Joe Rogan: UFC missed Diaz Brothers UFC 209 opportunity

In just over one week, fight fans will tune in to a highly anticipated pay-per view event which will be headlined by a welterweight title fight between Tyron Woodley and Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson. In addition, in the co-main event, streaking lightweight contenders Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson will step into the Octagon to fight for the interim lightweight title, with the winner moving on to fight Conor McGregor for the interim lightweight title.

In addition to two marquee title fights, UFC 209 will feature the middleweight debut of former UFC champion Rashad Evans, as well as a heavyweight rematch between Alistair Overeem and MMA veteran Mark Hunt.

Surprisingly however, the UFC opted to not book either of the Diaz Brothers for the highly anticipated event, missing out on the potential promotion of a UFC 209 event featuring the two Stockton, California superstars. Joe Rogan spoke about the situation on a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, saying:

“They had one opportunity ever in the history of the UFC to do it. Like, I planned episode 911 [of the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast] to be Alex Jones. They should have planned episode 209 to be in Stockton with Nick and Nate Diaz. I guarantee to you, that s**t would have gotten two million pay per view buys.” – transcribed by Lewis McKeever of Bloody Elbow

209 is of course the area code for Stockton, California, where the Diaz Brothers hail from.

The two brothers can frequently be heard yelling ‘Stockton!’ alongside an expletive. In addition, the pair have coined the term ‘Stockton Slap’ for when they slap one of their opponents mid-fight. That technique has been on display for nearly every Diaz Brother fight in recent memory, most recently Nate Diaz’ UFC 202 scrap with Conor McGregor, where McGregor picked up a majority decision win to avenge his UFC 196 loss.

on 2/23/2017.