.

Grappling is an essential skill in mixed martial arts, but learning just enough to prevent takedowns or hold certain positions without advancing leaves everyone frustrated. Truly, ‘The Eagle’ is one of, if not the only one, who had an offensive approach with 90-100% efficacy in his takedowns and ground control. People would also point to Khamzat Chimaev, but he wasn’t able to put away names like Gilbert Burns, Kamaru Usman, or Dricus Du Plessis with his offensive grappling. All three fights went to a decision. Khabib, meanwhile, finished Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier, and Justin Gaethje in his last three UFC fights.

While names like Charles Oliveira and Fabricio Werdum come to mind when you talk about exceptionally good grapplers in MMA, they would still use their striking to set up grappling exchanges. Demian Maia is a rare example who was heavy on the offensive grappling front, and even Islam Makhachev can be grouped in the same category. But neither of them has shown the level of grappling dominance Khabib has displayed with his leg trap sequence or positional pressure to exhaust. But coming back to Rogan’s ‘No Standup’ rule, that’s not the only one he has proposed. 

Rogan’s ‘wacky’ rule changes for UFC if he were in control

The color commentator has previously revealed what he would change if he were in charge of the promotion. “I got some wacky ideas,” Rogan admitted in one of his podcasts. “I don’t even think they should fight in a cage.” The 58-year-old, who has worked with the UFC since 1997, believes the octagon limits the essence of fighting.

His suggestion? Something like a basketball court. Rogan calls for a big matted up space, with a warning track that deducts points on crossing a certain limit. He doesn’t believe in the cage where you get to push someone against something, allowing them to get back up.

While Rogan’s no stand-up rule might not get implemented in the UFC anytime soon, he clearly continues to advocate for it. Where do you stand on Rogan’s brilliant ideas?