Joe Rogan is recognized as someone who’s never afraid to voice his opinions. At UFC 329, the longtime UFC color commentator did exactly that, openly criticizing a stoppage he believed came too early. However, the fighter involved saw things very differently and made it clear he wasn’t pleased with Rogan’s assessment.

At the UFC 329 prelims, undefeated Luke Riley faced Kai Kamaka III in a highly anticipated featherweight bout. The Englishman was relentless with his striking, as nearly every combination that landed on his opponent drew a reaction. Riding his growing confidence, Riley landed a big right hand that sent Kamaka crashing to the canvas. Yet, the Hawaiian managed to get back to his feet. Riley continued his onslaught, unloading a barrage of strikes on Kamaka until referee Kerry Hatley stepped in to stop the action.

With the stoppage, Riley improved to an impressive 14-0 record. However, Joe Rogan on the broadcast team wasn’t a fan of the referee’s decision. The UFC color commentator was heard saying, “No… no…” from the booth as Hatley waved off the fight, making his disagreement with the stoppage clear. Following the bout, reporters asked Riley about Rogan’s reaction during the post-fight press conference, and the Englishman admitted he found the UFC commentator’s response baffling.

“Honestly, two more seconds, he would have been face down on the canvas, honestly,” Riley said. “Yeah, that’s, that baffled me a bit that one, but I don’t even know what to say to that. If you think that was sort of an early stoppage, then I feel like you shouldn’t be watching a fight, but it is what it is.”

During the finishing sequence, Riley’s barrage of punches had clearly rattled Kai Kamaka III. However, the Hawaiian was attempting to initiate a clinch rather than collapsing to the canvas. Would he have been able to continue? We don’t know. Even so, Riley’s perspective is understandable, considering he was closing in on a finish and a few more clean shots could have sealed the deal. Still, Rogan isn’t the only one who believes the fight was stopped too early.

Alongside the UFC color commentator, heavyweight star Josh Hokit also weighed in, criticizing the referee for stepping in far sooner than he believed was necessary.

“I absolutely can’t stand an early stoppage.. a standing stoppage😂 cmon.. is this boxing? Smh” Hokit wrote on X.

As the controversy unfolded, it became clear that Luke Riley wasn’t a fan of Rogan’s assessment of his fight. But the UFC featherweight isn’t the first fighter to throw shade at the longtime commentator over a disagreement. Before him, former UFC fighter Makwan Amirkhani called the 58-year-old “drunk” after Rogan reportedly interrogated him about the referee stopping his fight vs Andy Ogle early, back in 2015.  

After the Englishman responded to Joe Rogan’s comments about the early stoppage, he also turned his attention to the fans who had roasted him ahead of his UFC 329 fight. 

Luke Riley grills his critics after UFC 329 victory  

Luke Riley is known for his impressive finishing ability. But he went the full distance with Michael Aswell Jr. in his last fight and earned a unanimous decision victory. Because of that, many fans criticized Riley, labeling his performance underwhelming as he needed all 15 minutes to get the job done.

The Liverpool-based fighter was clearly not happy with fans writing off his finishing ability. So, after knocking out Kai Kamaka III at UFC 329, he responded to his critics, stating that they have the “smallest memories.”

“Fans have the smallest memories ever,” Riley said in the UFC 329 post-fight interview. “So, I think after the last one, coming into this one, [fans were saying], ‘Luke decision, Luke decision. He’s gonna scrape a split decision.’ It’s like, OK, and then, yeah, that’s what happened: first-round knockout. So, the memory is gonna be refreshed again.”

Well, if Riley is being doubted for his finishing ability, then that might be a bit of a stretch. Out of his 14 professional bouts, the Englishman has scored 10 knockouts and only four decision wins, and that alone should leave little room to question his power. 

That said, with Luke Riley securing his third straight victory, a matchup against Marwan Rahiki, who is coming off an impressive win over Ollie Schmid at UFC Perth, could be an exciting fight for the UFC to make.