Joe Rogan’s Birthday Message Makes Fans Forget to Wish Dana White Over Inside Joke

Joe Rogan has always had a sharp sense of humor. But instead of another stand-up comedy special, this time he used it to throw the spotlight back where it belonged, on UFC boss Dana White. The fans recently saw a hilarious Instagram post from his account that featured a photo of White with bold text that read, “Happy 56th Birthday Joe Rogan!” The kicker? It wasn’t Rogan’s birthday, it was White’s!

The original image came from the Funniest Standup account, but Rogan ran with the gag in a way only he could. In the caption accompanying the post, the UFC color commentator wrote, “Thank you to everyone wishing me a happy birthday, but it’s not my birthday.  It’s kind of an inside joke, but people always call Dana me and call me Dana. Anyway, it’s his birthday and he’s an awesome person and I love him to death. Happy birthday my brother! @danawhite”

But this wasn’t just a random internet mix-up. It’s part of a long-running joke among UFC fans, podcast listeners, and even media professionals. Last year, former ESPN anchor Sage Steele made headlines when she mistakenly asked Dana White, “What’s Joe Rogan’s dream?” live on her podcast.

White blinked, repeated the question, and then stared off-camera in disbelief as he exclaimed, “She just called me f— Joe Rogan. You thought I was f— Joe Rogan? I was bald before Joe was ever bald!”

Even Rogan found it hilarious and showed empathy in an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience after the incident, as he confessed, “I’ve been called Dana before. Some dude goes, ‘Yo, Dana!’ I’m like, ‘No, I’m the other dude. I’m Joe.’ It happens all the time.”

Bald heads, booming voices, and deep UFC roots, it’s easy to see how casual fans get confused. But this light-hearted chaos also shows just how closely Rogan and White are linked, as we now take a look at the flood of cheeky birthday wishes and jabs that the netizens responded with!

Joe Rogan’s birthday message for Dana White leads to an outpouring of memes and jokes by the fans

One fan wrote, “What’s Joe Rogan’s dream?” This callback to Sage Steele’s now-infamous podcast flub has become a meme of its own. Even fans can’t let go of that viral interview mishap. The joke has become a shorthand for just how often people mix the two up. Yet, the UFC color commentator himself stated, “She handled it the right way, too. She kept it in there. She didn’t edit it out. It’s funny. It’s just a flub.”

Another joked, “Joe Rogan podcast by day! Dana White by night!” Long-time listeners of the JRE podcast will be familiar with these intro lines to the show, originally shouted out by Nick Diaz inside the Octagon. But this time, it was flipped by the fans to point out the hilarious confusion between the two pillars of the UFC.

“Happy Birthday, Howie Mandel!” someone else quipped. Now that’s a curveball. This fan took the bald joke and ran with it, roping in another celebrity. Clearly, hair loss is the great equalizer in pop culture.

“You’re not fooling us, we all know that’s you. Happy birthday Joe,” said another. This comment leaned into the chaos, deliberately refusing to acknowledge Dana White‘s birthday. Fans truly embraced the confusion and made it the whole point.

One fan wrote, “We got Joe Rogan wishing Joe Rogan before GTA 6.” Leave it to the internet to take a meme and put it in a blender with another meme. This fan compared the moment to the long wait for GTA 6, a cultural event in itself.

Joe Rogan’s message wasn’t just a nod to his longtime friend Dana White; it was a playful jab at the years of mix-ups, media blunders, and mistaken identities they’ve both embraced. From Sage Steele’s unforgettable question to random fans shouting “Yo, Dana!” at Rogan, the confusion has become part of their legacy. But maybe that’s the charm. When two of the most recognizable faces in the UFC world can laugh at themselves and each other, the fans naturally follow suit!