“They Don’t Even Get Treated Badly” – Joe Rogan Tells Russian Athlete Banned After Ukraine Crisis a ‘Crazy Thing’ About the UFC

Russia and the USA have got a torrid history. But globalization and development-related dependencies have smoothened the rough edges left by the constant tension, but the bitterness has not vanished altogether. The recent Russia-Ukraine situation kept the world on its toes. It spilled into the world of sports, too. Many were not happy with how Russian athletes were being banned. One such person was Fedor Gorst, an international Pool player from Russia. He disclosed how Russian Pool players were banned from tournaments in the USA. He was invited by Joe Rogan in episode 1917 of the JRE as a guest.

The 22-year-old Pool player was talking to podcaster Joe Rogan on his show ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’. Rogan ranked Gorst as one of the top 3 pool players in the world. He was left surprised to know that he couldn’t participate in a lot of tournaments this year because he is a Russian. Rogan told him that things in the UFC were different.

Joe Rogan talks about the Russians in the UFC

When the podcaster asked young Fedor Gorst about his current rankings, the Russian replied saying he was unranked. He then went on to share how he couldn’t participate in tournaments because of his nationality.

Rogan asked, “Because you are from Russia, you couldn’t play a lot of tournaments for a while, right? During the Ukraine Crisis.”

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Replying to the question Fedor revealed, “Yeah, since the end of February when the whole thing started, they banned all the Russian athletes and they only removed the ban and I believe in the end of July.” The response made Rogan compare the Russians in the sport of Pool to the Russians in the UFC. Rogan said, “You know what’s crazy is that they didn’t ban UFC fighters. We have a lot of Russian fighters and they don’t even get treated badly. They don’t even get booed.”

Russians are treated well in the UFC

Despite UFC being a violent sport where fans and athletes are brash and passionate, the UFC has never let political matters affect the participation of it’s fighters. The Russians, specifically the Dagestani fighters, have made a lot of fans in the US. They have never been subjected to any mistreatment. It’s a very different thing that fans and athletes are involved in trash-talking on social media, but generally, UFC and its fans have treated all fighters fairly and given them equal opportunities and respect.

The Dagestanis have returned the favor with their exciting performances. They have established a solid supply of fighters and champions with Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev leading the pack. Do you think it’s fair to ban players from sports because of politics or situations out of their control?

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