Podcaster Joe Rogan pulled absolutely no punches when unloading on the upcoming UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House.
“The White House thing is odd. I don’t like it,” Rogan said on the latest episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast alongside former UFC fighter Josh Thompson and veteran referee John McCarthy.
“I don’t like the idea of fighting outside at all,” frequent UFC commentator Rogan continued, pointing to triple-digit temperatures in Washington, D.C., around the same time last year.
“That’s hot as fuck,” Rogan noted, before expressing his concerns about bugs, pesticides and dehydration for both fighters and fans at the event, which is backed by Donald Trump and scheduled for June 14, the president’s 80th birthday, as part of America’s 250th anniversary celebrations.
Watch Rogan’s comments from the 2:28:00 point on YouTube here.
Rogan, who interviewed and endorsed Trump before the 2024 election but has since criticized the president on multiple fronts, argued that world title fights belong in controlled environments.
Georgian-Spanish star Ilia Topuria will take on American Justin Gaethje in the lightweight title bout, the main event. Brazil’s Alex Pereira will fight France’s Ciryl Gane in the heavyweight interim title bout. Five other bouts are also on the card, per the event’s website.
“I just don’t think that you should compete in a world championship fight in a non-controlled environment. I think it should be inside an air-conditioned arena,” Rogan said. “It should be a controlled environment, just like you wouldn’t ask them to play a world championship basketball game outside in the sun. That would be crazy. You have to you play in a fucking air-conditioned arena and that’s how it should be.”
His proposed fix? “Build a fucking roof,” he said.
“Imagine if someone loses a fight because it’s too hot out,” he continued. “Imagine if that becomes a factor. Imagine the dehydrated fighters, like the dehydrated fighters that are now being forced 24 hours later to fight in 100-degree heat outside.”
Last week, UFC CEO Dana White admitted he was worried the giant lighting rig around the octagon could attract swarms of insects.